ZADE’S POV

I sat beside Sophia’s hospital bed the entire night without moving much.

Rain fell softly outside.

My wolf paced violently inside me from the moment I saw her injuries. Every bruise on her body felt like claws tearing into my chest repeatedly. I couldn’t stop staring at the dark fingerprints around her neck.

Someone had wrapped their hands around her throat.

The thought alone nearly made me lose control again.

Sophia had cried herself to sleep nearly an hour ago. Even now, her face looked exhausted and pale. Her swollen eyes and trembling lashes made her look fragile.

I reached out and carefully adjusted the blanket around her shoulders.

The moment my fingers brushed her arm lightly, she flinched even in her sleep.

My chest tightened violently. What exactly had they done to her?

My wolf snarled darkly inside me.

“Kill them” he growled.

The murderous thought repeated endlessly in my head.

I lowered my eyes toward my hands silently.

For the first time in years... I hated myself.

I failed to protect her.

I was so busy trying to provoke her, so busy feeling jealous over Damien. I was so busy acting angry because she pulled away from me.

Meanwhile, she was suffering alone. She was nearly dying alone getting beaten while lying helpless in a hospital bed.

And I knew nothing.

I suddenly leaned forward heavily and covered my eyes with one hand.

“Fuck...”

My voice sounded broken even to myself.

The guilt felt unbearable now.

I remembered every single moment Sophia had looked exhausted recently, every moment she forced herself to smile weakly while pretending she was fine.

Even during the camping trip, she looked emotionally shattered, but I was too consumed by my own obsession to truly notice.

My wolf became even more restless.

“Protect her”

The instinct inside me screamed violently now.

I looked back at Sophia again.

Her pale face looked thinner than before. Even asleep, her brows remained slightly furrowed like she couldn’t relax properly anymore. One side of her forehead still carried a fresh bruise beneath the bandage.

Rage moved inside me again instantly.

Declan. Helen. Jessie.

Each name burned inside my head. Especially Jessie.

The moment Sophia mentioned him earlier, I immediately remembered his face clearly. He was weak and cowardly. He was the type of man who only acted brave when protected by stronger people.

And he dared touch Sophia.

My jaw tightened.

I stood up from the chair and walked toward the bathroom sink quietly. After filling a clean towel with warm water, I returned to the bedside slowly.

Then carefully... very carefully... I cleaned the dried blood near her lip.

Sophia stirred weakly in her sleep.

My chest hurt painfully again.

“Sophia,” I whispered softly to myself. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Of course she wouldn’t tell me. Not after the way things ended between us recently. Not after the ugly fight during the camping trip.

I suddenly remembered the slap she gave me after I kissed her forcefully.

Disgusting.

That was the word she used.

At the time, her rejection made me furious. But now?

Now all I could think about was how frightened and emotionally destroyed she must have already been back then.

Meanwhile, I only made things worse.

When I was done, I sat back down beside her bed again.

The guilt I felt became suffocating.

Hours passed quietly like that.

I stayed beside Sophia the entire night, watching over her while she slept restlessly. Several times, she whimpered softly in her sleep like she was trapped inside nightmares. Each time, my wolf became more agitated.

At one point, she suddenly whispered weakly.

“Don’t...”

I grabbed her hand gently “Sophia.”

Her breathing remained uneven “Please...”

My chest tightened.

“It’s okay,” I whispered quietly. “I’m here.”

Slowly, her body relaxed slightly again but I didn’t

The moment I saw her bruises earlier...something inside me already snapped completely.

By dawn, I quietly left the hospital room after making sure Sophia was still asleep.

The cold morning air hit my face the moment I stepped outside the building. My expression remained completely emotionless now, but inside me, my wolf was raging uncontrollably.

I pulled out my phone immediately and dialed my contacts.

“Find Jessie.” I ordered.

The men on the other end instantly understood from my tone that this wasn’t a normal request.

Less than forty minutes later, I received the address. It was an abandoned underground parking structure near the eastern district.

Of course.

Cowards like Jessie always hid in places like that after causing trouble.

