Aria POV:
I sat in the empty room until the sun was a harsh glare through the windows.
The tears wouldn't come. It felt like they had all dried up over the last four years of waiting for a man who would never be mine.
My body was a hollow shell, numb and cold.
Then my phone chimed.
It wasn't a call. It was a text message from an unknown number.
A sick, heavy feeling settled in my stomach as I opened it. I knew, somehow, that this was not a wrong number.
A black and white ultrasound picture filled the screen. A tiny, grainy shape. A fetus.
Beneath it, a single line of text.
"Our little miracle. I'll be moving in soon."
The phone slipped from my fingers. It landed silently on the thick rug, but the impact inside my chest was like a bomb detonating.
A sharp, tearing pain ripped through me. It started in my heart and spread, a web of agony constricting my lungs. I gasped for air, but it felt like breathing in shards of glass.
This wasn't just emotional pain. This was real.
Bond-strain sickness.
The legends were true. When a fated mate endures the ultimate betrayal, the bond itself turns toxic. It attacks the body from the inside out.
My vision swam with black spots. I gripped the edge of the bed to keep from collapsing. My wolf, a part of me that had been quiet and subdued for years, whimpered in pain deep inside me.
My hands shook as I fumbled for my laptop in the bedside drawer. I needed to see. I needed to confirm the nightmare.
I typed in the address for the pack's biggest gossip website. It was a vile place I usually avoided, but today, I needed the poison.
The headline screamed at me in bold letters: "ALPHA AND HIS FORMER FLAME REUNITE FOR A COZY BREAKFAST."
The photos were a series of daggers. Bryson and Kelsey, sitting at a small table in a cafe. He was looking at her, his face alight with a tender, protective smile I hadn't seen directed at me since the day we first met.
In one photo, his hand rested possessively on her flat stomach.
The comments below were a torrent of acid.
"Kelsey looks so fragile. I'm glad the Alpha is finally there to protect her."
"That Omega placeholder has been useless for four years. It's about time she was replaced."
"Look at the way he's touching her stomach... could there be good news?"
The public had already written our story. Kelsey was the damsel in distress, the returning true love. I was the obstacle. The barren, unwanted mate.
Each word, each picture, twisted the knife of the bond-sickness deeper.
The pain in my chest became unbearable. A coppery taste filled my mouth. I coughed, a wracking, painful spasm that shook my whole body.
I looked down at my palm.
A smear of bright, crimson blood stained my pale skin.
Panic, cold and sharp, finally pierced through the numbness.
This was real. I was literally breaking apart because of him. Because of the bond he so carelessly abused. The pack doctors always warned that severe cases could cause permanent damage, could even silence my wolf forever. It could kill me.
I had to get to the hospital.
My fingers automatically went to my phone, my thumb hovering over Bryson's contact. The instinct to call my mate, my Alpha, was deeply ingrained.
But he was with her. The woman carrying his child. Would he even care?
His voice from this morning echoed in my head. Don't act like a shrew.
I deleted his number. The action was small, but it felt monumental. A severing.
Then I dialed the pack hospital's emergency line.
The doctor's voice on the other end was grim. He didn't ask questions, he just listened to my choked explanation and gave a single, firm command.
"Get to the ER. Now."
I hung up, using the wall to pull myself to my feet. Every step was a fresh wave of pain.
I pulled on a simple sundress, not bothering with makeup. My face in the mirror was ashen, my eyes hollow. I looked like a ghost.
Before leaving the room, I took one last look around. This opulent prison I had called home for four years. It was filled with his scent, but not a single drop of his warmth.
The last flicker of sentiment died in my eyes, replaced by a cold, desolate emptiness.
I grabbed my car keys from the bowl by the door.
I didn't look back.
I walked to the garage, each step taking me further away from him, and closer to whatever came next.
