Jade’s pov:
I came to the feeling of a pleasurable butterfly caress on the back of my hand. It was kind of unusual, seeing as Alex usually caressed my back during my sleep, but I brushed it off.
I came to, after the most terrible nightmare, and I realized I needed to make sure it wouldn’t come to pass, ever.
“What are you doing up, Alex? It’s still early,” I grumbled sleepily, my voice hoarse as one who had slept a lot.
“Jade,” mom’s voice reached me even as the hand covering mine tightened ever so slightly.
“Mom?” I mumbled and then opened my eyes at long last.
I found myself in a room so white it was grating on my nerves. I was in one of the clinic’s rooms, and yet I had no recollection of what might have brought me here.
What was going on?
“Mom?” I began tentatively, not quite sure how to formulate my thoughts.
“Mrs Falls, please call for the nurse,” Alex, who was holding my hand tenderly, preciously, as if to never let go, let out in a weary tone.
I looked into his vivid green eyes, searching for answers which were nowhere to be found. His gaze was as soft as ever but his face was far too unreadable. And it scared me… it scared me beyond words.
“What’s wrong with me?” I asked after a moment of heavy silence. “Why am I here?”
Mom had walked out of the room by then, leaving me and Alex alone.
“Why do you believe you’re here, love? What’s the last thing you remember?”
“I… I’m… I am not sure,” I told him matter-of-factly, dampening my lips in a mix of dread and anticipation, before asking the one-million-dollar question. “I had a terrible nightmare… It couldn’t be true, could it?”
“It depends,” Alex drawled calmly, his tone so soothing I was tempted to go back to sleep. “What was your nightmare about?”
“I can’t even… I don’t want to say it,” I told him with tears in my eyes.
“Tell me,” he urged me softly.
“It was about dad,” I said in one breath, my eyes downcast, half-closed, as I began to recall everything that happened this evening. “Where is dad?”
Alex gave me a kind pat on the head, and his hand remained in my hair, playing with it softly.
“Your dad is an absolute hero, and he will continue watching over you forever and ever,” he said.
“How is… No, it can’t be. How? Why?” I kept mumbling nonsense while tears fell down my cheeks.
“There was an attack on the North border. Silas let down his guard and was about to get attacked when your dad jumped in to save the new dad…”
I already knew this much, and my grief was overpowering my very senses nonetheless.
But why did I pass out? What happened to me?
Before I could say anything further, my wolf’s voice rang in my head.
I shut down, she said calmly.
Huh? What? I replied to her, completely and utterly dumbfounded.
I had to shut down, she went on. There was no other way.
What do you mean?
You were hurting, and the whole pack felt it too, one way or another. You also hurt the pup. I can’t let you hurt the pup.
What pup?
She wasn’t making any sense. Pups shouldn’t feel my sorrow on the same level since they didn’t have access to mindlink yet.
What was she on about?
What pup? She echoed after me cheekily. Our pup, duh!
Are you saying…
Shhh, it’s a secret.
What? I frowned a little bit.
Secret. Don’t tell a soul, she reiterated. I feel that there’s something off with Alex. I sense foul play. We must protect the pup.
I snapped back to reality to the feeling of Alex playing with my hair still, and calling my name.
“Jade?” He let out almost desperately.
“I told you it’s love to you,” I told him sweetly in between sniffles.
“I was worried you wouldn’t want to talk at all,” he said softly. “Care to let the doctor check up on you?”
“I am fine,” I drawled and even shrugged.
“What do you mean fine?” Mom’s tone was tinted with outrage, as if she couldn’t believe her ears. “You were out cold for over 2h. Your blood tests came back inconclusive…”
I nodded and cut in at once, “No wonder. My wolf, sensing that my sorrow was affecting everybody, decided to shut down. There was no use talking to me about it since I was in no mood to listen…”
I shrugged at the end.
“I don’t deserve you,” Alex let out in a proud tone of voice.
“Can you please get me discharged? We have a lot to prepare,” I then said, in a tone so sad and vulnerable, I knew I needed this to be the last time I was like this.
I was pregnant. I had a pup growing inside of me and was going to become a mom. My pup needed a fierce mom to protect him, not a weak one who only knew how to cry.
I didn’t believe my wolf was playing games on me to cheer me up. On the contrary, I believed her 100%… After all, ever since she came into my life, she never failed me.
May this be the start of a new chapter! I told myself on a sigh, not quite as happy as I should be with the pregnancy given the circumstances.