Chapter 4 The Last Breath

Mia's convulsions gradually stopped.

She grew quiet, her tiny body going limp on the cart. The IV fluid was still dripping steadily, one drop at a time, flowing through her bluish-purple veins and into her body.

But her chest was no longer rising.

Her eyes were half-open, fixed on the half-closed door of the treatment room. Warm yellow light spilled through the narrow gap, accompanied by the soft murmur of voices inside, peaceful and intimate, like a family enjoying one another's company.

No one knew that in this corner they had deliberately forgotten, five-year-old Mia had stopped breathing forever after endless cold and waiting.

She had not even had the strength to make one final cry for help because her grandmother told her that she needed to learn to be strong, her uncle said she was pretending to be sick, and her father said she was spoiled.

…

By dawn, the enemy had finally receded completely, and cleanup efforts had begun amid the ruins of the surrounding district. The hospital grew busy as the day-shift healers and nurses gradually took over.

Elara stepped out of the treatment room with a content smile, as though everything had gone exactly as planned. She stretched lazily, irritation creeping into her voice. "Anna, go move that cart in the hallway. It's been blocking the passage this whole time."

The nurse named Anna walked over and reached out to touch Mia's arm. The next second, her entire body shuddered. She staggered back half a step, disbelief written across her face. "Elara, the pup… the pup isn't breathing…"

Elara stopped dead. Her brows knitted together as she hurried over, still speaking in a reprimanding tone. "What nonsense are you talking about? She only inhaled a little wolfsbane—"

Her voice cut off abruptly, for she finally saw it. This was a corpse already showing signs of venom-induced lividity. The pup's wolf soul had completely dissipated.

Elara's face turned deathly pale. Her fingers trembled uncontrollably.

She lunged forward and yanked open the thin gown covering Mia, pressing her fingers against the carotid artery in her neck. There was no pulse, and her skin was ice-cold.

The treatment room door opened, and Damian and Kyle walked out together, chatting joyously.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Kyle asked.

Elara slowly turned around, eyes wide with shock. Her lips moved several times, but not a single sound came out.

Damian followed her gaze, and the smile on his face instantly froze.

As if on cue, his phone rang, and a rescue team member's urgent voice burst through the speaker, sounding especially jarring in the deathly silent hallway. "Alpha Damian! Alpha Damian, please respond! We found the body of a female victim while clearing the section of collapsed load-bearing walls in an apartment building in the eastern district!

"She died in a curled position, as if she was shielding a pup with her body. Her wolf soul has completely dissipated! We confirmed her identity through her identification mark. The deceased is your mate, the Luna of the pack, Wren."

Damian stood frozen in place, staring blankly at the dead pup on the cart.

The next second, he suddenly clutched his chest and stumbled back a step.

Only then did he seem to remember that he had blocked their mate bond long ago. He lifted the block, and the agony of his mate's death immediately surged through Damian's marrow, tearing through him until it felt as though his wolf soul was being ripped apart.

Elara's legs gave out beneath her. She collapsed directly onto the floor in front of Mia's cart.