Marked by Him, Reborn Without Him

Selene's POV

Blood poured from Elior’s stomach as I pressed my trembling hands against the open wound, trying to stop what felt inevitable. His small body trembled, his skin turning ghostly pale with every passing second. He was slipping away, and all I could do was hold him and beg the universe not to take him.

“Sweetheart, stay with me,” I whispered, voice ragged and shaking as I leaned closer to his face. “Daddy’s on his way… he has to be.”

Tears clouded my eyes as I reached for my phone, fingers slipping on the blood-slick surface. The device nearly fell, but I managed to fumble it into place and hit the call button. Ring after ring—it felt like an eternity. Then, finally—he answered.

“Alpha!” I gasped out, barely holding back the scream in my throat. “Elior’s been hurt. Badly. We’re—We’re in a cave just beyond the park. A rogue attacked us, and he’s losing so much blood!”

“Where exactly?” Ronan’s voice broke through the line, sharp and urgent.

“The far side of the park, just past the cliffs,” I choked out, clinging to the hope in his tone. “Please, Ronan. Our little boy—he’s slipping away.”

“I’ll be there,” he said, his voice low. But before he could say anything more, I heard a second voice in the background.

“Alpha, I need you,” the woman said.

That voice. My stomach dropped.

Carmela.

Why was she with him?

“Carmie?” Ronan’s voice changed—softer, layered with something that shattered me: longing.

“There’s trouble,” she cried. “The park is under attack. Gabriel—my son—he’s trapped. Please, Ronan, help him!”

My breath caught in my throat. A son?

No. Not now. He wouldn’t turn his back on Elior—not for her. Not for someone else’s child.

“I’ll send men for you,” Ronan replied. “But I have to go—my son needs me.”

I exhaled a shaky breath, looking down at Elior. “See? Daddy’s coming,” I whispered, brushing his curls away from his damp forehead.

A weak smile tugged at his lips, faint but real. His eyes fluttered up to meet mine—there was still hope there.

And then—

“He’s not just mine,” Carmela said suddenly, her voice breaking the silence like a curse. “Gabriel is your son too, Ronan.”

Everything stopped.

My heart, my breath, my world—frozen.

Ronan’s voice came back, now sharp and skeptical. “What are you talking about?”

“You never knew,” she said bitterly. “Your parents pushed me away. They never accepted me—forced me out. I had to hide my pregnancy or they would’ve destroyed me. Destroyed our baby.”

No. That wasn’t true. My father would never—he wasn't a murderer.

I tried to speak, to break through the storm unraveling on the other end of the line. “Ronan—please—” But I never finished.

His voice returned. Cold. Unrecognizable.

“I’ll send someone to help.”

The line went dead.

The phone slipped from my grasp, hitting the cave floor with a soft thud. I stared at it in disbelief. No. That couldn’t be it. He wouldn’t leave us. He wouldn’t trade his own son for a past he once let go of.

But he had.

The sound of Elior’s breathing pulled me back, ragged and thin.

“Mama… is he coming?” he asked, voice a bare whisper.

I tried to summon strength, tried to smile, but my lips trembled too much to form it.

“He’s just… delayed, sweetheart,” I whispered. A lie. One I clung to because I didn’t know how to give him the truth.

Elior blinked slowly, offering a small nod. “Don’t cry, Mommy…”

His words broke something inside me. I cradled him tighter, despite the pain radiating through my own wounds—blood soaked my clothes, my side, my legs. I was too weak to fight. Too broken to run. And outside, the rogues were still prowling, waiting for the scent of final breath.

But that’s not what shattered me.

It was the realization that my son was dying in my arms. And the man who was supposed to love him, protect him—

Had chosen not to come.

My voice cracked as I leaned down again, desperation consuming me. “Hold on, baby. Just a little longer. You’re going to be okay…”

Elior looked up at me one last time. A soft smile curved his lips—gentle, forgiving.

Then his eyelids lowered.

His body stilled.

And the soft rhythm of his heartbeat… faded.