Everything felt distant, like I was floating in warm water with voices echoing from somewhere far above me. The operating room lights burned through my closed eyelids, but I could not open them. My wolf was silent, retreating deep within me to conserve what little life force remained. But somehow, through the haze of pain and medication, I could still hear them. The bond between pack members never truly severed, even at death's door.
Richard's voice cut through the fog first, sharp with rage.
"What do you mean, Richard?" That was Jack's brother speaking, his tone cautious.
The sound of flesh hitting flesh made me want to flinch, but my body would not respond. I heard someone stagger, then another impact. More sounds of a scuffle. My heart monitor beeped faster even though I could not move.
"Bastard, you are the reason why Aurora is in there," Richard snarled. "We cannot say for sure if she would make it or not. And you dare to show your face here."
My chest tightened. Richard was fighting someone. Fighting for me.
"Richard, I have not known you with this temperament in all our years of friendship." John Hudson's voice was stern, carrying the authority of a beta wolf. "What is wrong with you? It was not the Alpha King who shot Aurora. How can you talk to your king like that and even strike him? No matter what happened, we both are still your superiors. You cannot disrespect us like that, especially Jack, our Alpha King."
"Do not let me hate you in place of your arrogant brother," Richard interrupted, his voice shaking with fury. "Who do you think you are talking to, John? Do I look like I will go crawling before you and bare my throat because you are a Hudson? I am a pack healer and a skilled one at that. If I walk away from this kingdom right now, I will be hired by another pack within the hour. So do not dare talk to me like that."
I wanted to tell Richard to stop, to calm down, but my lips would not move. The darkness pulled at me, trying to drag me under completely.
"You are wealthy, handsome, and hold the throne, but you are the poorest wolf I have ever known," Richard continued, his words aimed at someone else now. At Jack. "You have no love in that heart of yours. I hate you, Alpha King. And I do not think I will tolerate this cruel behavior of yours towards my friend and still serve in this palace as a healer. I am resigning the moment Aurora regains consciousness, and I am taking her away from this kingdom."
Silence followed his declaration. Heavy and suffocating.
Then Nonna spoke, her voice tired. "Richard, it is enough. You are creating a scene."
I heard shuffling, fabric rustling. Someone sat down hard. The crowd that had gathered must have dispersed because the hallway grew quieter.
Through my supernatural hearing, I caught Jack's thoughts somehow, or perhaps it was just my imagination filling in the gaps. He was thinking about how Nonna cleaned Richard's wounds, how it must feel to have someone care like that. He was thinking about how Richard and Nonna loved me, how they had saved my life before when I tried to end it all.
The memory surfaced unbidden. The bathtub. The cold water. The peaceful surrender.
Jack's internal voice continued in my head, clear as day. He had not meant for this to happen. He had not known the warning he received meant an attack would happen that very day at the hotel. I had come to meet my friends, and somehow ended up taking bullets meant for him. Bullets aimed at his heart and head. He would have died within minutes if they had found their target.
I saved him.
The realization settled over me like a heavy blanket. I took those bullets for the Alpha King. For the male who rejected me, humiliated me, and treated me like I meant nothing.
My wolf stirred weakly, confused and hurt.
"Aurora was lucky to have good friends," I heard Jack murmur, so quietly I almost missed it. "Richard and Nonna are worth more than ten close acquaintances to her. They are right in accusing me. They are absolutely right."
Something in his voice made my chest ache worse than the bullet wounds. Regret. Genuine regret.
John sighed loudly. "Jack was wrong in how he treated Aurora before. But this incident is not his doing at all."
Richard hissed between his teeth. I could picture Nonna wrapping her hand around his arm, trying to calm him down with gentle touches. They were always there for me. Always.
The shrill ring of a phone cut through the tense silence.
"Doctor," Richard answered immediately.
My heart monitor's beeping echoed in my ears, growing louder, more frantic. Something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones, in the weakening connection to my wolf. The darkness was not just pulling anymore. It was consuming.
Richard's phone clattered to the floor.
"What?" His voice cracked with horror. "She is dead?"
The last thing I registered before the void swallowed me completely was the sound of the operating room door slamming open and Richard's anguished scream tearing through the sterile hospital air.
Then there was nothing but silence.