Caden POV
The next morning, the penthouse was a different kind of hell. Martha, our senior Pack servant, was out sick. I had hastily reassigned Sarah, a skittish Omega who looked at the Alpha's den like it was a slaughterhouse, to watch Elara.
I was pacing the living room, screaming into my phone at an incompetent department head about the locked code, when a terrifying shriek tore through the kitchen.
I dropped the phone and sprinted. Elara's tiny body was convulsing on the tile floor. Her face was flushed a violent, angry red, and her little hands clawed desperately at her throat. Sarah was backed against the counter, trembling so hard her knees knocked together, pointing at a half-eaten piece of toast slathered in thick peanut butter.
My mind flatlined. Eulalie's warnings echoed like ghosts in my head. White Wolf cubs have hyper-sensitive immune systems, Caden. No processed human foods.
I tore through the medicine cabinets, throwing bottles of painkillers and bandages onto the floor. Where was the EpiPen? Where did Eulalie keep it?
Useless! my inner wolf, Rage, snarled, thrashing against my ribs in absolute fury. You can't even protect your own blood!
"Call the Pack Doctor!" I roared at the paralyzed Omega, the sheer force of my command making her drop to her knees. "NOW!"
Twenty minutes later, the sterile scent of bleach in the Madden Pack's private clinic did nothing to mask the sour stench of my own panic.
Elara was stable, a small oxygen mask over her pale face, but her breathing was still a ragged wheeze.
The Pack Doctor glared at me with a disrespect that bordered on treason. "Alpha, any Omega knows a White Wolf pup cannot process human allergens. Emergency epinephrine must be kept on hand at all times. You nearly killed your heir."
His words pierced me like a silver blade. Before I could respond, the suffocating stench of cheap rose perfume flooded the room. Adalynn clicked in on her stilettos. She glanced at the bed, wrinkled her nose, and immediately pulled out a compact mirror to reapply her lipstick.
Elara stirred. Her heavy eyelids fluttered open, and she let out a weak, raspy cry. "Mommy..."
Adalynn sighed and reached a hand out, but Elara weakly shoved it away, shrinking into the hospital pillows.
My chest tightened painfully. Without thinking, I reached out with my mind, brushing against the frayed, bleeding edges of my severed mate bond. Rage howled in my head, a desperate, agonizing sound. Our cub needs her mother! Find our MATE!
But then I saw Adalynn watching me, her eyes expectant, waiting for me to prove I didn't need the woman who had walked out on me. My Alpha pride flared, hot and blinding. I slammed a mental wall down, crushing the bond into silence.
"We can handle it," I said coldly.
Eulalie POV
The air in the Ghost's Nest smelled of ozone and impending rain. I was deep in the backend of a firewall bypass when a sudden ping from my encrypted comms software shattered the silence.
It was the hidden tablet I had left in Elara's toy box.
I accepted the video call instantly. Elara's face appeared on the screen. She looked terrifyingly pale, her eyes red-rimmed and exhausted.
"Mommy..." her voice was a broken, raspy whisper. "I miss you. My throat hurts."
An invisible hand crushed my heart. I couldn't breathe. Nyx, my inner White Wolf, let out a high, agonizing whine, pacing frantically in my mind.
"Oh, my sweet baby," I choked out, pressing my fingers to the screen. "Mommy is right here. What happened to your—"
A blur of motion interrupted me. Adalynn's face suddenly filled the frame, her eyes wide with manic fury as she snatched the tablet away.
"Who are you talking to?!" she shrieked. She looked at the screen, a vicious, triumphant smirk twisting her lips. Then, she turned the camera slightly so I could see her looking down at my terrified daughter.
"Your mother doesn't want you!" Adalynn spat, enunciating every word like a weapon. "She abandoned us! Stop bothering her!"
The screen went black. The call was severed.
Absolute, suffocating silence filled the loft. I stared at the dark monitor, a single tear slipping down my cheek. But the sorrow only lasted a second.
The heartbreak evaporated, replaced by a cold, lethal fire that flooded my veins. I realized then that as long as I played the victim, they would keep hurting my cub.
Nyx stopped whining. She stood tall in my mind, her eyes glowing with ancient, predatory wrath, and unleashed a dark, bloodthirsty snarl.
They have hurt our cub for the last time. We will burn his entire world to the ground.
Caden POV
The next morning, the penthouse was a different kind of hell. Martha, our senior Pack servant, was out sick. I had hastily reassigned Sarah, a skittish Omega who looked at the Alpha's den like it was a slaughterhouse, to watch Elara.
I was pacing the living room, screaming into my phone at an incompetent department head about the locked code, when a terrifying shriek tore through the kitchen.
I dropped the phone and sprinted. Elara's tiny body was convulsing on the tile floor. Her face was flushed a violent, angry red, and her little hands clawed desperately at her throat. Sarah was backed against the counter, trembling so hard her knees knocked together, pointing at a half-eaten piece of toast slathered in thick peanut butter.
My mind flatlined. Eulalie's warnings echoed like ghosts in my head. White Wolf cubs have hyper-sensitive immune systems, Caden. No processed human foods.
I tore through the medicine cabinets, throwing bottles of painkillers and bandages onto the floor. Where was the EpiPen? Where did Eulalie keep it?
Useless! my inner wolf, Rage, snarled, thrashing against my ribs in absolute fury. You can't even protect your own blood!
"Call the Pack Doctor!" I roared at the paralyzed Omega, the sheer force of my command making her drop to her knees. "NOW!"
In the chaos, Sarah had grabbed Elara's favorite blanket from the nursery and, without thinking, snatched the tablet lying in the toy box to keep the cub calm during the ambulance ride.
Twenty minutes later, the sterile scent of bleach in the Madden Pack's private clinic did nothing to mask the sour stench of my own panic.
Elara was stable, a small oxygen mask over her pale face, but her breathing was still a ragged wheeze.
The Pack Doctor glared at me with a disrespect that bordered on treason. "Alpha, any Omega knows a White Wolf pup cannot process human allergens. Emergency epinephrine must be kept on hand at all times. You nearly killed your heir."
His words pierced me like a silver blade. Before I could respond, the suffocating stench of cheap rose perfume flooded the room. Adalynn clicked in on her stilettos. She glanced at the bed, wrinkled her nose, and immediately pulled out a compact mirror to reapply her lipstick.
Elara stirred. Her heavy eyelids fluttered open, and she let out a weak, raspy cry. "Mommy..."
Adalynn sighed and reached a hand out, but Elara weakly shoved it away, shrinking into the hospital pillows.
My chest tightened painfully. Without thinking, I reached out with my mind, brushing against the frayed, bleeding edges of my severed mate bond. Rage howled in my head, a desperate, agonizing sound. Our cub needs her mother! Find our MATE!
But then I saw Adalynn watching me, her eyes expectant, waiting for me to prove I didn't need the woman who had walked out on me. My Alpha pride flared, hot and blinding. I slammed a mental wall down, crushing the bond into silence.
"We can handle it," I said coldly.
