Chapter 6

The smell of antiseptic had never used to bother him.

Now it clung to Darius’s lungs like guilt.

Dr. Linton was flipping through medical records when Darius stepped into the room. He had come to sign the clearance papers for Serena’s next appointment—nothing more. Routine. Predictable. Safe.

But when the doctor looked up, his eyes hesitated. That moment of silence was too long to ignore.

“Is something wrong?” Darius asked, his voice sharper than he intended.

The doctor fumbled with the papers. “It’s… nothing, Alpha. Just—just a discrepancy in the records. From eight months ago.”

Darius frowned. “What discrepancy?”

Dr. Linton swallowed hard. “A pregnancy test. Positive. From your mate, Luna Elena Voss.”

For a beat the world stopped. The fluorescent lights hummed above them, mocking the sudden quiet.

“That’s impossible,” Darius said, though his throat burned. “She never told me—”

The doctor lowered his gaze. “She came to the infirmary herself. The same week you were… away. With Miss Vale. The following week, she was brought back—bleeding.”

Something cracked inside him. “Bleeding?”

The doctor’s hands trembled. “I treated her for a miscarriage. She didn’t want anyone to know. She begged us to keep it off record. Said… said the Alpha had enough to worry about.”

Darius’s knees nearly buckled. The clipboard slipped from his hand; papers scattered across the sterile floor like shattered glass.

A child. Their child. And he had never known.

He wanted to scream, to break something, but his voice came out hollow. “What caused it?”

Dr. Linton froze. The silence answered for him.

“Tell me,” Darius demanded.

The doctor hesitated, then whispered, “Miss Vale administered the wrong herbal sedatives. The dosage was… too strong for a pregnant wolf. We tried to warn her, but she insisted Luna needed to calm down after that argument you two had.”

Serena.

The air vanished from the room. Darius’s pulse roared in his ears. The memories came all at once—the night he told Elena he was staying at the border patrol when, in fact, he had been with Serena; the argument that followed; the hidden tears beneath Elena’s unbreakable pride.

He hadn’t even noticed.

Darius staggered backward, gripping the counter to steady himself. His mind threw up images he had buried too deep: Elena in their garden, hair tangled by wind, laughing because he could never braid flowers the way she could; Elena on the balcony at midnight, nursing a cup of tea long gone cold; Elena whispering, “You always think you can hurt me and I’ll stay.”

Gods. She had stayed. Until she couldn’t.

When had he stopped loving her? Or had he ever stopped—maybe he had only stopped choosing her.

He had thought himself strong because she forgave him. He had thought love meant she would never leave. But the moment she walked away, every breath felt like punishment.

The doctor’s voice broke the spiral. “Alpha, should I prepare a report?”

Darius turned to him, eyes burning. “No. Burn it. All of it.”

The doctor looked startled.

“No one else will carry her pain,” Darius said quietly. “Not anymore.”

As he left the infirmary, the scent of sterilized air followed him into the hall and mixed with the rain that had started outside. Each drop against the window sounded like a heartbeat he’d stolen.

Back in his office he found the old photograph of them—Elena in her white Luna cloak, smiling at him as if he could never fail her. He pressed the picture to his chest, choking on the realization that he already had.

For the first time in years, he didn’t want control. He wanted forgiveness.

A hesitant knock at the door announced Marcus. “Alpha, the northern patrol spotted a private aircraft heading toward the Drake Territory. It might be her.”

Her name was enough to pull him upright.

“Prepare the car,” Darius ordered. His voice didn’t sound like his own anymore—raw, shaking, human. “I’m going after her.”

Because this time, if he lost her again… there would be nothing left to save.