Chapter 570
“I’m sorry,” he breathed, his tears soaking through my thin hospital gown. “I’m so sorry, my beautiful Luna. I thought I was losing you. I thought I was saving you.”
I sank to my knees beside him and wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face in his dark hair. “You’re never losing me,” I whispered, our bond flaring to life between us — warm and golden, healing the jagged edges of our souls.
For a long moment, there was only the sound of our breathing and the quiet hum of the Moonpetals.
Then a sharp vibration against my thigh shattered the peace.
I pulled back slightly and fished my phone from the pocket of my hospital gown. The screen glowed in the foggy darkness, an urgent news alert blazing across the top: CRIMSON PAW PACK ALPHA FEMALE DOSHA RELEASED ON BAIL. ILLEGAL MAGIC CITED IN EVIDENCE TAMPERING.
My blood ran cold. Before I could even process the headline, the screen flickered — the alert vanishing, replaced by an incoming call. The caller ID displayed only three words: Unknown Caller.
My thumb hovered over the screen. A cold knot of dread tightened in my stomach. Every instinct screamed at me to decline, to hurl the phone off the rooftop. But my fingers moved of their own accord, pressing the green button and lifting it to my ear.
For a heartbeat, there was only silence.
Then —
“Enjoying the reunion, little wolfless bird?”
Dosha’s voice. Silky. Venomous. Dripping with dark amusement. It came through the speaker like poisoned honey — just sound waves against my eardrum — yet the malice in it slithered down my spine like cold oil, raising every fine hair on my arms.
I gasped. A wave of nausea and dizziness crashed over me, the shock of her voice — intimate, invasive, triumphant — hitting me like a physical blow. The phone slipped from my trembling fingers and clattered against the wet stones as my hands flew instinctively to shield my stomach.
“Adella?” Dallas’s head snapped up, his eyes instantly bleeding into the predatory, glowing silver of his Lycan. He had heard that voice.
Even through the small speaker, even from where he knelt, his Lycan senses had caught every venomous syllable. A low, murderous growl vibrated deep in his chest as he pulled me against him, his scarred hand covering mine on my belly, his gaze sweeping the darkness for the threat that had just slithered into our sanctuary.
Adella POV
The damp chill of the rooftop was replaced by the sterile, magic-warded warmth of our private suite in The Sanctuary. Dallas leaned heavily against the pillows of the hospital bed, an IV line feeding into his arm. The room smelled of antiseptics, but beneath it was the comforting, familiar presence of my mate. His grip on my hand was ironclad.
I sat on the edge of the mattress, basking in the fragile peace of our reconciliation, my free hand resting instinctively over my stomach.
Then the icy, venomous presence slithered back into my defenseless mind.