Chapter 112: The Awakening
Chapter 112: The Awakening.
(Lucas’s POV)
The steady beep of medical equipment filled the private room at Silvercrest Pack Medical Den. Olivia Winters lay motionless on the hospital bed, her chestnut hair spread across the white pillow, her skin nearly as pale as the sheets that covered her.
Dr. Marcus Fletcher’s words echoed in my mind: “Although we’ve revived her body, her will to
live is gone.”
I pulled my chair closer to her bedside, taking her cold hand in mine. Three days had passed since I’d pulled her from Silvermoon River, and still she hadn’t awakened.
“Olivia,” I said softly, my thumb tracing circles on the back of her hand. “I know you can hear
me somewhere in there.”
No response. Not even a flicker of her eyelids.
“You’re stronger than this, I continued, my voice low but firm. “I’ve seen your strength at the Crystal Competition, how you held your head high despite everything.”
The monitors continued their steady rhythm, mocking my efforts.
I leaned closer, my gray suit jacket brushing against the edge of her bed. “Olivia, your daughter Lily needs you to be strong,” I murmured, my eyes never leaving her face. “She wouldn’t want
you to give up.”
At the mention of Lily’s name, something changed. A single tear escaped from beneath Olivia’s closed eyelids, trailing down her pale cheek.
But then the monitors shrieked in alarm as her heartbeat plummeted dangerously.
“Doctor!” I shouted, jumping to my feet and rushing to the door. “We need help in here now!”
Dr. Fletcher and two nurses rushed in, pushing past me to reach Olivia.
“Her heart rate’s dropping,” one nurse reported urgently. “Blood pressure falling.”
Dr. Fletcher worked with practiced efficiency, administering medications through her IV line while barking orders to his team.
I backed against the wall, watching helplessly as they fought to stabilize her. My wolf stirred restlessly beneath my skin, agitated by the crisis unfolding before us.
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“She’s stabilizing,” Dr. Fletcher announced after several tense minutes. He turned to me, his
expression grave. “Alpha Blackwood, I must advise against mentioning her daughter. It seems
to trigger a severe emotional response that her body can’t handle right now.”
I nodded, my jaw tight. “Understood.”
The medical team filed out, leaving me alone with Olivia once more. I returned to my seat
beside her bed, carefully wiping away the tear that had fallen.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, taking her hand again. “I didn’t mean to cause you more pain.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket. Thomas Griffin, my driver and trusted assistant, was calling.
“Yes?” I answered quietly, not wanting to disturb Olivia.
“Sir, I’ve confirmed your suspicion,” Thomas reported solemnly. “Olivia Winters‘ daughter, Lily, passed away a few months ago due to kidney failure while waiting for a transplant.”
The revelation struck me like a physical blow. I glanced at Olivia’s still form, understanding
now the depth of her grief.
“The child was only five years old,” Thomas continued. “There are rumors that a compatible
donor was found but mysteriously redirected to another patient.”
My grip tightened on the phone. “Find out who received that kidney, Thomas.”
“Already working on it, sir.”
“What else have you learned?” I asked, my eyes never leaving Olivia’s face.
“The funeral was small, attended primarily by Olivia herself and a few pack healers. Alpha
Stone was notably absent.”
My wolf growled at this information. What kind of father missed his own daughter’s funeral?
“Anything else?” I prompted.
“Yes, sir. After the funeral, Olivia Winters moved out of the Stone Pack House to a small cottage in Maple Grove. She’s been living there alone ever since.”
I thanked Thomas and ended the call, my mind processing this new information. The picture forming was one of profound abandonment and grief.
“Thomas, gather everything you can find about Lily Winters,” I instructed in a follow–up call, my voice low but commanding. “Medical records, personal items, anything that might help us understand what happened to her.”
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Within hours, Thomas had delivered a small collection of items to the hospital room. Among
them was a tablet containing videos from Crescent Moon Training Den, where Lily had briefly
attended before her illness worsened.
