Chapter 0344

Brianna

I was shot.

The bastard actually shot me.

Right in the stomach.

My thoughts are hazy, clouded by pain and confusion.

But the memory of the gunshot rings clear and sharp.

“She’s waking up.” Sebastian’s voice cuts through the fog, thick with relief.

Warm fingers close around my wrist.

Another hand presses gently against my neck.

“Pulse is strong.”

I force one eye open, squinting against the light.

Theodore smiles down at me.

“I was shot,” I mumble, my voice rough.

Silence answers me.

My hands drift to my stomach.

Bandages wrap tightly around my torso.

I begin picking at the edges.

I need to see the damage.

I need to know.

I was pregnant.

“Brianna, stop.” Sebastian’s hands catch mine, pulling them away.

A whimper escapes me.

“But I’m pregnant!”

This wasn’t how I planned to tell him.

It was supposed to be a surprise.

I wanted to share the news tonight, during the pack run.

The silence that follows is crushing.

It only takes me a moment to understand.

I was shot in the stomach.

The extensive bandages tell a story of severe injury.

Which means one thing.

I lost our pup.

“Brianna…” Theodore begins softly.

“No. I already know. I was just…” I turn my head toward Sebastian. “I’m sorry.”

I fight to hold myself together, but my chest is tight.

My lungs burn with a scream I can’t release.

I see it on his face.

There’s more.

Sebastian squeezes my hand. “The damage was too severe, Brianna. It, um… it…”

I’ve never seen him struggle for words like this.

The news is worse than just losing the pup.

“It’s like Isabella’s leg,” I whisper, saying what he cannot. “It won’t heal.”

Not only did I lose the pup.

I lost any chance of having more.

“Brianna, I’m sor—”

“It’s fine.” My body trembles.

It isn’t fine.

But I have to focus on something else. “Is Luc dead?” He’s the one who shot me.

“No.” Sebastian’s reply is calm.

I expected him or Zachary to have torn Luc apart for what he did to me.

“Why the hell not? He did this! He’s the reason I lost the pup! He knew I was pregnant, and he shot me!”

“Brianna, it wasn’t him!” Sebastian stops me.

“What are you talking about? He had the gun.”

“A Lycan was fighting him for it,” Theodore explains. “The guy was aiming for Athena. Luc tried to wrestle it away. It went off and hit you. Athena killed the guy.”

I should feel better.

The idiot who shot me is dead.

But I don’t.

I just feel hollow and broken.

How could something so small leave me feeling so empty?

“You should go on the pack run,” I mutter to Sebastian. “I’ll be okay here. I’ll just…” I glance around the room. “I guess I’ll rest.”

“Brianna, the pack run was two nights ago. The damage… your body is healing slowly.”

“Oh.”

“There’s something else I need to tell you.”

How much worse can it get?

Sebastian runs a hand through his blonde hair. “Isabella’s dead.”

I stare at him, my mouth agape.

Sebastian and Theodore explain everything.

I still don’t fully understand.

It feels like a dream, or a drug-induced hallucination.

What they’re telling me doesn’t seem real.

A soul taking over another soul.

“How’s Zachary?” This could push him back into his Rogue habits.

He told me Isabella was his light, his anchor.

With her gone, it’s only a matter of time.

“That’s what everyone is worried about,” Theodore mutters.

“Please tell me he hasn’t gone Rogue?!”

“That’s just it. He hasn’t. He’s quiet, but he’s handling his Beta duties. He isn’t acting like someone who lost a mate. Luc is watching him constantly.”

“That will only make things worse.”

I sigh, shifting in the bed.

It would be so much easier if they were on the same side.

Instead of making me turn my head back and forth.