Chapter 19
Eloise:
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The moment my feet touched the cool floor outside the infirmary, I hesitated. It felt surreal. It was almost impossible for me to process
the fact that I was out of there, that I was free to roam around without anyone monitoring me the way that they did.
For days, that sterile room had been my prison, the walls closing in with every passing second, suffocating me. But now, here I was,
free to walk, though I knew that freedom was an illusion.
Within this pack, within these grounds. I knew that freedom was going to be something that I was going to be looking for. It was going
to be something that I was deprived from. And no matter how hard I wanted to deny it, I was not going to be able to do so. Each one of
them wanted something from me and that’s something was very obvious and clear. Dominic wanted me to leave, to give him my
daughter. His father, however, believed that I was wrong with what I was doing. And then there was his mother, who I knew would do
anything to stop me from doing anything that would be stupid, or at least something that you would deem or believe to be stupid.
And finally, there was Lucy. I knew that she would do anything to see me dead, and I knew that she would do anything in her power to
stop me from being here. Even my presence here right now was one of the key did not like and she’s not doing anything to try and hide
- it.
Wwards Dominic, she was going to do her best to get what she wanted and it was
Her leaving told me that she was going to put an ad
only a matter of time before he gave in to her. Nevertheless, had it been up to me, I would have left. However, with my daughter on the
line with her being here, I was not going to give them that advantage.
The nurses hadn’t even questioned my request to leave. They simply nodded and moved aside, as if I was no more than a ghost
passing through the halls. I wasn’t sure if they pitied me or if they just didn’t care. Perhaps both. Either way, I knew better than to ask.
I just walked. Leaving that room that I was locked in, Leaving the place that I believed I should not be in, empty. They could use it for
another patient. Right now I did not need to be one of them.
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Each step felt heavier than the last as I followed the familiar path, my body moving before my mind had even registered where I was
going. And before I knew it, I stood before the large window of the incubation room, my hands trembling at my sides as Llooked
through the glass. I wrapped my arm around myself. It was the only comfort that I could have as I looked at her.
My daughter.
The little Angel that I fought to make sure she survived. The baby girl that I carried for months trying to protect, trying to find a way to
sustain myself for her own sake, only to find myself failing miserably at that. Being back here was one of the proofs that I had to show
how much I had failed myself and her.
Isla’s tiny body was curled up beneath the warmth of the incubator, her chest rising and falling in small, shallow breaths. The sight of
her should have brought relief, but all I felt was a crushing weight on my chest. It felt like I was being locked up in some kind of game
that I did not know how I was going to end up dealing with.
I had barely fought for her.
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I had barely managed to say anything to them. I didn’t even have it in me to try and fight back.
I had let them take her from my arms without resistance.
Not because I didn’t love her. Not because I didn’t want her.
But because I knew that if I had tried, I would have lost anyway.
They would have taken her from me either way. Giving her to them to put inside this incubator was going to be the better option.
I had nothing. No leverage. No power. Not against Dominic.
Mmu
I swallowed hard, my fingers pressing against the cold glass as I whispered, “I’m sorry, baby. I should have been stronger for you. I did
not mean to fail you this way, but I know that I had no other option.”
A lump formed in my throat, and I bit my lip to keep it from trembling. I refused to break. Not here. Not now.
But then I felt it.
The weight of a presence behind me.
The presence of the one person that I did not want to see, that I did not want to look at, and that
did not want
that he understood that very well. I understood that he was the last person that I wanted to speak to or look at.
- me. And I knew
The room was silent, save for the faint hum of the machines, but I could still feel him. Dominic.
I didn’t have to turn to know he was there. His scent, a mix of cedarwood and something darker, filled the space around me.
was suffocating, pressing against my back like a heavy storm ready to unleash its wrath.
I stayed stil!, keeping my eyes fixed on Isla, willing myself not to react.
A moment passed before he spoke.
His
energy
“You left the infirmary.” His tone was unreadable, but I could hear the restraint in his voice. If anyone knew when he wanted to control
himself, when he wanted to try and avoid conflicts, then it would be me.
I didn’t answer.
His footsteps were slow, measured, as he closed the distance between us. When he finally stopped beside me, he exhaled sharply, like
he was trying to keep himself from saying something he’d regret.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he muttered.
