A shrill ringtone pierced the quiet night.
I frowned, pulling out my phone. The screen showed Anna.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Ella!" Anna's voice came through panicked and terrified. "Quick! Get to the hospital! Kai's having another bloodline surge!"
Chapter Seventeen
Layla
The phone slipped from my nerveless fingers and cracked against the car's floor mat. Anna was still talking, but I couldn't hear her anymore.
"Kai's having another bloodline surge."
The words looped in my head like a broken record. All the fighting, the pain, the love and hate that had been flooding out—everything shattered under a more primal terror.
"Hospital..." I grabbed Kayden's arm so hard my nails nearly broke his skin. "Go! Now!"
My voice shook. The world spun. All I could see was Kai's agonized little face.
"Look at me, Layla." Kayden caught my hand, his palm broad and warm, strangely steadying. His other hand cupped my face. "Deep breaths. Look at me."
I locked onto him like a drowning woman finding a lifeline, staring into his eyes, trying to pull oxygen from somewhere.
"He'll be okay." His voice was low and even, anchoring my fraying nerves. "We're leaving now."
I found my breath again, gasping. Kayden released me, picked upmy phone, pressed it into my hand, then buckled my seatbelt. The engine roared to life, and the car shot into the night like a beast unleashed.
I bit my lip hard, my mind spiraling through every possible outcome. Outside, the scenery blurred past, streetlights streaking across the windows.
"Don't be afraid." Kayden's voice cut through my panic.
"Bloodline surges are common in Alpha pups during growth." He controlled the wheel with one hand, speaking like he was giving the most natural lecture in the world. "It hurts like hell, but with proper guidance, he'll be fine."
"But Anna said he was convulsing..." I buried my face in my hands.
"That's his body adapting to awakening power," Kayden said. The car tilted as we cornered, throwing me sideways. "Like being flooded with too much energy all at once. It'll ache, it'll hurt, but—"
He glanced at me.
"But it won't kill him. Trust me."
That certainty in his eyes gave my chaos something to hold onto.
"Okay." I heard myself say, still shaking. "I trust you."
The car tore through the streets, the engine's roar slicing through the silent night. My overloaded heartbeat made me dizzy.
A red light ahead. Kayden didn't slow.
"Kayden, red light..."
He blew straight through. A turning taxi slammed its brakes, the driver leaning on his horn, curses flying out the window. Kayden didn't even blink.
Another intersection. Another red light. Another punch of the accelerator. This time, we nearly clipped a van—brake marks scorched two black lines across the pavement.
I watched his profile—jaw clenched tight, brow furrowed, fingers gripping the wheel. He wasn't as calm as he pretended. He was scared, too. For our son.
