Chapter 2: THE CHOICE

 Laura Sam Halewood’s POV

 I stood frozen in the hospital hallway, the echo of the nurse’s words still ringing sharp in my head. Everything that had just happened with Alpha Zed— the heat, the warning, the way it felt like the whole world narrowed down to just him and me. It all blurred into nothing next to the ICU and right away. None of that mattered anymore but her.

 I ran.

 My legs burned, my bag slapped hard against my side, but I didn’t slow down until I skidded to a halt outside the ICU doors. The doctor was already there, face drawn, waiting.

 “She’s stable for now,” he said before I could even catch my breath. “But Laura, it’s worse. Much worse. Her pulmonary hypertension is climbing faster than our worst projections. The scarring in her lungs is spreading. Every day it gets a little harder for her to breathe.”

 He paused, voice heavy and honest, no soft lies to make it easier. “Without that transplant and the lifelong specialized care only the best private centers can arrange quickly, we’re talking weeks. Maybe less. You know how expensive that level of care is. There’s no way around it.”

 I leaned back against the cold wall, legs giving out until I slid down to sit on the hard floor. My head fell into my hands. No trick. No loophole. No miracle waiting anywhere else. Just me. And nothing I had was enough.

 Eventually I pushed myself up and slipped into her room. Chloe lay small against the sheets, tubes and wires everywhere, but her eyes found mine, and she gave that lopsided smile that always felt like home. She lifted a shaking hand and drew a silly little flower on the edge of her gown, just like she always did. When I sat beside her, she hummed that quiet made-up tune, squeezing my hand light but desperate.

 “Did you run here?” she whispered. “Your hair’s a mess.”

 I laughed, broken, shaky, and brushed her hair back. “I did. Fast as I could.”

 “Can we get strawberry ice cream after? Extra syrup?”

 “Anything you want.” My throat ached so bad I could barely speak. “Absolutely anything.”

 She closed her eyes then, worn out, and I just sat there holding her hand, counting every beat of her pulse under my fingers.

 Twelve years old. Chloe was twelve, and she spent half her days fighting just to pull air into her lungs. She drew silly little things on her hospital gown, hummed when she thought I wasn’t listening, laughed at my terrible jokes even when her chest ached, and still asked if we could go get ice cream after her scans like nothing was wrong. And I was supposed to stand there and watch her fade because the life-saving care she needed cost more than I’d earn in three lifetimes?

 That was when the memory hit me, the quiet offer kept repeating in my head, words I’d pushed to the back of my mind like something too dangerous to touch.

 “We’re looking for someone healthy, reliable, with no ties to the pack world. Full coverage of all medical expenses for your sister. A permanent trust set up in her name for life. All you do is carry an heir for Alpha Zed Travis Thorn. Sign the contract, keep your head down, give him what he wants, and walk away with everything you need to save her.”

 But standing there with my sister’s life hanging by a thread, every door slamming shut in my face, suddenly it was the only door left standing open. It was the only option left.

 My phone buzzed in my pocket, sharp, sudden, cutting through the quiet. I fished it out. Unknown number.

 “Laura.” Beta Asher’s voice was steady, no nonsense. “You left your bracelet back at the suite. It looked important. I’m holding it for you. When do you want to come by and collect it?”

 The bracelet. The one Chloe made me. The one I’d forgotten everything else for.

 And then it all hit me at once, every detail I’d tried to run from. Up close, he was overwhelming: broad shoulders that filled the room, a jawline sharp enough to cut, eyes dark and unreadable, like he already knew every thought I’d ever had before I even spoke it. Alpha Zed’s voice: Keep your heart out of this. The weight of his hand at my waist, the heat of his mouth on mine, the way it felt like he was holding back something wild just to keep from pulling me closer. I’d felt it, that sharp, terrifying pull that went way beyond any deal. I’d told myself I couldn’t do it. I’d walked away.

 But walking away didn’t save Chloe. Walking away didn’t fix anything.

 “Laura?” Beta Asher repeated. “You still there?”

 I took one breath. Then another. Steady. No shaking. No hesitation.

 “I’m in.”

 Silence stretched out on the other end. Long enough to feel heavy. Then his voice came back, sharp and disbelieving.

 “You’re what?”

 “Tell him I’m in.” My voice didn’t waver. Not once. “This time for real.”