Hailee's POV
I didn't wake up the normal way.
There was no gentle stretch. No soft blink. No slow return to myself.
It felt like I was being dragged out of darkness by my bones.
My whole body ached—deep, heavy pain like soone had taken apart and forced back together wrongly. My arms felt too heavy to lift. My legs felt like stone. Even my ribs hurt when I tried to breathe.
I tried to move, and a sharp pain shot through my spine.
I gasped—and imdiately regretted it.
My throat was dry. My mouth tasted like iron. My head pounded like a drum.
For a mont, I didn't know where I was.
Then a warm hand tightened around mine.
And a familiar scent reached —stronger than the pain, stronger than the fear.
Nathan.
My eyes fluttered open, and the first thing I saw was him.
He was sitting beside on the bed, his shoulders hunched forward like he had been holding his breath for hours. His hair was slightly ssy, his face pale, his eyes red like he hadn't slept at all.
The mont he saw my eyes open, his whole body jerked.
"Hailee," he breathed, like he didn't believe the sound of my na could be real.
His hand ca to my cheek, gentle—too gentle—like he was afraid I would vanish if he touched too hard.
"You're awake," he whispered, his voice rough. "You're awake."
I stared at him, trying to understand why his eyes looked like that—like soone had brought him back from the edge of hell.
"Nathan…" My voice ca out weak. Small.
His face crumpled for one second—relief breaking through everything else.
He bent down and pressed his forehead to mine.
"Thank the moon," he whispered. "Thank the moon you're awake."
I tried to swallow, but it hurt.
My fingers tightened around his, and it took effort just to do that.
"I feel…" I started, but my breath shook. "I feel like… soone used my body to fight a war."
Nathan's jaw clenched.
His eyes closed like my words cut him.
"You were burning up," he said softly. "Then you went cold. Then you wouldn't wake. The healers said you were… stuck."
"Stuck?" I repeated slowly.
He nodded, but his gaze wouldn't hold mine for long.
Like he didn't want to see the fear still sitting in his eyes.
My mind tried to pull itself together—pieces of mory drifting in like smoke.
Callum.
The throne room.
The priest.
The ring on my finger.
The words I do coming out of my mouth like I wasn't the one speaking.
And then—
Callum leaning closer.
His mouth opening.
His teeth—
My stomach turned hard.
I flinched and tried to sit up, panic rising too fast, too sharp.
Pain stabbed my lower belly.
I gasped and clutched my abdon without thinking.
Nathan moved instantly.
"Easy," he said, sliding an arm behind my back to support . "Easy, Hailee. Don't sit up too fast."
But the pain didn't stop.
It spread, dull and throbbing, deep inside .
And sothing inside that pain felt… wrong.
I froze.
My breathing turned uneven.
"Nathan," I whispered.
He stiffened.
I looked at him, my eyes wide with sudden terror.
"What happened?" I asked, my voice shaking. "What happened after… after Callum was about to mark ?"
Nathan's lips parted, but no sound ca out.
His throat moved like he was trying to swallow sothing too big.
His eyes dropped to my stomach.
Then to my face.
Then away again.
The silence was too loud.
My heart began to pound.
"Nathan," I whispered again, but this ti my voice cracked. "Tell . Please."
He still didn't answer.
And that was when I noticed Peter.
He was standing near the door, arms folded tight across his chest, like he had been holding himself together the sa way Nathan had.
His face looked older.
Tired.
His eyes were swollen too—like he had cried when no one was looking.
Peter t my gaze, and his throat bobbed.
"Hailee," he said quietly.
I felt my breath catch.
"No," I whispered before he even spoke again. "No… don't look at like that."
Peter stepped closer slowly, like he was approaching sothing fragile.
Sothing that might break if he spoke too loudly.
"Nathan can't say it," he murmured. "So I will."
My fingers gripped the blanket so hard my knuckles hurt.
"Say it," I whispered, though my voice begged him not to.
Peter exhaled shakily.
"Your ability resurfaced," he said. "Your gift… it ca out."
I blinked.
"My… gift?"
Peter nodded once.
"You know how Father used to be strict about certain things?" he continued. "How he always acted like he was scared of you getting too emotional? How he tried to control what you did, where you went, who you bonded with?"
My throat tightened.
"Yes," I whispered. "He always treated like I was… dangerous."
Peter's eyes softened painfully.
"Because you are," he said gently. "But not in the way you think."
A cold wave crawled over my skin.
My stomach churned harder.
Peter kept going, voice lower.
"Father knew you carried sothing rare," he said. "A gift that isn't only healing. It's… two sides. Light and dark. And the dark side is tied to an ancient spirit in our bloodline."
My lips parted.
"No…" I breathed.
Peter nodded slowly, eyes shining.
"He sealed it when you were younger," he whispered. "Your wolf. Your power. All of it. He didn't want it to awaken the wrong way."
Nathan's hand tightened around mine.
Like he was trying to anchor to him before I drifted away again.
