Nathan’s POV

I pulled back to look at Kyra’s face, my heart pounding. I made myself move away from her, even though everything in me screamed to stay close. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

If it had just been about me, I would have kept kissing her until I couldn’t breathe. If it had only been about me, I would have seized this moment to beg for another chance to make things right. But nothing about this was simple—not after everything she’d been through. Her father was the first man she trusted, and he hurt her. Then I betrayed her. Even Kieran Carver, the man she fell for, lied and wounded her deeply.

Kyra’s scent, that sweet orange blossom smell, was messing with my head, making Alaric howl inside me. My wolf was desperate to get back to his mate and protect the pup. But I couldn’t let my wolf instincts control me.

Kyra had carried these wounds for so long. Taking advantage of her vulnerability now would make me no better than the others who had hurt her. How could I force her to love me again? What kind of Alpha would that make me?

"I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that," I said, swallowing hard as I pulled myself up, fighting against Alaric’s protests.

She gave me that blank look I knew too well now. I couldn’t read her anymore. After she broke down at the airport when her dad died, something in her changed completely. Her walls were too high now. She hid all her feelings, watching every move she made. It had taken months just to get her to trust me a little again.

I couldn’t mess that up by losing control of my feelings.

She looked away and yawned, doing it on purpose, which made my wolf whine. "I need to rest," she said softly.

I nodded and helped her stand, my hand going to her lower back like it always used to. She let me walk her upstairs, but the guilt and awkwardness between us felt heavy and thick.

I had kissed her, and she’d let me. I didn’t know what that meant to her, but to me, it meant everything. Goddess, I missed her. So bad it hurt in my chest.

I turned down the lights in her room, stepped out, locked the door, and leaned on the wall. I shut my eyes tight, grabbed my hair, and took a deep breath.

I hoped this wouldn’t mess up the progress we’d made. Those first months when she first came here, she had been so cold to me; it was hell. Alaric had been hurting the whole time, unable to help his mate. I couldn’t go through that again.

When I got to my room, Mom was calling. I picked up right away, and she went straight to asking about Kyra.

"Why didn’t you answer sooner? How’s Kyra?" She sounded worried.

I fell onto my bed and looked at the watch on my left arm, the one Kyra gave me. The moon on its face caught the light, reminding me of what we used to have, what we might have again.

"She’s okay, Mom," I said, running my fingers over the words on the back of the watch.

"Good. How’s the baby?"

"The baby’s good," I answered, smiling without meaning to. "She’ll be here soon."

"She? It’s a girl?" Mom’s voice went soft. "Look after her, son. We hurt her badly before. The least we can do now is keep her and the baby safe. Maybe then we can make things right."

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. "What about the investigation into Alpha Darian’s death?"

"They closed it," she sighed. "They almost blamed Kieran Carver for taking Kyra, and I tried to make sure they did, but his connections were too strong. The investigator from the Alpha Council just dropped the case."

My jaw tightened as I rubbed my temple. Of course Kieran would do anything to save himself. The Alpha of Raven Shadow Pack had more power than even my family did. Especially now, since he secretly controlled the Rogue faction, and his marriage to Emily had only made him stronger.

"Stop trying, Mom. He might come after you." Alaric growled at the thought of Kieran getting near my family.

"Don’t worry about me. Just take care of Kyra."

"Wait, where’s Sophia?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

"She’s at her condo." I could hear Mom trying to hide something in her voice.

"Can you check on her? She’s mad at me. She’s saying she’ll hurt herself." It felt wrong talking about Sophia when Kyra was here, but I couldn’t risk Sophia doing something stupid, even though I didn’t feel the same way about her anymore.

"O-Okay. I’ll go see her."

"Thanks, Mom."

After we hung up, I lay there staring at the ceiling, thinking. My feelings for Kyra had never gone away; they just got stronger every day. And Sophia... I had to face it: I didn’t love her anymore. It hit me when I saw how different she’d become. She wasn’t the same person. Now she was paranoid and jealous, threatening to hurt herself if I didn’t come back to her.

Going back to her meant leaving Kyra by herself, and I couldn’t do that. Kyra needed me, and Alaric would never let me leave our pregnant ex-mate when Kieran Carver might still be looking for her.

I prepared for Kyra to be cold with me the next morning, but she wasn’t. She acted normal while we talked about breakfast, as if we had never even kissed. I didn’t know if I should feel relieved or hurt. Her acting like nothing happened probably meant she was over me, and that hurt worse than anything.

I didn’t want her to be over me. Moon Goddess help me, I wanted her to still love me, but that was asking too much after what I’d done to her.

Kyra was on the couch reading while I sat on the stairs with my guitar. When I played the first note, she stopped reading and turned to look at me. I could smell her orange blossom scent getting stronger, showing she was interested.

I quickly looked down at my guitar so she wouldn’t catch me staring like some sad puppy. I started humming the song I used to play for her when we first became mates.

I tried to glance at her again, but she caught me. It was like she’d been waiting to catch me looking at her.

"Hmm." I cleared my throat and looked away. Fuck! I felt like some teenage wolf getting caught staring at his crush.

"O-Ow!"

She suddenly groaned in pain. I looked up to see her holding her belly, trying to get comfortable.

"Kyra!" I ran over and crouched next to her, my hand going right to her belly on top of hers. "What’s wrong?"

She looked at me, pain clear on her face. "It hurts. I think the baby’s coming."

I couldn’t breathe for a second as I stared at her. Alaric almost took over when he realized our mate was about to have her baby. I swallowed hard, got up and said, "We need to go to the hospital."

"It’s too early," she said weakly.

"It’s fine," I answered, trying not to freak out but failing anyway. "Better than rushing you there later when you’re screaming in pain."

She finally said okay, and I felt better.

I ran to pack some comfy clothes, then rushed back for my car keys. My hands shook while I helped her into the car, with Alaric pacing inside me like crazy.

Driving there, I kept looking at her while she rubbed her belly, her face twisting in pain sometimes. I had to make myself focus on driving. She was having her baby, and I was so damn excited I could barely handle it. It wasn’t my baby, but Alaric didn’t care about that. God, I wished she’d let me be the baby’s dad, let us be a real family.

On the way to the hospital, I promised the Moon Goddess I’d protect Kyra and her baby no matter what, even if she never loved me back.