TRADING MY CHEATING HUSBAND FOR THE LYCAN KING novel Chapter 213

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CHAPTER 14AE YOU TOGETHER

CHAPTER 149: ARE YOU TOGETHER?

EMBER’S POV

Knox and Nathaniel follow close behind, both of them sprinting back toward the property with a speed that reminds me they’re not entirely human.

I scramble off the sled and follow, my heart pounding in my throat.

By the time I reach the on–site clinic, they’ve already moved her inside.

Through the window, I can see medical personnel swarming around a bed, see the pale spill of Rayana’s platinum blonde hair against the pillow.

She looks small. Fragile. Less like the polished sophisticate who presides over every room and more like what she actually is: a dying woman running out of time.

My heart twists in a way I don’t expect.

Because despite everything – the manipulation, the buttons she pushes, the way she looks at Knox like she still owns a piece of him – this part isn’t a performance.

She’s actually dying. And watching her lie there, pale and still against the white sheets, I can’t make myself hate her the way I want to.

Knox is at the door, arguing with someone about access, about protocols, about something I can’t quite hear. His face is tight with an emotion I can’t name.

I hang back, uncertain of my place in this. Uncertain of everything.

Eventually, they let him in. And because no one stops me, I follow.

The clinic is small but well–equipped, obviously designed for exactly this kind of emergency.

Rayana is hooked up to monitors now, her vital signs beeping steadily across the screen. She’s conscious, barely, her eyes fluttering as the doctor speaks to her in low tones.

“Knox…” Rayana’s voice is thin. Delirious. “Knox…”

He moves closer to the bed, not quite at her side but near enough.

There’s a familiarity in the way he positions himself – not crowding her, keeping space for the medical

staff – that speaks of history. Of three years together. Of knowing someone in ways that don’t just

disappear.

I watch from the corner, feeling like an intruder on something private.

“The episode was severe but not unexpected,” the doctor is saying. “We’ve discussed this possibility. Her

body is simply… declining. We can manage the symptoms, keep her comfortable, but-“”

“I know.” Knox’s voice is rough. “I know. Just do what you can.”

CHAPTER 14ARE YOU TOGETHER?

The doctor glances between Knox and Rayana, then her gaze flicks to me in the corner before returning to him.

“The patient seems very attached to you,” she observes. “Are you two together?”

Knox’s eyes dart to mine. “No. We’re not.”

The doctor frowns slightly.

“It was a long time ago,” Knox adds, his jaw tight

“I see.” The doctor nods. “Well, having a familiar presence nearby might help reduce her stress levels. If you wouldn’t mind staying close while she-”

“Knox…” Rayana reaches for him, her hand trembling in the air, grasping weakly at nothing. “Please…”

For a moment, he freezes.

I watch his jaw work, watch something war behind his eyes. Then he shifts his weight back, letting her

hand fall to the sheet without taking it.

“I expect your team to do their job in keeping her stress levels low,” he says to the doctor, his voice cool.”

That’s what you’re here for.”

The doctor blinks but recovers quickly, nodding and turning back to her patient.

It should make me feel better. The distance he’s maintaining. The line he’s drawing.

But it doesn’t.

Because my heart is already racing, has been racing since this morning, and I feel like I’ve been

suffocating since I crouched behind that tree and heard Nathaniel say words that rearranged everything I

thought I knew.

The anxiety that’s been coiling in my chest all day tightens another notch, that thing rooted in love and fear and wondering and overthinking spinning out of control.

I watch Knox standing rigid near the bed, not touching Rayana but not leaving either, and I don’t know what I’m feeling anymore.

Jealousy? Relief? Something uglier I don’t have a name for?

This is what he looks like when he cares about someone. Even when he’s trying to hold back. Even when

he’s drawing lines.

Three years together. History I wasn’t part of. A version of him I’ll never know.

Have I ever seen him look at me like that? With that kind of weight? That kind of knowing?

The thought is ugly and selfish and I hate myself for thinking it, but I can’t make it stop. Can’t stop cataloging every glance, every word, comparing them against my own memories and finding them

wanting.

CHAPTER 344ARE YOU TOGETHER

The same man who killed his own wife. Who exactly do you think will protect you?

Her wolf isn’t normal. This could spiral into something catastrophic.

What am I doing here? What am I to any of these people?

The doctor finishes her examination and steps back, announcing that Rayana is stabilized, that she needs rest, that the immediate crisis has passed.

The room exhales collectively, the tension dropping by degrees.

Knox finally seems to remember I exist. He turns, finds me in the corner, and something complicated moves across his face.

“Ember, baby. Are you okay-”

“I’m fine.” My voice sounds strange to my own ears. Distant. “I’ll wait outside.”

“You don’t have to-”

“I’ll wait outside.”

I slip through the door before he can argue, the cold air hitting me with relief. I lean against the wall of the

clinic, breathing deep, trying to calm the storm in my chest,

I don’t know how long I stand there. Long enough for my fingers to go numb. Long enough for the

adrenaline to fade, leaving me hollow and shaky.

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