From Betrayed Luna to Wolf Queen (Lillian) novel Chapter 5

Lillian's POV:

I drifted in and out of a feverish, restless sleep, my body weak and my mind trapped in tangled, draining dreams.

Sometime deep in the night, I felt a gentle but urgent shake at my shoulder.

"Lillian... Lillian, can you hear me?"

One moment I was burning up, the next shuddering with chills. I forced my eyes open, my vision swimming until Chloe's worried face came into blurry focus.

"Chloe..."

"You're burning up. I'm taking you to the hospital," she said, her voice tight. She'd come to check on me after midnight, bringing one of her family's trusted Betas. Thank the Moon Goddess she had.

If I'd been left to burn through this fever until morning, I might have slipped away for good.

Chloe's phone, placed on the nightstand, kept lighting up with calls—Julian flashing on the screen.

She ignored it, her annoyance clear, until she had me bundled into the passenger seat of her car. Then, with a sharp sigh, she answered. "What?"

"Tell Lillian," Julian's voice came through, strained and impatient, "that no matter how angry she is, any action against Iris needs to wait until she's fully recovered."

Chloe exploded. "Julian, you absolute—"

I heard his words through the speaker, and my heart didn't just sink—it crystallized into a shard of piercing, glacial ice.

Chloe glanced at my frail form beside her, then snarled into the phone, "You're so worried about Iris' recovery, but your own mate just lost a pup, she's—"

Before she could finish, I reached over and took the phone from her hand.

Chloe looked back, her eyes wide, as I simply ended the call.

"What are you doing? Let me tear him a new one!" she hissed, fury blazing in her gaze.

She stared at me, her expression shifting from anger to profound pain. "I'm just watching from the sidelines and I'm going out of my mind. How have you lived with this for years?"

I leaned my head against the cold window. "He doesn't believe it happened. Arguing is a waste of energy."

Chloe fell into a heavy silence.

She was right. Hadn't I raged about Iris countless times over the last six months? Julian never pulled back; he only dug in deeper. This time, he'd even been her support person in the delivery room.

The mere thought made the air in the car feel too thin.

I closed my eyes. "Don't mention the miscarriage to him again."

"Why?"

Why?

Because by dismissing it, he'd already convicted me of lying about the pregnancy.

After all our years as bonded mates, we didn't possess even the basic currency of trust. What hope could possibly remain?

"My decision is final. I'm severing the bond. I want it to be clean," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

I didn't want Julian's guilt either.

Guilt would only be another chain, another tangled thread between us.

Chloe understood, and the understanding seemed to hurt her more. "That spineless, miserable..."

She gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles white, and said nothing more.

The car sped toward the city hospital.

We used to love each other so fiercely. Now we'd reached a point where I didn't want to leave behind a legacy of either love or hate—just absolute silence.

Chloe helped my weak, stumbling form through the sliding emergency room doors.

And there, in the stark fluorescent light of the waiting area, we ran straight into Julian and Iris.

Julian was cradling a tiny, blanket-swaddled pup. A small entourage of pack guards trailed behind him. Iris was in a wheelchair, being pushed by an attendant, soft sobs shaking her shoulders.

"Julian, the pup has to be alright..."

"He will be. Everything will be fine." Julian's voice was a low, tender murmur meant solely for her.

That particular gentle seriousness—I hadn't heard him use that tone with me in over half a year.

It wasn't the distracted, placating tone he used to shut down my arguments. This was focused, wholly devoted to comforting her.

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