<h4>Chapter 340: The Longest Wait</h4>


    <strong>Kieran:</strong>


    I had never waited so desperately to hear the sound of a door opening as much as I did in that moment.


    The doors of the emergency room swung outward, and the attending doctor stepped into the hallway, his mask pulled down, his expression grave.


    My stomach dropped instantly. The air around us seemed to thicken, and I could hear Oscar’s sharp inhale, Draven’s boots scraping against the floor as he surged forward, and River’s aura pressing down on all of us like a thundercloud about to break.


    The doctor’s eyes flicked between us, wary, as though he knew one wrong word might cost him his life. "Alpha," he addressed River first, his voice steady but heavy. "We need to move her. The contractions have started... the baby is on the way."


    For a second, I didn’t breathe.


    Contractions. Baby.


    My knees almost gave out under me, and I found myself gripping the back of a waiting chair in the hallway just to keep standing.


    The doctor continued, his tone tightening. "Because of this, we can’t stabilize her with the standard healing protocols. Healing energy at this stage could trigger rejection in both mother and child. Her body may mistake the baby as a foreign threat. And with the injuries she sustained..." He hesitated, ncing at River, then at all of us. "It will not be an easy delivery."


    "What injuries?" Oscar’s voice cracked like a whip.


    The doctor swallowed. "Internal bruising along her ribs. Two fractures... possibly three. Good thing is that there’s no internal bleeding and just slight external scraps and cuts. But the pain..." His voice dropped. "She’s enduring more than most wolves could at once in this state. We can’t numb her without risking the baby’s heart."


    Draven cursed under his breath and turned away, dragging his hands through his hair. I could feel his wolfshing inside him, the same way mine was, wing, pacing, demanding we tear down walls to reach her.


    "Another good news," the doctor added secondster, "is that the baby seems stable... so far. Strong heartbeat. Responsive movements. But..." he warned, "with her condition... the stress ofbor could tip the bnce at any moment."


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    My vision swam. The thought of losing her... pressed against my chest so hard I could barely breathe.


    River’s voice cut through the fog. "Do whatever you have to," he ordered, his voice low and sharp, hismand heavy with Alpha authority. "But you save Evaline."


    The doctor bowed his head, ready to turn back, but River’s next words stopped him cold.


    "And the baby too."


    I snapped my gaze to him, and for the first time in years, I saw River falter. Just a fraction. His fists were tight, his jaw clenched, but his eyes - those hard, unyielding eyes - burned with something raw, something desperate.


    Before any of us could respond, Jasper appeared at the end of the hallway, moving quickly, and behind him came a team of shifter doctors and healers - the best in our world. They swept past us, their hands glowing faintly, carrying cases of herbs, potions, and equipment.


    The hallway grew quiet after they disappeared behind the emergency doors again. Too quiet.


    My brothers and I were left outside, standing in a suffocating silence, each of us unraveling in our own way.


    Oscar paced the hallway like a caged animal, his fists bloody from where he had punched the wall. Draven sank into one of the chairs, his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking as he fought to control himself. River stood against the wall, still as stone, but the air around him vibrated with suppressed power.


    And me?


    I felt useless. Helpless. The woman I loved was lying in there, her body torn apart, her life hanging in bnce, and all I could do was wait. My hands trembled. My chest ached so badly I thought my ribs might shatter.


    I remembered the first time I had seen her smile. The softness in her amber eyes. The quiet strength she carried despite the weight she bore. And now, she was suffering because we hadn’t been there to protect her. Because I hadn’t...


    "She’s strong," I whispered, more to myself than anyone else. "Evaline’s strong. She’ll fight."


    "She shouldn’t have to," Draven shot back, his voice muffled but sharp. His head lifted, eyes bloodshot. "She shouldn’t be in there alone."


    I didn’t argue. Because he was right.


    Minutes turned into hours, though the clock on the wall told me it had only been over an hour since they had taken her inside. An hour of pacing, of silence, of flinching every time a healer passed the hallway. An hour of imagining every worst-case scenario until my mind was a battlefield I couldn’t escape.


    At one point, a scream pierced the air - a raw, agonized sound that tore straight through me. Oscar froze mid-step. Draven bolted upright. My wolf howled so loudly inside me I thought the entire floor must have heard.


    And River pressed his palms to the wall, his head bowing forward, his body trembling once before he straightened again, his mask of strength sliding back into ce. But I saw it. The crack. The break.


    We were all breaking.


    A healer found us twenty minutester. His face was grim as he delivered updates. "She’s fighting. But the pain is making her weak. We are using abination of healing herbs and controlled magic to keep her stable through the contractions. The baby’s heartbeat is strong, but..." He hesitated, then added softly, "the longer this drags, the more dangerous it bes."


    And then he left again, leaving us in the same silence, the same torment.


    I couldn’t sit anymore. I paced with Oscar, my ws itching toe out, my body thrumming with restless energy I couldn’t burn off. Draven’s eyes never left the emergency doors, like if he red hard enough, they would open and give him the truth. River stood, unmoving, but his breathing had grown shallow.


    It felt like an eternityter when the doors finally opened again.


    This time, it was another healer and he looked in such hurry that all four of us were on our feet.


    "The father shoulde inside. The baby’s about toe." He announced and it took more than just a second for all of us to register his words.


    My wold wed at me, telling me to step inside and find her, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t the father.


    "Can we all go in?" Oscar asked, staring at the healer who looked surprised for a second before he nodded his head in approval and headed back inside.


    Oscar and Draven immediately rushed inside after the healer. And just when I thought about taking a seat again to wait, I felt River’s fingers wrapping around my arm before he was dragging me inside with him.


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