Broken By Love, Healed By Fate

Chapter 6

Diana’s POV

I was still producing and distributing the cure to any pack that requested it. But I couldn't face going there myself. Couldn't face seeing Sarah, couldn't bear to be back in the place where I'd been rejected, condemned, broken.

Ryan's words echoed in my mind: "I'm dying, Diana."

Was he infected? Was that why he'd come personally, rather than sending an emissary?

"You're distracted today," Mira observed as we treated a young wolf from a neighboring pack. "Did something else happen?"

I shook my head, focusing on applying the treatment to the black veins spreading across the young man's chest. "Just tired."

"He wasn't at the clinic today," she noted carefully. "Did he give up?"

"He was at my house this morning," I admitted, keeping my voice low so the patient wouldn't hear. "Said Lena told him where I live."

Mira's eyebrows rose. "And?"

"I told him to leave us alone." I gently wrapped a bandage around the patient's arm. "That should help," I told him. "The black veins should start receding within hours. Rest, keep drinking water, and come back tomorrow for another treatment."

The young man nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Healer. My pack has lost so many already."

After he left, Mira crossed her arms, fixing me with a stern look. "You're not telling me everything."

I sighed, sinking into a chair. "He says he's dying. His pack is being decimated by the plague."

"Did you offer to help?"

"I've sent treatments to the Blue Moon Pack," I retorted defensively. "Just like every other affected territory."

"That's not what I asked."

I looked away. "I can't go back there, Mira. I can't face her. Face them."

Mira's voice softened. "I understand. But Diana, if there's more to the story than you know—"

"There isn't," I cut her off firmly. "I was there. I lived it. There's nothing Ryan can say that would change what happened."

By the time I finished work, I was emotionally drained. Every patient, every treatment, every conversation felt distant as I kept replaying Ryan's words in my head.

He looked so sincere. So desperate. Part of me—a part I despised—wanted to believe he truly regretted what he'd done. But the wounds were too deep, the betrayal too complete.

And Damian... how could I possibly explain to a five-year-old child that his father was alive but had abandoned us both? That the man he'd just met had sentenced his mother to death?

"You should head home," Mira suggested, noticing my distraction as I mixed the wrong proportions for the third time. "You're going to waste our supplies at this rate."

I nodded, removing my apron. "I'll pick up Damian and go straight home. No stops."

"And if Ryan is waiting?"

"He won't be," I said with more conviction than I felt. "He'll have given up by now."

But as I walked through the village toward the school, anxiety gnawed at my stomach. What if Ryan had gone there? What if he'd approached Damian again?

I quickened my pace, relief washing over me as the school building came into view. Parents were already gathering, chatting as they waited for their children. Several bowed respectfully as I passed—the Healer commanded respect, especially now with the plague ravaging so many packs.

I pushed open the door to Damian's classroom, expecting to see him gathering his things, perhaps showing Master Thorn his latest flower specimen. The room was quiet, already emptied of children except for a few stragglers.

The teacher looked up from her desk, surprise registering on her face when she saw me.

"Healer! I didn't expect you back."

My skin prickled with sudden unease. "What do you mean?"

The teacher stood, confusion creasing her brow. "Oh... his father already picked him up. About an hour ago."

The world tilted beneath my feet. "What?" My voice didn't sound like my own.

"His father," she repeated, now looking uncertain. "The Alpha who came by. He said you had an emergency at the clinic and asked him to collect Damian early."

My blood turned to ice. "What Alpha?"

"He didn't say his name, but—" She paused, noticing my expression. "Is something wrong?"

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. The edges of my vision darkened as panic clawed up my throat. My voice came out in a strangled whisper.

"That man is not his father."

The teacher's face drained of color. "But... he looked just like him. And Damian seemed to know him from yesterday—"

"Where did they go?" I demanded, gripping the edge of her desk so hard my knuckles turned white. "What did he say?"

"I—I don't know," she stammered. "He just said there was an emergency and you'd sent him. Damian seemed happy to go with him."

I stared at her in disbelief, my worst nightmare unfolding before my eyes.

I froze. "What?"

"That man is not his father!" I exploded, panic surging through every fiber of my being. "Who authorized a stranger to take my son?"

The teacher stumbled backward, colliding with her chair as the color drained from her face. "B-but he looks just like Damian. Same eyes, same jawline, same—"

"I don't care if he had Damian's exact birthmark!" I slammed my palm down on her desk with such force that papers scattered across the floor. My voice dropped to a dangerous growl. "You let a stranger walk out of here with my child."

"He said he was the Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack," she protested weakly, wringing her hands. "He had the sigil ring. He knew Damian's full name."

"Did he offer any proof that I sent him?" I demanded, leaning closer. "Any message from me? Any token?"

Her silence was answer enough.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" My voice trembled with rage and fear. "There are rogues everywhere. Packs being decimated. And you just handed my son to a man you've never seen before today!"