I desperately hailed for a taxi until one screeched to a halt. I barely managed to open the door.
“Pediatric emergency!” I shouted the moment we reached the hospital, my voice breaking.
The nurses took one look at me. They saw how I was soaked, shaking and clutching Lana and rushed into motion. I barely got the words “thank you” out before running after them.
My wolf quieted for the first time, her energy trembling beneath my ribs.
Then, voices drifted from behind the counter
“Did you hear? Alpha Declan is here! Ms. Sophia Darwin scraped her ankle, and he came with her.”
“Oh my gosh, he’s so devoted. She’s lucky.”
Their laughter echoed in my ears, but all I heard was my own heartbeat, pounding with thoughts of my child. I couldn’t afford to be distracted right now.
I was in the ward with my child. The sharp scent of disinfectant clung to the hospital air, burning my nose. A doctor had already been called to check on her.
All of a sudden, a noise came. It was chaotic. The sound of footsteps and shouting tore through the hall as every doctor in sight rushed in the same direction.
My body went still. My instincts screamed that something was wrong.
“What’s happening?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
The head nurse barely spared me a glance as she shoved clipboards and charts into a tray. Her heartbeat thudded quick and shallow, and the bitterness in her tone made my wolf’s ears flatten.
“Word just came in-Ms. Sophia Darwin scraped her ankle. Alpha Richard’s here with her. Every doctor’s been called to check on her. No one’s got time for you right now.”
I clenched my jaw.
Sophia, Declan’s precious Sophia.
My fingers tightened around Lana’s feverish body. “But my daughter-she’s burning up-she’s-“
The nurse sighed, already halfway to the door. “Then wait. Half an hour, maybe two. Once Ms. Darwin is seen, someone will come back for you.”
And just like that, she was gone.
The noise of the crowd faded down the hall, leaving me in hollow silence.
Lana whimpered softly, her body hot against mine. My heart felt like it had been flayed open.
I pressed my lips to her forehead. Goddess, she was boiling. The heat seared my skin. “No, no, no, baby… stay with me.”
Her little eyes, watery and glassy, looked up at me, so innocent and trusting. And I, her mother, her protector-had no idea what to do.
My wolf clawed at my ribs within me, howling, Do something! Save our pup!
But I was trapped in a world bound by rules of the rich and indifference to the poor.
Desperation burned away my pride. I grabbed the sleeve of the last doctor hurrying past. “Please,” I begged, my voice raw. “Where’s the pediatrician? An adult’s injury doesn’t need a children’s doctor-right?”
He stopped, just for a heartbeat. His eyes flicked to Lana who was limp, her cheeks crimson with fever. I saw the pity in his face and sensed the conflict written on his face.
But then his jaw tightened. “They say Ms. Sophia Darwin is pregnant,” he said softly. “The director ordered all departments to focus on her. Even the pediatric emergency doctor was reassigned.”
My vision swam, the edges of the room closing in. She was pregnant and for that reason, the whole hospital bowed to her for a twisted ankle.
But what about my child? What about the tiny heartbeat burning against my chest?
My knees nearly buckled, but I forced myself upright. My wolf’s snarl echoed through my mind, hot and bitter.
The doctor muttered something about “physical cooling” and “medicine from a pharmacy.” His words blurred together like water running off glass.
“Wait,” I said, shoving my phone at him, my voice trembling. “Please-what kind? Can you write it down?”
He hesitated, glancing toward the commotion at the end of the hall and without another word, he rushed off.
And I was alone again.
The lights above buzzed faintly. I could hear every heartbeat around me except the one that mattered most.
Lana’s.
I looked down and my world stopped.
Her lashes were still. Her breathing shallow. Her face flushed deep red, her little lips parting soundlessly.
“Lana!”
The scream tore out of me, raw and wild, scraping my throat. I cradled her closer, shaking, my hands trembling so badly I almost dropped her.
“Please, no. No, no, not you-” My voice broke.
I pressed my forehead to hers, feeling the scorching heat, the unnatural stillness. My wolf inside me went berserk, thrashing, howling angrily.
The waiting area was almost empty now. I caught my reflection in the glass doors, I looked like a ghost-hair plastered to my face, eyes hollow, Lana burning in my arms.
Despair swelled in my chest, thick and choking, but beneath it-beneath the exhaustion and fear, anger flared.
“Declan,” I muttered under my breath, my voice shaking with fury, “if anything happens to Lana, I’ll drag you down with me.”
I tightened my grip on my daughter. “She’s so little, Declan. Wasn’t destroying me enough? Now you have to curse her too?”
My teeth clenched with fury. Sterling myself, I stormed toward the elevators, cradling Lana tightly.
Just then, a swarm of doctors surged back, flooding the corridor like a pack, rushing forward to answer a summon.
I froze. They came at me like a tide.
Instinct kicked in. I turned my body, shielding Lana from elbows and shoulders. Someone’s shoulder slammed into me, nearly knocking me off my feet.
“Careful!” I shouted, but no one even looked.
The doctors were moving in a tight, excited cluster, clearing a path ahead of them like servants in the presence of royalty.
“Don’t block the way!” someone barked. “If you delay Ms. Sophia Darwin’ checkup, you won’t be able to afford the consequences!”
The man leading the group turned at the sound of Lana’s faint cry. His gaze flicked to me, to my worn clothes and the trembling bundle in my arms. His expression twisted with disgust.
He shoved me aside like I was nothing.
The shove wasn’t hard enough to throw me, but it was enough to make my wolf snarl in warning.
Then I heard it.
“Alpha Declan.”
And just like that, everything inside me went still.
Evelyn’s POV
The crowd parted, and I saw him, Declan.
My husband, my destroyer.
He stood behind Sophia, pushing her wheelchair as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Her pale leg peeked through a slit in her designer dress, a tiny bandage on her ankle. Around them, the doctors moved like bees around their queen.
“Declan,” she murmured, her voice soft, almost bashful. “It’s just a scrape. If I weren’t pregnant, we wouldn’t need all this fuss.”
Her cheeks glowed pink, her eyes shy but glimmering. She looked up at him as if the sun rose for her.
And Declan, the cold, unreadable Declan I was used to, looked down at her with something dangerously close to warmth.
“Let the best doctors run a full check,” he said evenly. “You’re our lead attorney at Crawford Group. This is nothing for you.”
Our lead attorney.
Once upon a time, that had been me.
The ache that followed was sharp enough to steal my breath.
The man leading the group laughed too loud, elbowing someone. “Alpha Declan you really do care about Ms. Sophia Darwin!”
Sophia blushed, ducking her head, her voice playful. “Don’t talk nonsense…”
But she didn’t stop looking at him.
My wolf growled low inside me, claws digging into the walls of my ribs. That’s the woman who betrayed us. Who sent us to rot in jail.
Then Declan spoke, his tone like ice. “Don’t talk nonsense. I care about all my employees.”
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