RAMON’S POV

I knew I had heard Lorena’s voice. It had to be hers. But when I arrived at the scene, I only saw a maid screaming hysterically as she watched Lorena’s dying body on the floor, blood pooling beneath her.

I had to push her aside and carry Lorena in my arms, her body limp and unnaturally cold against mine. The metallic scent of blood filled my nostrils, making my wolf growl in distress.

I didn’t take her to the clinic. It didn’t occur to me to do that in the heat of the moment. I took her to my room, before calling for the two pack doctors to come around.

They were still trying to revive her. All I could do was wait, pacing back and forth along the halls where my room was situated. The wooden floors creaked under my heavy steps, the sound echoing in the tense silence.

Guilt overwhelmed me as I paced. I had pushed Lorena away a little too hard, forgetting how crazy she was. Her response was to remove herself totally from my life.

I didn’t mean for her to get hurt when I drew a line between us. At least, not physically. The image of her pale face kept flashing in my mind, her usual fiery spirit replaced by unnerving stillness.

My legs were weary from the lack of rest. I had gone from playing house with Sonia, to being ambushed, and having to fight, all in one day. The muscles in my shoulders burned, and my wolf felt restless beneath my skin, urging me to do something—anything to fix this mess.

At this point, I was surviving mostly on sheer will.

My door opened whilst I had walked down the hall.

I quickly turned around, and saw Carl approach me, his face drawn with exhaustion.

"Do I need to call in Sonia?" I asked, walking to him quickly.

"No need. She’s fine. Stable for now," he said, as we both stopped at the same time in front of each other.

"Are you sure? She’s not going to die?" I anticipated a positive response before I could freely breathe again.

"No she’s not."

The breath I had been holding in all along came out like a rushing wind. Life had passed before my eyes. Life without Lorena.

Sure she was a lot to handle, but she kept things interesting enough. I didn’t want to let go of her. Not if it meant her death.

However as I lifted my head, I discovered Carl was still brooding, his shoulders slumped and eyes avoiding mine.

"You don’t seem happy about the news, or is it just me?" I paused to ask.

He lifted his head slowly, and that was when I noticed he had been avoiding direct contact with me.

Stepping forward, I closed the little space between us.

My hand dropped to his shoulders, and I squeezed firmly.

"Whatever it is Carl, I can handle it. Is Lorena really fine?"

"I don’t think we should be discussing that response out in the open," Adelaide said, walking out of the room.

My eyes shot up, and the look in her eyes mirrored that of Carl’s.

"Can I at least see her first?" I asked, quickly losing faith.

"I hate to reject your request, but she’s asleep now. We need to talk," she said.

I nodded and stepped back as my hands dropped off Carl’s shoulders.

"Follow me," I said, turning towards my office room. The hallway felt longer than usual, each step heavy with dread.

We arrived, and I went directly to my chair, the wood creaking under my weight as I sat down.

"Please take a seat," I urged both of them.

They did, on the two chairs directly opposite me. The air was still thick with tension, and they were still avoiding my gaze. The scent of old books and polished wood filled the room, but it did little to calm the storm inside me.

"Tell me what the problem is," I requested, tired of waiting, my fingers drumming restlessly on the desk.

Carl cleared his throat, as if he was ready to spill. "Adelaide?" He passed the burden to her.

She rolled her eyes at him, but did straighten up.

"This news may be good or bad, depending on how you choose to view it," she began, her voice careful.

"Okay, go on then," I urged her with a nod of my head.

"Lorena is pregnant," she blurted out.

"What?!" My eyes widened, and my wolf kicked violently against my chest. "She’s what?"

"You heard me, Ramon. She’s pregnant. Now as much fault as she has, I haven’t seen her look at another man the way she looks at you since she arrived at this pack. Safe to say, you’re the father of the child," she said.

"No please," I shook my head in utter disbelief. "It can’t be. I mean it didn’t happen all these years, why now?"

"Maybe it’s just history repeating itself?" She shrugged.

My eyes narrowed on her. She never outrightly spoke about it. Jenner didn’t either. But I could tell they had some resentment towards my father.

He had been so in love with my mother, according to what everyone who remembered said.

However, when Ferins had attacked, and I was smuggled out of the pack whilst my mother lay dead, he had to flee.

He fled the pack and was hidden in another pack for five years.

It was the part of the story I never talked about, because it made the mystery of my father appear ordinary.

He was just a man at the end of the day. A heavily flawed one.

Because at the end of that five years, he managed to impregnate my mother’s closest servant who ran away with him. And that was how Ivy came to be.

But before he could ever enact his revenge, the pack leader who shielded him in his pack ratted his whereabouts to Ferins.

Ferins returned and finished the job he started.

That was the story. The story in its entirety.

"No need to go down memory lane. You are not your father," I heard Carl say, and I catapulted out of my head.

"Doesn’t seem like it. I’ve impregnated the daughter of the man that sold out my father, whilst being a fated mate to the daughter of the man that killed my father. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree," I said, my voice heavy.

"I don’t see why you need to beat yourself up about it. Look at you and Ivy. Five years age gap, fifteen years without knowing the existence of each other, yet you became close. Maybe the same would happen when Sonia bears your child," Adelaide continued bitterly.

I didn’t pay any mind to her words, because as soon as she mentioned Sonia, all I could think about was her.

She would hate me even more than she did when she first arrived at my pack, and by the moon goddess, she should be justified in her hatred.