Rise of the Warrior Queen (Kaia and Silver) novel Chapter 38

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

SILVER’S POV

I sat on the floor of my room, hunched beside the bed, staring at the boot in my hand like it might suddenly

speak and provide answers to all of my questions.

Unfortunately, it didn’t.

It just sat there–black leather, like any other black leather boot. Only, I heard this one was supposed to be

quite expensive or something of the sort. Hell, if I remembered anything about that–or how I was even able

to afford it. But none of that mattered.

It still didn’t look familiar.

I had just come back after what happened at the pack house. After I’d showered and changed into clean

clothes, I was about to head straight to bed, ready to sleep the nightmare of this night away. But for some

reason, I found myself here instead.

These were the boots Kaia told me I’d been wearing the day I was found. The hospital staff had delivered

them in a bag yesterday, but I hadn’t been able to look at them until now. I guess I thought maybe touching

them would trigger something–a feeling, a face, a flicker of a forgotten memory. Something to anchor me to

who I was before all this started.

But the longer I looked, the more foreign it felt.

I turned the boot over in my hand. The gold–colored logo caught the light, and I rubbed at it with my thumb

like I might unlock something underneath. Nothing came. No flashes. No warmth. No familiar scent.

Just more nothing.

At this point, I couldn’t help but wonder… Were they really mine?

I didn’t know why, but that thought made something in my chest squeeze tight.

Probably because they were my only hope right now–even if I couldn’t recognize them. They were still the only thing of mine that was left. Everything else seemed to have disappeared off of me before they found me,

and to this point, I couldn’t understand why or how that was possible.

Kaia said it yesterday–if I had on such expensive boots, it had to mean I was heading somewhere important

before whatever it was that happened. There was no way I wore those boots just to go hiking in the middle of

nowhere. So then, if I had been on my way somewhere important, shouldn’t I have had some personal

property on me as well?

Like a wallet and ID? Or my phone? But somehow, there was nothing. Just these boots.

A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts.

I straightened, setting the boot aside and brushing my hands against my pants for some reason–like I’d been caught doing something wrong. The door creaked open a second later, and Dr. Grayson’s head poked in.

“Hey, son, can I come in?” he asked softly. There was something in his voice that had me pausing for a

second. He sounded… sad.

“Yeah,” I said, standing. “Yeah, of course. Come on in, Doc.”

<CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

He entered slowly. His shoulders were stiff, his hands shifting nervously at his sides.

“I was hoping we could talk,” he said.

I nodded. “Sure.”

“Mind if we sit?” he asked.

I nodded toward the small couch in the corner. “Not at all, Doc. Go ahead.”

We both took a seat. For a moment, he didn’t speak. He remained quiet, just staring at the empty space

before him.

“Something wrong, Doc?” I asked, but he shook his head slowly.

He looked like he was turning over words in his head, trying to line thern up just right. Eventually, he sighed

and met my eyes.

“I know you must have questions,” he said. “About what Alpha Gareth said earlier. About Dominic.”

Realization dawned on me, and I nodded slowly. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

He dropped his gaze to his hands and exhaled through his nose. When he spoke again, his voice was barely above a whisper.

“Dominic was my son. Our son. Mine and my mate’s.”

I didn’t speak. I just listened.

“He would’ve been around your age now, I think,” Dr. Grayson continued, his lips twitching into a broken sort

of smile. “He was three years old when we lost him. In a fire.”

He paused, blinking and swallowing hard.

“We weren’t home,” he said. “Dawn used to work in the hospital as well at the time. There was a late–night emergency at the hospital that night, so she and I had both been working overtime… It was supposed to be

just for a few hours. We thought he’d sleep right through until we got back.”

His voice cracked slightly, and he looked away.

“But something happened. The old heating unit–faulty wiring, they said–sparked and caught the curtains.

The fire spread fast. By the time anyone noticed, it was already too late.”

I felt something settle in the pit of my stomach as I listened. I couldn’t even imagine that kind of loss.

“We… we should’ve been there,” he said. “We should’ve never left him alone. It’s the kind of mistake you don’t

get to make twice. And it haunts you. Every single day. After we buried what was left of him, we had to move

out of the old house. The memory was too much for Dawn to handle–and if I’m being honest, so were they for me. We moved into this one. We were never able to have another child after that. We tried, but it just never happened. Later on, we found out something had gone on with Dawn when she had Dominic. We just didn’t

realize it in time. My mate cannot have another child.”

There was a pause.

Then Dr. Grayson reached into his pocket to get his wallet. He opened it with trembling fingers and pulled out a small, worn photograph. He held it out to me.

“This was Dominic.”

CHAPTER THIRTY FIGHT

I carefully reached out and took it.

The photo had faded with time. The corners were soft and frayed, but the image was clear. A little boy stood in a patch of sun–drenched grass, clutching a stuffed wolf in his arms. His smile was huge, crooked, and cute. His hair curled slightly over his ears, and the look in his eyes was full of innocence.

My chest tightened.

“He looks…” I started, but the words got stuck. I didn’t even know what to say.

He looked like you? Of what use would that be when the boy wasn’t even here anymore?

Dr. Grayson gave a sad smile. “It’s okay. I understand there isn’t much to say in this situation. Not really, I didn’t expect you to say anything, son. I just wanted you to know. And also to meet him. Even if it’s just his picture.”

My heart broke for him as he spoke.

He reached out and took the photo back, returning it carefully to his wallet.

“I want to apologize, on behalf of myself and my mate,” he said. “Concerning what the Alpha said earlier if we’ve made you feel like Dawn and I were trying to make you into someone you’re not. If it ever felt like we were trying to use you to fill a void–to replace our dead son with you…”

He looked me dead in the eyes then.

“That was never our intention.”

I didn’t respond, but something in my expression must’ve urged him to continue.

“We weren’t looking for a substitute. We couldn’t ever replace our Dominic. Not with anyone. But when you came into this house… it started to feel less like a house and more like a home again.”

He let out a breath, and I saw the glint of emotion building in his eyes as he blinked back tears.

“It just felt good to have someone here. Someone to care for. Someone we could look after–and who would also look after us in return. Dawn–she hadn’t laughed this much in years. Not really. And me? I forgot what it was like to ask how someone’s day went and actually care about the answer.”

He reached out and gently placed a hand on my shoulder.

“You brought something back into our lives, Silver. Not Dominic. But something we thought we’d buried with

him. The feeling of being a family again. Even if it’s just for a little while. Even if you’ve barely been here a few

days.”

This was probably the part where I was supposed to say something, but my throat was too tight. I couldn’t

speak even if I wanted to.

For days I’d been drifting–through memories I couldn’t recall, through places I didn’t recognize, through

people who expected me to know who I was. And through all of it, I’d convinced myself I didn’t belong

anywhere.

But now… sitting here, hearing this…

Maybe I did belong.

Not because I replaced someone. Not because I filled a space left behind by a tragedy. But because somehow, without trying, I’d helped two broken people remember what it was like to feel whole again-

3/4

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

without even knowing it.

And that meant something.

It didn’t matter that I didn’t really know these people, or that they didn’t know who I was either. Maybe

tomorrow I might wake up with my full memory intact and remember that I had a family somewhere. But even then, it wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t change the fact that I already met these people–and the time ! spent with them, no matter how little it was, mattered.

I let out a shaky breath. “Thanks, Doc. For telling me.”

“Thank you,” he replied with a soft smile. “For listening.”

3

Comments