Rejected, Abused, I Fall for the Forbidden Alpha (by Riley Scott) novel Chapter 227

Chapter 227

I refused to leave her and held her hand tightly. One look at my face, and the staff knew not to question me. They worked around me instead.

“What’s the prognosis?” I asked hoarsely as the staff began to slow down.

“Honestly, not great. We don’t know how long she was without oxygen or how long she was dead before you began CPR. All we can do right now is monitor her and hope she doesn’t go into cardiac arrest or have any other complications. I know she’s a white wolf and normally she would be stronger than other shifters but due to the wolfsbane building up in her system, she’s weakend and therefore already at a disadvantage.”

Guilt flooded through me. The doctor didn’t sugarcoat it.

“Her body is also freezing from the cold which means she’s at risk of pneumonia. She’s malnourished due to a lack of food and dehydrated from lack of water. Her body is weak, Alpha. We’ll do the best we can but there’s no guarantee she’ll make it. I’m sorry.”

nodded, sitting down and refusing to let go of her hand. I stroked her hair, my eyes scanning over her body, which was deadly still.

I fought back the tears that threatened to fall. I was an Alpha and couldn’t afford to show weakness.

The doctor and nurses quietly left the room.

“I’m sorry,” my voice was thick as I gently touched Marissa’s face, “I thought I was doing the right thing, but I never wanted you dead. I just wanted you to learn a lesson. It was a mistake,” I choked out.

All this because of my fucking pride. Even though she’d hurt a pack member she hadn’t deserved this.

“How is she?” Aaron’s voice was tentative.

My head whipped up, and I looked at my friend, my Beta.

“Not good,” I growled, “where were the fucking guards, Aaron? The dungeon was empty when I got there,” I snapped.

“I’ll look into it,” he said immediatly, his eyes going to Marissa.

For a moment, I saw regret on my friend’s face. Remorse at how he’d spoken about her. Maybe even guilt for pushing me to punish her.

Despite everything, Aaron had always looked out for my best interests.

“I’m sorry,” he offered an apology, “for my part in this. I swear I’ll find the guards responsible and ensure this doesn’t happen again. I’ll make sure they are punished.”

“Tell me you had nothing to do with this,” my eyes pierced him, “tell me you didn’t arrange for this to happen?”

He blanched.

“I thought you knew me better than that Damien. Sure, I don’t like her,” he readily admitted, “but I would never try to kill a mate of yours. I just didn’t think you cared about her this much. I thought you hated her,” he said looking away from me.

“I thought I did,” I confessed, “I want to. But looking at her, all I feel is guilt. She’s so fragile,” my voice is hoarse, “and she looks so innocent right now. What if I made a mistake?”

3/2

15 Bant

The thought was haunting me.

Aaron immediately shook his head.

“You did what you thought was best as an Alpha. Besides it’s Alice,” he pointed out, “we’ve known her for years. Why would she lie?”

I frowned at that.

Alice had grown up with me. She’d fought battles beside me. She’d been with me through the darkest times and even saved my life once from a rogue. By all accounts she was trustworthy but now? Now there was a sinking feeling in my gut that maybe I might not know Alice as well as I thought I did. That maybe I should have given Marissa the benefit of the doubt.

I kept my thoughts to myself. If Alice was the perpetrator or had something to do with all this, then I needed to tread carefully and investigate without her knowledge.

The gala or summit as others called it, would be the perfect time to keep a close eye on her and see if I was missing something. She was sure to let down her guard there.

“I want guards on Marissa at all times. I’m not taking anymore chances when it comes to her. I want our most trusted warriors posted outside her room at all times, do you hear me,” I growled.

He nodded. I continued to sit there, lost in thought.

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