*Aria’s POV*

The silence in the hospital corridor was deafening. Talia had finally been taken into the delivery room, and Damon sat nearby, tense, barely blinking. I sat opposite him, trying to still my pounding heart, but something didn’t feel right. Not just a general unease—the kind of hollow ache that blooms through the bond when something is deeply wrong.

Lucien.

I hadn’t heard from him since he left. He had said he would return quickly, that he would protect Lily and come back to me. But something inside me twisted—painful, cold, like a tether fraying.

My mate was in trouble.

I stood from my seat abruptly, ignoring the sudden...