Chapter 612

“If it succeeds, the silver toxins embedded deep in his spine will be completely purged. He will regain the ability to walk, to complete the Shift, and to perform the Marking ritual,” Dr. Vance said. “But if it fails, the nerve damage will become permanent. The trauma will sever his connection to his Inner Wolf. He will lose Ragnar forever. He will become permanently wolfless.”

The word hung in the air, heavy and terrifying. Wolfless. For an Alpha King, it was a fate worse than death.

I looked back out at the patio. Dallas was still staring at the trees—a crippled king trapped in a broken body, completely unaware of the devastating choice now looming over him. The external enemies were gone, but the true battle for his soul was only just beginning.

I clenched my fists, my nails biting into my palms.

“Even if it’s only a one percent chance,” I said, my voice trembling but resolute, “we have to take it.”

Adella POV

The morning sun poured into the sunroom, but it did nothing to warm the chill lingering in my bones from Dr. Vance’s revelation the night before.

“Put them on the glass table, please,” I told the trembling Omega servant.

She carefully set down a crystal vase filled with rare Starlight Lilies—a gift from Dr. Liam Barber, my college senior, sent to congratulate me on my recovery. Their sweet, luminous scent filled the room, but it was instantly overpowered by a sudden, sharp spike of storm and cedar.

Dallas wheeled himself into the doorway. His jaw was clenched so tight a muscle ticked in his cheek. Ragnar, his Inner Wolf, was practically projecting a suffocating aura of pure, territorial jealousy.

“Who sent those?” Dallas demanded, his eyes locked on the pristine white petals.

“Dr. Liam Barber,” I said, keeping my voice even.

Dallas’s hands tightened around the wheels of his chair. “Throw them out,” he growled at the Omega, his voice dropping into the heavy, vibrating register of an Alpha’s Command.

The servant whimpered, her Inner Wolf cowering as she immediately reached for the vase.

“Leave them,” I countered sharply, stepping between the Omega and the table. I knew I was playing a dangerous game, but I needed to pull him out of this stagnant pool of self-loathing. I needed the fierce Alpha King back. “They are beautiful, Dallas. A symbol of healing and good wishes.”

Dallas’s eyes darkened to pitch black. Without a word, he shoved his wheelchair forward—not toward me, but toward the table. The heavy metal footrest slammed into the glass with brutal precision.

The screech of metal on glass was followed by a sharp, violent shatter. The crystal vase exploded, sending water and crushed lilies spilling across the marble floor.

“My wheelchair slipped,” Dallas said, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. He spun around and rolled out of the room, leaving the ruined flowers in his wake.

By afternoon, the tension in the estate had thickened into something combustible. Dr. Liam Barber had shown up uninvited to pay his respects, and Dallas had immediately locked himself in the master suite, refusing to come down.

I sat in the living room trying to maintain a polite smile, but Azalea and Gigi had clearly formed an alliance to eradicate the threat.

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