The sharp scent of blood filled my nose, making it harder to breathe. My vision blurred, but I forced myself to stay conscious. I had to.
Naya was in my arms, her tiny body limp, barely breathing.
“Baby… please, please hold on,” I choked out, pressing my trembling hands over the gaping wound on her side. My own body screamed in pain, but I ignored it. I had to keep her warm. I had to keep her alive.
The crash happened so fast. One moment, I was driving through the forest road, my hands tight on the wheel, and the next—impact.
A violent, deafening crash.
Metal twisted. Glass shattered. And then—darkness.
When I came to, I was already out of my car, my body aching, my head spinning. My werewolf form had shielded me from the worst of the damage, but at a cost. I could feel my wolf whimpering inside me, too injured to heal quickly, too weak to shift back.
At first, I thought I’d protected Naya with my body. But when I saw her, when I saw how much blood she had lost, something inside me shattered.
She was so still.
Too still.
I was about to scream for help when I heard a weak groan a few feet away.
Skyla.
She was slumped against her car, her face twisted in pain, her hands clutching her stomach. Her pregnant stomach.
Of course, it had to be her.
The woman who had destroyed everything. The woman who had once walked away from Ezekiel, choosing to abandon him when he needed her the most—only to return the moment she saw him happy.
Skyla was Ezekiel’s first love.
And when she saw that he had moved on with me, that we had built a life together, had a daughter together, she was doing everything to pull him back.
I clenched my teeth, refusing to look at her. She didn’t matter.
My daughter was dying.
With trembling hands, I grabbed my phone, my fingers slipping from the blood coating them as I dialed.
Ezekiel.
He picked up almost immediately.
“Viana?” His voice was sharp, urgent. “Where are you? What’s wrong?”
“It’s about Naya, Ezekiel, it’s bad. She—” My voice cracked. “She needs help. I need you, please! She’s dying!”
A low, dangerous growl rumbled through the speaker, followed by hurried movement.
“I’m coming. Stay with her, Viana. Don’t let go.”
I sobbed, holding Naya closer. “Please hurry…”
And then I heard it.
The thunderous sound of paws slamming against the earth.
A shadow moved through the trees, fast. Massive.
And then—he was already here.
Ezekiel burst into the clearing in his full werewolf form, his silver fur slick with sweat and blood from battle. His golden eyes burned fiercely in the darkness, scanning the wreckage, his massive chest rising and falling with heavy breaths.
My heart clenched at the sight of him. He had come. He had come for us.
“Ezekiel!” I cried out, relief flooding through me. “Help her! Help Naya!”
He moved towards me, his golden eyes locking onto our daughter’s fragile form. My heart soared—he was going to save her.
But then—
A broken sob.
“Z-Zeke…”
Skyla’s voice.
And everything changed.
Ezekiel froze.
His ears twitched at the sound of her voice.
And then, before I could even process what was happening—he turned away from me.
Away from Naya.
Away from us.
He turns toward Skyla instead, his powerful form towering over her.
“Skyla?” His deep voice was raw, filled with something I couldn’t comprehend.
She was trembling, holding her stomach, her face twisted in pain.
“Zeke… please…” she whispered. “Our baby…”
Our baby.
The words echoed in my skull, sharp as a knife, slicing through every remaining thread of hope I had left.
Ezekiel’s breath hitched. His claws curled.
And in that moment, I knew.
I knew he was going to choose her.
I scrambled forward, my hands shaking. “Ezekiel, no! Naya needs you! Your daughter needs you!”
He turned back to me, but his gaze was cold. Emotionless.
It was a look I had never seen before.
A look that told me he had already made his decision.
“I can’t save all of you,” he said. His voice was low, final.
The weight of his words crashed down on me, stealing my breath.
I looked down at my daughter. My baby. Our baby.
She was still alive—but barely.
Skyla, on the other hand, was strong enough to talk, to beg. She wasn’t dying.
But Ezekiel had already chosen.
I lunged forward, gripping his bloodstained fur. “Please, Ezekiel! Please don’t do this! She’s your daughter—our daughter!”
But he didn’t even flinch.
Instead, he ripped himself from my grasp.
I fell to the ground, the cold seeping into my bones. I watched, helpless, as he knelt down and carefully scooped Skyla into his arms, cradling her the way I had cradled Naya.
His massive wolf form shifted slightly, muscles tensing.
And then—he ran.
He took Skyla and ran.
He left me there.
Left us there.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think.
The weight of betrayal crushed me as I looked down at Naya, my beautiful little girl.
She was barely holding on. Her small hand twitched, her lips parting slightly as if to say something—
“M-mom… D-don’t c-cry…”
And then—
Her tiny fingers went still.
Her breathing stopped.
And I screamed.
Screamed so loudly the entire forest trembled with the sound of my heartbreak.
Ezekiel had left us to die.
And I would never forgive him.
