When I opened my eyes again, everything smelled like antiseptic and cold metal. The ceiling was too white, too clean.
My chest burned. My legs felt like they’d been crushed. I let out a weak sound without meaning to.
“Hey, don’t move,” the nurse said quickly, pressing my shoulder down. “You’ve got three broken ribs and internal bleeding in your liver. You’re lucky you even made it through the night.”
I blinked slowly, trying to focus on her face.
She kept talking, like she didn’t realize every word felt heavy. “Last night was chaos. Only Dr. Jones was on duty, and another patient’s family kept insisting he treat their wife first because she’s pregnant. They were loud about it too.”
My fingers twitched slightly. Pregnant.
“But don’t worry,” she added, softer now. “That woman only had some minor injuries, so the doctor came to you right after. You got treated in time.”
Of course.
She hesitated, then asked gently, “Where’s your family? Your mate? Someone should be here with you.”
I stared at the blanket. My voice came out dry and cracked. “I don’t have anyone.”
She went quiet, and I could feel the pity in her eyes without even looking.
Then I heard voices outside.
“Drake… I’m sorry,” Chiara’s voice trembled, full of tears. “I really don’t know what happened. They were fine before. I didn’t mean for them to lose control. Miss Brightman got hurt because of me.”
Drake’s voice came right after, soft, full of concern. “Chiara, stop blaming yourself. This wasn’t your fault. You got hurt too, remember? You shouldn’t be standing around like this.”
“I don’t care about myself,” she cried. “I just… I feel so guilty. I want to apologize to her properly. I need to tell her I didn’t mean it.”
I clenched my hand. Apologize again.
Drake sighed quietly. “You’re pregnant. You shouldn’t be stressing like this. Come on, go back to your room and lie down. I’ll handle things here.”
“No, I don’t want to go,” she insisted, voice shaking more. “Please… just let me see her. I need to say sorry. I won’t feel better if I don’t.”
Something snapped in me.
I grabbed the cup beside me and threw it against the wall. It shattered loudly.
Silence outside.
Then hurried footsteps.
Drake rushed in. “Wife? What’s wrong? Do you need water? Are you in pain? Tell me, I’ll get whatever you need.”
I looked at him. Really looked at him. His eyes were full of worry, just like before. Just like always.
And suddenly… I felt tired. So tired I didn’t even want to fight anymore.
“Did you check it?” I asked quietly.
He paused. “Check what?”
“The bear and the shadow lynx. Why they suddenly went crazy. Did you look into it?”
For a second, I saw something flicker in his eyes. Then it was gone.
“It was an accident,” he said without hesitation. “Animals lose control sometimes. There’s nothing strange about it.”
I stared at him. “Nothing strange?”
He adjusted my blanket like everything was normal. “You’re overthinking again. Just focus on getting better, okay? Don’t stress yourself with things like that.”
The last bit of light inside me went out.
I watched him quietly, my chest aching in a way the injuries couldn’t explain.
Six years ago…
I remembered it so clearly. I’d gone out alone during a storm to check on a pack’s outer territory. I ended up running into a group of rogue wolves. They surrounded me, their eyes wrong, their intentions worse.
One of them grabbed me, dragged me toward the trees while the others laughed.
I was terrified. I couldn’t even fight back properly.
And then Drake came.
I still remember the look in his eyes. Pure rage.
“Touch her again,” he said coldly, his alpha voice shaking the ground, “and I’ll make sure you beg to die.”
They didn’t listen.
So he broke them.
“Leave them breathing,” he ordered his warriors, voice deadly calm. “But make sure they regret it.”
The screams lasted for hours. Blood everywhere. No mercy.
After that, every single one of them ended up dead or worse.
That was the man who protected me.
But now…
I almost died. I was torn apart right in front of him.
And he didn’t even question it. Didn’t even think for a second that something was wrong. Didn’t even look at Chiara like she could be involved.
My chest felt empty. Completely empty.
“I understand,” I said softly, turning my face away.
He went still for a moment. “Chloe…?”
Before he could say anything else, noise came from outside. Nurses rushing, voices panicked.
“Alpha!” someone called. “The Luna's condition—”
He stood up immediately. “I’ll be right back,” he said quickly. “I’ll get you something to eat too. Just wait for me, alright?”
I didn’t answer.
…
Drake never came back after he left.
I waited for a while. I don’t even know how long. My body hurt, my head felt heavy, and at some point I just… gave up and fell asleep.
Even in my sleep, it didn’t feel peaceful. My chest stayed tight, like something bad was still holding onto me.
I woke up because of pain. Sharp, stinging pain in my arm.
I looked down and saw thick bandages wrapped around it, soaked faintly with blood.
“What… what are you doing?” I asked, my voice weak.
The nurse didn’t even look up. “Changing your dressing. You just had a skin graft, so it’s going to hurt for a while. Try not to move too much.”
My mind went blank. “Skin graft…? What are you talking about?”
She paused, then looked at me like I was the strange one. “You didn’t know? The Luna in the next room had a scrape on her arm. Alpha Thornhill requested that a patch of your skin be used for her treatment.”
My ears rang.
“She just had a small injury,” the nurse went on, sighing. “But you know how it is. Different fates. Some people get worried over the tiniest scratch, and others…” She didn’t finish, but I understood.
My face went cold.
So even my body…
Even my skin… he could just take it and give it to her.
My lips trembled. It felt like I swallowed something burning. “Can you… help me transfer to another hospital?” I asked quietly.
“Transfer?” she repeated. “Why would you—”
The door opened before she could finish.
“Transfer to where?”
