LOGINLina's POV
They wheeled Jasper out about forty minutes later.
He was conscious but groggy from the medication—not full anesthesia, but enough local anesthetic and painkillers to make his eyes unfocused and his movements sluggish.
As the orderly pushed his gurney past us, Jasper's hand shot out with surprising strength.
His fingers wrapped around my wrist in a grip that bordered on painful.
"Lina," he slurred, his voice rough and desperate. "Stay with m
Lina's POVThe hospital room door swung open behind me.I assumed it was Johnson coming back with supplies and didn't bother turning around."The wound reopened," I said, wringing out the cloth in the basin. "The doctor said he needs complete bed rest. I'll go pick up some—"My peripheral vision caught a flash of familiar leather shoes.Expensive Italian leather. Custom-made. I'd picked them out myself last mouth for him.My breath strangled in my throat. Every muscle in my body went rigid.Slowly, like moving through concrete, I forced my head up to look at the newcomer.Adrian stood roughly six feet away from me, his handsome face carved from granite, those stormy gray eyes fractured with something raw and barely controlled.The pine and musk scent of him hit me like a physical blow—stronger than it should be, laced with something acidic and wounded.Our bond was severed. I had felt it snap. So why&m
Lina's POVMy composure cracked slightly, but I forced steel back into my voice. "Jasper! Let go!""I can't. I let go once before and you disappeared." His fingers tightened impossibly. "I can't make that mistake again.""Lina, I won't let go this time.""When that silver knife went into me, you were all I could think about. If I died, who would protect my Lina? If I died... would you be sad? Would you remember me sometimes?""Lina, I don't want to die. Because I still love you. I want to protect you. I want everything to be like it was before between us."Sweat poured down his face in rivers now. His voice was getting weaker, more strained."Lina, I'm begging you..." The proud Alpha heir was literally begging. "Forget him. Please. Can we start over? Please?"This was the first time... the very first time Jasper had ever been this humble with me.His burning hand gripped mine like a lifeline.Fifteen years of comp
Author's POVThe moment Taylor closed Adrian's office door, his playful expression vanished. His eyes sharpened with purpose and determination.He pulled out his phone and sent a single message to Mandy: [Tomorrow night]---Wendy was desperate to salvage Winter's reputation and spare her from the Lockwoods' wrath.Desperate enough to make an absolutely massive gesture—she offered Jasper a new energy project she'd painstakingly secured in England.A peace offering wrapped in calculated generosity.Jasper knew the woman's mind was a labyrinth of ulterior motives. But a new energy project delivered on a silver platter? He wasn't fool enough to refuse.After ending the call, he heard a knock on his hospital room door. His heart leaped stupidly, assuming it was Lina.Instead, his father walked in.Alpha Victor approached his son's bedside, his expression a complicated mixture of severity and resignation. "Was it
Adrian's POVTaylor didn't share Derek's restraint.He'd gotten wind from Ethan that I'd already lost several million on the Clearwater project and came charging into my office like an avenging Alpha, all righteous indignation."Look, I know you've got money to burn, but even rich bastards shouldn't be this reckless," Taylor announced, dropping into the chair across from my desk without invitation."You want to throw money away, at least let us hear it splash. But suspending the project? That makes everyone bleed. Not cool, Adrian. Not cool at all."Both Taylor and Ethan had invested in Clearwater project. But the biggest casualty by far was the Lockwood Pack."Adrian, man, this is scorched earth tactics," Ethan added, sipping from his ever-present thermos of chamomile tea with an expression of wounded innocence."Even if Jasper is panting after Lina like a dog in heat, she's not going back to him. You don't need to be this petty, rig
Lina's POVThey wheeled Jasper out about forty minutes later.He was conscious but groggy from the medication—not full anesthesia, but enough local anesthetic and painkillers to make his eyes unfocused and his movements sluggish.As the orderly pushed his gurney past us, Jasper's hand shot out with surprising strength.His fingers wrapped around my wrist in a grip that bordered on painful."Lina," he slurred, his voice rough and desperate. "Stay with me. Please."The raw pleading in his tone made my stomach twist.Elena immediately looked at me, hope and desperation warring in her expression. "Lina?"I didn't know how to face him."Please," Jasper said again, his fingers tightening. His sandalwood and citrus scent mixed with antiseptic. "I'm begging you."He'd never begged before. Never shown this kind of vulnerability.It was the drugs, I told myself. The blood loss and medication stripping away his
Lina's POVI was already grabbing my coat, not even bothering to change out of my pajamas. Just throwing on shoes and rushing for the door.On the drive to the Lockwood estate, I pieced together the story from Elena's tear-soaked, barely coherent explanation.And Goddess above, it was absurd.Jasper had been stabbed. By Winter, of all people.Sweet, timid Winter—the girl who said "oh my" and "goodness" every other sentence—had apparently been carrying a fruit knife in her purse because some creep had been stalking her for weeks.Tonight, Jasper had shown up at K&S after hours. Winter, terrified and on edge, had mistaken him for her stalker.And stabbed him.Right in the abdomen.The details were fuzzy. Only the people actually there would know the full truth.But the end result was clear—Jasper was seriously injured, and Winter was probably having a complete breakdown.---When







