The Next Morning

The sharp scent of antiseptic filled the air, mingling with the steady rhythm of the heart monitor in the background. I had been standing for three straight hours guiding the team, giving orders, cutting, suturing, and keeping a patient clinging to life.

When the final stitch was tied and the patient was safely transferred to recovery, I pulled off my gloves and mask, breathing deeply. Sweat clung to my temples. My body ached, but my heart was light. The operation had gone perfectly that was all that mattered.

I walked out of the theatre, intending to get some rest in the doctors' lounge. But my steps faltered when I saw someone waiting at the end of the corridor, Lucian.

I tried to walk past him, pretending not to notice. Then his hand shot out, gripping my arm.

The pull was sudden, forceful he dragged me into an empty consultation room and shut the door behind us.

"Lucian! What are you doing?" I snapped.

"I need to talk to you," he said, his voice low but trembling. "Please, just listen."

"We have nothing to talk about. I'm not part of your private dramas anymore."

But something in his eyes stopped me for a moment.

Gone was the arrogant, self-assured man I once knew. His expression carried exhaustion remorse something almost human beneath the icy façade.

"Amanda and I it's over," he said quietly. "You should know the truth. That child, he isn't mine. She deceived me. I found out only recently, and since then I've never stopped regretting what I did."

My heart lurched painfully. I clenched my fists to stop them from shaking.

"Stop it, Lucian. Do you really think I'll just believe that? After what you did to me? You rejected our bond in front of her, while she held that baby in her arms!"

"I know," he said, voice breaking. "And that was the biggest mistake of my life. I was blind, desperate for an heir, obsessed with the idea of legacy. I abandoned the only person who ever truly loved me."

I took a sharp breath, my throat tightening. "And now that you know the baby isn't yours, you suddenly remember me? You're sorry just because you were lied to?"

He shook his head violently. "No, Sera. I'm sorry because I lost you. I've been looking for you for years. I went to other cities, asked everyone who might have known you but you vanished and when I finally saw you again with a child and another man, I..." He stopped, swallowing hard. "I can't bear it."

His words hit me like shards of glass. Every memory of that night the rejection, the humiliation, the pain came crashing back, raw and sharp and now here he was, standing before me, claiming remorse.

He took a step closer. "I never stopped loving you. I know I don't deserve it, but please give me one chance to make things right. Howlshade needs its true Luna back."

I took a step back. "You're too late, Lucian. I already have a life now. A family. And I'm happy."

"Is there really no place left for me in your heart?" he asked softly.

I looked at him for a long moment. Deep down, there was still that faint trace of the love I once had for him my first love, the one that had cut the deepest. But there was something stronger than love now: memory. Memory of betrayal, humiliation, and tears that no apology could ever undo.

"I can't go back to you," I said firmly. "You belong to my past, and my past is buried with your betrayal."

Lucian stood frozen, his expression hollow, as if my words had broken something inside him.

I turned toward the door.

"If you truly regret what you've done," I said, pausing, "then let me live in peace. Don't come near me, Kael, or my child again."

I stepped out, leaving him alone with his regrets.

My pulse was still erratic as I walked down the corridor. His voice echoed in my mind, I'm sorry.

I gripped the lapel of my white coat, trying to steady my breath. Then I felt it familiar, commanding, magnetic. That scent, Alpha Stormfang.

Kael.

He stood at the end of the corridor, tall and composed, his eyes sharp and unreadable. The moment he saw my pale face, the air around him shifted, darkened.

"What did he do to you?" His voice was calm but carried the weight of restrained fury.

"He said he regrets everything," I replied quietly. "He told me the child isn't his."

Kael's jaw tensed. "Did he touch you?"

I shook my head. "He only pulled me into the room. Nothing more. I rejected him, Kael. I told him I have a new life, a new family, and that I don't regret it."

Kael stepped closer, his hands finding my shoulders. His eyes searched mine, steady and sure. When he saw the tears that threatened to fall, his tone softened.

"I believe you."

But when he turned toward the door Lucian had disappeared into, his expression hardened again. The air grew heavy with the pulse of his Alpha aura. Two nurses passing by instinctively lowered their heads, unable to look directly at him.

The door opened. Lucian stepped out, unaware that Kael was there until their eyes met.

"Stormfang," Lucian greeted coldly.

"Howlshade," Kael answered in kind.

The corridor fell silent. Two Alphas, face to face, their power radiating like electricity in the air.

Lucian glanced briefly at me before fixing his gaze on Kael. "I only came to speak with Sera. This doesn't concern you."

"You're mistaken," Kael said evenly. "Sera is my Luna. That makes her my business. You gave her up, and now she's mine."

"You don't understand what we've been through."

Kael took a step forward. His voice dropped, low but thunderous. "What I understand is this: you rejected her, humiliated her, and left her broken. And now that she's risen above you, you want her back? That will never happen."

The corridor was so still it felt suffocating. Staff who had been nearby quietly slipped away, sensing the tension of two Alphas on the brink of confrontation.

I stepped between them. "Enough. This is a hospital."

Lucian's eyes flicked toward me. "You really won't give me another chance?"

I looked him straight in the eyes. "No. I've made my choice. Kael is my mate now and I'm happy."

Kael's hand found my waist, pulling me gently but firmly against him, a silent declaration.

"Listen carefully," Kael said, his tone calm but deadly. "If you ever come near my Luna again, I'll consider it an act of war between our packs."

Lucian said nothing. His expression betrayed a storm of emotion anger, disbelief, loss but he finally turned and walked away. I exhaled shakily, my body trembling. Kael cupped my face in his hands, forcing my eyes to meet his.

"I won't let him hurt you again, Sera. Do you hear me? Never again."

I nodded, pressing my hand against his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart beneath my palm and for the first time since Lucian's return, I believed him.