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He's clawing inside my chest, howling, Ours. Ours. Ours.

He recognized her before I did. That day in the hospital, when I touched her hand, and something stirred in my gut. I brushed it off as nothing. My wolf didn’t.

And now? Now he’s tearing through me, feral with protectiveness.

Too small. Too still. She shouldn’t be like this. Not our pup.

I want to ask Lila a thousand fucking questions.

How old is she? Why didn’t she tell me? Why did she keep her hidden? Is she mine?

But none of that matters right now. Right now, all that matters is that she’s breathing, barely, and that Lila looks like she’s holding herself together with sheer fucking will.

“Mommy’s here, so hang on, baby,” she sobs, and the sound guts me.

She’s terrified. And I can’t stand it.

I thought Julian drugging her and trying to take advantage of her nearly made me snap, but this? It chips at all the boundaries of my emotions.

I reach across the center console, placing my hand over Lina’s tiny one where it rests on Lila’s arm. Her skin is cold. Too cold.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” I say, low and steady, like I’m convincing myself and the universe itself. “You’re not losing her, wild one. The hospital’s close.”

Lila turns to me with tears in her eyes and a look that punches a hole right through my ribcage.

“I can’t lose her,” she whispers. Her voice cracks, and it kills me. “She’s all I have. Without her, I’m…nothing. So, promise me. Promise me she’ll be okay.”

I want to tell her that after what happened between us, she has me. That she will always have me, but this is not the right time to do so.

“She’ll be okay,” I say without hesitation. “We’ll make sure of that. I swear it.”

She nods like she believes me. Or maybe she just needs to believe me. Maybe that’s the only thing keeping her from falling apart in my damn passenger seat.

I look at Lina again. I can see her little chest rise and fall, but it’s faint. Too faint.

My wolf growls, pacing inside me. Fix this. Protect her. Save her.

I should’ve known.

Goddess, how could I not have known?

Lina’s eyes, those deep, expressive eyes, they hold the same fire as Lila’s.

Her smile, when I saw it at the hospital, it lit up the damn room. She clung to that toy like it was a lifeline, stubborn as hell. Just like her mother.

Just like mine.

I grip the wheel tighter and my foot presses harder on the gas.

Saint Jude’s Hospital isn’t far, and it’s one of the best werewolf hospitals in the city. I’ll call in every favor I have to make sure Lina gets the treatment she deserves.

She’s going to pull through. I’ll pull every string to ensure it, and I don’t care what it costs me, either.

Because that little girl in Lila’s arms? She’s not just any girl.

She might be mine.

And even if she isn’t, she’s Lila’s.