Oops… I Went Into Heat and My Alpha Daddies Claimed Me

KEISHA’S POV

The room had been quiet for so long that I’d started to time the beat of the heart monitor.

The surgery was over, the doctor had assured us that he would recover, yet none of that seemed capable fully being relaxed. It was like we were hoping for the worst to happen.

Watching him breathe should have been enough. It should have reminded me that he had survived, that the worst was behind us, but every time I closed my eyes I saw the knife disappearing into his stomach all over again.

I shifted my chair closer to the bed, studying his face, when a soft knock interrupted my thoughts.

The door opened, and Nadia stepped inside.

She offered me a small smile that never quite reached her eyes before walking toward the bed. Her gaze lingered on Dane for several long seconds, and although she tried to hide it, I could see the worry written plainly across her face.

"I heard the surgery went well," she said quietly.

"It did." I nodded

"Thank goodness." She released a slow breath before pulling another chair beside mine. "I was afraid I’d come here and find another disaster waiting for me."

I understood exactly what she meant.

Nadia leaned back in her chair, rubbing both hands over her face. "I swear this has to be the worst timing imaginable."

I looked at her questioning. "What do you mean?"

"My birthday is next week. Goddess—" She chuckled.

Oh—

For a moment I simply stared at her, then guilt washed over me.

I had forgotten completely. "I’m so sorry."

She immediately shook her head. "Don’t apologise. I’m not upset because you forgot. That’s not why I brought it up."

"I still should’ve remembered." Even so, I couldn’t shake the guilt. Only a months ago because we liked to plan ahead, Nadia and I had been talking about possible birthday plans. It felt like a lifetime ago.

"So..." I asked after a moment, hoping to shift the conversation somewhere lighter, "are you planning anything?"

She gave a small laugh. "I honestly haven’t thought about it."

"No party?"

She shrugged. "It doesn’t feel right." Her eyes drifted toward Dane. "Everyone’s exhausted. The pack is tense, people are getting attacked, investigations are happening every other day, and now Dane’s lying in a hospital bed. Throwing a celebration into the middle of all this feels... wrong."

I couldn’t argue with her. The mansion hadn’t felt like a home for weeks.

"Maybe," I said carefully, "that’s exactly why you should celebrate."

She looked at me.

"I mean... I know everything isn’t alright. It clearly isn’t. But because if we keep postponing every happy moment until life becomes perfect, we’ll never celebrate anything again."

A thoughtful smile crossed her face. "Wow. You always find a hopeful way to look at things."

"I try." I laughed.

She reached across and squeezed my hand gently. "I’ll think about it."

We spoke about a few normal things, the conversation drifting into lighter ground and eventually Nadia stood. "I should get back. There are still reports waiting for me."

I nodded. "Okay."

She looked at Dane one final time before quietly leaving the room.

I leaned back in my chair, resting my head against the wall.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed before a faint groan pulled my attention back to the bed.

My eyes snapped open as Dane’s fingers twitched, then his eyes slowly opened.

For a second he simply stared at the ceiling, clearly trying to understand where he was before his gaze shifted toward me.

"You look terrible," he muttered weakly.

Relief hit me so suddenly that I laughed through the tears gathering in my eyes. "That’s the first thing you say?" I shook with sobs of relief, a laugh choking its way out of me.

His lips quivered into a smile. "I figured honesty was important."

I was already on my feet. "Don’t move."

"I wasn’t planning to. Not like I can" He grunted.

"I’ll get the doctor." I hurried from the room and found one of the nurses, who immediately called the doctor on duty overseeing his recovery.

She arrived within minutes and carried out a thorough examination, checking his pulse, the surgical dressing and his wolf’s healing response before finally stepping back with a satisfied expression. "I’m impressed," she admitted. "Your recovery is progressing much faster than expected. Your wolf is compensating remarkably well. You’ll still need several days of rest, but everything suggests the surgery was successful."

Only after she left did I finally allow myself to breathe properly.

"You scared me," I admitted quietly.

