Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The healers lifted me onto an emergency bed. Mother shoved open the treatment-room door before they could close it.

Mother rushed inside and reached for my arm.

"Why are you asking for my mate's blood?" she demanded. "This is supposed to be the pack emergency clinic. She drank a little diluted wolfsbane, and you're acting like she needs a transfusion. What are you really planning to do with the Alpha's blood?"

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

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

Hazel 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 pack emergency clinic doesn't seem all that great to me either. They're just trying to scare us. Riley 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've made a crisis out of nothing. There's a smaller pack outpost down the valley. I know the healers there. I'd trust them 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.

"Meredith! If you cause one more scene, we're going straight to the pack bond tribunal 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 threat to dissolve their mate bond frightened Mother into releasing my arm. Only then could the healers reach me.

Father and Hazel 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.

As a healer prepared the Alpha-blood procedure, Mother caught Father by the wrist and hauled him into the hall. Hazel ran after them, shouting that he had to come back. Their voices receded beyond the swinging doors.

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 Alpha blood that could help my wolf purge the poison, the healers worked with specialized herbs and what little healing strength I had left. They kept trying; none of it was enough.

Still, my consciousness kept 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," the head healer said. "Her wolf spirit is gone. No vital signs."

When I opened my eyes again, I was floating beneath the ceiling. On the emergency bed below me lay a girl with my face. The healer's hand rested on her wrist. He wasn't looking at the clock anymore.

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

Father trembled with rage. "Meredith! Riley could be dying in there, and you dragged me away to lecture everyone about blood safety! Do you understand what those minutes could cost her?"

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.