Page 212 of Rise of the Reborn Beta

“She is right here.”

Mate gone?

“No!” My voice cracks through the room as I bury my face against hers. “No, she's not.”

The doctor quietly leaves, and I don't care where he goes. I hold Arlene tighter and breathe her in, trying to memorize her scent while my wolf keeps reaching for something that isn't there.

“I failed you.” The words come out broken as I press my cheek against hers. “I couldn't keep you safe the first time.”

Tears run down my face faster than I can wipe them away. I don't try. I hold her lifeless body in my arms and let them fall.

“I was supposed to do better this time. That was the whole fucking point.” I kiss her temple as my chest caves around another sob. “I was supposed to protect you. I was supposed to keep you safe.”

Memories crash through me. Arlene laughing at me. Arlene arguing with me. Arlene sleeping beside me. Arlene holding Damian. Arlene holding Darlene. Arlene placing Arian in my arms.

We got another life. Another chance. Somehow, I still end up sitting on a cold floor with my mate's lifeless body in my arms.

“What the fuck was I doing if I couldn't even protect you?” I choke on the words and pull her closer. “You trusted me.”

Want mate.

“So do I.”

Need mate.

“I know.” My voice disappears beneath a sob. “I need her too.”

I kiss Arlene's forehead and keep rocking her. “This wasn't supposed to happen, baby. We were supposed to raise them together. Damian needs you. Darlene needs you.” My throat closes when I think of our youngest. “Arian is still a baby. He needs his mother.”

My fingers tremble as I brush her hair away from her face. “I need you, Arlene. I don't know how to fucking do this without you.”

My wolf howls inside me, and this time I can't contain him. The howl tears from my throat so violently it burns. My Alpha aura surges around us, shaking the equipment beside the bed as my grief pours through the room and into the hospital.

A wolf answers somewhere outside. Another joins him, then another. Within seconds, howls rise throughout Silver Moon, surrounding the hospital as the pack mourns our Beta Female.

I bury my face in Arlene's hair and cry.

Time disappears while I sit on the cold floor with my mate in my arms. I keep rubbing her skin, even though it never warms. I keep listening for a breath that never comes and watching for movement that never happens. I breathe in her scent because it's the only part of her my senses can still find, and I keep reaching through our bond even though every attempt gives me the same unbearable emptiness.