When I arrived there, several of my men were already waiting quietly nearby. The entire parking structure looked empty except for one black car parked near the center.

Jessie was already there, and already injured. My men had done their job.

The moment I stepped out of my car, I saw bruises covering one side of his face. One of his eyes was swollen badly, and dried blood stained his shirt collar. He looked terrified the second he recognized me.

Good.

He should be terrified.

My wolf practically growled with satisfaction.

Jessie stepped backward nervously. “Z-Zade...”

I said nothing. I simply walked toward him slowly.

Each step made him visibly panic more.

“I didn’t-”

Before he could finish speaking, I punched him directly across the face.

Jessie crashed hard against the nearby car the collapsed onto the concrete floor with a painful scream.

My wolf roared violently inside me.

“Not enough”

I grabbed him by the collar roughly and slammed him against the car again.

“You touched her.” I growled.

Jessie’s face turned pale. “I-I was ordered to-”

I punched him again.

Blood poured instantly across the floor.

My breathing became uneven now. Every image of Sophia crying in that hospital bed kept replaying inside my head repeatedly.

I grabbed Jessie’s throat hard.

“She was recovering from a miscarriage.” I growled.

Jessie trembled visibly now “I swear I didn’t know-”

I slammed him into the car again hard enough to dent part of the door.

“You kicked her.” I said quietly

My voice sounded terrifyingly calm now.

Jessie cried out painfully “I’m sorry!”

Sorry?

The word instantly made my wolf explode harder.

I punched him again and again and again. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

At some point, Jessie stopped trying to fight back completely. He curled weakly on the ground while coughing blood, shaking beneath me.

But I still couldn’t calm down. Every bruise on Sophia’s body remained burned into my head.

Finally, I grabbed Jessie’s hair roughly and forced him to look at me.

“Who ordered you?” I asked him.

Jessie’s entire body shook uncontrollably now.

“Declan!” he cried desperately. “It was Declan!”

The moment I heard the name, my wolf growled even louder.

“I knew it,” I said coldly.

Jessie cried weakly now. “He told me to scare her...he blamed her for Dahlia...” His breathing became shaky. “I didn’t mean to hurt her that badly...”

I punched him again instantly.

“You expect mercy from me?”

Jessie screamed painfully.

“You should pray Sophia survives completely,” I said coldly. “Because if she suffers permanent damage...”

I leaned closer “I’ll bury you alive.”

Jessie broke down completely.

“I’m sorry!” he cried desperately. “Please...I’ll testify against Declan!”

My wolf finally calmed slightly at those words.

“He might be useful”.

Jessie still had use alive for now.

I stood up and looked down at his broken body coldly.

“Don’t leave the city.” I ordered

Jessie nodded frantically through tears.

“If you disappear,” I continued quietly, “I’ll find your corpse before anyone else does.”

The terror on his face finally satisfied part of the rage inside me.

Part of it, only part.

The real person I wanted was Declan. And eventually... I would deal with him too.

By the time I returned to the hospital, the sun had already risen fully outside.

The morning hallways looked busier now. Nurses moved quickly between patient rooms while doctors discussed charts quietly nearby. But none of the surrounding noise mattered to me anymore.

My entire focus remained on Sophia.

The moment I stepped back into her hospital room, I saw her still sleeping quietly.

And suddenly...all the rage inside me turned into pain again.

Seeing her like this hurt far more than hurting Jessie ever satisfied me.

I walked toward the bedside and sat down again quietly.

Sophia looked exhausted even in sleep. The bruising near her neck looked darker in the morning light now. Her wolf scent remained weak and unstable.

Guilt crashed into me again.

Without warning, I suddenly slapped myself across the face hard enough to make a sound echo through the room.

My wolf snarled angrily inside me “Idiot”

I clenched my jaw tightly.

“This is your fault too,” I whispered bitterly to myself.

If I protected her better... if I noticed earlier... if I stopped wasting time provoking her...maybe none of this would have happened.

I looked down at Sophia. Then I slapped myself again, harder this time.

The pain barely mattered. Nothing hurt more than seeing her lying here broken while I arrived too late again.