Alpha’s Regret-My Luna Has A Son

Walking into the hospital, Macey and Zoe paced out the front of Emily’s and Ben’s room. Tears streaked both their faces, and Macey’s eyes were puffy, so I knew whatever was going was terrible because Macey never cries, she never gets emotional, she kept her walls high and took on the world with a no fucks given attitude. My stomach plummets as I approach them. My entire body was shaking, the moment I got to them, the door opened, and the Doctor stepped out. A grim expression on his face. Macey instantly turned to face him, but Doc’s shoulders dropped.

“Well?” she asks. Doc looked tired, and I couldn’t imagine having his job, having to deliver bad news to families or parents. Bad news was exactly what we got when he spoke.

“As you know, Ben deteriorated overnight. His blood test when he first came in showed some hope, he wasn’t a full-blown forsaken, but now he is, his body is shutting down, his organs are failing, he doesn’t have much time left,” I swallow his words down and bite the inside of m y lip to stop the quiver. “Emily?” I ask, clearing my throat.

“The only thing keeping her alive is the machines. Without them, she will die,” Doc answers. We already knew that, but I had some hope. Doc just killed that hope.

“Is he still conscious?” Zoe asks.

“He keeps coming in and out. One minute he almost seems lucid the next, he is hurting himself or trying to attack the nurses,” Doc says. “So what now?” I ask

“There is nothing else we can do, we did dialysis, but the infection is not just in his blood. It’s i n his muscles, bones, everything, I’m sorry, Luna, but now we just wait,” “Wait for him to die?” I ask Doc smiles sadly and nods. I press my lips in a line and gulp before clearing my throat. Zoe sits heavily in the chair by the door.

“He’s just a child,” she says, putting her head in her hands. Macey grips her shoulder, hugging her against her hip.

“Thank you for everything, Doc,” I tell him.

“You’re more than welcome to stay with him. I will send some chairs in for you all,” he says, wandering down the hall. I stare at the ceiling, willing the tears to go before pushing the door open and stepping inside. Macey follows me in, sitting beside him and grabbing his hand.

Zoe enters but remains close to the wall as she stares, not knowing what to do. Doc comes back in with two extra chairs, and I sit between Emily’s and Ben’s bed, holding his hand and rubbing circles in the back of his hand. Hours pass, and Ben comes too, thrashing and snarling periodically.

didn’t deserve this,” Macey says, gently brushing his fringe from his deformed face. She sniffles when Valen walks in. He nods to us before hugging Zoe, who was a mess at the

way,” he tells her, and she nods. He kisses her forehead as she shakes, staring off vacantly, her eyes glued to Ben and Emily. Macey falls asleep for a while, and Zoe leaves to get coffee and update the hotel on their wellbeing. Zoe had been gone for about five minutes when the alarms started sounding as the monitors went off. Macey sits upright in panic just as Ben starts thrashing,

breathe around the tube in his mouth; I squeeze his hand while Macey whispers to him. Ben’s eyes open with a crazed gleam, yet I see him. See the boy he once was, the scared look beyond them. He tries to speak around the tube, and one of the nurses runs out of the room, unable to watch

Macey breaks, sobbing while clutching his hand. Just as Zoe walks in with the coffees, she shoves the tray at Valen before rushing over, gripping his legs,

him something to help calm him?” Macey asked the Doctor, who lingered helplessly. “We already have given him everything. Nothing works,” he murmurs, holding back his own

bed. His hand flailed, grasping air before I climbed on the bed beside him. Ben snaps and snarls at me. Thrashing when I slid my arm under his body and lay beside him, pulling his legs over my lap, so he was sitting awkwardly on me. His head resting on my shoulder and my hand on his forehead so he couldn’t turn his head to bite, not that he could do much with the tube in his mouth as he squirmed. Macey reaches over, holding out her hand for the key to do the other one.

Doc says, and Valen goes to reach for

tell Valen when he tries to pull me off the bed. “Everly,” he whispers, watching Ben grip and claw at my arm with his

so I will do it for her, as she would for me,” I tell him, my voice breaking knowing she would. No matter the risk to herself, she was

Doctors and nurses tried to stop her, but they were already dying. What did it matter if cords got tangled? Macey pushed Emily’s bed flush against Ben’s, who gasped for air. I stroke his hair before gripping his wrist and moving it to Emily’s arm. He whimpers, clutching her forearm tightly, and

whisper to him. “She loves you so much.” tell him as his breathing slowly evened out. His blood-soaked the shirt I was wearing, which I realized was inside out. I stare up at the ceiling and just hold him. Macey rubbing his back, and Zoe crying while rubbing his legs in my lap. The room falls silent, the only sound is his heart rate monitor, and I turn my head to look at Emily. All the things she wanted for her son come to mind, how she worked her ass off to provide for him, never turning down a shift, how she would even bring Ben to play with Valarian and Casey if she couldn’t get a sitter. She wanted so much for him, and this wasn’t it. I looked at Valen, who stood with a hand under his chin, worry etched into

monster. He was a sweet boy. Emily’s boy. I kiss Ben’s forehead. I couldn’t fix this. Our emergency

my claws slide from my fingertips before digging them into my palm. I let my blood pool i n my hand. Macey lifts her head, and her lips quiver when I move him, making sure his hand remains on Emily. I pulled his other hand from under him and sliced his palm. The moment I did, Valen reached over the bed and gripped my wrist to stop me. I stare at him. He looks at Ben and drops his

His blood could make you

can’t pledge, a blood link is the only way,” I tell him, and he looks down at Emily, who he

he murmurs, gripping my wrist. He looks up at me, his eyes watching

go. Valen slashes his palm with his claws, and I do the same to Ben’s free hand that lays limp on my belly. He

Valen, of the Nightshade pack-” his words cut off, and I notice Marcus, whose eyes were glazed over as he stood behind Zoe, his arms wrapped around