Chapter 31

Lucian’s POV

As Dr. A slouched forward, I quickly realized that she was fainting and reached out to grab her before she could hit the table or the floor. She slumped into my arms, and as I held her I continued to marvel at just how very much she reminded me of Aria.

But she wasn’t Aria. She couldn’t be.

I’d confirmed as much at the party. While Aria had been with me, one of contacts kept an eye on Dr. A, who had been sitting in her office at the hospital.

Even so, their build and features were uncannily similar.

“The smell is different,” my wolf Max said in my mind. “This one has no smell.”

That would be a difficult thing for Aria to fake, as would her appearance in two places at once. I needed to let this wild idea go. It simply couldn’t be possible for Dr. A and Aria to be the same person, no matter the similarities. I was only causing trouble for myself by entertaining any possibilities otherwise.

Yet, seeing Aria fainted like this, her body limp, reminded me of Aria at our anniversary party, when she passed out. Guilt struck me at the memory. I hadn’t been there then for Aria, when she’d needed me, choosing to side with Sheila instead.

I was starting to see I had made many mistakes over the course of our marriage. That had been one of them.

Carefully, I cradled Dr. A up into my arms. Without knowing how serious her condition was, I couldn’t just wait for her to wake up. If she needed a Healer, I needed to get her to one at once.

I didn’t trust waiting for an ambulance. Not when the hospital was so close.

So, with Dr. A scooped up against my chest, I left the conference room. Ignoring the stares of others in the Alpha headquarters building, I walk straight out of the building. Then I started to dash. With my Alpha speed and strength, I arrived at the hospital emergency room within ten minutes.

Once they realized who the patient was, the Healers emerged from the back in haste, one of them wheeling a gurney.

I gently placed Dr. A down atop the gurney. The Healers immediately circled around her and began to wheel her into the back.

Something uncomfortable panged inside of my chest. Remembering the way the other Healers earlier had treated Dr. A with distain, and knowing the pressures she was under from everyone else in the pack, I didn’t feel like I should leave her alone with anyone, even the other Healers.

So I followed them as they led her into the back rooms. They brought her to one of the emergency rooms.

Behind these private doors, I drew looks from other nurses, administrators, and Healers, but none of them said a word to me. This was one of the perks of being the Alpha King. No one dared to speak against me.

Yet, though I was throwing the weight of my title around by storming back here, I did my best to stay out of the way of the Healers and others just trying to work. Even as the Healers looked over Dr. A, I stayed merely a cautious overseer.

Then one of the Healers reached for Dr. A’s mask.

“Wait,” I said, almost without meaning to. Dr. A kept her mask on for a reason. Removing it like this felt… wrong. “Is that necessary?”

The Healers all turned to look at me. Blessedly, the one who had been reaching for Dr. A’s mask stilled his grabby hands.

“The mask could be blocking her ability to breathe,” the Healer said. “We need to ensure the pathways are clear.”

This should have been a good reason, but something still seemed off about it.

Quickly, I realized that I did not trust these Healers. They could have been telling me the truth, but they could have just as easily been lying. If they wanted to see the person behind the mask, they might have assumed I would believe whatever they told me.

In another world, or with another person, maybe I would have. But, deep within me, even Max was pacing uncomfortably back and forth, feeling protecting of this unconscious stranger on the gurney.

Maybe it was because she looked so much like Aria.

“Keep her safe,” Max growled within my mind. “Do not let them touch her.”

A slight growl emitted from the back of my throat. My hands curled into fists.

This was an overreaction to what was happening here. I knew that. But Dr. A unconscious on the table reminded me so much of Aria, who I had failed when she fainted that night of our anniversary.

I couldn’t fail Dr. A, too.

I had to make the right decision. The mask could have been inhibiting her breathing. It made sense to remove it.

But…

“Don’t!” Cathy said, rushing into the room. “The lot of you are ridiculous. The woman just fainted.” Cathy grabbed the end of the gurney and started wheeling Dr. A away. Glaring at each of the Healers, and even at me, she snapped, “Don’t act like there was anything moral happening here. You just wanted to see her face.”

The accusation struck me deeply, though the other Healers seemed more annoyed at being thwarted than upset over this outcome.

Cathy wheeled Dr. A out of the room without another word.

I didn’t follow her this time. As Cathy was Aria’s most trusted friend, I knew that she was safe.

Though Cathy’s sudden appearance did puzzle me somewhat.

Why was Aria’s best friend so often at Dr. A’s side? Yes, they both worked at the hospital, but it seemed as if Dr. A had purposefully taken Cathy in under her wing. Cathy was good at what she did, but even so, it almost seemed like the pair knew each other from before.

…Did the pair know each other from before?

Then maybe Aria also knew Dr. A? That could explain some of what happened in that bar’s bathroom all those nights ago. If Dr. A knew Aria, maybe she had purposefully covered Aria’s escape by distracting me.

I didn’t know. Something still felt off. Their heights, weights, and builds were so similar. Maybe they were related.

“Impossible,” Max chuffed. “They smell nothing alike. I would be able if two wolves were siblings.”

“Unless Dr. A altered her own scent somehow,” I reasoned. “She smells off, so we know she did. They could be siblings, and no…” Remembering Aria’s past, I realized that could be.

Aria had been with her parents until they died, and then taken to the orphanage. Unless she had lied to me, which didn’t seem likely, she had been an only child.

This would remain a mystery, it seemed.

And then there was an entirely different matter, something that I had noticed when Dr. A began to fall.

She had clutched her stomach.

I didn’t want to presume, and it was none of my business. But now that the moments of urgency had past, leaving moments of calm in their wake, I couldn’t help but reflect and see things more clearly.

That protective way Dr. A clutched her stomach…

She’d left no thought to her own safety, so long as her belly was secure.

…Was Dr. A pregnant?