Evelyn’s POV
I clutched the doorfra, trying to process what was happening.
Calvin. My ex-husband, the man I’d been married to for years without feeling any mate bond. He was my fated mate?
How was that possible? We’d been together for so long, and I’d never...
But I hadn’t had Lizzy then. I hadn’t had my wolf.
"We need to go to him, " Lizzy urged in my mind, her voice growing stronger with excitent. " We need to touch him, claim him, make him understand..."
But even as she spoke, her voice began to weaken.
Fading.
Until it disappeared entirely.
She had fallen back asleep.
I stood frozen in the doorway, overwheld by two shocking realizations.
Calvin was my mate. And Lizzy was dormant again.
As if sensing my presence, Calvin turned toward the door.
"Evelyn?" His brow furrowed with concern. "You look pale. Why are you wearing a hospital gown?"
I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t move. All I could do was breathe in his scent and feel my world completely realign.
My fated mate had been right in front of all along.
"Evelyn?" Calvin repeated as he stood from Alexis’s bedside. "Are you alright?"
"I’m fine," I managed, smiling. "Just feeling a little under the weather. Gary wanted to run so tests."
Calvin’s eyes narrowed as he approached , his gaze traveling from my hospital gown to my bare feet on the cold floor. "You look like you’re about to collapse. Here."
He reached for my arm to support , and the mont his fingers touched my skin, heat shot through my body.
I jerked away instinctively.
Calvin frowned, looking at his hand then back at . "What’s wrong?"
Nothing. Everything.
He hadn’t felt it. Not the jolt, not the pull, not the overwhelming urge to be closer that was currently making my knees weak. Of course he hadn’t.
Without Lizzy awake, he couldn’t sense our connection.
"Sorry," I mumbled. "Just a little jumpy from all the tests."
How perfectly ironic. Years of marriage, three children, and we’d never felt the mate bond. Now, divorced and moved on, my wolf wakes up just long enough to tell he’s my mate.
The Moon Goddess had a twisted sense of humor.
"Mommy!" Alexis’s small voice called from the bed. "Are you feeling better?"
I moved past Calvin toward our daughter. "Much better, sweetie. Just needed so dicine."
Her face brightened. "That’s good. Uncle Calvin has been reading stories while you were gone."
"That was very nice of him," I said, smoothing her hair. "How are you feeling today?"
"Better! My tummy doesn’t hurt anymore." She held up the colorful storybook. "And Uncle Calvin does all the funny voices."
I glanced at Calvin, who looked sheepish. "I try my best."
"Where are the boys?" I asked, desperate to keep the conversation moving, to distract myself from his scent and the urge to touch him.
"Still at school. They’ve been calling non-stop, wanting to visit Alexis as soon as classes end." Calvin checked his watch. "Actually, I promised to pick them up in about an hour."
"They’re bringing ice cream," Alexis announced happily. "Rowan said it helps make people better faster."
The casual dosticity felt like a knife twisting in my chest. This was how it should have been all along. The five of us. A family. Connected by love and the sacred bond of mates. Instead, we’d spent years in a cold marriage, followed by a bitter separation.
Footsteps in the hallway announced Gary and Emma’s arrival. They appeared in the doorway, both looking worried and breathless.
"There you are!" Gary exclaid. "You can’t just run off like that in the middle of post-procedure monitoring!"
Calvin’s head snapped toward Gary. "Procedure? What procedure?"
Before Gary could respond, I cut in quickly. "Just so routine tests for my research. Nothing serious." I turned to Gary, giving him a warning look. "I was just checking on Alexis before coming back."
Emma picked up on my silent plea. "We should get you back to finish your assessnt, Evelyn."
"Right." I leaned down to kiss Alexis’s forehead. "I’ll be back soon, sweetheart. Be good for the nurses."
"And Uncle Calvin," she added, smiling up at him.
I nodded stiffly. "And Uncle Calvin."
I felt Calvin’s eyes on as I moved toward the door, heavy with questions he wasn’t asking. I couldn’t et his gaze.
Back in the room, Gary shut the door behind us forcefully.
"What happened out there?" he demanded. "One minute you’re reporting contact with your wolf, the next you’re running through the halls like you’re being chased!"
I sank into a chair, suddenly exhausted. "Lizzy’s gone dormant again."
"What?" Gary’s frustration imdiately shifted to scientific curiosity. "So the connection was only temporary? When did you lose it?"
"Shortly after I reached Alexis’s room," I admitted, carefully leaving out the part about discovering my mate.
Emma checked my vitals. "Everything’s still elevated."
Gary was already reviewing the data from my monitoring bracelet.
"The good news," Emma added gently, "is that we’ve proven the treatnt works. Your wolf is there, Evelyn. We just need to find a way to maintain the connection."
I nodded absently.
"I need to docunt everything while it’s fresh," Gary said, pulling out a recorder. "Tell us exactly what you experienced."
I recounted what I had experienced. I said nothing about Calvin. Nothing about the overwhelming pull I’d felt toward him.
After they’d collected all their data, Gary and Emma left alone to rest, already discussing refinents to the procedure for next ti.
I sat in silence, staring at the wall.
How could I tell anyone about this? Calvin was my ex-husband. We’d divorced after years of a loveless marriage. I’d rebuilt my life. Focused on my children and my research. I’d finally found peace.
And now this.
I rembered how natural he’d looked sitting beside Alexis’s bed, reading to her, making her laugh despite her illness. The scene had filled with both warmth and loss.
What would happen if I told him? If he knew we were true mates? Would it change anything? Or would it just complicate the delicate balance we’d finally achieved?
The mory of his scent made my heart race again. That pull, that electric attraction I’d never experienced before had been overwhelming. For those brief monts when Lizzy was awake, I’d understood what other wolves described when they spoke of finding their mates. That instant recognition. That bone-deep certainty.
I pressed my hands against my face, trying to steady my breathing.
Maybe it was better this way. Maybe Lizzy going back to sleep was the universe’s way of saying, "Just kidding. Here’s what you could have had. But it’s too late now."
I was a scientist. I dealt in facts. Not mystical mate bonds. And yet, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Couldn’t stop rembering how it felt when his fingers brushed against my skin. Couldn’t stop wondering what might have been if we’d discovered this connection years ago.
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