I scrolled through the files until I found one labeled “Thanksgiving Gratitude Project.” The description indicated that young pups had recorded messages of thanks to family members
who had influenced their lives.
Hoping the sound might reach through Olivia’s unconsciousness, I placed the tablet near her
bed and pressed play.
The screen showed a tiny girl with emerald eyes identical to Olivia’s. Her small face was
serious as she spoke directly to the camera.
“I’m thankful for my mommy,” Lily’s sweet voice declared. “She’s the best mommy in all the world. She makes me special moonberry pancakes when I’m sad, and she holds me really tight when my kidney hurts.”
My throat tightened as the child continued, her voice growing softer, more earnest.
“If I could be born again, I would still choose Mommy as my mommy. So Mommy, please don’t be sad anymore. Lily loves you the most!”
The heartbreaking plea from beyond the grave seemed to penetrate where nothing else had. Olivia’s body suddenly tensed, her fingers twitching in my hand.
Her eyes flew open, emerald green and filled with desperate longing. “Lily!” she cried, reaching toward the tablet as if to grasp her daughter’s image.
I quickly took her hand. “She’s with you, Olivia. She’s always with you,” I assured her, squeezing
her fingers gently.
(Olivia’s POV)
Darkness had been my refuge. In that peaceful void, there was no pain, no grief, no betrayal-
just blessed nothingness.
Then I heard her voice–my sweet Lily–cutting through the darkness like a beam of light.
“Mommy, please don’t be sad anymore. Lily loves you the most!”
The words pulled me back to consciousness against my will. My eyes opened to a world I had tried to leave behind, the pain rushing back with brutal force.
“Lily!” I cried out, reaching desperately toward her voice.
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A warm hand caught mine, strong fingers wrapping around my own. Not Lily’s tiny hand, but
someone else’s–someone unexpected.
Lucas Blackwood sat beside my bed, his powerful frame seeming too large for the hospital chair. His gray eyes, usually so intimidating, now held genuine concern.
“She’s with you, Olivia,” he said softly. “She’s always with you.”
I blinked, trying to make sense of his presence. “Why are you here?” My voice was hoarse, my
throat raw from river water.
“I pulled you from the river,” he explained simply. “I’ve been here since they brought you in.”
Memories flooded back–Matriarch Evelyn’s funeral, the bridge, the cold embrace of
Silvermoon River. I had wanted to die, to join Lily in whatever came after this life.
“I couldn’t save her,” I whispered brokenly, tears filling my eyes. “I couldn’t protect her from
Victoria… I couldn’t avenge her death.”
My fingers clutched at Lucas’s hand with surprising strength. “I’m her mother, but I failed her
completely.”
Lucas’s gray eyes held mine steadily, his powerful presence a strange comfort rather than a
threat.
“Then fight for her now,” he urged, his voice low and intense. “Giving up would be the greater
betrayal, Olivia. Your daughter loved you enough to want you to live, even knowing she couldn’t
stay. Find the strength in being Lily’s mother to seek justice for her.”
He squeezed my hand gently. “I will help you,” he promised. “You don’t have to face this alone.”
His words penetrated the fog of grief that had surrounded me for so long. Could I find the
strength to continue? To fight for Lily’s memory when everything seemed hopeless?
“Why would you help me?” I asked, searching his face for ulterior motives. “We barely know
each other.”
Lucas was silent for a moment, his expression thoughtful. “Because no one should have to
face such pain alone,” he finally said. “And because I admire your strength, even when you
don’t see it in yourself.”
I studied his face, looking for deceit but finding only sincerity in his gray eyes.
“Thank you,” I whispered, allowing myself, for the first time since Lily’s death, to accept
comfort from another.
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Lucas maintained his gentle hold on my hand, his thumb tracing soothing patterns across my skin.
“I should be honest with you, Olivia,” he said after a moment of comfortable silence. “My claim about needing a fake girlfriend for business reasons was a lie.”
