4
We waited at the hospital for half an hour before Tyra arrived.
She was wearing a black silk dress and a veil, looking like a noblewoman from a castle in ancient times.
When she saw the four of us, she didn't even glance at Alpha Howar, but walked straight up to me and took my hand.
“You must be Zelda. I heard about you on the way here. You're such a poor child.”
This was the first time I had ever felt warmth from a stranger.
After what had happened, everyone had turned against me. They didn’t blame the lowly Rogues; they only blamed me, saying that if I hadn’t been so careless, none of this would have happened.
At that moment, I felt like I had fallen into hell. Facing Beta Lewis’s abandonment and the scorn of others, I didn’t know how to go on living.
So when Alpha Howar saved me, I clung to him with all my heart, seeing him as my only hope.
But when his salvation was already tinged with deception and harm, Tyra’s instinctive compassion felt all the more precious.
I held back the urge to cry and pleaded with her, “Please, I entrust everything to you!”
“Good child, don't be afraid. If you've truly suffered a great injustice, I will demand that Alpha Howar give you a satisfactory explanation.”
Tyra gently stroked my head, but her eyes fixed on Alpha Howar, as if issuing a warning.
Alpha Howar impatiently urged, " Enough, stop dawdling. Go in for the examination. My time is precious; I don't have the luxury to waste it here with you."
Tyra ignored him and took my hand, leading me into the examination room.
The examination was quick. Though I was in excruciating pain from the recent abortion, the thought of soon expelling Cheryl from the Pack filled me with strength.
After the examination, Tyra asked me to wait outside for a moment.
A few minutes later, she came out holding the report.
Alpha Howar spoke first, “How is it?”
Tyra didn’t rush to answer him. Instead, she looked at me deeply, shook her head, and her eyes betrayed a hint of disappointment.
My heart sank, and I felt a bad presentiment.
Then I saw Tyra hand the examination report to Alpha Howar.
“The machine doesn’t lie. This lady still has her uterus.”
“No! It’s impossible!”
I stared in disbelief, rushing forward to snatch the examination report from Alpha Howar’s hands.
But the results were clear: I had only undergone an abortion procedure, and there were no other abnormalities.
Since the report was fine, it meant that Cheryl had intentionally provoked me in the ward earlier, which is why she said those things!
I had fallen for her trick!
I stood frozen in place, my mind a blur.
Cheryl, however, burst into tears of joy. “I told you I didn’t do that! Howar, this is wonderful. Now no one can expel me from the Pack.”
She deliberately mentioned our bet, as if to remind Alpha Howar.
Alpha Howar’s gaze toward me grew solemn in an instant.
“Zelda, everyone must take responsibility for their words and actions. Now, I want you to kneel in the hospital lobby and apologize to Cheryl in front of everyone who passes by!”
I looked up at him in shock. Though I had long since seen through his true nature, this moment still felt like a knife to the heart.
And Cheryl, at that moment, pretended to be the good guy.
"Never mind, I can understand Zelda's feelings. Although this child came at an inopportune time, it's still her own child. Now that I've taken it away myself, it's only natural that she's angry with me.
“As for kneeling and apologizing, just consider it a joke. Lewis is still here, and I don't want him to think I'm a person who won't let go when he's right. After all, Zelda almost became his partner.”
Upon hearing this, Beta Lewis paused for a moment, then embraced Cheryl and looked at me with an extremely indifferent expression.
“Cheryl, you’re just too kind, so she dared to bully you so brazenly. No matter what happened in the past, my only partner now is you. She slandered you out of thin air, so kneeling down to apologize to you is only right.”
Cheryl immediately leaned into his embrace with a shy smile, but her eyes challenged me.
“Zelda, you saw it too. I tried my best to advocate for you, but both Howar and Lewis refused. What should we do now?”
Before I could speak, Alpha Howar had already given the most direct response on my behalf.
He grabbed the back of my neck, dragging me into the elevator like a chicken, then kicked my knee joint hard in the hospital lobby.
“Ah!”
I collapsed in pain, kneeling on the ground. As I tried to get up, Alpha Howar pressed my head down forcefully, forcing my face nearly to the ground. My body was in an extremely awkward and painful position, kneeling humbly.
“You ungrateful thing. I’ve pampered you and spoiled you, but you actually think you can bully Cheryl? Let me tell you, no one can touch a single hair on Cheryl’s head under my watch. You’ll stay on your knees here until you fully realize your mistake!”
Alpha Howar’s voice was devoid of any emotion, no longer carrying the tenderness he had shown me before.
I knelt there, my mind replaying past memories, and suddenly burst into laughter.
“Alpha Howar, one day you’ll regret this. You’ll definitely regret it!”
“You’re so stubborn!”
Alpha Howar said angrily, then called over two of his men to watch me. They wouldn’t let me get up until I’d been kneeling for ten hours.
The crowd around us grew larger, buzzing with whispers and speculation.
“What’s going on? Why is she kneeling here for no reason?”
“I heard she accused Dr. Cheryl of removing her uterus during an abortion procedure, but after the examination, it turned out not to be true. So Alpha Howar made her kneel here to apologize to Dr. Cheryl.”
“That’s ridiculous! How could she say such a absurd thing? Dr. Cheryl is Alpha Howar’s childhood friend and the most professional doctor in this pack—she would never do such a thing!”
“Exactly! She got pregnant out of wedlock and wanted to secretly terminate it, then turned against Dr. Cheryl afterward. How shameless!”
This scene made me feel as though I had returned to four months ago.
When Beta Lewis found me in the Rogue group, the others searching for me looked at me with strange eyes.
Beta Lewis and Cheryl stood outside the crowd. One looked indifferent, as if I had nothing to do with him.
The other narrowed his eyes, smiling smugly, his vibrant red lips moving silently.
She said, “How pitiful, Zelda. Someone like you should just die!”
Ten hours later, the onlookers gradually dispersed, and Alpha Howar's men also left.
I endured the pain throughout my body, clutching my knees as I slowly stood up from the ground, just as Cheryl had hoped, and took the elevator directly to the rooftop of the eighteen-story building.
Across from the rooftop was a villa district, with Cheryl's home being the first house.
Back then, to make it convenient for her commute, Alpha Howar had specially spent a fortune to buy her a private villa there.
The view from the rooftop was excellent, and I could see Alpha Howar and Cheryl sitting in the courtyard drinking tea, while Beta Lewis stood beside them preparing barbecue food.
The three of them were chatting and laughing, as if they had completely forgotten about me.
I only glanced at them before turning away, spreading my arms to embrace the howling wind on the rooftop.
Death is but an instant, but it does not mean the end of everything.
Because I have said it before: I will make Alpha Howar regret it.