Peter swallowed.
"The seal broke," he said quietly, "because everything happened at once. Your wolf returned. You were grieving Father. You were forced into a marriage you didn't want. Your mate bond was being ripped apart—"
His voice cracked.
"And Nathan was dying."
I stared at Nathan.
He looked like he hated himself.
My chest squeezed so hard I could barely breathe.
"I rember…" I whispered slowly. "I rember seeing him at the door. I rember thinking I was losing him."
Peter nodded again.
"And when Callum pulled you away," he said, "sothing in you snapped. The spirit… the dark part… took control."
My body went cold.
My fingers trembled.
"No," I whispered. "No, Peter… what did I do?"
Peter's jaw tightened.
Nathan's eyes shut.
And my heart already knew before the words ca.
But I still needed to hear it.
Because my brain refused to accept it.
Peter spoke anyway.
"It hurt Callum," he said quietly. "Badly. You almost killed him."
My breath left in a sharp, broken sound.
I covered my mouth with my hand.
"Oh moon…"
Peter's voice dropped even lower.
"And Hailee…" he whispered. "The spirit… it… it killed the baby."
The room went silent.
Like the whole world stopped moving.
I stared at him.
I didn't blink.
I didn't breathe.
I just stared.
Because my brain couldn't grab the words and make them real.
My hand stayed pressed to my belly like that could change what he just said.
Then the pain in my abdon pulsed again—like it was answering him.
Confirming him.
And everything inside shattered.
A sound ripped out of my throat.
Not a normal cry.
Not a normal sob.
It was raw.
Ugly.
Animal.
I shook my head violently.
"No!" I scread. "No, no, no—Peter, no—"
I tried to sit up again, like I could run away from the truth, but the pain slamd into , and I collapsed back onto the bed.
Nathan caught instantly, pulling against his chest.
He wrapped his arms around like a shield.
"Hailee…" he whispered, his voice full of worry. "Hailee, please—"
But I couldn't stop.
I was crying so hard I couldn't breathe properly.
My body shook.
My chest hurt.
My throat burned.
"My baby…" I sobbed, clutching at Nathan's shirt like it was the only thing keeping alive. "My baby—Nathan—no—"
Nathan held tighter, rocking slightly.
"You didn't do it," he whispered firmly into my hair. "You hear ? You didn't do it. That wasn't you."
"But it was my body!" I cried. "It was my hands—my power—my—"
"It wasn't your choice," he said, his voice rough with pain. "It wasn't your heart. It wasn't you."
I shook so hard my teeth clicked.
Nathan's hands moved up and down my back, steady and gentle.
"I'm right here," he whispered over and over. "I've got you. I've got you. I've got you."
But I felt like I had nothing.
I felt empty.
Hollow.
Like soone had carved open.
I cried until my chest started to ache, until my voice turned hoarse.
Peter stood there, silent, eyes wet, looking like he wanted to fix it but couldn't.
Finally, through the tears, I whispered sothing that had been clawing at .
"Nathan…"
He pulled back just enough to look at my face.
"Yes?" he whispered.
I searched his eyes like I was afraid the truth would be written there too.
"You're… you're okay?" I asked shakily. "How? You— you were dying."
Nathan's throat moved.
Then he gave a small nod.
"I'm okay," he said softly.
I stared at him, confused and hurting all at once.
"How?"
Nathan hesitated.
Then he swallowed and said the words that made my stomach twist again.
"You healed ."
I blinked.
"What…?"
"You put your hand on my chest," he said quietly. "And it was like… everything inside burned clean. The poison. The pain. The weakness. It disappeared."
My eyes widened, tears falling again.
"I… I did that?"
"Yes," Nathan whispered. "You did."
I looked down at my hands like they belonged to soone else.
"And then…" Nathan's voice cracked. "Then you collapsed. Right after."
I shook my head slowly, grief and guilt mixing into one sick storm inside .
"I didn't even know I could heal like that," I whispered.
Peter nodded. "That's the truth, Hailee. Your gift is powerful. Too powerful. It heals… but if it's forced out the wrong way, it destroys."
A cold fear crawled down my spine.
"So… I'm dangerous," I whispered.
Nathan's grip tightened.
"No," he said imdiately. "You're not a monster."
I let out a broken laugh that wasn't funny.
"I killed my baby."
Nathan cupped my face firmly, forcing to look at him.
"Listen to ," he said, voice low and intense. "What happened was evil. What happened was wrong. But it was not you making a choice. It was sothing forced out of you."
My lips trembled.
"I don't feel clean," I whispered.
Nathan kissed my forehead. "Then we'll get you clean," he whispered. "We'll get you help. We'll get you control. We'll get you safe."
I cried again, quieter this ti, exhaustion dragging at my bones.
Peter cleared his throat softly.
"Hailee," he said.
I looked at him through heavy lashes.
"There's sothing else," he murmured.
My stomach dropped.
I already didn't want another "sothing else."
But I nodded weakly. "Say it."
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