Chapter 4

Another failure.

I opened my eyes to the same face again.

Jaxon was sitting by the bed, his eyes red and swollen as if he’d been crying.

"You saved me again," my voice was frighteningly calm.

"Christine…"

"That's the second time," I cut him off. "Why?"

Jaxon opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

I pushed myself up and looked at the bandage on my wrist. The wound had been treated, but it still throbbed.

"Next time, mind your own business."

"Next time?" Jaxon shot to his feet. "Christine, you're planning a next time?"

"Yes," I looked him in the eye. "Until I succeed."

"For what?" His voice shook. "For that bastard who tried to strangle you?"

I didn’t answer.

Jaxon suddenly grabbed my shoulders.

"Christine, look at me!" His voice was filled with desperation. "Why can't you ever see me?"

"See what?" I scoffed. "A man who loves to undermine me? My mate's little brother? A wolf who does nothing but tear me down?"

"No!" Jaxon let go, clutching his head. "Damn it, I was never trying to go against you. I was just…"

"Just what?"

"I just wanted you to see me!" he finally exploded. "For three years, Christine! Everything I did... undermining you, arguing with you... it was all just to get you to look at me! Just once!"

I froze.

"What are you talking about?"

"I love you!" Jaxon yelled, his eyes red. "I've loved you since the first time I ever saw you! But all you ever see is Ridley! It's always that bastard!"

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed from outside the infirmary door.

"I argued against you in meetings because I wanted to hear your voice, I wanted to fight with you!" Jaxon continued, his words tumbling out. "I undermined you with Leo because I was jealous! So damn jealous of every bit of affection you showed him!"

The footsteps stopped right outside the door.

"Christine, why can't you just turn around and look at me?" Jaxon fell to his knees by the bed, his voice choking. "Why would you die for a man who doesn't love you? There are other choices in this pack! There's me!"

The door was thrown open.

Ridley stood in the doorway, his face a mask of fury.

"What did you say?" His voice was a low, animalistic growl.

Jaxon slowly got to his feet and turned to face his brother.

"You heard me."

"You love my mate?" Ridley stalked toward Jaxon. "You traitor!"

"Traitor?" Jaxon sneered. "You betrayed her first!"

The two men crashed into each other, a tangle of limbs and fury.

A chair was knocked over, and medical equipment clattered to the floor.

"I'm going to kill you!" Ridley's fist connected with Jaxon's face.

"Go ahead!" Jaxon fought back. "At least I don't strangle my own mate!"

I watched them fight, feeling nothing.

"Enough," I said.

They didn't hear me, too lost in their brawl.

"I said, enough!" I commanded, my Alpha aura flaring, forcing them apart.

They stumbled away from each other, both bleeding.

"Jaxon, listen to me," my voice was ice. "I don't care if you're being sincere or not. I feel nothing for you."

Jaxon's face went white.

"Christine…"

"You're even more disgusting than your brother," I continued. "At least he was never fake. You? You've been lying to me for three years, letting me believe you hated me."

"I wasn't lying…"

"Shut up!" I stood up. "You know what I regret?"

"Regret what?"

"My only regret," I said, my voice dripping with ice, "is pulling you from that hunter's trap all those years ago. If I'd known you would become… this… I would have left you to the buzzards."

Jaxon's face turned ashen.

"You… you remember?"

"Of course, I remember," I sneered. "I remember your leg was shattered by a silver trap, and you were crying like a child. I remember risking my life to get you out and feeding you my own blood to keep you alive."

Ridley froze.

"Wait," he looked at Jaxon. "When did you..."

"I met her first!" Jaxon suddenly roared at Ridley. "Christine was the one who saved me from that trap during the hunt years ago! Not you!"

The infirmary fell silent.

Ridley stared at his brother in utter disbelief.

"What did you say?"

"I said, Christine is the one who saved my life!" Jaxon's eyes were wild with a crazed light. "I loved her first, you just got to her first! If you weren't the Alpha…"

I cut him off. "Jaxon, listen carefully. I saved you because I was kind. That doesn't mean I owe you anything, and it certainly doesn't give you the right to use it against me."

"I wasn't trying to…"

"Then what are you doing now?" I advanced on him. "Trying to guilt-trip me with the past? Make me choose you out of some sense of obligation?"

Tears streamed down Jaxon's face.

"Christine, it's not like that..."

"Get out," I said coldly. "Get out of my sight. I don't want to see you again."

The sound of guards' footsteps came from the hall. Ridley gestured, and several wolves rushed in.

"Take him," Ridley pointed at Jaxon. "Lock him in the dungeons. He's not to be released without my order."

The guards seized Jaxon.

"Christine!" he struggled desperately. "Christine! You can't do this to me! I love you!"

"Get out!" I repeated without looking back.

Jaxon was dragged away, his desperate cries echoing down the hall.

The infirmary was quiet again, with only me and Ridley left.

He walked toward me, his expression a mixture of confusion and something else.

"Christine, about what he just said…"

"Daddy! Daddy, look!"

Leo's shriek came from the doorway.

"Auntie Yolia fainted!"