Chapter 482

“It’s just spilled medicine,” he choked out, his voice trembling as he wiped the pink froth from his chin. He glared at me with feral, defensive eyes. “Stay away.”

I rubbed my throbbing wrist, staring at the man huddled in the corner. The sheer, arrogant stubbornness of his suicidal pride ignited a flash of helpless, blinding fury in my chest. He would rather drown in his own blood than let me save him. He would rather die alone than admit he needed me.

“Fine — choke, then,” I snapped, my voice trembling with a toxic mix of anger and unshed tears. “See if I care.”

I turned my back on him, marched to the solitary visitor’s chair, and sank into it. I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs.

But I didn’t close my eyes. I couldn’t.

For the rest of the night, the room remained trapped in a dangerous, agonizing stalemate. I sat in the suffocating darkness, my eyes locked on his shivering silhouette in the corner. I listened to the wet, rattling wheeze of his chest and counted every single breath he took, absolutely terrified that the next one would be his last.

We uр𝖽𝖺𝘁е 𝖾𝗏е𝘳𝗒 𝘄𝖾e𝗄 o𝗻 𝘨a𝗅𝗻𝘰𝘃e𝗹𝗌.𝖼оm

The harsh fluorescent lights of the clinic corridor buzzed above me, a grating sound that matched the splintering ache in my skull. It was 6:00 AM. I had spent the entire night trapped in that suffocating room, watching the man I loved drown in his own blood and stubborn, suicidal lies.

I couldn’t breathe in there anymore. The memory of his pale, bloodstained face and the wet, rattling sound of his breathing had finally broken my endurance. I shoved the heavy steel door of Suite 1 open and stepped out, desperate for air that didn’t taste like grief.

Gamma Vance Decker was standing right outside.

He looked exhausted, dark circles betraying a sleepless night of guilt. In his massive hands, he held a tray with two steaming cups of coffee and some pastries — a pathetic, hopeful olive branch.

“Luna,” Vance started, his voice a low, gravelly rumble. “I thought you might need —”

I didn’t let him finish. The sheer audacity of him playing the caring guard after locking me in a cage with a dying man ignited a blinding, white-hot fury in my chest.

I didn’t slow my pace. I walked straight toward him and shoved the tray.

The metal clattered against the polished concrete. Hot coffee splashed across Vance’s tactical boots, and the food scattered across the floor in a messy, ruined heap. Vance froze, his eyes widening in shock, but he didn’t move to stop me. I looked up at the towering Gamma, my voice a lethal, emotionless whisper. “Your good intentions paved a road straight to hell, Gamma. Stay away from me. All of you.”

I didn’t wait for an apology. I turned my back on the wreckage and walked away, leaving the suffocating clinic and the ghost of my mate behind.