My wolf froze like he got slapped.
My brain stalled.
My heart felt like someone punched a hole right through it.
So Jude was telling the truth.
So she planned all this shit while I was out there working like a dog to fix our pack, fix our marriage, fix everything.
She noticed me and gasped. The phone slipped from her hand and clattered on the floor. She lunged to grab it, stuffing it down her hospital gown.
She forced a trembling smile. “J-Johan? Finally. You are back. How was the council meeting?”
I did not play along.
I crossed the room in two fast strides, seized her by the throat, and forced her back against the mattress.
“I cannot believe you did it again,” I roared.
She wheezed, eyes bulging. “Johan… wait… I cannot… breathe…”
Her fingers clawed at my wrist, her voice choppy. “I… I do not know what you mean…”
“Do not lie to me.” My grip tightened. “Jude confessed. Every damn detail. And you just confirmed it like an idiot, speaking freely while I was right outside the door.”
Suzette cried out, tears spilling. “Please… Johan… stop… you are hurting me…”
“Hurting you?” My voice cracked from rage. “You hurt Jessica! You fractured her hand. You tried to ruin her future. Why, Suzette? Why do you always see her as your enemy when I kept telling you there is nothing to fight over?”
She trembled, chest heaving. Then something snapped inside her and her expression twisted.
“Yes,” she screamed. “Yes, I told Jude to do it! I told him to ruin her damn hand! I could not stand it anymore. She has taken everything from me. First my father’s love, and now you!”
Her words hit me like a blow.
She kept going, breathless. “I am dying, Johan. Did you forget that? My illness is getting worse. My wolf is weak. My immune system is collapsing because of what I gave you. If I had not given you my wolf soul bone, I would not be sick. I sacrificed everything for you.”
My hand loosened.
She slumped back, gasping and trembling, but her eyes blazed with bitterness.
“I am dying anyway,” she spat. “So go on. Choke me to death. Kill me if that will make your precious Jessica happy.”
My legs went weak.
I dropped into the chair beside her bed, my breaths shaking.
I felt split in half.
Suzette. My mate. My Luna. The woman who gave me part of her wolf so I could survive.
Jessica. My… I did not even know what word to use anymore. The woman who haunted every corner of my goddamn heart whether I wanted it or not.
“How the hell did I end up here?” I muttered. “How am I in the middle of this?”
Suzette’s voice softened instantly. “Johan… my love… I only asked for three months. Three months of your full attention. I just wanted to feel wanted before I die. Is that wrong?”
Her tears slipped down her face, dripping into her gown.
“She only lost a hand,” Suzanne whispered. “I will lose my life. One hand for your love. That is fair, is it not?”
My jaw clenched.
Her logic was fucked. Twisted. Cruel.
But she was sick. Dying. My wolf whined quietly inside me.
She leaned closer. “I swear. This was the last time. I will not hurt her again. Please, Johan. Please do not abandon me. Not now.”
I shut my eyes.
I could not desert a dying mate.
I could not forgive what she had done.
Both truths strangled me at once.
Finally, I muttered, “Fine. I will cover this up. But this is the last time Suzette. You go near Jessica again and I will not protect you.”
She nodded quickly. “I promise. I won’t go near her again. Not ever.”
“Rest,” I said, standing. “I need to check on her.”
I walked out without looking back.
When I returned to the emergency ward, Jessica’s surgery had ended.
Doctors wheeled her out. Pale. Unmoving. Like a corpse.
My heart cracked.
I stepped up to the gurney. “Doctor, how bad is her hand?”
The doctor sighed. “We stabilized her, but her hand will never be functional again. The nerves are too damaged. The bones… well, we reconnected what we could. But she will never regain full use.”
I nodded stiffly, even though my insides were falling apart.
After the doctor left, I saw the redhead sitting on a bench, phone pressed to her ear, trying call after call with a frustrated expression.
I narrowed my eyes.
She looked too invested for a random passerby.
I walked up to her. “Who are you calling?”
She jolted and lowered her phone. “My parents. I need to tell them I am delaying my visit home. I… I cannot leave Miss Jessica alone like this.”
I studied her face. Her scent. Her posture.
Something felt off.
“What pack are you from?” I asked. “And your name?”
“Springbrook Pack,” she said quickly. “My name is Charley.”
Springbrook. I would have Kain confirm that.
I let out a breath. “Forgive me for choking you earlier. I was not thinking straight.”
She smiled faintly. “No big deal, Alpha. I would not abandon my kind.”
My brows furrowed.
Most wolves would have asked for money immediately.
So I asked, “You did something important. What reward do you want? Name your price.”
Charley paused.
Then she shook her head.
“I do not want money,” she said. “If it is possible… I want to be Miss Jessica’s personal maid. From now on.”
Jessica’s POV
“No!”
I jerked upright, then froze because the pain hit me so fast and so sharp it felt like an electric current shot through my entire right side.
And then I recognized where I was. A hospital.
Then I felt pain.
Deep, twisting agony that crawled from my fingertips all the way to my spine.
It felt like my nerves were being pulled out slowly, one by one. Like someone had shoved my arm into fire and left it there.
I gasped and looked down.
My right arm was covered in thick white cast material. Cemented. Immobilized. Wrapped like a corpse.
“No… no no no…” My chest tightened. My breathing turned shallow. “Not my hand. Please, not my hand!”
I tried to reach for it with my left hand, but the pain spiked so violently I almost blacked out.
I survived everything because of this hand.
When my life fell apart ten years ago, when I lost everything, this hand became my anchor. My work. My passion. My world.
And now it was dead.
What am I supposed to live for now?
“Nooo!”
A scream ripped from my throat. I didn’t even know I was capable of a sound that broken.
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