ANIKA POV:

I woke up from a series of fragmented nightmares, the wound in my abdomen still aching dully.

The dreams were filled with Dixon's cold face and Jaime's triumphant smile.

The sky outside the window was beginning to pale.

A new day had begun, but my world was still gray.

I propped myself up, my body weak, and looked toward the incubators.

The two little ones were sleeping peacefully, their even breaths the only sound that could comfort me now.

My thoughts drifted back to the past.

I grew up in the Christian Pack's orphanage, told from a young age that my bloodline was weak, that I was an unwanted child.

The Rhodes family adopted me only to provide a playmate for their sickly, precious daughter, Jaime.

In that house, I was always the backdrop, the foil to Jaime.

That remained true until my eighteenth birthday ceremony.

Dixon, as the Pack's Alpha, was in attendance, and the intense Fated Mate bond erupted between us.

For a moment, I thought I was the luckiest person in the world.

Dixon's wolf had roared "Mine!", but the man himself was filled with disgust for me.

He had always loved Jaime, believing that I, an Omega of unknown lineage, had sullied his noble status.

He never marked me.

Our relationship existed only on paper, a designation from the Moon Goddess and a record in the Pack's archives, fragile and easily broken.

When I found out I was pregnant, he showed no joy, only rage.

He saw it as a despicable trick to tie him down, which led to the "Rejection Agreement."

A knock at the door pulled me from my memories.

I looked toward the entrance, wary, thinking it was someone sent by Dixon.

The door opened, and a strange man walked in.

He wore a doctor's white coat and appeared to be in his thirties, with a pair of rimless glasses perched on his nose that gave him a refined, polite air.

Behind him followed the head of this hospital's obstetrics department, Dr. Alan Roberts, who was bowing to him with utmost respect.

This man's status was clearly extraordinary.

The stranger didn't look at me first.

He walked straight to the incubators, his brow furrowing unconsciously as his gaze fell upon my children.

I tensed immediately, struggling to sit up.

"What do you want? Don't touch my children!"

My voice was hoarse and filled with hostility.

The man turned.

His blue eyes studied me through the lenses, devoid of malice.

Instead, they held a strange, urgent curiosity.

He walked slowly toward me, each step careful, as if afraid of startling a wounded animal.

"Don't be nervous, Anika," his voice was gentle and professional. "I'm Dr. Harrison Beaumont, a Healer. I'm just here to confirm a few things."

A Healer?

They were the rarest and most revered beings in the werewolf world, possessing innate healing abilities.

Why would a Healer be here?

Harrison's gaze finally settled on my bare wrist, where a small, crescent-shaped birthmark was visible.

When he saw the birthmark clearly, I saw his pupils constrict violently.

His body even swayed almost imperceptibly.

His eyes were filled with shock, elation, and disbelief.

This intense wave of emotion left me confused and uneasy.

Did he know me?

Or rather, did he know this birthmark?

"You..." he began, his voice trembling with emotion. "Will your family come to visit you soon?"

This question felt like a stone thrown onto my chest.

My voice was filled with bitterness.

"I have no family."

Harrison took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, but his eyes behind his glasses were shining with an astonishing light.

He suddenly turned to Dr. Roberts, his tone becoming firm and authoritative.

"Alan, prepare a Healer's blood-rite at the highest level. Immediately. Use my authority."

Dr. Roberts's jaw dropped in shock, but he nodded at once.

"Yes, Dr. Beaumont."

He then hurried away.

A blood-rite?

That was an ancient ritual used only when searching for a lost noble bloodline.

My heart began to race, a preposterous yet uncontrollable premonition welling up inside me.

Harrison turned back to me, his gaze now a mixture of pity and excitement.

"Don't be afraid, child," he said. "I may have... found you."

His words were like a stone dropped into a still lake, sending massive waves through my dead heart.

At this moment, when I had been abandoned by the entire world, a mysterious light seemed about to shine into my dark life.

HARRISON POV:

I stood in the corridor outside Anika's room, my palms slick with sweat.

I kept adjusting my rimless glasses, but even this habitual motion couldn't calm the storm raging inside me.

Twenty years.

Not a single day had been truly happy for the Beaumont Pack since my little niece, my brother Montgomery's only daughter, was stolen from her cradle.

We had searched all over North America, using every resource at our disposal, but it was like she had vanished into thin air.

Until today.

I had come to this hospital for a routine inspection when I caught a very specific, almost forgotten scent.

It was the scent of my sister-in-law Francesca's White Wolf bloodline, but younger, purer, and mixed with the milky aroma of newborn pups.

The scent led me to Anika's room.

When I saw the crescent-moon birthmark on her wrist, identical to my sister-in-law's, I nearly stopped breathing.

Dr. Roberts came running with a sealed report, his face a mask of awe and disbelief.

He handed it to me, his voice trembling.

"Dr. Beaumont, the results are in... the purity... it's unprecedented..."

My hands were shaking so badly I could barely tear open the seal.

I took a deep breath and unfolded the thin sheet of paper.

At the bottom of the report, in the conclusion section, was a single line: "Bloodline match: 99.99%. Confirmed as direct White Wolf bloodline of the Beaumont Pack."

A roar filled my head, and my mind went blank.

We found her.

We really found her!

An overwhelming joy washed over me.

I stumbled back against the wall, tears blurring my vision.

I immediately closed my eyes, focused my mind, and opened the highest-level family Mind-Link.

"Montgomery!"

My voice was distorted with emotion in the link.

Almost instantly, my brother, the Alpha of the Beaumont Pack, responded with his steady, mountain-like voice.

"Harrison? What's wrong? Your emotions are unstable."

I could feel my nephews—Duncan, Caleb, Jordan—and even my parents in Europe sensing my intense emotional fluctuation and joining the link.

"I found her!"

I roared to the entire family channel.

"I found her! And I've seen her pups, a pair of twins!"

The Mind-Link fell silent for a heartbeat, then erupted in a tsunami of elation and shock.

Montgomery's roar nearly shattered my psyche, a mix of joy, towering rage, and twenty years of pain.

"Where?!"

"St. Jude Hospital. She just gave birth, she's very weak, and... it seems she's been abandoned by her mate."

I shared with everyone some information that I had found in advance about Anika's husband.

"That little mongrel from the Christian Pack!"

My sister-in-law Francesca's voice, filled with murderous intent, cut through.

Clearly, they had also been aware of the so-called "public rejection."

"Full mobilization!"

Montgomery's voice carried the undeniable command of an Alpha.

"Caleb, Jordan, Duncan, you three, come with me to the airport now! The private jet takes off in ten minutes! Francesca, you too! Harrison! I command you as your Alpha, from this moment on, protect her and my grandchildren at all costs! Clear the entire floor, deploy top-level security! She is not to suffer another ounce of indignity before we arrive!"

"Yes, Alpha!" I responded immediately.

After cutting the link, I instantly regained the calm authority of a Healer.

I turned to Dr. Roberts, who was standing by, completely stunned.

"Alan," my voice was cold and clear. "Clear the VVIP-A wing. All of it. Now. Mobilize all local Pack guards and lock down all entrances. No visitors are allowed, except for authorized medical personnel."

Dr. Roberts looked at me as if I were a god.

He finally understood that he had just witnessed the return of a top Pack's lost heir.

"Yes... yes! I'll do it right away!"

He practically scrambled away.

I straightened my white coat, wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes, and forced myself to calm my racing heart.

I pushed open Anika's door.

She was looking at me with a mixture of fear and hope.

I walked to her bedside and managed a smile I hoped was gentle.

"Anika, we need to move you and the babies to a safer, more comfortable suite. Please allow me to help you."