chapter 176
Tori's POV:
Through the haze of pain, I caught glimpses of faces—Morgan's tear-streaked cheeks, Grandma Eileen's trembling hands pressed to her mouth, Elizabeth's fierce determination as she barked orders at the staff.
But one face stood out among the chaos.
William Sullivan.
He stood frozen at the garden's edge, his usually composed features shattered into raw anguish. When his eyes met mine, I saw something I'd never expected—a father's terror. Suddenly he was moving, his long strides eating up the distance as he followed Lucas toward the parking area.
Tracy whimpered in the back of my mind, her usual fierce protectiveness replaced by pure panic. The pup. We have to protect the pup.
Lucas settled me into the back seat of Matthew's vehicle with infinite care, his hands trembling slightly as he arranged the white silk from my Luna ceremony beneath my hips, elevating them just as Matthew had instructed.
The fabric—meant to symbolize purity and new beginnings—now served a far more desperate purpose.
"I've got you," Lucas murmured, his voice rough with barely contained fear.
The warm trickle of amniotic fluid continued to seep from my body, soaking through the ceremonial gown and pooling beneath me. Each contraction that rippled through my abdomen felt wrong—too early, too intense, too violent.
"Lucas." My voice came out as barely a whisper. "The baby's moving too much. Something's wrong."
His jaw clenched, golden eyes flashing with that dangerous light that meant his wolf was close to the surface. "Matthew's the best there is. He'll—"
Another contraction cut off his words, this one so fierce that I couldn't contain my cry. My fingers dug into Lucas's shirt, gripping the fine fabric as if it were the only thing anchoring me to reality.
"Talk to me, Tori." Lucas's voice was gentle now, that Alpha command stripped away to reveal the man beneath—the one who'd promised to protect me, to love me, to build a life with me. "Tell me what you're feeling."
What was I feeling? Terror. Guilt. The crushing weight of Hannah's words still echoing in my mind: You're just like me—cold, selfish, unworthy of love.
"Hannah was right," I heard myself say, the words tumbling out before I could stop them. Tears streamed down my face, blurring my vision. "I refused to help her. I let her end up on the streets. And now Susan—" My voice broke. "She hates me. She'll always hate me. I'm losing everyone, Lucas. Everyone who should love me just... leaves."
"Stop." The single word carried such fierce conviction that it cut through my spiral of self-recrimination.
Lucas cupped my face with both hands, forcing me to meet his gaze. "You are not your mother. You are not responsible for Hannah's choices, or for the lies that were told before you were even born. Susan's pain is real, but it is not your fault. Do you hear me?"
I wanted to believe him. God, how I wanted to believe him. But the look in Susan's eyes—that mixture of betrayal and grief—was seared into my memory.
A sharp pain lanced through my lower back, and I gasped, my body arching involuntarily. Lucas immediately shifted, supporting my weight more fully, his presence the only thing keeping me from completely falling apart.
"How much longer?" he called to Matthew, his voice tight with barely leashed panic.
"Ten minutes," Matthew replied, his eyes meeting Lucas's in the rearview mirror. "Maybe less if I can—"
The sky opened up.
Rain hammered against the roof of the SUV, so sudden and violent that it felt like the heavens themselves were weeping.
Through the rain-streaked windows, I watched the world blur into an impressionist painting of lights and shadows. The storm seemed to mirror the chaos inside me—wild, uncontrolled, devastating.
"It's raining," I whispered, my voice barely audible over the downpour. "Just like that night. The night they drove me to Silver Fang."
Lucas's arms tightened around me, and I felt him press a kiss to my temple. "This rain is different," he murmured against my skin. "This rain is washing away the past. Our child will be born into a new world, Tori. A world where you are loved, protected, cherished. Where no one will ever make you feel worthless again."
I wanted to believe him. But another contraction ripped through me, and all I could do was bury my face in Lucas's chest and try not to scream.
Matthew's voice cut through my desperate thoughts.
"We're here. Lucas, I need you to carry her straight to the emergency entrance. "
The SUV screeched to a halt under the bright lights of Moontouch Medical Center's emergency bay.
Lucas didn't wait for the door to be opened. He kicked it wide and gathered me into his arms in one fluid motion, his body curving protectively over mine as rain pelted down on us.
I should have been soaked within seconds, but somehow, impossibly, my Luna gown remained dry beneath his shelter.
"Alpha Lucas," a woman in surgical scrubs called out, rushing forward with a wheelchair. Her name tag read Dr. Elena Rodriguez—Head of Obstetrics. "We need to get her inside immediately. "
"Then move," Lucas snarled, his Alpha authority making even the experienced doctor flinch.
They wheeled me through automatic doors that hissed open like the jaws of some great beast.
The fluorescent lights were too bright, making me squint even as another contraction wracked my body. I could hear Lucas beside me, his footsteps keeping pace with the gurney, his hand never leaving mine.
"Tori Sullivan-Grayson," Dr. Rodriguez was saying, her voice crisp and professional as she reviewed information on a tablet. "Twenty-two years old, Omega, first pregnancy at approximately twenty-five weeks. Premature rupture of membranes with visible bleeding. We need to—"
She stopped abruptly, her eyes widening as she looked at something on the screen. "Get her to OR-3. Now. We're initiating emergency."
"What does that mean?" I managed to ask, my voice thin with pain and fear. "What's wrong?"
Dr. Rodriguez's expression softened slightly as she looked down at me.
"Your baby is in distress, Luna. We need to deliver now, before the moon reaches its zenith."
No. No, no, no. This couldn't be happening. This was supposed to be the happiest day of my life. Lucas and I were supposed to be celebrating our union, dancing under the stars, beginning our life together. Not this. Never this.
"Lucas," I gasped, my grip on his hand tightening until my knuckles went white. "I'm scared."
He leaned down, his forehead pressing against mine, his golden eyes boring into my soul with such intensity that everything else faded away.
"I know," he whispered. "I'm terrified too. But you are the strongest person I've ever known, Tori. You can survive this. We can survive this."
The gurney burst through another set of doors into a surgical suite bathed in soft blue light. Medical staff swarmed around us, their movements precise and coordinated, but all I could focus on was Lucas's face, the way his jaw clenched as they tried to separate us.
"Alpha, you can't—" a nurse began.
"I'm not leaving her." Lucas's voice dropped to a dangerous growl, his Alpha aura flooding the room with such force that several of the staff stumbled backward. "My mate needs me, and I will be here."