Chapter 2
The shrill ring of my phone cut through the heavy silence of early morning. I fumbled for it on the nightstand, my eyes still swollen from crying myself to sleep. The confrontation with Marcus and Rachel had left me hollow, emptied of everything but a fierce, primal determination to protect my son.
Dr. Aris Thorne's name flashed across the screen. The pack healer rarely called directly unless—
My heart stuttered.
"Hello?" My voice cracked, already knowing something was terribly wrong.
"Luna Claire." Dr. Thorne's usually composed voice trembled. "I need you to come to the healing center immediately."
"What's happened?" I whispered, though Aria was already howling in anguish inside me, sensing what I refused to acknowledge.
"It's Alexander. He—" The healer's voice broke. "We had to perform an emergency procedure during the night. There were complications... We did everything we could."
The world tilted violently.
"No," I breathed. "No, no, no."
"I'm so sorry, Luna Claire. Your son... he didn't make it."
The phone slipped from my fingers, hitting the floor with a dull thud that echoed the sudden emptiness in my chest. A sound escaped me—not quite a scream, something deeper, more primal. Aria's grief merged with mine, a tsunami of pain that threatened to drown us both.
*Our pup. Our beautiful pup.*
I don't remember getting dressed. Don't remember leaving the Alpha's quarters. My body moved on instinct, propelled by desperate denial. This couldn't be happening. Not after everything—the years of waiting, the pain of childbirth, the miracle of holding him in my arms.
Not my Alexander.
The corridors of the Silvermoon Pack house stretched endlessly before me, pack members jumping out of my way as I ran. Their faces blurred, their whispers washing over me like white noise. Someone called my name, but I couldn't stop. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think beyond reaching my son.
Tears streamed down my face, blinding me. I stumbled once, my hand catching against the cold stone wall, the pain barely registering through the numbness spreading through my body.
*Where was Marcus?* The thought flashed briefly through my mind. Shouldn't he be here? Shouldn't he have been the first one they called?
The healing center's doors loomed ahead, the antiseptic smell hitting me as I burst through them. Dr. Thorne stood in the reception area, his normally immaculate appearance disheveled, dark circles under his eyes speaking of a long, desperate night.
"Luna Claire," he said, reaching for me with gentle hands.
"Where is he?" I demanded, my voice unrecognizable even to myself. "Where is my son?"
The look of pity in his eyes was unbearable.
"Please," he said softly, "come with me."
I followed him down the sterile hallway, each step heavier than the last. The walls seemed to close in, the fluorescent lights too harsh, too revealing. Nothing could hide the truth waiting for me.
Dr. Thorne paused outside a door, his hand hesitating on the handle. "I need to prepare you," he began.
"Just let me see him," I whispered.
He nodded once, his professional composure cracking to reveal genuine grief. "We've prepared him... for you to say goodbye."
The room beyond was dimly lit, peaceful in a way that made my soul scream in protest. And there, on a small table draped in white, lay a tiny bundle.
My legs gave way. Dr. Thorne caught me, supporting my weight as I staggered forward.
"What happened?" I asked, my voice hollow. "He was fine. He was perfect."
"There were signs of poisoning," Dr. Thorne said quietly. "Something in his system that shouldn't have been there. We tried everything, but it was too advanced by the time we detected it."
Poisoning. The word echoed in my mind, monstrous and impossible.
I reached the table, my trembling fingers hovering over the blanket that covered my son. My miracle. My Alexander. Gone before he'd even had a chance to live.
Aria's grief erupted through me in a howl that shook the walls of the healing center, a mother wolf mourning her lost pup. I gathered his small, cold body into my arms, cradling him one last time as my world shattered into irreparable pieces.