Chapter Forty: Simon's POV
The medical room lights were bright, shining on Carol's face.
I laid her on the examination table, my heart racing but my hands still steady.
Clara was already prepared, instruments neatly arranged—you could tell she was always waiting for this kind of situation.
She didn't ask anything, just went straight to check Carol's arm where the gunshot wound should have been. Now all that remained was dried blood, the skin intact.
"Silver bullet," I said, my voice a bit hoarse. "Hit the upper arm. Less than twenty minutes ago, I saw the wound myself."
Clara's face showed no expression, but I noticed her eyes widened slightly. She wiped Carol's arm with alcohol, her movements quick but gentle.
The smell of antiseptic was strong, overpowering the scent of blood, but it couldn't suppress the restlessness beneath my skin.
Finally, Clara put down the disinfectant gauze and straightened up.
"No wound," she said, her voice steady. "Not even a scar. Just some inflammation in the muscle, and even that's fading."
She looked up at me. I said nothing.
"Simon, the silver poisoning should have spread through her entire body by now. She should be convulsing, temperature spiking, body rejecting that bullet." She paused. "But she's healing. Faster than any Beta I've seen. Faster than some Alphas."
Knox churned in my mind, letting out a low, satisfied rumble.
"She's awakening," he said. "Her wolf is waking to protect her. Soon, she'll discover you're her mate. What we mean to her."
I didn't respond to him. My attention was entirely on Carol's face, watching her steady breathing, her skin no longer so pale, the pallor of blood loss receding.
"How long until she wakes?" I asked. But part of me hoped she wouldn't wake so soon. Just let her sleep like this, in this temporarily safe place, a little longer.
"Hard to say." Clara answered while tidying the instruments, her movements still as efficient. "She's been through major trauma tonight. Not just the gunshot, but the physical exertion before and the adrenaline crash. If she were an ordinary human, I'd say twelve to eighteen hours. But in this condition, it could be much faster. Her body is working overtime to repair itself."
She paused, her hand hovering above Carol's forehead without touching down, the gesture more like a habitual care. "Simon, I've been your doctor for ten years. I've seen you recover from injuries that could kill other Alphas. I've treated your pack members—transformation injuries, territorial injuries, and all kinds of violence this world can throw at us. But I've never seen anything like this."
Carol had been by my side for eight years, and in all those years I'd never seen her transform, not a single sign.
If she truly carried Osmon's blood, the wolf's shadow should have appeared during puberty. But it hadn't.
But tonight, she single-handedly fought off five trained warriors, survived a silver bullet, and healed in minutes what should have taken weeks.
"No records, no reports to the Council. What happened tonight, only we know." I told Clara.
She nodded. "I need to check on her again in a few hours to make sure the silver poisoning hasn't left complications."
I watched Clara leave. Her footsteps gradually faded down the hallway until they disappeared completely.
Only me, Carol, and the steady beeping of the heart monitor remained in the room.
I pulled a chair to the examination table and sat down.
"She's ours," Knox spoke again, more insistent this time, his presence pressing at the edge of my consciousness like a trapped wolf testing the strength of the fence. "You felt it when you held her. The way she fit with us, how her scent called to our very soul. Stop fighting that truth."
"She was twelve when I found her," I said aloud to the empty room, the words tasting bitter. "Osmon's daughter. He saved my life, and I swore to protect her."
"You have," Knox's tone softened. "You protected her, raised her, gave her everything she needed to survive in this world."
He paused.
"But she's not a child anymore, Simon. She's a woman who just took down five warriors and survived a silver bullet. Her true nature is awakening, and when she opens her eyes, she'll recognize what we are. Her mate, her Alpha. The one the Moon Goddess chose for her before any of us were born."
Carol stirred, letting out a small unconscious moan, and my whole body leaned forward uncontrollably.
Before I could think clearly, my hand had already reached out, fingertips gently brushing across her cheek, tucking the scattered black hair behind her ear.
Her skin was hot, I could feel that heat through my fingertips—her body healing at high speed, burning itself to repair everything inside and out.
I forced myself to pull my hand back, to retreat a bit, pretending that every cell in my body wasn't screaming at me to gather her into my arms and never let go.
"Soon," Knox laughed lowly in my mind. "Soon she'll know. And then, nothing will stop us from claiming what's ours."
I left the medical room. Leon was waiting outside.
"Isabella?" I asked.
"Detained in the underground cell," he answered, keeping pace with me. "Jack and Marcus are standing guard. For the past hour she's been screaming to call her father, wants to talk to her lawyer, wants to know what charges you plan to bring."
We walked toward the manor's lower level.
The thick stone walls that once served as wine cellars had now become cells for those who needed reminding of pack law.
With each step, the temperature dropped, the air growing heavy with the scent of earth and old stone.
Knox churned with anticipation, eager for the coming confrontation.
Isabella looked up when I entered, fear showing on her face.
She sat on the narrow bed, her designer clothes wrinkled and stained, her hair disheveled—a sight that would have mortified her under normal circumstances.
The room was sparse—a bed, a chair, a small table—designed for temporary detention.
"Simon," she began, her voice trying to muster its usual confidence but failing. "This is ridiculous. You can't lock me up like some common criminal. My father will know about this, and when he does—"
"Your father," I interrupted, "will receive formal notice of our engagement's termination within the hour. Along with a detailed account of everything you did tonight, witnessed by multiple members of my pack, and supported by Carol's testimony."
Her face drained of all color, the blood receding completely. "You can't prove anything. It's Carol's word against mine. And we both know which one the Council will believe."
I stepped forward, pressing my full Alpha presence on her. That power filled the entire small room, leaving her nowhere to hide.
"I have Jake's confession under interrogation, naming you as the one who paid him to set up Emma. And the gun you used to shoot Carol, which Marcus retrieved from the warehouse floor before the humans arrived."
I leaned down, eye level with her, close enough that she had no choice but to look into my eyes.
"So stop lying to me, Isabella. Tell me everything you know."