I turned my head slightly, just enough to meet his gaze. His green eyes were guarded, but beneath the surface, there was something else. Something I couldn’t quite place.
“She’s my daughter,” I said simply. “I can stand here if I want to. I doubt that there would be a rule to stop me from doing so.”
His jaw tightened. “You should be resting. There needed to be a rule for you to actually know that you need to rest.” I let out a
Kapter 9
humorless laugh.
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“Resting?” I turned back to the glass, shaking my head. “How can I rest when my child is in there, alone?”
“She’s not alone,” he shot back. “She’s being monitored. She’s safe. The number of nurses that are around her are countless. You don’t
need to worry.”
“Neither one of the nurses are her mother.” I said as I let his words settle between us, feeling the weight of what he was really saying.
She’s safe here. Without you.
I clenched my fists, willing myself to stay calm. “Safe or not, she’s still my daughter.”
“And what exactly do you plan to do, Eloise?” His voice was lower now, sharper. “Are you planning to run? Take her and disappear?
Because if that’s what you’re thinking, you’d better get it out of your head now.”
I turned fully to face him then, my eyes meeting his without hesitation. “You’ve already made it clear that I have no choice in the
matter.”
A
His gaze darkened, but he said nothing.
For the first time, we stood there, staring at each other, the weight of everything unsaid hanging between us. Finally, he spoke again,
his voice quieter this time. “She’s strong. She’s going to be able to make it.”
“She’s just a baby. You claiming that she is strong does not make her strong, Dominic.” I said, and he hummed in response as if it was
the most normal thing to do.
I blinked at his words, caught off guard.
“She’s small, but she’s strong,” he continued, looking at Isla through the glass. His expression softened for just a fraction of a second before he forced it back into its usual unreadable mask. “Baby or not, you can tell who is strong and who is not.”
A part of me wanted to cling to that moment, to the way he had looked at our daughter as if, for the briefest moment, he actually felt
something.
But I knew better.
Dominic wasn’t capable of softness. Not for me. Not for anyone.
The man that I believed to be kind was nothing more than a lie. He had played me like a fool to simply get what he wanted, and that
was not something that I could just easily let go of.
So, I turned back to Isla, ignoring the way my heart ached.
“I should go,” I murmured.
I didn’t wait for him to respond.
I took one last look at my daughter, at the fragile life I had brought into this world, before stepping away from the glass.
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And without another word, I walked past Dominic, leaving him standing there alone.
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rolled behind me, its wheels clicking in rhythm with my stride. I could still hear my father’s voice in my head, harsh and unyielding,
reminding me of the shame I had brought to our family by chasing after Dominic.
The man that I knew that my father wamed me against seeing or speaking to again. He didn’t even want me to mention his name, let
alone see him, and yet, here I was, within his pack because I chose to fucking listen to my heart.
I was done.
My father was going to have my head the second I walked inside the house because of this.
Or at least, I thought I was until I caught sight of her.
Eloise.
The Omega who had shattered everything. The girl who had somehow managed to turn Dominic’s world upside down and take away
what was supposed to be mine.
The girl who managed to stab in, her pack Luna, in the back by spreading her legs to the man that did not want her around. My lover.
A
She had dared consider him a mate to her. The pathetic story of any Omega who would believe that she can climb through the ranks to
become something that she clearly will never be.
She stood by the glass window of the incubation room, her eyes fixed on the tiny figure inside. And though I knew better than to bother
a mother, especially a new one, something in the way that she stood, her back straight as if she owned the place that made my blood
boil.
I couldn’t help myself.
A twisted smirk curled my lips as I approached her, the weight of my luggage forgotten as I let it roll to a stop behind
- me.
“Well, well,” I drawled, folding my arms over my chest. “If it isn’t the pack’s charity case. I figured that you would know to at least have
the curtesy to not be around with those that you betrayed. It seems to me that I really did think you to be more educated than you are.”
Eloise didn’t move. She remained rooted in place, her gaze still on her daughter. I took another step closer, my reflection overlapping hers in the glass. It was as if, in her mind, I currently did not exist.
“You know, you should be grateful,” I continued. “Most girls like you don’t get this kind of attention. An Omega? Bearing the Alpha’s child? It’s almost poetic, in a tragic, pitiful kind of way. Do you really think that you are going to be getting anywhere the way that you are?”
