Chapter 4 His Cruel Ultimatum

• POV: Chloe
• When I regained consciousness, the sterile smell of herbs and IV fluids filled my nose. I was in a private room at the Pack Hospital.
• The puncture wounds on my body were hastily stitched, but even the slightest twitch sent a venomous, tearing agony rippling through my muscles.
• "Don't move."
• A low, raspy voice sounded from the shadows.
• Damian sat in the corner, his eyes bloodshot. A rare trace of exhaustion and guilt marred his features.
• "I'm sorry... I thought you were just throwing a tantrum. I made a bad call. But don't blame Vivian. She was terrified; it wasn't intentional."
• The last ember of hope in my soul turned to ash.
• He was sitting by my hospital bed not because he feared for my life, but because he was eager to build a shield of excuses for Vivian.
• *Not intentional.*
• I closed my eyes, too disgusted to even look at him. My voice was a raspy whisper. "Get out."
• The figure by the bed didn't move.
• After a long silence, Damian spoke, his tone returning to his usual unquestionable authority. "Vivian's mother is ill. The hospital is out of advanced ICU suites..."
• "And?" I couldn't take it anymore. My eyes snapped open, glaring daggers at him. "What the hell does that have to do with me?!"
• Damian's face darkened instantly. Disappointment and strictness pooled in his eyes.
• "Chloe, how can you be so selfish?"
• "From the day we got together, I told you—as the future Luna, you must possess the spirit of self-sacrifice for the pack!"
• *Self-sacrifice.* Because of those words.
• For the past three years, I always put myself at the absolute bottom of the list for healing herbs.
• Even when the full moon transformations tore at my broken bones, I gave up the healing pods to warriors with minor scrapes.
• Once, during a blizzard border skirmish, I was poisoned. He left me alone in a freezing supply shed to escort a lost apprentice priestess back, almost causing my *Inner Wolf* to shatter completely.
• I thought my silent endurance would earn his respect. His attention.
• Instead, all I got was one word—*selfish.*
• "Luna?" I scoffed, a chilling smile forming on my lips. "Damian! Is your brain rotting from silver? I already told you, we are done. I rejected you!"
• Damian froze.
• His gaze nailed into my face, searching desperately for a sign that I was bluffing, throwing a fit, or playing hard to get.
• He found absolutely nothing.
• For the first time, a crack of panic splintered across his arrogant, composed face.
• His Adam's apple bobbed. He opened his mouth to speak, but the heavy alloy door of the room was shoved open.
• Vivian rushed in, eyes red, crying perfectly structured tears.
• "Damian, the hallway is too loud. My mom can't sleep through her migraines. What are we going to do?"
• Seeing her fragile, helpless act, Damian instantly snapped back to reality.
• He frowned. "Chloe, we'll talk about us later. Give the room to her mother first. Be a good girl. I'll carry you out."
• He didn't give me a chance to refuse. He took a long stride forward and scooped me up, blankets and all, right out of the bed!
• "Let me go! I'm not leaving! Don't touch me!"
• Realizing he was forcibly evicting me while I was critically injured, my suppressed rage exploded.
• I thrashed violently. My hands formed claws, my sharp nails tearing deep, bloody gashes into his cheeks and neck.
• But against a pureblood Alpha's absolute physical dominance, my dying half-blood strength meant nothing. His arms locked around me like iron bands.
• The suffocating helplessness of being crushed by absolute power dragged me straight back to the nightmare of losing my legs in my past life.
• "Let me go!" I screamed, uncaring of who heard. "Get the hell away from me!"
• My nails drew blood, but it did nothing to cool the boiling hatred in my chest.
• "You make me sick, Damian! If Vivian is all your wolf cares about, why the hell did you stay with me?! Why didn't you just die?!"
• Damian threw me onto a rolling gurney in the hall. The back of my head slammed against the metal frame, and stars exploded across my vision.
• Patients, nurses, and guards in the hallway all turned to stare, their eyes filled with shock, fear, and morbid curiosity.
• My sanity slowly clawed its way back.
• Damian loomed over me, his voice pure ice and warning:
• "Chloe! Take your crazy out on me, but leave Vivian out of this!"
• I opened my mouth to shoot back, but my gaze flicked past his shoulder and locked onto the temporary cot next to me.
• A bone-chilling cold shot straight up my spine.
• Standing next to that cot was a massive, burly man.
• It was Marcus. The very man who, in my past life, drove that silver-loaded semi-truck into us on the highway.