The next day, the clinic doors burst open.
“Where is the doctor? Ariella's stomach is hurting again!” Marcus barked, carrying Ariella, who whimpered dramatically in his arms.
The pack doctor rushed over, checking her vitals, murmuring diagnostics under his breath.
“I—I don’t understand,” he said, frowning. “We just transfused blood a few days ago. Why does she need more?”
Marcus’s eyes locked onto me. “Then give her more.”
The doctor hesitated. “We don’t have the right match available right now—”
“I said give her more!” Marcus roared. “Use Esther again if you have to. Drain every drop if that’s what it takes!”
My heart stuttered.
The doctor turned to me with a pale face. “Luna... I...”
I sat up slowly, my body trembling under the effort. “Do it,” I said hollowly. “If that’s what the Alpha commands.”
Without wasting another second, they began to draw my blood.
They said it wouldn’t take long—that it was “just a bit more blood.” But that bit felt like a flood. My veins screamed in protest, my limbs turned ice-cold, my vision blurring at the edges as the blood drained from me.
When it was finally over, the coven of healers and Marcus’s warriors left without a word.
Marcus didn’t even come this time.
They just... left me there.
Suddenly, the door opened again.
I expected a healer. Maybe even Marcus. But instead, it was Ariella.
She walked in slowly, like she had all the time in the world, and closed the door behind her with a soft click.
“Well, well,” she purred. “Still alive? That’s impressive.”
I didn’t answer.
She strolled closer, her gaze running over me like I was a piece of dying prey. “You really don’t know when to stop clinging, do you?” She crouched by my bed, tilting her head. “Even if you die here, Marcus won’t shed a tear.”
I turned my head away, but she grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet her eyes.
“You’re really pitiful. An orphan clinging to a mate who never truly loved you. First your parents, and now your mate. You’ve got nothing left, Esther.” She smiled, sickly sweet. “So maybe I’ll help you along. End things a little quicker.”
I barely processed her words when a loud boom sounded.
The entire building shook.
Shouts rang out in the distance.
Ariella smirked at me before turning toward the window. The sound of snarls and breaking glass filled the clinic.
I pushed myself up, wincing at the burning in my chest.
“Rogues,” I whispered, staring out the small clinic window as shadows swarmed the perimeter. “How did they...?”
The clinic was under siege in seconds.
I could barely hold myself upright, let alone run. A rogue crashed through the clinic doors, snarling, blood dripping from its muzzle.
Grabbing a scalpel from the nearby tray with trembling hands, I scrambled backward.
Just as I thought we were done for, Marcus arrived.
He stormed through the broken entrance, his eyes scanning the chaos. When his gaze landed on me, for a heartbeat—I saw something flicker in his expression.
I thought maybe—just maybe—he would choose me this time.
But then Ariella screamed, “Marcus! Save me! The baby—!”
And just like that, his eyes left mine.
Without hesitation, he shifted into a massive gray wolf—and lunged toward Ariella, knocking a rogue away from her.
He didn’t look back.
He didn’t even hesitate.
I stood frozen, feeling breathless, surrounded by growls and howls and chaos.
The air was thick with the stench of blood and the growls of rogues tearing through the clinic.
Still, I fought.
I sank my teeth into one’s arm, clawed at another’s face, but I was too slow—too weak. My limbs wouldn’t respond the way they should. My vision kept tilting at the edges.
'Come on,' I begged internally. 'I need you—come out!'
Panic bloomed in my chest. 'Why won’t you come out?'
A snarl behind me. Then a rough yank as one of the rogues grabbed my hair and dragged me from the clinic, my knees scraping across broken glass and stone.
“Let—go—of me!” I screamed, thrashing, but it was useless. My strength was gone.
Without warning, the rogue hurled me like a rag doll. My body slammed into a tree with a sickening crack. The impact sent a sharp jolt of pain through my spine, and I collapsed to the ground, coughing violently.
Blood trickled down my chin. My vision flickered in and out.
