Chapter 175

Silvia “Lower the damn gun." The words tore out of me in a growl I didn’t recognize—low, raw, pure instinct. Even Alpha Wade blinked. I stepped between him and Matteo, heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my teeth. The hospital hallway suddenly felt two sizes too small. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting weird, almost cruel shadows across Alpha Wade’s smug face. I didn’t trust him—not even a little—but I couldn’t stop picturing Sherman shackled in handcuffs, bleeding under Alpha Enzo’s bootheel. Alpha Wade’s so-called offer of help reeked of manipulation. But the options? Yeah, those were running thin. Hiding in my hospital room wasn’t going to cut it anymore. If I lost Sherman now, if something happened to him… I wouldn’t survive it. Maybe that made me selfish. Or a terrible mother. Take your pick. But how could I even breathe in a world where Sherman didn’t exist? He was my gravity. The still point in my chaos. The only place I’d ever felt… safe. And I’d failed him. Th