Stella POV
The fire in my veins was growing wilder, a conflagration consuming me from within.
The Lycan blood was at war with my human cells, a battle tearing my organs apart.
"System," I thought, my breath coming in shallow, ragged bursts. "Engage maximum pain suppression."
"Affirmative, Host. Pain receptors blocked by eighty percent. Be advised, physical deterioration is proceeding at an accelerated rate."
The door clicked open.
Selene entered alone. The pretense of tears was gone.
She crossed her arms and stood at the foot of my bed, her gaze dripping with a pure, unadulterated disgust.
"Look at the state of you," she said, her voice a low laugh. "A pathetic creature. Seven years, and still unmarked."
She was right. In seven years, Kaelen had never once set his teeth to my throat. He had never given me the permanent Mark to claim me.
He claimed my human skin was too delicate for his fangs. Now I understood. He could not bear the thought of the Pack seeing him permanently bound to a human.
"Leave," I said, my voice barely a whisper.
Selene's lips twisted into a smirk. "Kaelen was just complaining about you in the corridor. He said your jealousy is an exhausting burden. He said you are not worth a single hair from his wolf's pelt."
I closed my eyes. I felt nothing for him anymore. Whatever affection I held for the male lead had been cauterized by the foreign blood in my veins.
Selene produced a small, black mini-computer from her purse. She was a gifted technician who delighted in using her skills for petty cruelties.
She plugged a cable into the wall port behind my bed.
"Let us see how much he truly values you," she whispered.
The ward was left with only the dry, insect-like tapping of her acrylic nails on the miniature keyboard. The progress bar on her screen crept upwards with excruciating slowness; she even had the leisure to pause and pick at a loose thread on her cuff.
Suddenly, the monitor beside my bed shrieked.
A loud, piercing alarm filled the room. The screen displayed a heart rate escalating to a lethal velocity, while my blood pressure plummeted to zero.
Footsteps thundered down the hallway.
The door crashed open. Kaelen rushed in, his eyes burning with the golden light of his Inner Wolf. Three Healers followed in his wake.
Selene quickly concealed her device and threw herself to the floor, hands clamped over her ears.
"Alpha! The noise, it frightens me!" she cried, a perfect imitation of a terrified omega.
Kaelen was at her side in an instant, pulling her into his arms. "It is all right. I am here."
The Healers swarmed my bed, one of them pressing his fingers to my wrist.
"Wait," the Head Healer frowned. "Her pulse is steady. The machine is malfunctioning."
He rebooted the monitor. The screen went blank. In the split second of darkness, the System purged Selene's malware and began feeding the monitor a stream of falsified, placid vitals. The screen flickered back to life, displaying perfectly normal numbers.
Kaelen looked from the tranquil screen to me. His golden eyes darkened with a new, furious certainty.
"You manipulated the monitor," he said, his voice low and dangerous.
I stared at him in disbelief. "I have not moved from this bed."
"You did it to frighten Selene!" Kaelen shouted. "You knew she was traumatized by the Rogues, and you triggered the alarm to torment her!"
He marched to the bed and tore the blanket from my body.
"Apologize to her. At once."
The sudden movement sent a violent, shuddering spasm through my torso. My lungs, now being rejected by the Lycan blood, seized.
I leaned over the side of the bed and coughed.
A thick pool of blackish-red blood splattered onto the white floor tiles.
Kaelen froze, his eyes fixed on the dark stain. But his arrogance was a fortress.
"Theatrical blood packets? Truly, Stella? Is there no end to your manipulations?" he scoffed.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and looked up at the man I had once thought was my fate.
"You are a fool, Kaelen," I said, my voice raspy but clear. "You are utterly out of your mind."
I reached over and ripped the monitor's power cord from the wall. The room fell into an abrupt, profound silence.
I turned my back to them, facing the window. "Get out. Your presence fouls the air."
Kaelen let out a low, guttural sound of pure menace. "Fine. Rot in here alone."
He scooped Selene into his arms and carried her from the room. The door slammed shut.
"Host," the System reported. "Countdown at 60 hours."
I watched the door, my fingers already moving toward the laptop hidden in my bedside drawer. Selene thought her digital fortress was impenetrable. She had no idea what kind of ally I carried in my own head.
