Chapter 4

Chris barked, "I can't keep bending over backward to comfort you every single time, Selena! If I hadn't been present this time, Emily could have been in serious danger! How could you still keep this up when the truth is right in front of you?"

I felt a momentary daze after hearing that, feeling as if I had become a lunatic throwing a baseless tantrum. I eventually pulled myself together and walked out the door, leaving him behind.

I noticed a few of the pack's Betas hanging around the neighborhood once I had rented a place. I would have been protected while staying with the Alpha, especially given the pack's current instability. Moving out alone made things twice as dangerous.

Chris kept insisting he wouldn't keep humoring my every whim when I left, but he still dispatched Betas to ensure my safety. He had told me before that he would lose his mind if I ever got hurt again on his account.

I looked away with cold indifference and coordinated a time with the elders to dissolve the mate bond. I had been messaging Chris since this morning to settle on a place to sever our mate bond, but he never responded to my messages.

I eventually lost my patience and called his number, only for him to hang up on me the second it connected.

I stood in place with a furrowed brow, while the Betas guarding me grew agitated.

It was then that one of the Betas approached with a grim expression and said, "Alpha Chris is currently in the ICU! He needs a family member to sign the papers before proceeding with treatment, Luna Selena!"

He explained resentfully, "Alpha Chris was in the middle of a high-stakes mission to catch a Rogue earlier when your call gave him away! He ended up getting stabbed with a dagger laced with wolfsbane! He might… never recover the use of his limbs!"

I felt the world go black for a moment after hearing that, my complexion turning deathly pale.

I noticed that the hallway outside the treatment room was crowded with Betas, with every one of them glaring at me with bloodshot eyes. I even noticed one of them striking the wall with his fist in a fit of rage.

I kept my pace steady as the elder and I passed the others and went inside. I saw Chris lying on a hospital bed with a pallid complexion, the wound on his shoulder radiating an abnormal black from the wolfbane.

Chris offered me a reassuring smile the moment I walked in. "Did I frighten you, Selena? You have nothing to worry about—it's just a single stab wound. I'll be back on my feet in no time.

He stretched out his hand to grab mine, but I pulled back before he could reach it.

It was then that Joey Lowe, his closest Beta, couldn't contain himself and snapped, "You'd better sign the papers now! If the healer doesn't start neutralizing that toxin immediately, Alpha Chris isn't going to make it!"

I glanced indifferently at Chris and said, "I'm not going to sign it. If you want to live, accept the dissolution of our mate bond so that your parents can be the ones to authorize your treatment."

"Why, you!" Joey bellowed, the veins in his temples throbbing with rage. He lunged at me as if to rip me apart, but the other Betas grabbed him and held him fast.

I let my eyes wander over the various faces in the room. I bet they thought that I was the most villainous she-wolf to ever exist, since I was using their Alpha's very survival as leverage to break our mate bond.

Chris' expression shifted drastically. He eventually closed his eyes and asked in a strained voice, "Is this simply because I spent the entire night by Emily's side?"

Under the scorching, almost predatory gazes of those around me, I replied flatly, "Yes, it's because you stayed with Emily last night."