Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Emily
My boots squeak on the tile as I follow the blue line toward the emergency room, each step heavier than the last, as if my body understands what my mind refuses to acknowledge.
I shouldn’t be here.
The air holds the sting of antiseptic and pheromone blockers that burns my nose, and the ceiling lights buzz with the electric hum of overuse.
At the check-in desk, a nurse in pale blue scrubs taps her pen on a clipboard. “Can I help you?”
“I’m here for Auren Dovelle.” Saying his name gives me none of the old flutters. Now, I just feel resigned. “I received a call. I’m his emergency contact.”
Her fingers click on the keyboard. “Room 112. Down the hall, third door on your right.”
“Thank you.”
I pass a couple deep in discussion outside a closed door and a janitor pushing a mop across the tiles.
Outside Auren’s door, I pause to gather myself.
Through the narrow window, I catch sight of Auren curled on the bed, lavender hair spread out over the white pillow. His slight frame appears even smaller beneath the thin hospital blanket. A bandage wraps his left wrist, and from this angle, I can see the purple bloom of a bruise on his cheekbone.
My Alpha instincts flare with the demand to protect. Someone hurt what was once mine. But then my rational mind catches up, and doubt follows close behind.
This isn’t the first time I’ve visited Auren in the hospital. I’ve seen his self-inflicted wounds before. Always visible in places that would draw sympathy, but never severe enough to cause permanent damage.
Always after a big fight, when I refused to back down and give in to his demands.
My hand hovers at the door for a moment before I push it open. The soft squeak of hinges alerts him to my presence, and as he turns toward me, a delicate wince crinkles his face into a beautiful canvas of fragile pain.
Tears well in his amethyst eyes, and his lower lip trembles. “Emily, you came. You’re still my Alpha.”
The title sits wrong. I am not his Alpha.
Not anymore.
I approach the bed. “What happened?”
Auren extends his bandaged wrist to me in a silent plea for contact. When I don’t take it, his fingers curl inward, and the tears spill over.
“They left me.” His throat works, shoulders hitching as he drags in a shuddering breath. “My new pack… they only wanted someone pretty to show off. A decoration to parade through their parties.”
My hands ball into fists at my sides. In the narrow confines of the hospital room, the pheromone blockers can’t quite suppress the familiar crushed violets and honeyed cream of his pheromones reaching for me.
Once, I found that scent intoxicating.
Now, it sticks in my throat like syrup.
“Mark pushed me,” he continues, clutching his bandaged wrist close. “We were arguing, and he shoved me into the wall. I hit my head, and when I tried to catch myself, I twisted my wrist.”
I study the bruise that doesn’t match his story. The discoloration sits high on his cheekbone, not at his temple, where it would be if he’d hit his head on a wall.
“The doctors say it’s a sprain,” he adds, tracking my gaze. “But it hurts so much.”
“Where are they now?” I keep my distance, remaining at the foot of the bed. “Your Alphas?”
Auren crumples. “They left me here. Dropped me off and said they couldn’t deal with this right now. Couldn’t deal with with me.”
He reaches for me again, fingers grasping at air. “You’re the only one who ever protected me, Em. The only Alpha who ever cared.”
The monitors beside his bed beep steadily, his heartbeat regular despite his display of distress. No elevated pulse. No true fear response.
“If you don’t take me home with you, I don’t know what I’ll do.” When I don’t immediately react, he whispers, “I might die without you.”
The words slide into me like a knife between my ribs. I’ve heard them before, in different forms, each time I tried to set boundaries. Each time I needed space. Each time I wanted to be a person, not just his Alpha.
“Auren—” I start, but the door swings open behind me.
Two men step in. Mark is first, tall and polished in a charcoal suit that cost more than my truck. He carries a leather satchel in one hand. Jacob follows, standing at his packmate’s shoulder.
For a moment, we stare at each other. Shock flashes across both of their faces, irritation quickly replacing it. The last time we were in a room together, they were voting me out of my own pack.
“Emily.” Mark puffs up in a show of Alpha posturing. “What are you doing here?”
“The hospital called me,” I say, keeping my distance.
His nostrils flare. “Why would they call you? You’re not a member of this pack anymore.”
Before I can respond, a nurse bustles in to check Auren’s IV line, and she flips through her clipboard. “The police will be here soon to take statements. It’s standard procedure for potential domestic incidents.”
Jacob flinches back. “What the fu—”
Mark holds up a hand, then smooths his tie, all easy charm. “There seems to have been a misunderstanding. Auren tripped outside the bakery while we were getting dessert. The curb caught him by surprise.”
