ZADE’S POV
I sat beside Sophia’s hospital bed the entire night without moving much.
Rain fell softly outside.
My wolf paced violently inside from the mont I saw her injuries. Every bruise on her body felt like claws tearing into my chest repeatedly. I couldn’t stop staring at the dark fingerprints around her neck.
Soone had wrapped their hands around her throat.
The thought alone nearly made lose control again.
Sophia had cried herself to sleep nearly an hour ago. Even now, her face looked exhausted and pale. Her swollen eyes and trembling lashes made her look fragile.
I reached out and carefully adjusted the blanket around her shoulders.
The mont my fingers brushed her arm lightly, she flinched even in her sleep.
My chest tightened violently. What exactly had they done to her?
My wolf snarled darkly inside .
“Kill them” he growled.
The murderous thought repeated endlessly in my head.
I lowered my eyes toward my hands silently.
For the first ti in years... I hated myself.
I failed to protect her.
I was so busy trying to provoke her, so busy feeling jealous over Damien. I was so busy acting angry because she pulled away from .
anwhile, she was suffering alone. She was nearly dying alone getting beaten while lying helpless in a hospital bed.
And I knew nothing.
I suddenly leaned forward heavily and covered my eyes with one hand.
“Fuck...”
My voice sounded broken even to myself.
The guilt felt unbearable now.
I rembered every single mont Sophia had looked exhausted recently, every mont she forced herself to smile weakly while pretending she was fine.
Even during the camping trip, she looked emotionally shattered, but I was too consud by my own obsession to truly notice.
My wolf beca even more restless.
“Protect her”
The instinct inside scread violently now.
I looked back at Sophia again.
Her pale face looked thinner than before. Even asleep, her brows remained slightly furrowed like she couldn’t relax properly anymore. One side of her forehead still carried a fresh bruise beneath the bandage.
Rage moved inside again instantly.
Declan. Helen. Jessie.
Each na burned inside my head. Especially Jessie.
The mont Sophia ntioned him earlier, I imdiately rembered his face clearly. He was weak and cowardly. He was the type of man who only acted brave when protected by stronger people.
And he dared touch Sophia.
My jaw tightened.
I stood up from the chair and walked toward the bathroom sink quietly. After filling a clean towel with warm water, I returned to the bedside slowly.
Then carefully... very carefully... I cleaned the dried blood near her lip.
Sophia stirred weakly in her sleep.
My chest hurt painfully again.
“Sophia,” I whispered softly to myself. “Why didn’t you tell sooner?”
Of course she wouldn’t tell . Not after the way things ended between us recently. Not after the ugly fight during the camping trip.
I suddenly rembered the slap she gave after I kissed her forcefully.
Disgusting.
That was the word she used.
At the ti, her rejection made furious. But now?
Now all I could think about was how frightened and emotionally destroyed she must have already been back then.
anwhile, I only made things worse.
When I was done, I sat back down beside her bed again.
The guilt I felt beca suffocating.
Hours passed quietly like that.
I stayed beside Sophia the entire night, watching over her while she slept restlessly. Several tis, she whimpered softly in her sleep like she was trapped inside nightmares. Each ti, my wolf beca more agitated.
At one point, she suddenly whispered weakly.
“Don’t...”
I grabbed her hand gently “Sophia.”
Her breathing remained uneven “Please...”
My chest tightened.
“It’s okay,” I whispered quietly. “I’m here.”
Slowly, her body relaxed slightly again but I didn’t
The mont I saw her bruises earlier...sothing inside already snapped completely.
By dawn, I quietly left the hospital room after making sure Sophia was still asleep.
The cold morning air hit my face the mont I stepped outside the building. My expression remained completely emotionless now, but inside , my wolf was raging uncontrollably.
I pulled out my phone imdiately and dialed my contacts.
“Find Jessie.” I ordered.
The n on the other end instantly understood from my tone that this wasn’t a normal request.
Less than forty minutes later, I received the address. It was an abandoned underground parking structure near the eastern district.
Of course.
Cowards like Jessie always hid in places like that after causing trouble.
