LENA'S POV
When Lena emerged from the bathroom, Wyatt was waiting.
He held a glass of water in his hands. His expression was unreadable. She could see him processing. Could watch as confusion flickered across his face, then horror, then something that looked like understanding settling in like a storm.
He helped her to the bathroom floor without speaking. She sat with her back against the cold tile wall. Her whole body felt hollowed out. Empty. Like she'd just expunged not just her stomach but her entire ability to hold secrets.
Wyatt sat beside her, still holding the water glass.
For a long time neither of them spoke.
Then Wyatt turned to face her. His eyes were searching hers for something she wasn't sure she could give him.
"Tell me," he said quietly.
Lena looked at her hands. They were shaking. Everything about her was shaking. She'd spent two months keeping this locked inside. Two months of pretending. Two months of surviving on the knowledge that she would do this alone.
"I'm two months pregnant," she said. Her voice sounded distant. Like it was coming from someone else. "Maybe a little more than two months. It happened that night at the lake house."
Wyatt's entire body went rigid. She watched his face cycle through emotions too fast to track. Shock. Disbelief. Wonder. Fury. Pain. Finally settling on something that looked like absolute certainty.
When he spoke, his voice was different. Harder. More final than she'd ever heard it.
"I'm ending my engagement," he said.
"Wyatt, you can't—"
"Today," he continued like she hadn't spoken. "I'm ending it today. I don't care about the missing memories or the confusing timeline. I don't care what my father has planned or what Victoria's family expects. The bond is real. You're real. Our child is real. Everything else is a lie I'm done living."
Lena wanted to believe him. God, she wanted to believe him so badly it hurt. But she knew better. She knew how pack politics worked. She'd grown up in a family that was always on the outside looking in because they wouldn't play the game.
"You have responsibilities," she said. "You have a pack that depends on you. You have your father and Victoria and alliances that—"
"I don't care about any of that," Wyatt said. His voice was absolute. "Not compared to this. Not compared to you."
He reached out and took her hand. His grip was firm. Grounding. Like he was trying to convince her through touch what words couldn't convey.
"Listen to me," he said. "I spent three months walking around like a ghost. My wolf was screaming. My body was remembering things my mind couldn't access. I was living a lie and I knew it but I didn't know why. Then I saw you in that emergency room and everything clicked into place."
He pulled her closer.
"You're my mate," Wyatt said. "Real or not real. Bonded or not bonded. You're what my entire life has been searching for. And I'm not losing you again."
Lena felt tears starting to fall. She was so tired of crying. Tired of being afraid. Tired of carrying this burden alone.
"You need to leave," she said. "Before Victoria finds out you're here. Before anyone realizes we've been together. I can't be the reason your world falls apart, Wyatt."
"Too late," Wyatt said. "You already are. And I'm choosing that. I'm choosing you and our child. I'm choosing to burn it all down if that's what it takes."
He stood up and pulled her with him. She was unsteady on her feet but he held her, his arms wrapped around her like he was afraid she'd disappear if he let go.
"Come with me," he said. "We'll go to the pack hospital. We'll tell my family. We'll figure out the rest together."
Lena shook her head. This was moving too fast. This was everything happening at once and she couldn't think straight. She couldn't breathe.
"Wyatt, please. Just go. Before someone sees us."
He opened his mouth to argue.
Then the front door to the house exploded open.
Heavy footsteps. Urgent voices. River appeared in the hallway, his face twisted with panic. When he saw Wyatt standing in the bathroom with Lena, his expression changed but he didn't stop moving.
"Alpha," River said, and the formality of his tone told Lena something was seriously wrong. "You need to come now. Dad's had a stroke. He's at the pack hospital and they're saying it's critical."
Wyatt's entire body went tense.
"How critical?" he demanded.
"Critical critical," River said. "Like might not make it through the night critical. The council is already gathering. They're demanding your presence."
Wyatt looked at Lena. His expression was torn. Desperate. Like he was being pulled in two directions and couldn't choose between them.
"I have to go," he said. "But I'm coming back. I'm coming back and we're doing this together."
Lena nodded because what else could she do. She watched as he turned to leave, as he walked away from her again, just like he'd done at the lake house.
But this time it was different.
This time he looked back.
He came back to her and kissed her forehead. Soft. Certain. Like a promise.
"I'm coming back," he said again. "And everything changes."
Then he was gone.
River lingered in the hallway for just a moment. He looked at Lena with an expression that was unreadable. Like he was putting pieces together. Like he understood what was happening before she'd even had to explain it.
"Whatever this is," River said quietly, "it's going to shake everything."
Then he was gone too.
Lena stood alone in that bathroom. Her hand pressed against her belly where their child was growing. Her heart pounding so hard she thought it might break through her ribs.
Wyatt's father had had a stroke.
Everything had just shifted. The timeline had collapsed. The careful plans Wyatt was making would have to wait. Pack emergency came first. Family crisis came first. And by the time he made it back to her, everything might have changed.
She needed to call Blake. She needed to get somewhere safe. She needed to figure out what came next because one thing was suddenly very clear.
Everything was about to explode.