<b>Chapter </b><b>81 </b>


    E


    33


    I was lying on the examination table in a hospital gown with my feet up in the stirrups, staring at the ceiling tiles and trying to convince myself that this was the right thing to do. Dr. Evelyn said the procedure would be quick and rtively painless this early in the pregnancy. I could go home within a few hours, and it would be like it never happened.


    Did I want that?


    “Are you ready, E?” Dr. Evelyn asked as she pulled on a fresh pair of gloves.


    I opened my mouth to say yes, but the word wouldn’te out.


    Instead, I found myself thinking about the tiny life growing inside of me. About the child who would have a perfect mixture of mine and Alexander’s features. About family dinners and bedtime stories and first steps


    all the moments I would never get to experience.


    “E?” Lilith squeezed my hand.


    “I…” My throat felt tight, like I couldn’t breathe properly. “I can’t,” I whispered, and then louder, “I can’t do


    this.”


    I sat up abruptly, swinging my legs over the side of the examination table. The hospital gown was barely covering me, but I didn’t care. I had to get out of there.


    “E, wait,” Dr. Evelyn called out as I stumbled toward the door. “We should talk about this-”


    “E, dear, please,” Lilith added, but I was already pushing through the door and into the hallway.


    I ran barefoot down the corridor, my hospital gown pping behind me,pletely ignoring the startled looks from the nurses and patients. All I could think about was getting away from that room, away from the


    choice I’d almost made.


    When I burst through the doors into the waiting room, I expected to find it empty except for maybe a few random patients. Thest person I expected to see was Alexander, sitting in one of the chairs with his head


    in his hands.


    But there he was.


    “Alexander!” I cried his name out like it was the one thing that could keep me tethered to this world.


    His head snapped up at the sound of my voice, and for a moment we just stared at each other across the


    room.


    Without thinking, Iunched myself across the room and into his arms.


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    Alexander shot to his feet and caught me easily, pulling me against his chest as I dissolved into tears. I buried my face in his shoulder, breathing in his familiar scent.


    “I couldn’t do it,” I sobbed against his shirt. “I was lying there and I just couldn’t”


    “Shh,” Alexander murmured, his arms tightening around me. “It’s okay. You don’t have to.”


    “But the baby–my condition–I don’t know what to do-”


    “E, look at me.” Alexander pulled back just enough to cup my face in his hands, forcing me to meet his eyes. “I found the test. And the pamphlet.” His thumbs brushed away my tears, “I don’t want you to have an abortion. I want us to raise this child together.”


    The words sent a shock through my body. “You… what?”


    “I want to mark you. Complete our bond properly. I want to give <i>you </i>the family you deserve.”


    For a moment, hope bloomed in my chest so fierce it was almost painful. Maybe Alexander had finally realized he loved me. Maybe our night together had meant as much to him as it had to me.


    “We’ll need to extend our contract, of course,” Alexander continued, and my heart immediately sank. “It will need to be much longer than before.”


    The contract. Of course. Even now, even when he was offering to save our baby’s life, Alexander was thinking about legal documents and binding agreements. Not love. Not the family we could build together out of genuine affection.


    But at least he didn’t hate me. At least he wanted to be responsible for our child.


    And most importantly, he was offering me a way to save the baby I’d already fallen in love with.


    “Yes,” I said without hesitation. “Yes, I agree.”


    Alexander’s eyes searched mine. “Are you sure? Once I mark you, there’s no going back. We’ll be bonded for life.”


    I thought about the alternative–watching our child grow up knowing their father had rejected us both, or worse, not growing up at all because we had both died from this fucking illness.


    “I’m sure.”


    Alexander nodded once, then looked around the waiting room. There were a few other people scattered throughout the space, but he didn’t seem to care about the audience.


    “This might hurt,” he warned, his hands moving to frame my neck.


    “I know.”


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    Alexander’s eyes shed a brilliant green for just a moment before he leaned down and pressed his lips to the spot where my neck met my shoulder. I felt his canines extend, sharp points against my skin, and then


    he bit down.


    The pain was immediate and intense, like being struck by lightning. But it onlysted a second before it transformed into something else entirely–a rush of energy so powerful it made my knees buckle.


    I felt it the moment our bond snapped into ce. Like a missing piece of myself had suddenly been returned. The hollow ache that had been living in my chest for months, no, years, was gone, reced by warmth and strength and a connection to Alexander that felt as natural as breathing.


    But the energy kept building, flooding through my system faster than I could process it. My vision went white around the edges, and I felt myself falling.


    Thest thing I remembered was Alexander calling my name as everything went dark.


    I woke up to the sensation of strong arms holding me and a sharp, stinging pain in my neck. My body felt tired, but also humming with a strange energy…


    “What… happened…?” I groaned, pressing my hand to my aching neck. When I cracked my eyes open, I found that my fingers hade away bloody.


    I blinked slowly, trying to focus on the faces hovering above me. Alexander was cradling me against his chest, backlit by the fluorescent hospital lights. Lilith was there too, her hand pressed to her mouth as she


    stared down at me.


    “You passed out<i>,” </i>Alexander said gently. “Right after I marked you. You’ve been unconscious for about thirty


    seconds.”


    I tried to sit up, wincing as my newly marked neck throbbed with the movement. The bite was still tender, but underneath the pain was something else.


    Completeness.


    And a pulse that wasn’t mine.


    “How do you feel?” That was Dr. Evelyn’s voice, and I looked over to see that she was kneeling over me too. She was… smiling. Had I ever even seen her smile?


    Furrowing my brow, I took mental/inventory of my body. The constant fatigue that had been weighing me down for so long was gone.


    “I feel…” I paused, trying to find the right words. “Amazing.”


    Lilith, Dr. Evelyn, and Alexander all beamed. “Look,” Dr. Evelyn said, holding up the metal piece of her


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    可


    stethoscope so I could see my eyes. They were glowing a bright golden color, like molten honey. My breath


    caught, and I shakily lifted my hand to touch my cheek, just below my left eye.


    “Miss me?” a familiar voice purred in the back of my mind.


    My wolf had returned.