Auren’s head snaps up, tears threatening again. “That’s not what happened! You pushed me! You said I was a burden, and you wished you’d never brought me into your pack!”
Mark’s jaw flexes, and his knuckles whiten around the handle of the satchel. “That’s not what happened, and there are witnesses who will vouch that we never touched you.”
“I thought you said it was a wall,” I murmur.
“It all happened so fast,” Auren sniffles. “And my head hurts. I’m confused.”
The nurse hovers in the room, pretending not to eavesdrop.
Mark turns to me, his annoyance at my presence clear. “I’m not sure why you’re here, but you can leave. Auren is being dramatic, as always. I’m sorry he bothered you with his little tantrum.”
Behind him, Jacob shifts, his scent betraying the spike of frustration beneath his calm.
Auren clutches the blanket with his one good hand. “Em, don’t believe him. Please. You know me.”
And that’s the problem. I do. I know the well-timed tears, the trembling lip, the fragile act designed to muddle my thoughts and convince me to give in to whatever he wants. I know the way he bends truth until he makes you question what’s real.
Mark closes the distance between us. “Listen, we’re not trying to make this worse. But this is none of your business.”
The air grows thicker as rising emotions fill the room with pheromones. My head throbs with it all, tangled up with memory, resentment, and the old instinct to protect what already destroyed me once.
Footsteps sound in the hall, and two officers crowd into the room.
The woman wears her dark hair pulled back tightly. She takes the lead as her partner positions himself near the door, hands clasped at his belt, scanning each of us in turn.
“I’m Officer Chen.” The woman focuses on Auren as she flips open a notebook. “We received a call about a potential domestic dispute.”
Mark steps forward. “There’s been a misunderstanding—”
“He pushed me!” Auren lunges upright in the bed, his hospital gown slipping from one delicate shoulder. “I want to press charges!”
Mark spins toward him. “That’s not what happened!”
I step between the two parties without thinking, my body acting on instinct to buffer the conflict.
Mark turns back to the officers. “He fell. The doctor confirmed it.”
Jacob murmurs agreement, shifting uneasily.
“Liar!” Auren trembles, drawing the blanket up as if to shield himself from them. “I’m done staying silent about your abuse. You can’t buy off every witness.”
The male officer steps forward, palm raised. “Everyone needs to calm down.”
Officer Chen raises a hand for silence. “We’ll take statements one at a time.” Her attention moves to me. “And you are?”
“Emily Wilson. I’m Auren’s emergency contact.”
Her eyebrows lift. “And your relationship is?”
Auren’s hand latches on to mine. “She’s my true Alpha.”
I flinch at the implication and try to pull free, but Auren holds on with tenacious strength. “We were in a pack together, but we never bonded. Our relationship ended nine months ago.”
Mark adjusts his tie. “Jacob and I are Auren’s Alphas. We’ve provided everything he could want. This accusation is…unexpected.”
“It’s not an accusation! It’s what happened!” Auren’s distress pheromones claw at my instincts despite my rational mind’s objections. “Em, tell them you’re my true Alpha. Tell them how he treats me.”
All eyes turn to me.
“I can’t speak to their relationship,” I say, picking my words with care. “I haven’t been part of Auren’s life since our pack status was dissolved.”
Officer Chen’s pen stills. “And why did that happen?”
My mouth dries, tongue sticking to the roof. “We mutually decided the pack wasn’t working.”
A lie, but easier to say than admitting Auren pushed me out after draining every bit of security and stability he could from me.
“It wasn’t mutual!” Auren hunches inward, and he clutches the blanket in tight, trembling fists. “They made me agree to kick you out. They said they would hurt me if I didn’t go along with it.”
My heart hammers, and the room tilts, forcing me to widen my stance to stay balanced.
“That’s not what happened,” I say, my voice steady despite my vision blurring at the edges. “But that’s irrelevant to tonight’s situation.”
The male officer takes a step forward. “Ms. Wilson, your current relationship with Mr. Dovelle is…?”
“I’m an ex-pack member.” I manage to extract myself from Auren’s grasp. “Nothing more.”
The officer studies me for a beat, as if trying to drag the truth out. My skin prickles under the scrutiny, but I don’t waver until he nods and steps back.
“We’ll need statements from everyone.” Officer Chen flips to a new page in her notebook. “Starting with Mr. Dovelle.”
The next thirty minutes pass in a blur of accusations and denials.