Chapter 13: safe haven
1252 Words
The morning after the storm, the hospital corridors buzzed with quiet urgency. Nurses whispered in corners, and security tightened across the lower floors. Word had spread — someone had been killed during the night. But no suspect. Even with the cameras, they still didn’t know who it was.
Room 104 remained untouched by the chaos.
Raina sat upright, her hair pulled back into a loose braid. She was reading Adam’s note for the fifth time, the edges slightly crumpled from how tightly she’d held it when she first woke up.
"I’ll be right back. Love you."
Thankfully, it wasn’t a goodbye.
But it wasn’t a promise either.
She had cried quietly after finding it, half from relief, half from fear with so many what ifs running through her mind. But now, she has chosen to stay calm. Especially for her baby.
---
The soft sound of footsteps pulled Emily’s eyes to the doorway again.
Adam stepped into the hospital room, dressed simply in black jeans and a grey hoodie, but his arms were full — a soft folded blanket, a bouquet of white roses, slightly wet from the morning mist, followed by baskets of chocolates and goodies brought in by a man in a suit and dark shades.
Raina exhaled a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding before her lips parted in surprise.
“What’s all that?” she asked.
He moved quickly but gently, placing the roses in a water jug by the window and unwrapping the blanket like it was something sacred.
“I didn't know what you liked, so I got everything they had,” he said, pointing to the baskets with a wide smile.
“You came back,” she whispered.
“I said I would,” he replied, stepping toward her.
He handed her the blanket, and she pressed it to her cheek without a word.
Emily, who had spent the whole morning assuring Raina — “I’m sure he’ll be back,” she had repeated so many times, stood in the corner, arms folded, but less defensive than before. She watched Adam closely, a small smile on her face.
“You brought all this?” she asked, her voice laced with disbelief.
“You and I... we didn’t get a normal beginning,” he said softly. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t give you some kind of comfort now.”
Raina’s eyes welled up. She pressed her lips together, trying not to let the tears spill out.
She cuddled up in Adam's arms, and he rubbed her tummy with one hand while the other rested gently between hers.
“Let’s move,” Adam said, his eyes full of quiet joy.
“You can stay with my family doctor. He’ll treat you better, and I’m sure you’ll be more comfortable than this.” He planted a soft kiss on her forehead.
“We don’t have to,” Raina said, hesitant.
“The hospital’s being investigated. People are asking questions. I don’t want you or the baby involved in any of it.” He lowered his voice. “I want to take you to my family’s private facility. It’s outside city limits, guarded, quiet… safe. And I want my baby girl safe.”
“Baby girl?” Emily said, raising her eyebrows.
Adam smiled. “I decided. I want a girl, remember?”
She laughed despite herself. “That’s not how it works, Adam.”
---
The drive out of the city took hours.
Past the outskirts. Past the farmland. Past the tired rust of old fences and crooked signs. Raina sat in the back seat of a sleek black SUV, her fingers curled under the cashmere blanket Adam had given her, her body rocked gently with each turn the car made.
Adam was quiet in the passenger seat beside the driver — sunglasses on, face unreadable. Emily dozed off beside Raina, but Raina couldn’t sleep. Her thoughts spun like a carousel: the pregnancy, Adam, the strange peace she felt in his presence… and the fear humming beneath it all. She feared something was wrong, but she couldn’t place what.
At the top of a hill stood a large structure — not quite a hospital, not quite a mansion. It was made of stone and dark wood, with high arched windows that glowed faintly from inside. It looked ancient, yet untouched. Like it had always been there.
The car pulled up to the front, and the driver got out silently.
Adam came around and opened Raina’s door himself.
She stepped out slowly, her boots hitting soft gravel. The air smelled different here — cleaner, colder, rich with pine... and something else she couldn’t place.
She shivered the moment she stepped out.
“Let me help,” Adam said, rushing to her side. He gave her a small smile, which she returned.
Inside, the place was warm and glowing. The scent of herbs, wood smoke, and something unplaceable filled the wide hallway. Staff in crisp uniforms moved with grace, but they all greeted Adam with quiet nods and called him one thing:
“Alpha.”
“Why do they call you that?” Raina asked.
Adam smiled without answering. “It’s just… a title. Like a boss or something.”
“This place feels ancient,” Emily said, as they entered the suite with Adam.
“It is,” the doctor replied with a wide smile. “But safe. The walls were built to keep trouble out… and peace in.”
The room was a private suite — large, with high ceilings, a stone fireplace already crackling, a massive bed covered in velvet throws, and a cradle tucked into one corner she hadn’t expected.
“You planned?” Raina asked, surprised.
“I hope you like it,” Adam replied.
“This doesn’t feel like a hospital,” she whispered.
“It isn’t. Not exactly. It’s a sanctuary, for people who need to disappear. To heal. The old-fashioned way.”
---
That night, the moon had dipped below the hills by the time Adam finished briefing Dr. Karis.
They stood in the glass-walled upper office of the sanctuary’s medical wing — a room built more like a war room than a clinic. Bookshelves lined one wall. Monitors showed vitals from patients across the building.
But tonight, only one patient mattered.
“No records,” Adam said, his voice low and firm. “No names. No scans uploaded to the cloud. I want her existence off-grid.”
Dr. Karis adjusted his silver-rimmed glasses.
“I understand… but Alpha, you do realize the family will—”
Adam turned sharply. “They’re not here.”
A long pause.
“No,” the doctor said. “But their eyes are. You know how often your father requests updates — even from a different state.”
Adam stepped closer, lowering his voice to a growl.
“And you know how I handle anyone who disobeys a direct order.”
Dr. Karis stiffened, then nodded slowly.
“Of course. My loyalty is to you, Alpha.”
Adam’s eyes softened slightly.
“She’s human, Karis. She doesn’t know anything about our kind. Not yet. And the baby…”
Karis tilted his head. “You’re sure the child is yours?”
“I don’t need a test,” Adam replied. “I feel her. My wolf does too. It’s… ours.”
Karis let out a breath and walked to a locked drawer. He pulled out a handwritten chart and placed it in Adam’s hands.
- Writer