Dane looked away. "Well—."

I moved closer to the bed. "I’m sorry."

His eyes returned to mine. "For what?"

"For dragging you into this. It seems like I kept endangering your life."

He was silent for a moment before speaking. "It’s kinda like my job to keep my woman safe."

His woman.

My heart lurched and I felt slightly giddy at his words. "Oh—"

"You can blame yourself forever if you want, but it won’t change what happened."

I lowered my eyes, but before I could answer, another familiar voice interrupted us.

"I’m glad to see you’re awake." Callum entered the room as he walked over to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"I’ve had better days." Dane turned to him.

"I’ll take that as improvement."

Dane gave a faint smile.

Callum wasted little time explaining everything that had happened while he was unconscious. He updated Dane on the interrogation, the investigation and the information I’d obtained from Orin.

When I mentioned the location of the hideout again, Dane reached toward the bedside table where his phone had been left on the table beside him.

It took him a moment to unlock it before opening the files we’d recovered from the underground website days earlier.

His eyes narrowed. "This is it."

Callum stepped closer. "The same place?"

Dane enlarged one of the satellite images displayed on the screen. "The abandoned quarry buildings. The anonymous link marked this exact location as one of their inactive meeting points. We couldn’t confirm it then because there wasn’t enough evidence."

"There is now," Callum said quietly.

The room grew serious once more.

"The hideout is real," Dane continued. "Whether it’s their main base or not, I don’t know, but it’s connected." He started pushing himself upright. "I’ll come with you. Just give me a few hours. Ares is recovering very quickly."

"No." The refusal came immediately. "You’re staying exactly where you are."

"I can still fight." Dane sighed.

"You can barely sit up."

"My wolf is healing fast. I’m a beta. Not a human."

"Yeah and your stitches will tear open if you pretend that means you’re fully recovered."

Dane looked ready to argue again, but Callum spoke before he had the chance. "I need my Beta alive far more than I need him stubborn."

That finally ended the discussion and Callum turned toward me. "I also questioned the maid."

My attention shifted immediately. "What did she say?"

"She denied everything."

I frowned. "You believe her?"

"I don’t know." He folded his arms thoughtfully. "I expected contradictions. I expected panic followed by a confession, or at least enough lies to expose her. Instead, every answer remained consistent."

He briefly explained her version of events, from collecting the meal in the kitchen to finding the discarded syringe along the path behind the building. "I released her."

The words surprised both Dane and me. "You let her go?" I asked.

"I let her think she’s free."

Understanding dawned almost immediately. "She’s being watched."

He nodded. "Constantly. She visits her sick mother every weekend outside the central district. If she’s innocent, we’ve spared an innocent woman further suffering. If she’s involved, she’ll eventually lead us somewhere useful."

It was a risk. Callum checked the time before slipping his phone back into his pocket. "I’ve delayed long enough."

Neither Dane nor I needed to ask what he meant.

"The quarry," I said.

He nodded once. "I’ll confirm whether Orin’s information was genuine."

He turned toward the door. Without thinking, I hurried after him. "Callum."

He stopped in the corridor and looked back.

"Be careful." The words escaped before I had the chance to reconsider them.

There were nurses moving through the hallway. Guards stood outside the ward. Patients and visitors passed by every few moments.

But right now, I didn’t care who happened to be watching.

"I mean it," I said quietly. "Whoever is behind this has stayed ahead of us for weeks. Don’t underestimate them."

His expression softened almost imperceptibly. "I won’t." He stepped closer until only a small distance separated us and we were hidden by the door. "You should be worrying about resting."

"I don’t think I’m capable of that anymore."

A faint smile touched his lips. "Then worry after I come back."

Before I could respond, he reached up and gently brushed a kiss against my forehead and it lasted only a moment but it sent a flutter through my chest.

Then he stepped away, nodded once toward the guards waiting for him, and walked down the corridor.

I remained where I was, watching until he disappeared around the corner.

I could only hope that he would stay safe.