Chapter 4

The moment they lifted me onto the hospital bed, the door to the royal infirmary room was slammed open.

Mother rushed inside and reached for my arm.

"What kind of royal infirmary are you people? You're all reputation and no substance. Why does my mate's blood have to be used for the treatment? What a rip-off! She only drank a little lethal wolfsbane diluted with Moon Spring water. How serious could it possibly be? Are you people planning to use his blood for something shady?"

Bella's eyes were red with panic. She could only grab Mother's hand and hold her back with all her strength. "Mom, stop it! Saving Xena is what matters right now!"

"What do you know?" Mother shoved her away.

Bella stumbled backward and slammed her lower back into a medical cart. The herb bottles on the silver tray crashed to the floor with a loud clatter.

"I'm protecting your father! He's the Alpha. How can we just let him give his blood to anyone? And this royal infirmary doesn't seem all that great to me either. They're just trying to scare us. Xena isn't nearly as bad as they say."

As she spoke, she reached for me where I lay on the bed.

"She's my own cub. How could I possibly hurt her? I only used a tiny amount of lethal wolfsbane. It can't possibly kill her.

"You're all making a huge fuss over nothing. You insisted on bringing her to the royal infirmary, but honestly, I think an ordinary infirmary would be fine. I even know the healers there. I'd trust them much more."

Several healers hurried over and blocked her path.

"The patient cannot be transferred right now! The wolfsbane has already seeped into her bone marrow. Her condition is extremely serious!"

"Move! She's my cub. I have the right to decide whether she gets treated or not!"

The doorway instantly descended into chaos.

They remained locked in a standoff until Father finally finished his identity verification and rushed back.

The moment he saw what was happening, he completely lost it. He charged forward and pulled Mother away from me.

"Caroline! If you cause one more scene, we're going straight to the courthouse and dissolving our mate bond! I'll raise both cubs myself. For the rest of your life, you won't see either of them again!"

The words 'dissolve our mate bond' immediately made Mother panic. Only then did she finally stop interfering.

Father and Bella both let out a huge sigh of relief. They thought Mother had finally backed down and decided to let them save me first.

However, neither of them expected what happened next.

Mother suddenly grabbed Father and pulled him toward the door. Bella realized what was happening and chased after them like crazy. Their arguing voices grew fainter and fainter until they finally disappeared completely.

Inside the room, only a few helpless healers remained with me.

The wolfsbane had already burned through my internal organs. Deep inside my bone marrow, my wolf spirit was breaking apart piece by piece.

My eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

Without the assistance of Alpha blood, the healers could only treat me with basic specialized herbs combined with my wolf's natural healing ability.

However, my consciousness was still slipping away. My body felt lighter and lighter. Everything in front of me became increasingly blurry.

Finally, I could not hold on anymore. My eyes closed completely.

The healers' movements gradually slowed.

I do not know how much time passed. Eventually, the head healer looked up at the clock on the wall. His voice was heavy.

"Record the time of death. Her wolf spirit has dissipated. No vital signs."

When I opened my eyes again, I was floating beneath the ceiling. On the operating bed below me lay my lifeless body.

At that moment, Father and Bella finally came rushing back to the doorway, dragging Mother with them.

Father was trembling with rage. "Caroline! Xena is practically dead! And you still insisted on dragging me away to lecture everyone about blood safety! We wasted all that time going back and forth. Do you have any idea that those few minutes could have cost her her life?"

Mother rolled her eyes. "You're the Alpha. These things need to be taken seriously. Who knows whether those healers were even telling the truth?

"What if they were lying? What if they used your blood for something bad instead of using it to assist with her treatment? We needed to find a healer we knew and make sure everything was legitimate before giving them your blood.

"Today, I was simply using this opportunity to teach all of you to be more careful. From now on, you need to think twice before doing anything. You can't just believe everything other people tell you."

With that, she pushed open the door.