Chapter 172 172
Fabrice’s POV
My feelings for Florence had been deepening with every passing day. The way she could soothe birthing mothers still amazed me how she grounded them with nothing more than her presence. Even more remarkable was how effortlessly she connected with their mates, building trust so they understood that when I examined their female or checked the baby’s positioning, it was purely medical. Nothing more.
Male werewolves are unpredictable during labour. Their adrenaline spikes, instincts sharpen, hormones roaring with the need to protect mate and pup at all costs. I’d been attacked more times than I cared to remember but my beta status usually overpowered the situation before it escalated.
I knew Florence was safe during the battle. Or at least, she would be as long as the rogues didn’t breach the hospital.
Then came the explosion.
The sight of the burning house told me everything I needed to know. They weren’t just attacking they wanted chaos. Mass destruction. That was the moment panic truly set in. I needed to get to her. Needed to know she was safe. Needed to mind-link her, to hear her voice in my head and steady the storm clawing through my chest.
The mate bond tugged relentlessly, pulling me toward her, but I couldn’t leave. I had to stay and fight. Had to keep protecting the pack.
I couldn’t reach Aurélie either not when that massive, beastly rogue had her pinned. For the first time in my life, real fear took hold. I truly thought I might lose her that night. Losing Aurélie would shatter me in ways I couldn’t begin to describe… but losing Florence?
I wouldn’t survive that.
That was when it became clear. Blindingly so.
I wanted to mark her.
No I needed to.
To make her mine, and to bind myself to her completely.
We both returned to the hospital after grabbing only a few hours of sleep. One of the females had worked herself into such a state of fear that she’d gone into early labour. She was still in the early stages, being closely monitored, which allowed us a short window to rest.
Florence went back before I did. I stayed behind to do one last round on the injured before heading to the alpha house.
When I discovered Aurélie hadn’t had her arm treated, fury hit hard and fast. I understood she’d been occupied visiting grieving families, carrying the weight of the pack on her shoulders but if she’d left that wound any longer, she could have lost the arm entirely.
The moment I reset the skin, her body began to heal. Damien’s alpha saliva had helped accelerate the process too. He’d healed her in more ways than one not just with his blood, but by pulling her back from death during the battle itself.
I still didn’t know where he and his warriors had come from, but goddess, I’d never been so relieved to see anyone. We’d managed to hold the borders during the first rogue attack, but the second had blindsided us completely.
And when I heard there’d been a third group planned…
The outcome of that night could have been very different.
The way Damien stepped in for Aurélie, for the children it was impossible to ignore. Their mate bond was stirring, weaving itself tighter, doing what fate always intended.
After dressing Aurélie’s arm, I headed upstairs, only to stop short at the sight of Florence asleep in my bed. Whether exhaustion had driven her there, her wolf seeking comfort, or whether she simply wanted to be close to me, I didn’t know.
I only knew it made me happy.
It meant she was accepting our bond.
She’d struggled at first. Who wouldn’t? Her mate came with a ready-made family. Anyone would feel unsure, perhaps even inferior. But with time, she’d come to understand our dynamics and her place within them.
When I woke, the bed was empty.
Downstairs, Aurélie told me Florence had already left for the hospital without me. The ache in my chest from missing her caught me off guard, sharp and unexpected.
Now it was early evening. I was just returning after the pup had been born an hour earlier. I’d wanted to examine him, to ensure the stress his mother endured hadn’t transferred to him.
Both mother and baby were doing well.
Florence had stayed behind to help establish breastfeeding, promising to send word if anything changed. Not being able to mind-link her was taking its toll on me. My wolf had struggled through the rogue attack, restless and frantic without confirmation of her safety.
I found Aurélie in her office with Damien and Lucas, deep in discussion about future security measures.
“Fabrice…” Aurélie smiled as I entered, immediately opening a mind-link.
“Everything okay? You haven’t taken your glasses off once.”
She wasn’t wrong. I needed a week of uninterrupted sleep to feel human again.
“Yes. Baby delivered,” I replied through the link, taking a seat at the round table.
“How’s your arm?” I asked aloud this time.
“Nearly healed. I pulled the staples out earlier,” Aurélie said, glancing down at it. The bandage was gone now. The wound was still knitting itself together, skin and tissue repairing steadily.
It might scar. With werewolves, scars were always a gamble. Sometimes they faded entirely. Sometimes they remained.
But one thing was certain.
Silver always left its mark.