When I arrived there, several of my n were already waiting quietly nearby. The entire parking structure looked empty except for one black car parked near the center.
Jessie was already there, and already injured. My n had done their job.
The mont I stepped out of my car, I saw bruises covering one side of his face. One of his eyes was swollen badly, and dried blood stained his shirt collar. He looked terrified the second he recognized .
Good.
He should be terrified.
My wolf practically growled with satisfaction.
Jessie stepped backward nervously. “Z-Zade...”
I said nothing. I simply walked toward him slowly.
Each step made him visibly panic more.
“I didn’t-”
Before he could finish speaking, I punched him directly across the face.
Jessie crashed hard against the nearby car the collapsed onto the concrete floor with a painful scream.
My wolf roared violently inside .
“Not enough”
I grabbed him by the collar roughly and slamd him against the car again.
“You touched her.” I growled.
Jessie’s face turned pale. “I-I was ordered to-”
I punched him again.
Blood poured instantly across the floor.
My breathing beca uneven now. Every image of Sophia crying in that hospital bed kept replaying inside my head repeatedly.
I grabbed Jessie’s throat hard.
“She was recovering from a miscarriage.” I growled.
Jessie trembled visibly now “I swear I didn’t know-”
I slamd him into the car again hard enough to dent part of the door.
“You kicked her.” I said quietly
My voice sounded terrifyingly calm now.
Jessie cried out painfully “I’m sorry!”
Sorry?
The word instantly made my wolf explode harder.
I punched him again and again and again.
At so point, Jessie stopped trying to fight back completely. He curled weakly on the ground while coughing blood, shaking beneath .
But I still couldn’t calm down. Every bruise on Sophia’s body remained burned into my head.
Finally, I grabbed Jessie’s hair roughly and forced him to look at .
“Who ordered you?” I asked him.
Jessie’s entire body shook uncontrollably now.
“Declan!” he cried desperately. “It was Declan!”
The mont I heard the na, my wolf growled even louder.
“I knew it,” I said coldly.
Jessie cried weakly now. “He told to scare her...he blad her for Dahlia...” His breathing beca shaky. “I didn’t an to hurt her that badly...”
I punched him again instantly.
“You expect rcy from ?”
Jessie scread painfully.
“You should pray Sophia survives completely,” I said coldly. “Because if she suffers permanent damage...”
I leaned closer “I’ll bury you alive.”
Jessie broke down completely.
“I’m sorry!” he cried desperately. “Please...I’ll testify against Declan!”
My wolf finally cald slightly at those words.
“He might be useful”.
Jessie still had use alive for now.
I stood up and looked down at his broken body coldly.
“Don’t leave the city.” I ordered
Jessie nodded frantically through tears.
“If you disappear,” I continued quietly, “I’ll find your corpse before anyone else does.”
The terror on his face finally satisfied part of the rage inside .
Part of it, only part.
The real person I wanted was Declan. And eventually... I would deal with him too.
By the ti I returned to the hospital, the sun had already risen fully outside.
The morning hallways looked busier now. Nurses moved quickly between patient rooms while doctors discussed charts quietly nearby. But none of the surrounding noise mattered to anymore.
My entire focus remained on Sophia.
The mont I stepped back into her hospital room, I saw her still sleeping quietly.
And suddenly...all the rage inside turned into pain again.
Seeing her like this hurt far more than hurting Jessie ever satisfied .
I walked toward the bedside and sat down again quietly.
Sophia looked exhausted even in sleep. The bruising near her neck looked darker in the morning light now. Her wolf scent remained weak and unstable.
Guilt crashed into again.
Without warning, I suddenly slapped myself across the face hard enough to make a sound echo through the room.
My wolf snarled angrily inside “Idiot”
I clenched my jaw tightly.
“This is your fault too,” I whispered bitterly to myself.
If I protected her better... if I noticed earlier... if I stopped wasting ti provoking her...maybe none of this would have happened.
I looked down at Sophia. Then I slapped myself again, harder this ti.
The pain barely mattered. Nothing hurt more than seeing her lying here broken while I arrived too late again.
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