~Sam~

It was day five of Dominic being unconscious, and I was starting to lose my mind.

Of course, not in the dramatic cry-in-the-corner way. In the I-might-actually-murder-the-next-person-who-asks-me-a-stupid-question way.

“Luna, do you know when the Alpha will wake up?”

No, random pack member number six, I have absolutely no idea. Thanks for asking the same question everyone else has asked me fifty times today.

“Luna, should we postpone the council meeting?” 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Yes. Or not. I don’t care. Figure it out yourselves.

“Luna, the twins seem upset. Should we..”

If one more person tells me my children seem upset, I’m going to scream. Of course they’re upset. Their father almost died in front of them. What part of that screams ‘emotionally stable’?

I smiled through all of it. Answered politely. Pretended I had everything under control.

Then I went back to Dominic’s room and fell apart.

He was still lying there. Breathing but barely. The healers said his vitals were stable. He said he just needed time. He said his body was healing.

But he wasn’t waking up.

Five entire days and he was still unconscious.

I sat in the chair beside his bed. The same chair I’d been living in for almost a week. My back hurt. My eyes burnt from lack of sleep. My brain felt like mush.

“You need to wake up," I spoke to his unconscious face. “I’m serious. Wake up right now, or I’m going to slap you back into reality.”

Nothing.

“The pack keeps asking me questions I can’t answer. The twins are pretending they’re fine when they’re clearly falling apart. And I haven’t slept more than ten minutes at a time because I keep checking if you’re still breathing like some kind of psycho.”

Still nothing.

“Also, Killian left.” My voice cracked on his name. “Just packed up and went back to Moonstone without even saying goodbye to me. Which is fine. Totally fine. Except it’s been five days and he hasn’t called or texted or checked in once.”

“And I hate that it bothers me. I hate that I keep looking at my phone waiting for him to reach out. I hate that I feel abandoned by both of you in completely different ways.”

I put my head in my hands. “I need you to wake up. Please. I can’t do this alone.”

A knock on the door made me sit up fast. Wipe my face. Put on a smile.

“Come in.”

Devon and Diana peeked around the door. Both are looking hesitant.

“Can we see Dad?” Diana asked.

“Of course. Come here.”

They climbed onto the bed. Careful around all the tubes and bandages. Both of them curling up on either side of Dominic.

“Is he getting better?” Devon touched Dominic’s hand.

“The healers think so.”

“But he’s still asleep.”

“Yeah.”

“For how long?”

“I don’t know, baby.”

Diana’s lip trembled. “What if he never wakes up?”

“He will.”

“But what if he doesn’t?”

“He will," I said it firmer. “Your father is stubborn as hell. He’s going to wake up just to prove everyone wrong.”

Diana nodded but didn’t look convinced.

I stayed with them until they fell asleep. Both of them tucked themselves against Dominic, like being close to him would somehow bring him back.

Then I went to my own room. Took a shower. Changed clothes. Came back to find both twins gone and Dominic still unconscious.

The cycle continued.

Later that night, I finally cracked.

The twins were in bed. The pack house was quiet. I was alone in Dominic’s room staring at him.

“I’m so tired, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep pretending I have everything under control.”

“At some point, I was used to living my life without you but now we are back together, you can’t just leave me.”

“Is this payback for what I did? I’m sorry, please just talk to me.”

The tears came before I could grab a hanky.

“I need you to wake up.” I sobbed into my hands. “I need you to open your eyes and say something annoying so I can yell at you. I need you to be okay.”

I didn’t hear the door open.

Didn’t realise the twins were there until Diana said, “Mummy?”

I looked up. Both of them are standing in the doorway. Eyes wide and scared.

“Baby, you should be in bed.”

“You’re crying.” Devon stated. “You never cry.”

“I’m fine, this is what adults do when they are stressed.”

“Mummy, if you cry, I’ll do the same.” Diana came closer. “I know you’re sad right now but you told us that everything will be okay.”

“Yes but I just want it to happen faster.” I wiped my face. Tried to pull myself together. “Go back to bed. Both of you.”

They didn’t move.

"Please" My voice broke. “I need you to go to bed. I need a minute alone.”

Devon grabbed Diana’s hand. Pulled her out of the room.

The door closed.

I put my face in my hands again. I cried harder because my children just saw me fall apart, and there was nothing I could do to take it back.

***

The next morning, Lila showed up.

She examined Dominic without saying much. Checked his bandages. Studied the wound on his chest where the shadow magic had hit him.

“What’s wrong?” I asked when she frowned.

“Come here.” She gestured me over. “Look at this.”

I moved closer. Looked at the wound and saw the dark lines on the skin were spreading faster than last time.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes, the same thing that happened with Killian that made him crazy for a while." Lila’s voice was grim. “It’s still inside him.”

My stomach dropped. “You said the corruption was gone."

“Most of it is. But there are traces left. Deep in the wound. Close to vital organs.”

“So get it out.”

“It’s not that simple. The residue is rooted. Removing it surgically could kill him. Leaving it could corrupt him from the inside.”

“What does corrupt him mean?”

Lila looked at me. “It means he might wake up changed.”

“Changed how?”

“I don’t know. Shadow corruption affects everyone differently. Some people go violent. Some lose their memories. Some become something else entirely.”

"Stop," I backed away. “Stop talking.”

“Sam,”

“I said, ’Stop!’" My voice went loud. “You’re telling me my mate might wake up as a different person? As some corrupted version of himself? After everything we went through to save him?”

“I’m saying it’s a possibility we need to prepare for.”

“No. Absolutely not. I refuse to accept that.”

“Refusing doesn’t change the facts.”

“Then change the facts! Find a way to get the residue out! Do something other than stand there telling me my husband might wake up as a monster!”

Lila stayed calm. “I’m working on it. But you need to know what we’re dealing with.”

“I know what we’re dealing with. We’re dealing with you being wrong. Because Dominic is going to wake up fine. Completely fine. And you’re going to figure out how to make sure of that.”

“Sam, I know this is hard but...”

“Get out.”

“Let me help you get through this.”

“I said get out!”

Lila left without another word.

I stood there alone, observing Dominic and also the black lines visible under his skin.

He couldn’t wake up changed, especially since this loneliness was eating me up.

Three more days passed.

Eight days total since the fight. I checked my phone constantly. I told myself I was checking pack messages, the twins. Checking anything except Killian’s contact.

But I was lying.

I wanted him to reach out and ask how Dominic was doing or how the twins were handling everything.

He didn’t.

Pride kept me from texting first. Because reaching out would admit I cared, that his absence bothered me.

So I waited. Checked my phone. Got angrier every day he stayed silent.

Devon noticed. “You keep looking at your phone. Are you expecting a call from someone?”

“No, baby. Just dealing with pack business since your dad isn’t up yet.”

Just then I noticed Dominic’s fingers were twitching. My eyes widened immediately as I gasped, reaching out to hold him.

“Dominic? Can you hear me?”

I expected him to move more but he gave me nothing.

When his fingers went still again, it felt like I was hallucinating.

“Come on. Do it again. Move something. Anything.”

I waited, holding my breath while for any sign he was waking up but minutes only passed.

Maybe tomorrow he’d wake up.