04: HER NAME IS NADIA

TARA

My eyes fluttered open, and a blinding light pierced through my eyes. Shutting them back with a wince, I tried to remember where I was.

“Try not to move,” a soft voice said from beside me.

I whipped my head to the side and a warm-looking woman in her forties was smiling down at me. A doctor.

Where was I? What was…

Aidan. Kayla. My wolf. My baby.

I gasped as images from my encounter with Kayla rushed to the front of my mind, and I scrambled back in fear.

As if I was on cue, pain shot through my entire body, making me cry out.

“Calm down, miss. You’re still in critical condition.”

“My baby,” I gasped, tears rapidly brimming in my eyes.

“Is a fighter. Your baby survived. And so did you.”

The tears broke free, and I fell back on the bed, gratitude swelling my chest as I cried and thanked the Moon Goddess. I thought I lost my child. How did I think for a second that I could have gone through with terminating it?

I looked around the room, and I didn’t expect to see my family or anyone else here with me, but it still hurt. The pain of Aidan severing our mate bond still lingered, and I gritted my teeth in pain.

“How did I get here? How long have I been here?” I asked the doctor once I got a hold of myself.

“A passerby found you unconscious and alerted the pack hospital. You’ve been out cold for twenty-four hours. We still have to keep you here in the ICU for monitoring before we transfer you to the wards. Do you have anybody we could call? The father? Your relatives?”

If Aidan and Kayla found out that I was still alive, they were going to come back and finish me off. Fear gripped my neck.

“No! Please. It’s just me.”

“Okay.” The doctor seemed to consider for a moment before she spoke again. “This is probably not in my place, but as your doctor, I have your best interest at heart. You’re going to need a minimum of six months to recover from the severity of these injuries, and seeing how young you are, carrying a child might be dangerous to you both.”

She didn’t need to mention the scorn I would go through for taking in at my age and without a mate.

“What are you saying, Doctor?”

“You can consider not keeping the child. It might take away some of your burden too. Just think about it. In the meantime, I’ll let you rest for a few minutes and check back with you later.”

As the doctor left the room, my head spun with thoughts.

She wasn’t entirely wrong. I looked down to see my battered midsection. How was I going to pay the hospital bills? And then raise a child all on my own?

Where was I going to live now?

Who was going to hire me in this condition, and how much were they even going to pay me?

I didn’t realize I’d zoned out until a nurse appeared. “You have a visitor, Miss Tara.”

My eyes shot open. “Visitor?”

“Yes. Uhh…Mr. Michael Graham.”

Oh no. What was Aidan’s father doing here? How did he find out about me?

Forcing a nod and a tight-lipped smile to the doctor, I watched her leave.

This had to be another attempt to get to my baby, and I was going to die before I let anything happen to my child. I needed to get out of here immediately.

As I tried to get up from the bed, a severe ache shot through my stomach, making me hiss and collapse back on the bed. Tears gathered in my eyes, but I had to try. It wasn't safe here anymore.

Biting my lips to stifle the pain, I hobbled across the room to collect my belongings. I tried to turn into my wolf form to give myself a little advantage, but I was in too much pain.

I slipped out of the ward and kept my head down, making sure that my hair framed my face as a disguise.

I’d never met Aidan’s father in person, but from the news, I knew that he was a dangerous and formidable figure. I had no idea what he was going to do to me, and I didn’t want to find out.

Using the wall as leverage, I slowly made my way out of the hospital.

A group of men approached from down the hallway, and when my eyes fell on the man in the middle of them, my heart stopped beating.

He was the exact picture as Aidan, just more scary, and fear paralyzed me. I prayed silently that none of them would notice me as they came closer. My body shook with fear, as I tried to stay invincible.

“Guard the door. No one comes in, and no one except me goes out,” Aidan’s father commanded his men.

“Yes, sir.”

“And be ready to clean this place up.”

My pupils dilated. Clean up how? Tears fell from my eyes at the thought that they were trying to kill me again.

I bit my lips, holding my breath as Aidan’s father and his group of men fell in line with me. I couldn’t run, so I stuck to limping past the wall.

As soon as the last of them passed me, I broke into a run, not caring about the pain I was in. The room was spinning around me like I was going to pass out again, but I couldn't stop. Just a little farther.

When I made it outside, blood had soaked through the flimsy hospital gown I had on. I flagged down a cab and entered.

“Where to, Missy?”

“Please drive. Just take me out of here!”

Thankfully, he did as I asked without question.

When I alighted at the bus stop, memories of my life in Pack Attica played out in my mind. I didn’t have the best life here, so nothing was keeping me.

My baby was most important to me, and I was going to find a way to protect it.

As the next bus arrived, I staggered inside, and with no destination in mind, I left Pack Attica without a backward glance and vowed never to return.

**********

“We’re worried, ma’am. We don’t think you’d make it through the next two weeks with the baby still inside you.”

It had been seven months since I boarded a bus and left my childhood pack. Since I couldn’t locate my Mom’s sister’s pack without the address, I rode till I found myself in a place called Vermont Pack. The Alpha here was kind enough to let me stay, but I struggled to make it through my injuries with my baby.

Most of my time was spent in the hospital, and since we were just two weeks away, I was meeting the pack doctor for another checkup.

“What do you mean, doctor?” Panic set in my bones. “I need my baby to be okay,” I held on to his sleeve, begging.

“With the expansion of your stomach walls, it has been impossible for your tissues to completely heal, and it’s only going to get worse from here. We advise an immediate procedure to get your baby out.”

“Is there no other solution?”

He shook his head solemnly. “I’m afraid not.”

I wasn’t ready, but for my baby, I’d do anything.

“Alright. Let’s do it,” I said with conviction.

The doctor left to go prepare all that was needed for the procedure, and soon, my consciousness slipped with the effects of the anesthesia.

When my eyes peeled open again, I instantly felt my whole life shift with the bundle of joy that was lying beside me.

“Congratulations, ma’am. You have a healthy baby girl. This one’s a fighter.”

The nurse, who was smiling down at me, carried my baby from the bed beside me and placed her on my chest.

I laughed, tears of joy rolling down my cheeks. She looked so beautiful. So peaceful, and so much like her father.

My heart twisted that he didn’t yearn for a chance to meet her, but that didn't matter anymore.

“It's me and you, baby. Momma loves you so much,” I cooed.

“Do you have a name for her yet?” The nurse’s smile reached her eyes.

I nodded.

I had decided to leave my past where it belonged, but I was going to gift my daughter something that belonged to her father.

His name.

Taking the name, Aidan, I spelled it backwards, and I said out loud. “Her name is Nadia.”

The nurse beamed. “That’s a beautiful name. I’ll leave you two to rest now. And oh, your bills have all been paid off, so we just have to monitor your scars and stitches for a while, and you’ll be discharged soon.”

“What? Who cleared the bills?”

She shrugged. “He asked to remain anonymous.”

The hairs on my skin stretched taut, and I held Nadia closer to my chest, my motherly instincts kicking in. I didn’t have friends in this pack. Only one person could have done this.

With my heart in my throat, I asked myself. “Is Alpha Aidan conscious of our whereabouts?”