Ryan’s Pov
This cannot be happening.
I drove as fast as I could to the hospital, my hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles turned white. My heart pounded in my chest, fear clawing at me like a beast I could not fight. I kept glancing at the back seat where Aurora lay motionless, her face pale, her body too still.
“Aurora, stay with me. Please,” I whispered, but my voice cracked.
She did not move. She did not respond.
No, she cannot be gone. She cannot leave me like this.
The hospital was too far. Why did it have to be so far?
As soon as I reached the entrance, I slammed the car into park and threw the door open. I ran to the back seat, my hands trembling as I gathered her in my arms. She was limp, her body lifeless against mine. I held her close as I rushed inside, my voice echoing through the building.
“Someone help her now!”
A group of nurses came running with a stretcher. One of them, a woman with worried eyes, looked at me and said, “Put her down here.”
I hesitated for a second before gently laying her down. The second she left my arms, a strange emptiness settled inside me, but I shook it off. She needed help. That was all that mattered.
“Call all the doctors right now,” I demanded, my voice barely holding back the rage and fear that burned inside me.
“Sir, please calm down,” one of the nurses said. “We are taking her to the emergency ward.”
Calm down? My little one was bleeding out in front of me and they wanted me to be calm?
They wheeled her away, and I tried to follow, but a nurse stepped in front of me, blocking my way.
“You cannot go in, sir. You need to wait outside.”
I clenched my jaw. “Why?”
“Sir, please let us do our job. She is in good hands,” she said, offering a small smile, as if that could fix anything.
Was she trying to flirt with me when my mate was dying?
“Where is the doctor?” I growled, running a hand through my hair, my patience slipping away.
“I am here,” a man in a white coat said, approaching quickly.
“Save her,” I cut him off before he could introduce himself. “Save my Luna.”
His eyes widened in confusion for a second before he nodded. “We will do our best.”
I watched helplessly as they disappeared behind the emergency room doors. The moment they shut, an unbearable silence fell around me.
I took out my phone and called Caleb.
“How is Jamie?” I asked the second he picked up.
“He is already healing,” Caleb answered. “What about Aurora?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “She is in the emergency ward.”
Caleb was silent for a moment before speaking again. “She is strong, Ryan. She will fight through this.”
I wanted to believe him. I needed to believe him.
After the call, I could not sit still. I paced back and forth in front of the doors, my thoughts spiraling. What was taking so long? Two hours had passed.
I swear, if they were failing her, if they were letting her slip away, I would tear this hospital apart.
Hold on, little one. I swear I will protect you.
I was about to break the door down when it finally opened.
The doctor stepped out, his face pale, his eyes filled with something that sent a cold shiver down my spine.
“How is she?” I asked, stepping forward.
He hesitated.
Say it. Say she is fine. Say she is going to be okay. Say she is alive.
Then he spoke.
“We lost her.”
The world stopped.
No.
No.
No.
This was not real. This was a lie.
I stepped closer to him, my body shaking. “What did you say?”
His face was grim. “We lost her. We tried everything, but….”
I grabbed his coat, lifting him off the ground.
“You are lying!” I roared. “She cannot be gone. She is not gone!”
The nurses gasped. Someone tried to pull me back, but I shoved them off.
“Bring her back!” My voice harsh. “Bring her back right now!”
“Ryan,” Caleb’s voice cut through the air. “Let him go.”
I released the doctor, and he stumbled back, gasping for breath.
My chest was rising and falling rapidly. I could not breathe. I could not think.
She was not gone. She could not be.
I didn’t wait.
The doctor’s words echoed in my head…”We lost her,” but I refused to accept it. I stormed into the hospital room, my vision red with rage, my heart pounding so hard it hurt.
Aurora lay on the bed, wires and machines surrounding her, but I didn’t care. I ripped every last one of them off her body.
“Sir, please! You can’t take her!”
“Sir, listen!”
“Sir…!”
Their voices blurred together, meaningless.
“Sort out the bills,” I told Caleb, my voice low and sharp. “I’m taking her to Shadowhaven.”
I lifted her into my arms, her body limp against me. Too light. Too still.
This isn’t happening.
Aurora is strong. She’s a fighter.
But right now, she wasn’t fighting back.
I carried her out of the hospital without another word, ignoring the people calling after me. My only focus was her.
I laid her gently in the backseat, brushing my fingers over her cheek. Cold.
I clenched my jaw and slammed the door shut.
Then I drove.
Faster than I ever had before.
The road blurred past me, but all I could see was her pale, motionless, slipping away from me with every second that passed.
I won’t let you go.
I crossed into Shadowhaven, the boundary between our worlds fading behind me. The second I arrived at my home, I threw open the car door and gathered her in my arms again.
The moment I stepped inside, all eyes were on me.
The guards. The maids. They could smell her. They knew.
A human.
But I didn’t care.
Let them stare.
One of the maids, a girl I didn’t recognize was watching too closely, but I ignored her.
I took Aurora straight to my room, laying her down on my bed.
Sitting beside her, I grabbed her hand.
It was lifeless.
“Aurora,” I called softly.
No response.
I swallowed hard. My chest felt tight, like something inside me was breaking apart.
I had seen death before. I had caused death before.
But this…. this was different.
This was my little one. My Aurora.
I ran a trembling hand through my hair, then leaned down, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
I wasn’t good at showing emotions. I didn’t know what to feel or what to say.
“You didn’t get to see so much,” I whispered against her skin.
A sudden knock on the door made my head snap up.
Who dared disturb me?
Anger flared inside me, sharp and dangerous. “Come in,” I said, my voice cold.
The door opened, and a young girl stepped inside. No older than eighteen. The same one that stared at me intensely while I was coming in with Aurora.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Who are you?” My voice was sharp, demanding. “What do you want?”
She hesitated, looking at Aurora before meeting my gaze.
Her lips parted, but no words came out.
“I won’t ask again,” I growled. “What do you want?”
Her hands curled into fists at her sides. It was as if she was gathering courage to talk.
She should.
And then she said what I least expected.
“I can save her.”