Alaina’s POV

The cold water didn’t wake me. It burned through my skin, and the next thing I knew, fire was spreading through my veins. My wolf whimpered inside me. She felt weak and trapped. I tried to move, but darkness pulled me under again.

“Something’s wrong! Get her to the infirmary now!” I heard a voice shout through the fog.

I could barely catch my breath as I was lifted onto a stretcher. The scent of antiseptic and wolves filled the air. Pack healers moved around me quickly. Someone pressed a hand to my forehead and hissed, “Fever. High.”

When I blinked, the room was spinning. The last thing I saw before blacking out again was him — Justin — standing near the door.

When I woke up again, I heard voices.

“Didn’t you say she was faking it?” Justin snarled, grabbing Aaron by the collar.

His aura flared. His wolf was half surfacing. The air was filled with dominance.

Aaron shoved his hand off. “How should I know? She always pretends to be fragile. You’ve heard the story of the wolf who cried for help too many times.”

“Enough,” Jane’s voice cut through. I could hear the sound of her heels clicking on the floor. She looked like Luna. She was always perfectly composed, perfectly cruel. “She agreed to donate her blood to Danielle. The test matched. That’s all that matters.”

The pack doctor, Dr. Fred, frowned. “We’ll lose her if we don’t stabilize her first.”

Jane’s lips curled slightly. “Dr. Fred, your father and my husband have an understanding. Let’s not make things complicated. The papers are signed.”

Dr. Fred straightened. “I’m a healer. My duty is to protect life, not destroy it.”

Aaron growled low, but Jane stopped him with a raised hand.

“Call your father. This doctor will fall in line soon enough.” She turned to Justin. “Remember, Danielle is your mate-to-be. Take care of her.”

Justin nodded. “Yes, Luna.”

Bright lights burned my eyes when I was pushed into the emergency wing. My wolf whimpered weakly. Due to how tired and weak she was, she was unable to heal me fast enough. There was only so much somebody could take.

“Alaina,” a familiar voice whispered. “Brother’s here. You’re not alone.”

I blinked through tears. It wasn’t Aaron. It was Elijah, my real brother. The only one who’d ever come for me.

Five years ago, when I almost bled to death giving birth, no one cared. Not the Moonfall pack, not the man who put me there. Only my brother’s scent kept me tethered to this world.

“Doctor, she’s covered in old wounds,” a nurse murmured nearby. “Should we alert the pack guards?”

“No,” Dr. Fred said softly. “She’s just been through hell.”

He looked at me with pity in his eyes.

“The fake daughter of the Moonfall Pack,” I heard him mutter under his breath.

When I woke again, moonlight came in through the curtains. My IV dripped quietly. The room was empty.

The wolf in me stirred faintly.

“Run,” she said.

She didn’t have to tell me twice.

I tore the needle from my arm, biting back the pain, and limped to the bathroom window. My legs trembled, but I forced myself out. I was weak, but I had to do this.

I jumped, hoping I’d land safely. My wolf lent me just enough strength to land silently on the grass outside.

I caught the scent of pack guards. I hid in the shadows and slipped through the back gate. I couldn’t stay, not when they planned to cut into me like I was nothing.

I had someone waiting for me. My son.

The child I nearly died for five years ago. I didn’t even know who his father truly was, but none of that mattered. He was my light in the dark. He was my reason to survive.

I ran until I reached a deserted phone booth at the edge of New York. My hand shook as I picked up the receiver and dialed.

After two rings, a deep voice answered. “Finally calling me, little wolf?”

I shivered. “I didn’t have a choice. They tried to kill me.”

“I warned you,” he said calmly. “The only way to live is to cooperate with me. If I hadn’t protected you in prison, you’d already be dead.”

“I’ll do it,” I whispered. “I’ll try to get close to Kane… but I don’t think he’d ever look at someone like me.”

He chuckled darkly. “Oh, he will. You’re his weakness. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

The line went dead.

My wolf stirred again inside me.

“We will survive,” she whispered. “We have to. For the pup.”

And I promised her that we would.