Her silence only fueled my anger. I wanted a reaction. I needed to see her break, to see her crumble the way I had when I found out about her and Dominic. I needed to make her understand what she made me go through. It wasn’t going to be an opportunity that I wanted to let go of.
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“What’s wrong?” I taunted. “Cat got your tongue? Or maybe you finally realized you’re nothing but a placeholder. A temporary fix until Dominic comes to his senses? Do you finally see your own stupid worth?”
Her fingers tightened against the windowsill, the knuckles turning white. A small victory. A small reaction was coming from her. One
that was going to remind her of her place.
“You’re not going to stay, you know,” I said, leaning in so my breath brushed against her ear. “Dominic doesn’t want you here. He’s
keeping you around for the baby, but you? You’re just an inconvenience. For now, until he finds someone else to nurse and take care of
the child.”
Eloise’s chest rose and fell in slow, measured breaths. She didn’t look at me, but I could see the strain in her expression, the war
behind her eyes.
“What’s the matter, Eloise?” I whispered. “Too weak to fight back? Or are you realizing that every word that I am telling you is nothing
more than the truth that everyone is afraid to show you.”
Her head tumed, just a fraction, but enough for
In My W MMMmne to see the steel in her gaze. And then,
without warning, she moved. I put my finger
on her shoulder, wanting to turn her to face me, and that was when she reacted for the first
time.
Her hand shot out, and before I could react, I was shoved back against the wall. The impact stole the breath from my lungs, and I
stared at her, wide–eyed and stunned.
ས་དེ་སྐད་་ས་ན་ད་ན་ད་ར་ཀ་ར་རན་༤ད་
“Touch me again, and I’ll make you regret it,” she said, her voice low and calm, but threaded with danger.
I let out a laugh, but it wavered. “You think you can threaten me? You, a
ranking Omega, think that you can stand against me?”
“I don’t need to threaten you,” she replied. “You’re already afraid. That’s why you’re lashing out. You’re scared because you know that no
matter what you do, you’ll never have what I have.”
A sharp sting flared in my chest, and I gritted my teeth. “And what exactly do you think you have, Omega? What do you think that you
can do to scare me?”
She stepped closer, closing the distance between us. I could see the exhaustion in her eyes, the shadows beneath them, but there was
also a fire that hadn’t been there before.
“I have her,” she said, nodding toward the incubator. “And as much as you want to, you can’t change that. You can’t take away the fact
that she is my daughter. And I believe that you know, more than anything that just as she is mine, she is Dominic’s,”
I opened my mouth to retort, but a new voice cut through the tension.
“What is going on here?”
Dominic’s figure loomed in the doorway, his expression a mixture of confusion and anger. His green eyes darted between us, taking in
my position against the wall and Eloise’s defiant stance.
“Lucy,” he said, his voice edged with warning. “What are you doing?”
I straightened, brushing invisible dust from my sleeve as I forced a smile. “I was initially coming to say goodbye. But there has been a
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minor change in my plans.”
Dominic’s brows drew together. “Change in your plans?”
“Yes,” I said, my voice sweet. “I was leaving. But now I think I’ll stay.”
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Eloise’s expression tightened, and I felt a surge of satisfaction at the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. Dominic took a step forward,
his focus shifting entirely to me. “Lucy, this is not a game for you to be playing right now. You are the one who wanted to leave, and
though I told you not to, you didn’t want to listen.”
I tilted my head, letting my smile falter just enough to play the victim. “Oh, I understand. You want me gone so you can play house with
her. So you can pretend this is all normal.”
“Lucy…”
“No,” I said firmly, dropping the pretense. “I’m staying. If you want to keep your Omega
leaving.”
and your
little bastard child, fine. But I’m not
The
Silence wrapped around us, thick and suffocating. Dominic’s jaw clenched, his fingers
fists
at
his
sides.
she
Eloise didn’t move. She remained standing by the window, but the strength in her posture hadn’t wavered. wasn’t the weak, broken
girl I had expected. She was something else. Something I wasn’t sure I could break.
But I would try.
I turned on my heel, retrieving my luggage as I made my way back down the hallway.
This wasn’t over.
Not by a long shot.
