Summer’s POV
<b>Darkness </b>enveloped mepletely. For blessed moments as consciousness slowly returned, I believed <b>it </b>had all been a horrific nightmare. A terrible dream I could wake from, where Felix would be waiting with his mischievous smile.
But the sterile scent of antiseptic piercing my nostrils. Then the steady beep of monitors. The stiffness of hospital sheets against my skin. My eyelids felt impossibly heavy as I forced them open<b>, </b>blinking against harsh fluorescent lights.
Alexander sat beside my bed, his powerful frame somehow diminished. Dark circles haunted his eyes, his normally immacte appearance disheveled. When he noticed my eyes open, relief washed over his
face.
“Summer,” he whispered, reaching for my hand.
For one blessed moment, confusion clouded my mind. Why was I here? What had happened?
Then memory crashed through me like a physical blow.
Felix. My baby. My son.
“No,” I gasped, the word barely audible through my parched throat. “No, no, no.”
“1
Alexander gripped my hand tighter as I tried to sit up. “Easy, sweetheart. You’ve been unconscious <b>for </b>days.”
Days? The word didn’t register. Nothing mattered except-
“Felix<b>,</b><b>” </b><b>I </b>choked out. “Tell me it wasn’t real. Please.”
The look in Alexander’s eyes shattered whatever hope I’d been desperately clinging to. His jaw clenched as he struggled to maintainposure.
“I’m so sorry, Summer.”
The pain that erupted was unlike anything I’d ever experienced–worse than Foster’s beatings, worse than losing my wolf. It was primal and all–consuming. My heart wasn’t just breaking; it was being ripped from my chest.
A scream tore from my throat as I thrashed against the bed, pulling at tubes and wires. “My baby! I want <b>my </b>baby!<b>” </b>
Alexander tried <i>to </i>hold me still, his voice urgent but gentle. “Summer, please. You’ll hurt yourself.”
“I don’t care<b>!</b><b>” </b>I screamed, wing at his arms. “Let me die too! I want to be with him!”
Nurses rushed in, alerted by the frantic beeping of machines.
“My son,” I sobbed as a sedative was injected into my IV. “My baby boy.”
The drugs pulled me back toward darkness, but this time, it offered nofort.
When I woke again, the room was dimmer. Night had fallen, but Alexander remained at my side, his hand still holding mine. He looked even more exhausted than before.
“How long?” I whispered.
“You’ve been in and out for five days,” he answered, his thumb stroking my palm. “The doctors said your body shut down from the shock.”
“You tried to remove your IV and take your own pills when you first regained consciousness three days ago. You don’t remember?<b>” </b>
I shook my head slowly. Those days remained nk.
Why hadn’t I seeded? Why did they save me?
My gaze drifted to the small table beside my bed. The medication… if I could just-
Alexander followed my gaze, his expression hardening. “Don’t even think about it.”
“What’s the point?” I whispered, tears streaming down my face. “He’s gone. My reason for living is gone.”
“Summer, please. Felix wouldn’t want-”
“Don’t.” The word came out sharper than I intended. “Don’t tell me what he would want. He’s gone.”
Alexander’s eyes shed,“And you think that’s the end? You don’t want to know who’s responsible for his
death?<b>” </b>
I froze. “What do you mean?”
“Felix didn’t just die from his previous injuries,” Alexander said, his voice dropping dangerously low. “The toxicology report came back yesterday. They found traces of apound that elerates organ failure. Someone poisoned him, Summer. Someone made sure he wouldn’t survive.”
The numbness that had enveloped me suddenly shattered, reced by something white–hot and dangerous.
“Who?” The word escaped like a growl.
“We don’t have proof yet. But I have my suspicions.” His eyes met mine, dark with shared rage.“Are you really going to check out before we find who did this to our boy?”
His words ignited something in my hollow chest. A spark. A reason.
“Where is he?<b>” </b>I asked.