Chapter 195

AIDEN’S POV Fuck. How the hell do humans cope with pain like this? As a wolf; our bones knit faster, skin pulls itself back together, pain is supposed to be…manageable. And yet here I am, teeth clenched, sweat cooling on my spine, because a single stab wound feels like it’s trying to split me in half from the inside. I pressed my palm harder against my shoulder, breathing through it. “Aiden!” Lucian’s voice came from outside the room. “Can we talk?” I closed my eyes for a second, then forced my voice steady. “Come in.” The door opened slowly. Lucian stepped inside with a medical box in his hand, his gaze going straight to my shoulder like it had a gravity of its own. “Let me help you with that,” he said quietly. I dropped my hands without arguing. No point pretending I wasn’t bleeding through the bandage. He set the box down, pulled on gloves, and moved closer. His touch was careful, deliberate. “Tell me if it hurts,” he muttered. I let out a humorless laugh. “It already does.” He cut