Viya's POV
Consciousness came back to me in pieces—the sterile smell of the hospital first, then the dull ache radiating through my body, then the frantic beeping of monitors that slowed the moment my eyes fluttered open.
The baby.
My hand flew to my stomach before I even fully registered where I was.
Still there. Still safe.
Relief crashed through me so hard I nearly choked on it. But underneath that relief, something else stirred—something warm and familiar that I hadn't felt in years.
Viya.
I froze. That voice. That presence, curling through my chest like she'd never left.
"Serena?" I whispered out loud, not caring how insane I sounded to the empty room.
*I'm here. I never really left. You wanted to protect the pup so badly, and everything he left in you.*
