“Lies, Selene!” His roar shook the air. “Your jealousy nearly cost a life! The least you can do is donate your blood so she survives!”
“But I—”
“I said no excuses!” His glare cut deeper than the forest shadows at midnight.
“Why would you trust an outsider over me?” I demanded, my voice cracking with disbelief.
“They all heard her screams. I heard them. You refused to listen, and you almost killed her!” His words drove me backward, into the sleek wolf-car he had summoned.
As he steered us toward the den of healers, clarity struck me like a claw through my chest: Brielle had orchestrated this. She had screamed, wailing, ensuring all witnessed my supposed cruelty. Even Gideon, my mate of five years, refused to believe me.
At the healer’s enclave, he dragged me into the emergency ward. Reluctantly, I followed, my claws gripping the leather of my sleeves in silent fury.
“If you care so much, why not just provide blood yourself?” I spat at him.
Gideon’s amber eyes hardened. “Her type isn’t stocked. The enclave is flooded with injured tonight—many lives need saving.”
The chief healer arrived, and Gideon gestured toward me. “She’s O+, please prepare her and save Brielle,” he implored, his voice unguarded, full of concern. The sight tore at my chest—he had never looked at me this way in the past three years.
Nurses and medics approached, securing my arms and injecting me with sedatives. Darkness claimed me, and the world dissolved.
When I awoke, the light stabbed at my eyes, and pain throbbed through my head and stomach. The room was empty. “Hello?” I called weakly.
The door swung open, and Gideon appeared, his expression carved from stone. “You’re lucky… Brielle survived,” he said, each word a jagged shard of judgment.
“What about me? Don’t you care if I’m okay?” I rasped.
“You’re not the one bleeding internally,” he snapped.
A healer entered, her eyes filled with sympathy. “Alpha Wolfe, you are her mate, correct?”
Gideon’s gaze fell on me with disdain. “I do not have such a malicious mate,” he said, before turning sharply and walking away, leaving my heart in splinters.
The healer sighed. “There’s something you should know, Selene.”
“What is it?” I asked, fear curdling in my stomach.
“Tests reveal… you were one month pregnant.”
I froze. “Were?”
“You lost the pup during the transfusion. I am so sorry,” she murmured.
My mind spun. “Why… why did you take my blood when I carried a pup?”