Chapter 3

Selena's POV

"Selena, look at yourself. Where's that high-and-mighty Alpha's daughter now?" Vera stared down at me, her eyes full of mockery and satisfaction.

"How did you not just die in there? I heard the hunters really did a number on you. Your hands and feet are done for, and the doctors say your wolf spirit is so damaged that you'll never shift again. How sad."

I forced my eyes open and fixed her with a cold stare.

"Even with things like this, you'll never be Rex's mate."

Her obsession with Rex was practically unhinged, but he'd never once returned her feelings.

Vera's expression shifted, then she let out a scornful laugh. "Don't get too smug. You have no idea, do you? Rex brought me back here so he could steal the credit for your mission and give it to me.

"The raid on the hunters' base, everything your warriors fought for, that's all about to be mine. The recognition, the money, the power. And you're nothing now, just a useless cripple."

Fury surged through me. I scraped together every ounce of strength I had left to force the words out of my throat.

"You're both... shameless."

The raid had been a routine assignment. Father received orders from the Alpha King and took me and a squad of pack warriors to carry it out. Rex insisted on tagging along, saying he was worried about me.

It turned out he wasn't there to protect me. He was there to deliver me to my own torture.

And now, the credit for capturing the hunters' leader, something our pack had lost two warriors to achieve, was about to be handed to Vera.

Vera picked up a syringe from the tray. While I lay there unable to move, she jabbed the needle into my vein without a second of hesitation.

"Selena, just die already. Even if you survive, you'll just be clinging to life as a husk, a wolf who has lost her wolf spirit and can't shift. You'd be better off dead."

Her smile turned venomous. "That's a blood toxin. No one's going to be able to save you this time. Goodbye, Selena. And in your next life, try not to fight me over a man."

She laughed and walked out without looking back.

Less than five minutes after Vera left, my vitals started crashing. The monitors shrieked with alarms and doctors and nurses flooded the room in a frenzy.

"Her blood won't clot. If we don't act, she's going to die. She needs to get back to the pack territory now. The coagulant she needs is there."

"The pack is three hours away by ground. She doesn't have that kind of time." The staff were panicking, talking over each other.

Then one of them stopped mid-sentence, his eyes going wide. "Wait. Her mate Rex just requisitioned a helicopter. He can fly her back."

Hope flickered through me.

They rushed my gurney toward the airfield. When we got there, we ran straight into Rex and Vera, already about to leave.

Gray Hollowell, one of the pack warriors Father had sent along, grabbed Rex by the arm. "Rex, hurry! Let Selena on first! She's deteriorating fast. If she doesn't get back to the pack, she's going to die!"