Anna lowered her head, cheeks flushed. “I am, but why are you here? And why are you chained like that?” The innocent look on her face told me she had no idea what was going on. My mind raced, and I quickly put on a pitiful expression. “He’s keeping me locked up. Can you help me?” “Randall actually kidnapped you!” Anna’s eyes widened, her voice trembling with outrage. She looked like she might cry as she asked, “Can you tell me why? Why would he lock you up?” I stared straight into her eyes, letting out a bitter laugh. “Because of you. He wants to use my blood for a transfusion—to save you.” Her face went pale; her voice shook. “He told me yesterday that he’d finally found a donor, said it was someone who was dying and willing to donate voluntarily. I never thought…” She rushed to my side and grabbed my hand, her expression filled with guilt and sorrow. “Don’t worry. I won’t let them take your blood. I’ll talk to Randall. I’ll make him listen—” I jumped in quickly. “Then why don’t you—help me out of here first—” Before I could finish, the door flew open. Randall strode in, his expression cold as ice. He froze when he saw Anna standing in front of me. “Anna, you—” Anna straightened, eyes wet and blazing. “Randall! How could you? Raelyn’s a person, not some lab experiment—and you’d take her blood to save me?” His face didn’t so much as twitch. “Anna, listen to me. I had no other choice.” “No other choice?” Anna snapped, her voice sharp with anger. “Since when does that mean you get to kill someone?” Her outburst caught me off guard, a spark of something unfamiliar tugging at my chest. This beautiful, kind girl—no wonder Randall loved her so much that he’d cross every line, even kill for her. “You don’t need to worry. Her life isn’t worth anything,” Randall said coolly as he walked forward, slipping an arm around Anna’s waist. “You’ve always wanted to live like a normal person, haven’t you? I told you—I’ll cure you. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Anna’s tears fell in hot, uncontrollable streams. “But this isn’t what I want. Yes, I want to live a normal life, but not at the cost of someone else’s.” “Raelyn’s health is already failing; she’s terminal,” Randall said smoothly. “Don’t blame yourself.”“That’s a lie!” Anna shouted, her voice breaking. “Anna,” Randall said gently, taking slow steps toward her. The next second, his hand came down in a sharp chop to the back of her neck. She collapsed in his arms, unconscious. “She’s too kind,” he murmured, looking down at her face with a twisted tenderness. “Too easily swayed by you. But I’ll save her… no matter what it takes.” When his gaze lifted to me again, the warmth in his expression vanished, replaced by a cold, feral rage. “Raelyn,” he said flatly, “I’m done waiting. The surgery happens today.” My heart lurched, panic roaring through me, but Randall didn’t give me the chance to speak. Moments later, he returned with two towering wolf guards who forced me down onto the bed, pinning me in place. A wolf doctor in a white coat approached, holding a syringe in one hand. “Just a sedative,” he said blandly. “You’ll sleep, and when you wake up, everything will be fine.” I thrashed against their grip, my voice hoarse from shouting, but with my wrists and ankles shackled and two powerful wolves holding me down, I couldn’t move an inch. Despair settled over me, heavy and cold. Goodbye, Aiden. If there’s a next life, maybe we’ll get to be mates again. But the expected pain never came. Instead, the sound of a door crashing open echoed through the room. I snapped my eyes open. The door had been blown off its hinges, and Aiden stood there, flanked by a team of fierce, battle-ready wolves, his face as dark as a storm. Tears blurred my vision, spilling freely as I cried out, “Aiden, you bastard—what took you so long?” Randall moved fast, snatching the scalpel from the doctor’s hand and pressing the blade to my throat. “Aiden,” he said with a mockingly calm smile, “you’re late.” Aiden’s gaze was sharp, his voice flat but deadly. “It took a week to track down all one hundred and eight of your properties, Randall. Let her go now, and I might let you live.”“You got here fast,” Randall said, lips curling into a twisted grin. “I’ll give you that. But…” He pressed the blade closer to my skin, his eyes wild. “If this surgery fails, Raelyn dies with it.” “You’re insane, Randall!” Aiden roared. Randall threw his head back and laughed. “Insane? Maybe. But aren’t you the same? You’d do anything for the one you love—so what right do you have to judge me?” “Anna’s been sick for two years,” he snarled, voice shaking with rage. “And now, finally, I’ve found someone whose blood is a perfect match. She finally has a chance at a healthy, happy life. Why should I let Raelyn go?” His laughter turned sharp and bitter, and then his gaze snapped to me, eyes gleaming with a dangerous obsession. “If I let her go now, what was the point of the last six months? Everything I did to get close to her—what would it all mean, huh?” Aiden’s pupils contracted, his voice dropping to a lethal calm. “Randall. Put the knife down. This is your last chance; don’t do something you can’t take back.” Randall smirked, his grin wide and reckless. “And what exactly would I regret?” Then Aiden shifted just slightly to the side, and there was Anna, her face pale and stricken. The color drained from Randall’s face in an instant.