Chapter 24 I'll have to think of something terrible. Maybe forced Netflix marathons with excessive takeout food." Oh no, I deadpanned. "Anything but comfort and relaxation." "See? I'm very intimidating." I curled into the hotel suite's plush sofa, phone pressed to my ear. "Okay. You win." "Good. And Sabi?" "Yeah?" "Whatever happened tonight - you don't have to carry it alone anymore." The promise in his words made my throat tight with unshed tears. After we hung up, I sat staring at my phone. For the first time in days, I didn't feel completely hollow inside. Then a new message notification popped up. Unknown number. My stomach sank as I opened it. A photo filled the screen sterile sheets. - Camila lying in a hospital bed with white bandages wrapped around most of her head. She looked pale and fragile against the The message below made my blood run cold: "Get to Moonridge General NOW. Apologize to Camila for nearly killing her. This is YOUR fault." I stared at the image. The bandages were extensive spike of guilt through my chest. Did I really cause that much damage? - probably more than necessary for the injury I'd witnessed. But seeing her there, genuinely hurt, sent a Another message followed immediately: "I'm filing assault charges unless you come here RIGHT NOW and make this right." Then: "Camila might have permanent brain damage because of YOU." My hands started shaking as message after message flooded in: "Answer me you fucking coward!" The venom in each text felt like poison spreading through my veins. But underneath the fear, something else stirred. Anger. Cold, crystalline rage at his manipulation. At the way he was trying to weaponize guilt to control me even now. He tried to assault me. Then strangled me. But I'm supposed to feel sorry because his girlfriend got hurt during the fight SHE started? I blocked the number without responding. Within minutes, another unknown number lit up my screen with an incoming call. I declined it immediately and blocked that one too. Then another. And another. 1/3 Chapter 24 Jesus Christ, how many burner phones does he have? After the fifth blocked number, silence finally returned to my hotel room. Darrell's POV Ten minutes. Ten fucking minutes I'd been staring at my phone, waiting for Sable's response to the hospital photos. The screen showed "Read" but no reply. No apology. No frantic messages begging for forgiveness. Nothing. My jaw clenched until my teeth ached. How dare she ignore me? I tried calling her directly. The phone rang once before an automated message played: "The number you have dialed is no longer in service." Confusion turned to realization, then exploded into white-hot fury. She fucking blocked me! - I hurled my phone against the hospital wall with every ounce of strength I possessed. The device exploded on impact screen shattering, plastic casing cracking, internal components scattering across the linoleum floor. The crash echoed through the corridor like a gunshot. Every person in the hallway - nurses, visitors, patients shuffling with IV poles froze and turned to stare at me with wide, terrified eyes. My Alpha authority blazed outward in waves of barely contained violence. "What the hell are you all looking at? GET OUT!" The command hit them like a physical force. Nurses stumbled over themselves fleeing to other floors. Families gathered their belongings and disappeared into elevators. Even the security guard at the far end of the hall retreated around the corner. Within seconds, the entire corridor stood empty except for me and the woman lying in the private room behind me. That ungrateful bitch! Three years. I'd given Sable everything she could want. A home. Financial security. My protection. My body. My time. And this was my thanks? Getting blocked like some random stranger? She thinks she can just walk away? Reject our bond like it meant nothing? 'Relly? Camila's voice drifted from the hospital bed, weak and trembling. "What happened? I heard shouting…" I turned toward her, my rage temporarily dampened by concern. She looked so fragile against the white sheets, thick bandages covering most of her skull. "Nothing important." I brushed pieces of broken phone into a trash can with my foot. Camila's eyes filled with tears. "The doctor said I might have a mild concussion." I moved to her bedside, my anger shifting into protective tenderness. "What else did he say?" 212 "That head injuries can be unpredictable." Her voice broke slightly. "Sometimes they cause cognitive problems that don't show up right away." My chest tightened. 'You're going to be fine. "But what if I'm not?' Tears spilled down her cheeks. 'Relly, I just graduated from the European Institute of Psychology, I came back here to start trauma counseling services for pack members who've been through combat stress." She touched the bandages gingerly. "If this injury affects my cognitive abilities… if I can't think clearly anymore… my entire career is over before it started." The pain in her voice cut through my residual anger like a blade. This brilliant, beautiful woman violence. - reduced to uncertainty and fear because of Sable's All those years of study," Camila continued, voice barely above a whisper. "All my dreams of helping people heal from psychological wounds…" "Hey, I sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand carefully, "Don't talk like that. You're going to recover completely." "But what if I don't?" She looked up at me with desperate eyes. "What if I'm never the same? Would you still…" She swallowed hard. 'Would you still love me if I couldn't fulfill my dreams?" The question hit me in the chest. "Are you seriously asking me that?" 'I need to know. Fresh tears spilled over. And I need to know something else." "What?" - "Will you forgive Sable for this?" Her voice carried a note I'd never heard before vulnerability mixed with steel. "Even if my injuries end up being permanent?" The question crystallized everything I'd been feeling into diamond-hard clarity. 'Listen to me, Camila." I gripped her hand firmly, meeting her eyes with absolute certainty. "I formally rejected Sable tonight and she means nothing to me now. Less than nothing. As far as I'm concerned, she's a stranger who attacked my woman." "And if my career is really damaged?" "Then I'll make her pay ten times over for what she took from you." My voice carried the weight of a sacred vow. "No one hurts what's mine and walks away unscathed." Camila's tears shifted from fear to gratitude. She lifted her free hand to touch my cheek. "I love you so much, Relly." 'I love you too." I leaned down to kiss her forehead, carefully avoiding the bandaged areas. "And I'm going to protect you from now on. Always."