Forever Bonded: Back with my Ex mate

Chapter 2

The first thing I noticed was white. Everything was white,ceiling, walls, sheets. The second thing was the steady beep of a heart monitor.

I tried to sit up, and pain shot through my entire body.

"Don't move." A gentle hand pressed against my shoulder. "You need to rest."

I turned my head and saw Marcus. My brother's face was pale, his eyes red-rimmed like he'd been crying.

"Marcus?" My voice came out rough. "What... how did I..."

"Caroline found you." His jaw clenched. "She got worried when you didn't respond to her texts. She has a key, remember? From before you got married."

Before I got married. Before I stopped seeing my friends. Before I made myself disappear.

"The baby," I started.

"I'm sorry, Sera." His voice cracked. "They couldn't save it. You'd lost too much blood by the time Caroline got you here."

The words hit me like a physical blow. I curled onto my side, ignoring the pain, and started to sob.

My baby. My precious baby that I'd wanted so badly.

Gone.

"There's more," Marcus said quietly. "The doctors... They said there was significant internal damage. They did everything they could, but..." He stopped, swallowing hard. "You won't be able to have children, Sera. I'm so sorry."

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. The room was spinning again.

"He did this." Marcus's voice turned hard. "That bastard did this to you. Caroline told me what she saw when she found you,the bruises, the blood. He beat you and threw you out, didn't he?"

I couldn't answer. Couldn't do anything but cry.

The door opened and our mother rushed in, followed by our father. Mom's face crumpled when she saw me.

"My baby girl," she whispered, gathering me carefully into her arms. "What has he done to you?"

Over her shoulder, I saw my father's expression. I'd never seen him look so furious.

"I'll kill him," Dad said quietly. "I'll rip his throat out myself."

"Get in line," Marcus growled.

A nurse came in, shooing them all back. "She needs rest. You can visit again tomorrow."

But before they left, Mom leaned close to my ear. "Your father's already filed for divorce on your behalf. You're coming home, Sera. Back to the pack house where you belong. And that monster will never touch you again."

*****

I spent three days in the hospital. Three days of doctors and tests and pitying looks. Three days of my family taking turns at my bedside, their presence both comforting and suffocating.

Caroline came too, bringing flowers and magazines and pretending everything was normal even though we both knew it wasn't.

"I should have tried harder," she said on the second day, gripping my hand. "Should have pushed more when you started pulling away. I knew something was wrong,"

"It's not your fault." My voice was stronger now, though everything else still felt broken. "I made my choices."

"Shitty choices," she muttered. "But we all make those."

On the fourth day, they released me. Marcus drove me to the pack house, Mom and Dad following in their car. I stared out the window at familiar streets I hadn't driven down in years.

The pack house looked exactly the same,massive and sprawling, home to our family and the thirty other families that made up the Silver Moon Pack. I'd grown up here, running through these halls and training in the grounds out back.

I'd left it all for Adrian. For a man who saw me as disposable.

"Your room is ready," Mom said as we pulled up. "I made sure everything is just how you like it."

But as we walked inside, I saw someone I wasn't expecting.

He stood in the main hall, talking to one of the pack elders. Even after six years, I'd know that profile anywhere.

Tall, broad-shouldered, with dark hair and darker eyes. An aura of command that made people instinctively step back. The scar running from his left temple to his jaw, a souvenir from the war that had taken so many of our pack members.

Dante Blackwood. Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack.

And the man I'd been supposed to marry before I ran off with Adrian instead.

He turned as we entered, those dark eyes landing on me. For a moment, neither of us moved.

"Sera." His voice was exactly as I remembered,deep, controlled. "Welcome home."

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. What could I possibly say to him?

*Sorry I humiliated you by running off with someone else the week before our wedding?*

*Sorry I destroyed the alliance between our packs because I thought I was in love?*

*Sorry I,*

"She needs to rest," Marcus said, stepping between us. "Whatever you're here for can wait."

Dante's expression didn't change. "Of course. We'll talk later."

He nodded to my father and left, his footsteps echoing in the hall.

"What was he doing here?" I asked.

Dad and Mom exchanged a look.

"We'll discuss it tomorrow," Dad said. "Tonight, you need to eat and sleep. Doctor's orders."

But I couldn't sleep. I lay in my childhood bed, staring at the ceiling, replaying everything. Adrian's fists. Victoria's smile. The feeling of my baby slipping away.

And Dante's eyes when he looked at me. Not angry, not judgmental. Just... tired.

Around midnight, I gave up and went to the kitchen for water. The pack house was quiet, most people already asleep.

I didn't expect to find Dante there, leaning against the counter with a glass of what looked like whiskey.

"Can't sleep either?" he asked.

I shook my head, moving to the sink. We stood in silence for a moment, the tension thick enough to cut.

"I'm sorry," I finally said. "For everything. For what I did to you six years ago. You deserved better than,"

"Yes, I did." His voice was flat. "But what's done is done."

"Then why are you here?"

He took a long drink before answering. "Your father requested a meeting. Something about strengthening pack relations now that you're... available again."

The word hit like a slap. Available. Like I was a piece of property being recycled.

"I'm not marrying you," I said. "I'm not marrying anyone. Not after,"

"I'm not asking you to." He set his glass down with a sharp click. "I learned my lesson about wanting someone who doesn't want me back."

The words stung more than they should have.

"But," he continued, "our packs do need to rebuild what was lost. Your father and I are discussing a business alliance. Trade agreements, joint security measures. Nothing that requires us to pretend feelings that don't exist."

"Oh."

Another silence. More awkward than the last.

"He hurt you," Dante said suddenly. "Adrian. Your brother told me some of it."

I wrapped my arms around myself. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You should. Keeping that poison inside will destroy you."

"Like you're one to talk about processing emotions."

His mouth twitched,almost a smile. "Fair point."

He moved toward the door, then paused. "For what it's worth, Sera, I am sorry. About the baby. And everything else."

Then he was gone, leaving me alone in the kitchen with tears running down my face.