Christina’s POV
That evening, several of Hudson’s friends arrived at the hospital, including Cassian Langford and... Genevieve.
I glared at Cassian. He touched his nose awkwardly. "Her parents contacted my parents, who contacted . What was I supposed to do?"
"You could’ve ignored the call," I thought bitterly. "Or grown a spine and refused to bring her."
Genevieve burst into the ward and threw herself at Hudson’s bedside, sobbing like she was auditioning for a soap opera. "Hudson, are you okay? How did this happen? Who did this? Oh my God, I’m so scared!"
I watched her performance with obvious contempt. Why wasn’t Hudson pushing her away? The sight burned more than I wanted to admit.
"Hudson, you’re always so careful. Who could have hurt you like this?" Genevieve cried, all concern and fake distress.
"Enough. Leave alone, I’m fine." Hudson frowned and pushed her back.
Reluctantly, Genevieve released him, wiped her eyes and turned to with what she probably thought was an apologetic look. "I’m sorry, Christina. I lost control. I know you don’t like when Hudson and I get close, but we grew up together in the pack—"
"The patient needs rest. You can all leave now." My voice was ice cold.
"Alright, we’ll go. Call if you need anything," Cassian said quickly, sensing the tension.
Genevieve, however, clearly had other plans. "I’ll stay and help. Christina is still new to the pack traditions. She can’t possibly know how to properly care for an injured Alpha."
Akira snarled inside . "Is she seriously questioning our ability to care for our mate?"
I felt my temper spike but kept my mouth shut. I wanted to see what Hudson would do.
"That’s enough drama for one day. Co on, let’s go." Cassian grabbed Genevieve’s arm firmly.
She struggled, but he was the stronger wolf and dragged her from the room.
After they left, the atmosphere between Hudson and changed. It had been comfortable before, but now my chest felt tight with unspoken words.
"Are you upset?" Hudson asked, watching carefully.
"Why would I be?" I t his eyes directly.
"Good. Want sothing to eat?" Hudson offered, clearly trying to change the subject.
"Don’t avoid this." I narrowed my eyes. "You must know Genevieve wants you. She’s about as subtle as a neon sign."
"So? She’s just a friend." Hudson paused, then corrected himself. "An acquaintance, really."
"An acquaintance who throws herself at you and cries like she’s your mate," I said coldly.
Hudson smirked. "Are you jealous?"
I wanted to throw sothing at him to wipe that smug smile off his face. Without a suitable projectile, I went for verbal ammunition instead. "If you ever get bored with , just say so. I promise the divorce won’t be ssy."
Hudson’s smile vanished. "Christina, do you want a divorce?" His voice dropped.
I shrugged, trying to appear casual while Akira whined inside . "I’m only saying it in case you change your mind soday. There are plenty of she-wolves lining up for you. Who knows if you might want an upgrade?"
"Are you regretting it? Regretting becoming my mate?" Hudson suddenly grabbed my wrist hard, twisting until I cried out in pain.
"Ow... let go, that hurts!" I yelled. "Hudson, let go!"
"What? You want to let go?" His eyes flashed. "You accepted the mate bond, you are my Luna, and you will be mine for life. You want to let go? That’s not happening." His teeth were clenched and his grip tightened as if he wanted to crush my bones.
"It hurts... stop..." My voice shook.
Lycaon must have intervened because Hudson suddenly seed to realize he’d gone too far. He released imdiately. I pulled back, rubbing my wrist which was already turning red and would definitely bruise.
I glared at him. He looked away, then held out his right hand.
"What now?" I snapped.
"Return the favor," he said. "An eye for an eye."
I rolled my eyes. "I’m not a child. Besides, I don’t want to be known as the heartless bitch who beat up her husband right after he took a bullet for her."
I was still furious; I had absolutely zero tolerance for being manhandled.
The last ti a man laid hands on , I ended our engagent and slapped him hard across the face. And that was Niall.
But Hudson...
I forced myself to look at his bandage and swallowed my retort.
He was usually so composed, but lately, he’d been switching moods faster than I could track. Cool and collected one mont, possessive and dangerous the next whenever divorce entered the conversation.
It was like watching two different people, with the D-word as the trigger.
Harry returned just then with food and a worried expression.
"Alpha Hudson, I’ve put our best people on it, but there are no solid leads yet," Harry reported, frowning as he looked at Hudson. "The attackers appear to be rcenaries from outside Highrise City. We can’t trace them through normal channels."
Hudson nodded calmly. "Eat first," he said, glancing at .
I picked up my fork chanically, but my thoughts were elsewhere, replaying the gunman and the driver in the baseball cap.
Who were they? Why target , or was Hudson their actual mark?
I hadn’t missed the aningful look Harry gave Hudson when he thought I wasn’t paying attention.
Harry clearly knew more than he was sharing with , but why keep secrets?
My suspicious thoughts were interrupted by my phone ringing. I answered quickly. "Hello?"
"Christina, it’s a disaster! You need to co to the studio right now!" Priya’s voice was frantic. "One of our clients called and she’s furious. There’s a major problem with the design we sent. I can’t explain everything over the phone, just hurry!"
"What happened?" I asked, already feeling a knot forming in my stomach.
"I can’t go into details on an open line." Priya sounded breathless with panic. "The client is threatening legal action. She says it’s beyond monetary compensation; she’s calling this a breach of contract and claims we’ve caused her to miss an important event. It’s serious. Please, Christina, we need you here."
She sounded on the verge of tears. My stomach dropped.
"Okay, I’m coming," I said, setting down my fork and looking at Hudson.
"The studio?" he asked, watching my movents.
"Yes. It’s an ergency. I have to go." I hesitated. "Will you be alright here?"
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