The hospital ceiling blurred above me, white tiles swimming in and out of focus. My throat burned like I had swallowed broken glass. Every breath hurt.
"She's waking up." Nonna's voice cut through the fog in my head.
I turned my head slowly, the movement sending waves of nausea through my stomach. Nonna sat in a chair beside my bed, her eyes red and swollen. Richard stood near the window, his arms crossed over his chest, his beta aura crackling with barely contained rage.
"Water," I managed to croak.
Nonna jumped up and poured water from a pitcher into a cup. She held it to my lips, and I drank slowly, the cool liquid soothing my raw throat.
"You scared the hell out of me," Nonna whispered, tears streaming down her face. "Don't ever do that again."
I closed my eyes. The memory came back in pieces. The court order. The restraining order keeping me from my own son. Cody's confused face when the Alpha King's guards pulled me away from him at the park. The pills in my medicine cabinet. The darkness that followed.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"Sorry?" Richard's voice was sharp. He moved away from the window and stood at the foot of my bed. "You tried to kill yourself, Aurora. Over what? Over him?"
"He took Cody from me," I said, my voice breaking. "The restraining order says I can't go within five hundred feet of my own son. What kind of mother can't see her child?"
Nonna grabbed my hand and squeezed it hard. "We'll fight this. Richard's already working on it."
Richard ran his hand through his hair, his movements jerky with anger. "I need to speak with the Alpha King. This is beyond cruel. He can't just take Cody away from you completely."
"He's the Alpha King," I said bitterly. "He can do whatever he wants."
"Not this." Richard pulled out his phone. "I'm calling him right now."
I watched as Richard dialed, his jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscles jumping. The phone rang once, twice, three times. No answer. Richard cursed under his breath and dialed again. Still nothing.
"He's not answering," Richard said. He dialed a different number, and this time someone picked up almost immediately.
"Hi buddy," a cheerful voice said through the speaker. Even from my bed, I recognized John Hudson's voice.
Richard didn't bother with pleasantries. "I need to speak with that brother of yours. Who the hell does he think he is? I want to speak with him at once. Link this call to him."
There was a pause. Then John's voice came back, more serious now. "I know what you want to say has to do with Aurora. But we can handle this and make them understand that they have become an integral part of each other's life. You as Aurora's friend and me as Jack's brother. You shouldn't be angry, Richard. Let's talk as adults."
"Do you even know what your brother did?" Richard's voice rose. "What does he want from Aurora? What wrong did she do to him that he cannot forgive her for Cody's sake? Will it interest him if my call this moment was to announce Aurora's death to him?"
My chest tightened. Nonna's hand gripped mine harder.
John's voice changed completely. "Don't talk like that, Richard. Aurora is not going to die or something."
"Aurora almost died because of how hard your brother pushed her," Richard said, each word sharp and precise. "I just want to talk to Jack immediately."
"Now tell me everything," John demanded. "I am not aware that my brother did anything."
Richard's eyes flicked to me, then back to the phone. "How dare Jack Hudson get a restraining order against Aurora from seeing Cody? Isn't she Cody's mother anymore? Do you even know what she went through to birth and raise Cody to this point?"
"What?" John's voice cracked with shock.
"Your brother, the mighty Alpha King, filed a court order to keep Aurora away from her son. A five hundred foot restraining order. She can't see him, can't talk to him, can't even send him a message. And when she found out, she tried to kill herself. She's in the hospital right now because of what he did."
The silence on the other end of the phone stretched out. I could hear voices in the background, muffled and distant.
"I didn't know," John finally said, his voice quiet. "Jack didn't tell me about any restraining order."
"Well, now you know," Richard said. "And you need to tell your brother that if he doesn't withdraw that order, I will make sure every pack in the kingdom knows what kind of king he really is. A king who would take a child away from his mother for no reason except his own pride."
"Let me talk to him," John said. "I'll call you back."
The line went dead. Richard shoved his phone into his pocket and turned to me. His expression softened when he saw my face.
"You're going to get Cody back," he said firmly. "I promise you."
I wanted to believe him. But I had learned the hard way that promises meant nothing when it came to the Alpha King. Jack Hudson took what he wanted and destroyed anyone who stood in his way. Even me. Even the mother of his child.
"He won't change his mind," I said. "He hates me."
"Then we'll make him change it," Nonna said fiercely. "You're not alone in this, Aurora. We're not going to let him win."
A knock on the door interrupted us. A nurse stepped in, her eyes widening when she saw Richard.
"Beta Richard," she said, bowing slightly. "The doctor wants to examine the patient now."
Richard nodded. He looked at me one more time. "Rest. I'll handle this."
They left the room, and the doctor came in with his clipboard and stethoscope. He checked my vitals, asked me questions I barely heard, wrote notes I couldn't read. When he finished, he gave me a long look.
"You're lucky to be alive," he said quietly. "Whatever drove you to this, it's not worth your life. You have people who care about you."
I didn't answer. How could I explain that without Cody, I wasn't sure I had a life worth living?
The doctor left, and I was alone with my thoughts. Somewhere in the kingdom, Jack was probably with Cody right now. Reading him a bedtime story. Tucking him in. Playing the role of devoted father while I lay in a hospital bed, broken and empty.
My phone buzzed on the side table. Nonna must have left it there. I picked it up with trembling hands.
One new message from an unknown number.
The Alpha King requests your presence at the palace tomorrow at noon. This is not optional.