#####Chapter 3

Erica POV

Enough, Chris says. Alpha command slammed into me, forcing my wolf to submit, my knees nearly buckling. I don't want to hear another word from you.

Nurses and doctors rushed past, wheeling Becky toward the emergency room. She reached out weakly toward the Alphas, her face pale, blood staining her dress.

"Promise me," Becky gasped, her voice barely audible. "Promise me you'll protect our baby, even if I don't make it."

"Don't say that."

Max's voice cracked as he grabbed her hand. "You're going to be fine, both of you, we promise."

Ken added, his jaw tight. "Nothing will happen to you or our child."

Our child.

The words echoed in my mind like a death sentence. I watched, invisible, as they surrounded her stretcher. Their hands fixed on her, their eyes filled with fear and love, emotions I'd never seen directed at me.

The emergency room doors swung shut, leaving me alone in the hallway.

Minutes crawled by like hours.

Max's voice cut through the air, sharp as a blade.

"Erica, you'll stay here until we're sure Becky and the baby are safe."

"Please, you don't understand." I begged, desperation clawing at me. "My father is in danger. He needs me."

"Stop making excuses," Chris snapped. "You are not leaving until we say so."

Doctors and nurses arrived, lifting Becky carefully onto a stretcher, rushing her toward the emergency room.

All three of my mates hovered, their eyes locked on her, not sparing me even a glance.

"Chris, Max, Ken, please," I cried, tears spilling freely. "My father is waiting for me. He's dying."

My knees buckled, and I dropped before them, lowering myself to the ground, clinging to what little dignity I had left.

"Please, just let me see him before he's gone."

"You know who else might be dying?"

Max's voice was ice.

"Our baby, and it's all because of you."

"You're not going anywhere," Ken finished, his voice cold and final, "not until we say so."

"Is that clear?"

Tears blurred my vision as Chris shoved me aside.

I fell hard against the cold floor, sobs shaking me, while my father's final moments slipped away.

Minutes later, a doctor reemerged, his expression grim.

"I'm sorry. Becky lost the baby."

Becky broke into sobs instantly, her wails echoing down the hall.

I watched as everything I feared came true.

All three of them surrounded her with the tenderness they'd never once shown me. They chose to believe her lies over my desperate pleas.

They always chose her, always.

Something inside me shattered beyond repair.

I watched as she clung to Chris. Max's fists slammed against the wall, and Ken's face twisted with fury.

Chris's eyes snapped to me, burning with hatred.

"This is your doing, Erica. You've destroyed everything. You killed our child."

Max's voice was venom, trembling with fury.

"You think you can just walk away from this? No. You will pay. You'll pay with your freedom."

Ken stepped forward, his voice low and cold as steel.

"From this moment, consider yourself stripped of every protection you had as our Luna."

"For this crime, you'll rot in the pack prison until we decide what's left of you is worth keeping."

I shook my head wildly, tears streaming down my face.

"No, please. I didn't hurt her. I didn't—"

"Enough of your lies."

Chris growled.

Becky's sobs muffled against his chest.

"The Moon Goddess should strike you down for this, but we'll do it ourselves if we must."

Max's eyes glistened with unshed tears, fury raw.

"You murdered our heir. That blood is on your hands, Erica. On your hands."

Ken's lip curled in disgust.

"Guards will drag you in chains if you don't go yourself. You will be imprisoned, and you will be punished. That's the only justice for what you've done."

Their voices crashed over me like thunder.

One after another, until my sobs choked in my throat.

All three of them, the men fate had bound me to, looked at me not as their mate, not as their Luna, but as a murderer.

Their hatred burned hotter than fire, leaving me trembling.

But even through the storm of their words, only one thought consumed me.

My father.

My chest ached as I staggered back, praying I wasn't too late to see him alive one last time.

"Dad."

My lips quivered when I entered his room.

Unable to see clearly, I felt the world stop.

As his beeping heart monitor filled my ears, the flatline was a reminder that I came too late.

"Dad!"

I wailed loudly as I hugged his lifeless body.

All I could do was cry because he was gone, because of my mates.

I wasn't able to see my beloved father for the last time.

I hadn't stopped crying since he died.

Still, I hated myself.

What was the point of planning his funeral and crying when I wasn't there for him when he needed me most?

In his final days, I wasn't even there to comfort him.

"Erica."

I didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

The Mate Bond still connected us, even though it felt more like chains than comfort.

"We just heard," Chris said quietly, "about your father. We're sorry."

I didn't respond.

What was there to say?

"The doctor confirmed it," Ken continued, his voice rough.

My hands tightened around my father's cold fingers.

So they finally knew the truth.

I hadn't killed their child.

But it didn't change anything.

My father was still dead.

I'd still missed his final moments because they chose to believe her over me.

"We should have listened," Ken said quietly. "When you said your father was dying, we should have let you go."

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

"You should have believed me about a lot of things, but you never did."

"You never will."

"Erica, we want to help you."

"Help?" I said quietly.

"You helped break me. Helped bury me before I was dead."

I listened as they left, their footsteps fading down the hospital corridor.

And in that moment, surrounded by the cold stillness of death, I made a decision.

A final, irrevocable decision.

If they wanted to be free of me so badly, I would grant them that freedom permanently.

But before I could leave for good, there was one last duty I owed.

The burial of my father.