“And you, her mate, not only weren’t there for her, but you were out partying with your lover. Are you even human?”
The healer’s voice rose with each word. Other staff members were staring now.
“I’ve been working in this hospital for fifteen years. I’ve seen terrible things. But I’ve never seen someone as heartless as you.”
Other healers rushed over to break up the fight.
1/3
But every word they spoke accused Garrett of wrongdoing.
“Dr. Williams is telling the truth,” one nurse said. “I was there. That poor girl could barely stand.”
“She was so pale, so broken. And you were nowhere to be found.”
“How could you abandon your mate when she needed you
Faced with these accusations, Garrett couldn’t say a word.
His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.
most?”
His mind was filled with that day–my face, calm to the point of numbness.
The way I hadn’t cried. Hadn’t screamed. Hadn’t begged.
All these years, he had grown
accustomed to ignoring my emotions.
I had been so good at hiding my pain, at swallowing my tears.
How could he have noticed the intense grief hidden beneath that seemingly calm expression?
Garrett’s heart ached sharply.
For a moment,
he saw the truth clearly. Saw what he had done.
But he still gritted his teeth and shook his head.
“You’ve all been bought off by Aria. I won’t believe your lies.”
The words sounded hollow, even to him.
11
“Aria cared so much about her mother. If her mother had died, how could she have no reaction at all?”
“Because she’s stronger than you,” Dr. Williams said quietly. “Because she had to be.”
“And that child–she risked her life to give birth to him. How could she be so calm about it?”
“Maybe because she knew her mate wouldn’t be there to mourn with her.”
But even as he said this, his heart was in turmoil.
Doubt crept in like poison. Memories surfaced that he’d tried to suppress.
The way I had touched my belly when I thought he wasn’t looking.
The baby clothes I’d hidden in the closet.
The names I’d written in a journal he’d glimpsed once.
Garrett wanted to prove he was right.
He drove home like a madman.
His car swerved dangerously through the streets. Other drivers honked and cursed.
He parked crookedly in the driveway and stumbled to the front door.
Looking at the empty house, he suddenly remembered.
The day they fought, when I came back, I had been packing my things.
A single suitcase. That’s all I’d taken.
Seven years of marriage, and all I’d wanted was one suitcase.
I really was determined to leave.
“Aria!”
He ran through the house, throwing open doors.
“Aria!”
His repeated calls went unanswered.
The silence was deafening. The house felt like a tomb.
Garrett suddenly lost his footing and fell to the ground.
His knees
the hardwood floor with a painful crack.
when he saw it–the Luna ring that had rolled under the table.
His breath caught in his throat.
This
ring had been custom–made by Garrett himself shortly after their mating ceremony.
He’d spent weeks designing it. Chosen every stone personally.
In the werewolf world, rings represented loyalty and love.
I had treasured it.
For ten years, despite our constant arguments, I had never taken off this ring.
Not when he brought other women home.
Not when he humiliated me in front of the pack.
Not when he ignored me for weeks at a time.
For both of us, this ring was more than jewelry.
It was a witness to our beautiful past.
Those early days when he’d actually tried to make me happy.
It was our last remaining hope and memory.
But now, the ring lay discarded in a forgotten corner.
Abandoned like everything else he’d thrown away.
And I was nowhere to be found.