His admission drew my full attention.
“I’ve been drawn to you since I first saw you at the Crystal Design Competition. Your strength, your dignity despite everything you’ve endured…” He paused, seeming almost vulnerable despite his confident demeanor. “I care for you, Olivia Winters. More than I should, given our circumstances.”
My eyes widened in shock. This powerful Alpha, leader of the Moonstone Pack, cared for me? After everything I’d been through, after my failed attempt to end my life, he still saw something in me worth caring about?
Seeing my reaction, Lucas quickly continued, “I’m not asking for anything in return. There’s no pressure to reciprocate. I only want to stand beside you through your grief and your quest for justice for Lily.”
His words, spoken with such quiet conviction, soothed something broken inside me. For the first time in months, I felt a tiny spark of hope.
Exhausted by emotion and the ordeal my body had endured, I finally allowed my eyes to close, falling into the first peaceful sleep I’d had since losing Lily.
(Ethan’s POV)
The walls of my private office seemed to close in around me as I paced restlessly. I hadn’t slept for a full day and night, my mind consumed with thoughts of Olivia.
The image of her car abandoned on Moonstone Bridge haunted me. If Lucas Blackwood
hadn’t been there…
I ran a hand through my disheveled hair, my amber eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep. Though
our relationship was strained, the thought of losing Olivia forever had shaken me more deeply
than I cared to admit.
My phone rang, Maxwell Chen’s name flashing on the screen.
“Any update?” I demanded without preamble.
“Sir,” Maxwell’s voice came through, uncharacteristically hesitant. “I’ve discovered something
about Emma’s spleen treatment that you need to know.”
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My attention sharpened immediately. “What is it?”
“I’ve been investigating the medical records as you requested,” Maxwell continued. “There’s
something concerning about the timing of Emma’s kidney transplant.”
“Get to the point, Maxwell,” I growled, my patience wearing thin.
“Sir, the kidney that saved Emma Frost had originally been intended for Lily Winters.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. I gripped the edge of my desk to steady myself.
“What did you say?” My voice was barely audible.
“The compatibility match was rare and perfect for Lily’s condition,” Maxwell explained, his
tone carefully neutral. “But through Victoria’s manipulation, it was redirected to Emma
instead.”
“How?” I demanded, my wolf stirring with growing rage. “How could this happen?”
“Victoria approached Nathan Blackwood,” Maxwell replied. “She convinced him that Emma’s
need was more urgent than Lily’s. He used his influence to have the donor redirected.”
The room seemed to spin around me. Nathan Blackwood–my trusted ally, my friend–had
helped Victoria steal my daughter’s chance at life?
“And I…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.
“You signed the authorization, sir,” Maxwell confirmed quietly. “Victoria presented it as routine
paperwork for Emma’s treatment. The document was deliberately vague about the source of
the donor organ.”
The realization that I had unknowingly played a role in my own daughter’s death by securing
preferential treatment for Victoria’s daughter hit me with devastating force.
Blood rose in my throat, and I collapsed to my knees, coughing crimson onto the polished
floor as the full weight of my betrayal crashed down.
“Sir? Sir, are you alright?” Maxwell’s voice called from the phone I’d dropped.
I couldn’t answer. The truth was too horrific to bear. While I had been doting on Emma,
attending her school events and celebrating her achievements, my own daughter had been dying, waiting for a kidney that Victoria had stolen for her child.
And I had signed the papers that sealed Lily’s fate.
Blood continued to spill from my mouth as my wolf howled in anguish within me, the physical
manifestation of my soul being torn apart by guilt and grief.
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“Sir, I’m sending medical help,” Maxwell’s voice said distantly.
But no healer could fix what was broken inside me. No medicine could wash away the blood
of my daughter from my hands.
Blood rose in my throat, and I collapsed to my knees, coughing crimson onto the polished
floor as the full weight of my betrayal crashed down.
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