Chapter 4
+7 Bonus
Kieran’s pov
The boy’s fever broke around midnight.
I watched his small chest rise and fall, steady now, the flush fading from his cheeks. Sophie had finally stopped crying, her head resting against my shoulder as exhaustion pulled her toward sleep.
“Thank you,” she murmured. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“You don’t have to do anything.” I brushed a strand of hair from her face. “I told you, I’m here.”
She smiled weakly and closed her eyes.
It wasn’t until I stepped into the hallway that I remembered Serena.
I pulled out my phone and dialed her number.
The number you are trying to reach is unavailab. 10:50
+7 Bonus
< Chapter 4
I frowned and tried again. Same result.
What the hell?
Serena never turned off her phone. Even when she was angry with me which happened often enough, she always kept it on, waiting for me to call and apologize. It was part of her pattern: sulk, pout, wait for me to coax her back into good spirits.
This was different.
I was about to call again when something on the floor caught my eye.
The bracelet.
I bent down and picked it up, turning it over in my hands. The clasp was broken, bent at an odd angle like someone had ripped it off with force.
My blood ran cold.
Had she been here? Did she see us?
279
“Kieran?” Sophie appeared in the doorway, her brow.
10:51
+7 Bonus
< Chapter 4
creased with concern. “Is everything okay?”
I slipped the bracelet into my pocket. “Fine. I need to go home.”
“Of course.” She stepped closer, guilt flickering across her features. “I’m so sorry for monopolizing your time. Your wife must be upset with you.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I grabbed my jacket, already moving toward the elevator. “Serena’s not the type to cause problems. She knows her place.”
I drove straight home. The house was dark when I
arrived.
I found Serena in our bedroom, curled on her side with her back to the door. The curtains were drawn, and she
didn’t stir when I entered.
I stood there for a long moment, studying the rigid line of her shoulders. If she’d seen me with Sophie at the hospital, she would have confronted me. That was Serena’s way, demanding explanations and refusing to let anything go until she’d worn herself out with accusations.
3/9
I exhaled slowly, the tension in my chest easing.
* 10:51
+7 Bonus
< Chapter 4
Growing up, Serena had been a spoiled princess, the beloved daughter of Blackthorn’s Alpha, indulged and adored by everyone around her. She threw tantrums when she didn’t get her way. She demanded attention like it was her birthright. She loved fiercely and expected to be loved fiercely in return.
I’d found it charming once. The way she’d pout when I forgot her favorite flower, or sulk for days over some imagined slight. It was easy to forgive her moods when she looked at me with those big, hopeful eyes.
But if she discovered the truth about Sophie and Ethan, if she found out about the child and everything I’d kept hidden, she’d make my life a living hell.
I wouldn’t tolerate it.
Serena was my Luna but she needed to understand that some things were beyond her control. Some things she simply had to accept.
I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled out the bracelet.
“Serena.” I touched her shoulder. “Wake up.”
4/9
10:51
+7 Bonus
< Chapter 4
I tried to fasten the bracelet but her eyes snapped open instantly, I held up the bracelet. “Why did you leave this at the hospital?”
She stared at it like it was a snake about to strike. “I lost it while visiting my mother.”
I waited for the explosion to come since she found out but she just lay there, silently.
It unsettled me more than any tantrum could have.
“Put it on.” I reached for her wrist.
She pulled away. “No.”
“Serena-”
“I don’t want it.” Her voice cracked. “It’s not-it’s not
special. It’s nothing.”
“Fine.” I set the bracelet on the nightstand, forcing patience into my tone. “I’ll buy you something better.”
She laughed and the sound stirred my wolf.
5/9
10:51
I reached for her again, my hand sliding along her waist.
+7 Bonus
< Chapter 4
“Come here.” I pulled her closer, my lips brushing her neck. “Let me make it up to you.”
She shoved me away.
“Stop.” Her voice was raw. “Just stop.”
“What is wrong with you? You’ve been acting insane for days.” I growled.
“I’m acting insane?” She sat up, her eyes blazing. “You’re
the one who-”
My phone rang.
We both froze. Sophie’s name flashed across the screen.
Serena lunged for it.
I reacted on instinct, grabbing her arm to stop her but she twisted, still reaching for the phone, and I pushed harder than I meant to.
She fell.
The so
10:51
sound of her hitting the floor, a dull thud followed by a sharp cry of pain.
+7 Bonus
< Chapter 4
For a moment, I just stood there. I was about to walk to her and check if she was hurt but then I remembered
every tantrum and every time she’d played the victim to manipulate me into giving her what she wanted.
No. Not this time.
She needed to learn. She needed to understand that this
behavior wouldn’t be tolerated. I was her Alpha and she would respect that, or face the consequences.
I answered the phone and walked out without looking
back.
Serena’s pov
I lay on the cold floor, my hip throbbing where I’d hit the edge of the nightstand and my wrist bent at an angle that made me nauseous. But worse than the physical agony was the sound of his footsteps retreating down the stairs.
He didn’t even look back.
My wolf whimpered, curling into a tight ball of misery.
tried to push myself up, but my arms wouldn’t
10:51
+7 Bonus
< Chapter 4
cooperate.
Why? Why did I deserve this?
The sound of the thunder startled me,
My heart seized.
No. No, no, no—
Lightning split the sky, and the power went out.
Darkness swallowed everything.
I screamed or tried to. The sound came out as a strangled gasp, I was alone and trapped in the dark.
I’d always been afraid of storms. Ever since I was a child, when the rogues attacked our pack during a
thunderstorm.
Kieran knew this, he’d held me through countless storms.
Where was he now?
With trembling fingers, I found my phone and dialed his gymber.
10:51
< Chapter 4
The number you are trying to reach has been switched off.
I tried again.
Nothing.
“Please,” I sobbed into the darkness. “Please, Kieran. Please come back. I’m so scared. Please-”
Another crack of thunder, so loud the windows rattled.
The phone slipped from my fingers.
The last thing I felt before the darkness took me was my wolf, howling in despair, calling for a mate who would.
never answer.
9/9
Write your comment
1r Gifts
Bonus
