The Bet That Cost Him His Mate Chapter 05

The Bet That Cost Him His Mate Chapter 05

(Wyatt’s view)

When Wyatt walked back into the hospital room and found it empty, he didn’t immediately panic.

It wasn’t until ten minutes had passed that true fear began to set in.

He kept glancing at the door, then at his phone, then back to the small drops of blood on the pristine white sheets.

He told himself Valerie was just in the bathroom. Or with a nurse. Or finding somewhere quiet to cool off, because that’s what she always did.

She would get quiet, walk away, and then, once he figured out the right thing to say, she would obediently come back to him.

Except this time, the room felt far too empty.

Harper impatiently shifted her weight on her heels. “Where did she go? If she doesn’t come back soon, my apology expires. I already said I didn’t do it on purpose.”

Wyatt glared at her. “Whether she comes back or not, you owe her an apology.”

“Wow, listen to you. It started as a stupid bet, and now you’re playing the role of the devoted mate.”

Normally, comments like that would just make him shake his head and laugh it off. But this time, the words scraped against his skin like sandpaper.

He suddenly remembered the faint noise he had heard near the door earlier. The soft rustle of fabric.

He had almost turned around, but Harper had grabbed his sleeve and kept talking.

No. Valerie couldn’t have heard that.

If she heard that, she would have burst out and screamed at me.

Wyatt tried to convince himself, but he couldn’t sit still anymore. He bolted up and grabbed a passing nurse. “Where is Valerie? Where is the patient from this room?”

The nurse blinked. ‘Alpha? Are you still waiting? Miss Valerie discharged herself.’

Wyatt froze. “What? No, she just woke up. Her allergic reaction was severe. She can’t leave on her own.”

The nurse checked her clipboard. “She signed the papers twenty minutes ago. She was upset, but stable. She specifically requested that we not tell you she was leaving…”

For a second, the hallway was dead silent.

The next second, he was sprinting.

By the time he reached the elevator, he was dialing her number. No answer. He tried again. And a third time.

Then he sent a text. The cold, automated notification popped up like a hard slap to the face.

“Message Not Delivered. You are not on this user’s contact list.”

Wyatt spun around so fast Harper took a step back.

“You saw her, didn’t you?” he growled.

Harper’s face flickered with guilt. “I… I saw someone near the door, but I didn’t know it was her! Even if she heard, so what? Just coax her a little. She’s an orphan with no family. She has nowhere else to go. She’ll come crawling back to you.”

For the first time, Harper’s usual venomous words made Wyatt realize just how sickening they were to Valerie.

It made him so sick that he clenched his fists, fighting the urge to strike Harper down.

His eyes flashed the glowing red of an angry Alpha as he turned to leave.

Harper reached out to grab him. “Where are you going? She’s just mad. Give her two days. She’ll be back.”

Wyatt violently shook off her hand, his crushing Alpha aura exploding outward. “Shut your mouth. If I ever hear you speak about her like that again… I will end you.”

He didn’t need to finish the threat. Harper was already frozen in pure terror, unable to move a muscle.