Seraphina’s POV

The sharp scent of disinfectant pulled me back to consciousness. White walls surrounded me once again.

"Not this place again," I muttered, my throat dry and scratchy. The familiar taste of medication coated my tongue. This hospital room was becoming far too familiar for my liking.

Something felt different this time though. Usually when my powers drained me completely, I’d wake up with splitting headaches and dizziness. But now there was something else. A cold, hollow sensation settled deep in my core. Not physical pain exactly, but something far worse. Like a piece of my soul had been carved out and taken away.

My pulse quickened. I tried to remember what happened before I lost consciousness, but my mind came up blank. Everything after Julian walked away from me was just darkness. The heartbreak had been too overwhelming to process anything else.

Movement beside my bed startled me. I turned my head sharply toward the chair.

Julian sat there, looking like he hadn’t slept in days. His skin was ashen, dark circles shadowed his eyes, and worry lines creased his forehead. The concern etched across his features caught me off guard.

Why was he here? The last time I saw him, hatred had burned in his eyes. He’d looked at me like I was some kind of monster he couldn’t wait to be rid of. So why did he look so devastated now?

Before I could form words, before I could demand answers, something hit me like a freight train. Not physically, but from somewhere deep inside. A primal scream echoed through my very essence.

Raw, crushing grief slammed into me without warning. The kind of soul-deep anguish that steals your breath and leaves you gasping. My wolf let out a mournful howl that seemed to go on forever, filled with unbearable loss.

At first I couldn’t understand it. Why this overwhelming pain? Why was my wolf keening like she’d lost everything? Then slowly, horribly, the pieces began falling into place. The emptiness in my belly. The cold void where warmth should be. The way my wolf was mourning.

No. It couldn’t be.

A strangled scream tore from my throat. "NO!" My hands flew to my stomach, pressing frantically against the spot where life should be growing. Where a tiny heartbeat should flutter against my palm. But there was nothing. Just terrifying, empty silence.

I shook my head violently, tears blurring my vision. "No, no, no..." This had to be some kind of nightmare. My baby was fine. My baby had to be fine.

Julian moved toward me instantly, reaching out with obvious pain in his own eyes. "Seraphina, please, try to stay calm—"

"Don’t you dare touch me!" I screamed, batting his hand away with surprising force. My voice cracked into a whisper. "Where is my baby? Julian, where is my baby?"

The door opened softly and the doctor entered, his expression grave. I stared at him desperately, clinging to hope that he would tell me I was wrong. That everything was okay.

"Doctor," I choked out through my tears. "Please tell me. Why can’t I feel my baby’s heartbeat? Why can’t I feel anything?"

He approached slowly, sympathy clear in his eyes. He drew a deep, heavy breath before speaking words that shattered me completely. "Luna Seraphina, I’m deeply sorry. The baby... the baby didn’t survive."

The world tilted sideways. I couldn’t get air into my lungs. "No," I whimpered brokenly. "That’s not possible. My baby was strong. My baby couldn’t be... Please, bring my baby back. I need my baby back."

I collapsed inward, the grief consuming everything. I curled into myself, sobbing uncontrollably, my whole body convulsing with each breath. The pain was everywhere, in every cell, every nerve. My baby. My precious child. Gone.

Julian reached for me again, his fingers barely grazing my arm. "Seraphina, I’m so sorry. I truly am—"

I looked up at him then, and the devastation in my eyes transformed into something harder. Colder. Pure rage mixed with crushing disappointment.

"You did this," I snarled, jerking away from his touch like it burned me. "Don’t touch me! You... you killed our baby!"

The words poured out of me, fueled by agonizing pain. "Our child is dead because of you! Because of you and your mother! What happened to your father was an accident! I swear I never meant for any of it to happen!" My voice broke completely. "But that didn’t give you the right to murder my baby! Before I could even meet him! Before I could know if it was a boy or girl! Before I could hold them in my arms!"

He stood there while his mother hurt me. He watched and said nothing because deep down, he agreed with her actions. He chose his family over our innocent child.

Now he would have to live with the knowledge that he destroyed his own flesh and blood. I would make sure he never forgot it for as long as he lived. That baby was part of me, and I would never get that part back.

Tears and snot streamed down my face as I glared at him. "I will never forgive you for this, Julian. Never."

I should have stayed away. Maybe then our baby wouldn’t have had to suffer before giving up the fight.

Julian had always been the source of my pain, and now he’d taken the most precious thing I’d ever had.