Eight Years Of A Fake Mate Bond Chapter 05

Eight Years Of A Fake Mate Bond Chapter 05

I lifted my head and locked eyes with Alaric and Maeve, both frozen with terror.

A heartbeat later, Beta Simon burst through the door in a frantic rush.

“Alpha, we’ve got the full story! Those shots outside the hospital were snapped by a random passerby and posted online—Miss Riona had nothing to do with it!”

I pressed hard against my abdomen, warm blood seeping steady through the cracks between my fingers.

A sharp metallic clatter cut through the room. Alaric’s shaking fingers slipped off the knife’s hilt.

The silver-handled fruit blade clanged onto the floor, its bloodied edge splattering crimson across his pant cuffs.

He flinched like the sight of that red burned him, stumbling two steps backward.

“Riona, I—I didn’t mean it. I swear.”

His voice shook so bad it barely held together.

In the next instant, he whirled toward Simon, who’d just sprinted in, and snatched the man’s collar tight in his fist.

“What’d you just say? Repeat it!”

“If Riona didn’t leak the photos, why the hell didn’t you dig this up sooner? Why?!”

—

Simon’s face turned purple, choked off for air.

Alaric didn’t notice a single thing. It was like screaming was the only way to drown out the raw panic gnawing at his insides.

I stared at him, all the noise around me fading to a distant hum.

Strength drained out of my body bit by bit, and I slumped sideways, powerless to hold myself up.

Maeve snapped out of her horrified daze and threw herself forward to prop me up.

“Riona, stay awake! Please, don’t close your eyes!”

She ached to touch my bleeding wound but dared not lay a finger on it. She trembled all over, dialing the pack’s emergency medical line over and over, murmuring reassurances nonstop.

“You’re gonna be fine. Riona, you’re gonna pull through this…”

I tried to push her away, but my eyelids grew far too heavy to lift.

Darkness swallowed my vision whole.

I woke up later in a private ward at Silverpane City’s Lunar Descendant Hospital.

The second I opened my eyes, I spotted Alaric and Maeve camped out beside my bed.

Heavy purple bags hung beneath Alaric’s eyes, and Maeve’s lids were puffy and red from endless crying.

Before I could push myself upright, they jolted awake in unison and

—

rushed to my side.

“Riona, how are you feeling? Is anything still hurting?”

Maeve stared at me cautiously, every line of her face etched with anxiety.

Alaric stood a step back, silent. His gaze never left my frame, thick, crushing regret written all over his features.

It was only when my glance brushed over him that he spoke, his voice raw and graveled.

“Riona, I—”

I cut him off by shifting my gaze away before he could finish a sentence.

Maeve’s features stiffened instantly.

“Riona, don’t shut us out. Say something, please?”

She grabbed my wrist helplessly, tears welling fast in her eyes.

“I was just so scared. I was terrified once you found out about me and Alaric, you’d never speak to me again.”

“But I couldn’t fight it. I love him, I truly can’t bring myself to walk away from him…”

She collapsed against the edge of the bed, sobbing uncontrollably.

Her body went limp a second later, and she crumpled toward the floor.

Alaric lunged to catch her without hesitation.

—

All the guilt on his face melted away, replaced by sharp worry.

“Riona, I’m sorry. I never, ever meant to hurt you.”

He shot me a hesitant glance, forcing the words out with immense difficulty.

“I need to take Maeve to get checked over by the pack healer first.”

The words barely left his mouth before he lifted Maeve into his arms, storming out of the ward like he was running from something.

His frantic silhouette vanished from my sight in seconds flat.

I dropped my head and grabbed my phone off the nightstand, pulling up Frost Harbor Moonlight Ballet’s acceptance portal.

Thank god the confirmation deadline hadn’t passed yet.

I exhaled a slow breath and hit accept.

Right after that, I booked a flight out of Moon Bay International Airport for dawn the next day.

Alaric’s blade hadn’t sunk all that deep. With our kind’s accelerated healing and the healer’s treatment, the wound had stopped bleeding entirely.

The healer told me I should stay a few more days for observation, but I signed my discharge papers that same night.

As I stepped outside the hospital, a text popped up from Alaric.

Alaric: [Riona, Maeve just lost our pup. She can’t be left alone right now.]

—

Alaric: […]I’ll come see you tomorrow. Is there anything you’re craving to eat?

The typing indicator lingered at the top of the screen after the message sent.

Minutes ticked by, but no follow-up text ever appeared.

My ride pulled up to the curb.

Before sliding into the ride, I blocked Alaric’s whole account and wiped his contact for good.

The next morning, I hauled my suitcase straight to Moon Bay International Airport.

I’d barely sat down in the waiting lounge when the airport speakers crackled to life.

“Passenger Riona Vinter, please report to the customer service desk immediately. Your mate Alaric Sterling is waiting for you there.”