~ Adeline ~

I stagger out of Corey's apartment an hour after fainting, feeling as though my heart is being ripped out of my chest. He didn't bother to take me to a hospital, instead, he moved to the bedroom to continue his business with the woman he brought back.

The air is stale, cold. It is early in the morning and the sky is still a bit dark. The neighborhood is quiet and my phone is dead. I did not have time to charge it as I was preparing a birthday surprise for Corey. But the neon lights I set up in the bedroom ended up adding spice to his little bedroom play.

My tears have dried up and I feel nothing. I'm completely numb. Even the cold biting into my skin feels like nothing–I don't shiver. I just walk, not even knowing where I was going. The hospital is far from this neighborhood, and I can only walk until the first rays of sunlight shine before I can finally catch an Uber.

I have been walking for 20 minutes until a light shines in my direction, almost blinding me. I cover my vision while the light gets closer, and my ears finally pick up the sound of an engine. I don't bother asking for help. Perhaps walking alone on a deserted street is all it takes to snap me back to reality. The reality that I had believed a man who had never loved me.

I expect the vehicle to pass, but it surprisingly stops just as it reaches me. I now see it clearly. It's not a car but a bike. A sleek, black bike that looks as if it was made for something else apart from transportation. For war perhaps? it's edges are sharp.

And the rider? My eyes move from a pair of black boots to legs clad in skinny pants, then it moves to a torso clad in a sleek, midnight black jacket that has intricate patterns carved on it. When my eyes finally meet the person, I freeze. He now has his helmet off.

He has piercing blue eyes, a long nose, and long eyelashes, even longer than mine.

*He looks good* my wolf purrs in my head, but I immediately shut her up, but she doesn't stop.

*He looks better than that jerk* she says again, and I snap at her.

“You’re hurt.” His voice rings out, making me turn to him. He notices the dried blood stain on my dress.

“It’s nothing,” I say automatically, the same words I use too many times with Corey when he accidentally-on-purpose hurt my feelings. How did I not see all his actions before?

The stranger’s eyes flick back to my face, and I have the impression he doesn't believe a word I say. He looks from the blood on my dress to my dead phone, to the emptiness of the street around us.

“Get on,” he says, his tone leaving no room for argument. He gestures to the space behind him on the bike.

“I’ll take you wherever you need to go.”

Every instinct screams ‘stranger, danger’.

But thinking about walking for miles alone, with the bloodstain on my dress and the memory of another woman’s moans and laughter echoing in my ears somehow seems more terrifying.

My wolf, who had been so vocal before, was now quiet, watchful. She doesn't sense a threat from him, not in the way I did. She senses something else. Warmth.

“Where are you going?” he asks again, his voice softer this time, but still hinting a little coldness.

Where am I going? Not home yet. I couldn't let my father see me like this.

“The hospital,” I mutter, the first place that came to mind. He nods before reaching into a compartment on the bike and pulls out a second helmet, sleek and black like his own. He held it out to me. For a moment my heart skips a beat, but I quickly push this feeling aside. I take the helmet. My hands were shaking as I fumbled with the strap under my chin. He watches, making no move to help, letting me do it myself. When I finally managed to clip it, he gave another curt nod.

“Hold on,” is all he says as I awkwardly swing my leg over the seat, my ridiculous dress hiking up. I hesitate for a second, before placing my hands on his sides. The leather of his jacket was cold, but I could feel the solid muscle beneath it.

*So hot. He smells like home* my wolf purrs even more in delight, and I cannot help but be thankful that the stranger cannot hear her.

He kick-starts the bike, and the world erupts into sound and vibration. As the bike drives off, the force pushes me against him, and my chest presses firmly on his back. My breath hitches as my arms wrap tighter around his waist.

*You like him* my wolf states

*No* I reply firmly. I couldn't be liking another man just when one man hurt me hours ago. Yet, I can't help it. He feels warm, and somehow this warmth starts to creep into my chest. He smells really good, and I close my eyes, letting my hair get taken by the wind.

But this moment of serenity gets cut short as we finally pull to a stop in front of the hospital. He doesn't wait for me to thank him. As soon I get off, he zooms away, leaving behind some exhaust as well as his helmet.

…

“You're fine now and need to rest, but your uterus has suffered scarring. It took you so long to get to the hospital.” The doctor says, and all I do is stare at him with emptiness in my eyes. I don't understand any of the words he is uttering.

“It's sad to say, but this pregnancy was your first and last one,” the doctor adds, and I whip my head up to look at him this time. He is not joking. He has a serious expression marrying his face that tells me he's not lying. I feel as though I have been electrocuted. My chest feels clogged and it becomes increasingly harder to breathe.

“What do you mean?” I ask, struggling to hold on to my sanity until he drops a bombshell on me.

“You can't have children in the future,”