“Uncle Noah is definitely with Mommy now. You’re just a bad woman! You tried to steal him from us. But now that you’re gone, Uncle Noah can be my daddy!”
Leo jumped from a tree and landed hard on top of me.
A sharp, tearing pain shot through my abdomen. I collapsed against a tree, gasping and clutching my stomach, my face pale.
Leo tilted his head, studied me, and grinned. “Mommy said to let you know–Uncle Noah cares more about me than he ever did about you!”
He threw himself backward, clutching his chest and wailing, “Auntie Talia, don’t hurt or kill me!”
A dark shadow flashed by. Noah appeared from nowhere. He scooped Leo off the ground and looked at me, furious.
He slapped me hard.
“How could you be so cruel, Talia? He’s just a kid! I can’t believe I ever thought I knew you!”
The force of the slap sent me to the ground. I barely registered the warm rush between my legs.
Something was slipping away from me.
I stopped caring about being unfairly blamed. I could only crawl towards Noah as panic rose in my chest. “Noah, please-save our baby-”
He froze, as if he hadn’t heard me correctly. Before he could say anything, Selene ran over, sobbing as she held Leo. “You cannot possibly be pregnant.
“Please, Noah, let’s get Leo treated. God knows what she did to him! He’s only a child!”
Noah didn’t say anything and walked away, holding Leo in his arms. “Stay here and reflect on what you’ve done,” he told them.
Blood pooled beneath me, soaking into the ground; my vision dimmed; I waved my hands blindly, attempting to grasp something while whispering repeatedly through trembling lips, “Please, please-save my baby-”
Noah dashed through the streets with Leo in his arms, charging into the healer’s office.
The healer examined Leo thoroughly and concluded, “He’s fine.” “Only a few bruises.”
Noah exhaled a deep breath of relief.
Leo gave Selene a smug wink behind Noah, and Selene gave him a proud thumbs-up before turning to Noah with a wounded expression. “I always knew Talia didn’t like Leo, but I never expected her to actually lay hands on a five-year-old pup. “She went way too far this time.”
Noah frowned, troubled; he felt Talia had also crossed a line.
He was about to comfort Selene when he felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his chest–the mate bond–but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
Noah blinked in confusion and covered his chest with a hand.
What was that?
Noah and Selene left the healer’s place and returned to the villa without first reaching out to Talia, who he assumed owed Selene an apology. He wasn’t going to forgive her unless she made things right.
…
As night fell, Talia had yet to return.
Noah’s patience had run out, and he was about to turn on her when a knock came at the villa door.
He stormed in, flung open the door, and yelled, “Finally decided to come back?” I thought you—” His voice was caught in his throat.
It wasn’t Talia, but a staff member standing politely at the door with a ticket in his hand.
“Good evening.” This is a ferry ticket that Ms. Talia purchased earlier. She didn’t come to pick it up today, so I figured I’d drop it off.” Noah stared blankly at the ticket in his hand.
Why does Talia need a ferry ticket?
