Chapter 180: Jinx.
Lawrence.
Nothing actually mattered in this harrowing moment beyond saving Theresa. The stark reality of the situation tore through every defense I had left.
Seeing Alex materialize out of nowhere, desperate and frantic, stripped away my denial; I couldn’t help but realize just how selfish I had been all along. I had been blinded by pride, but when pushed to the absolute edge, the core priority became unmistakably clear.
If Theresa were to wake up and realize her baby was gone, I would willingly shoulder the entirety of her hatred. I would accept every ounce of the blame for failing to protect the life growing inside her.
Deep down, I desperately wanted the child to survive too. But if I were forced to choose a billion times over, I would choose Theresa every single time without a shred of regret. Her survival was non-negotiable.
"Get the papers ready," I said, turning my gaze directly to the doctor, my voice unyielding. "We are giving our formal consent."
The doctor cast one final, hesitant look toward Alex, taking in the chaos of our standoff, before nodding his head in silent compliance. He turned sharply to pull the necessary paperwork and initiate the procedure.
The second the doctor made his move, Alex lost what little restraint he had left. He lunged forward in a flash of blind desperation, reaching out to grab me roughly by the collar.
"Why did you suddenly change your mind?" he yelled, his voice cracking violently under the weight of his rage and terror. "You are all absolute monsters!" He ripped his eyes away from mine, sweeping his frantic, bloodshot gaze across my brothers. "Monsters who just murdered my baby!"
The raw agony in his voice shattered his aggressive facade, and soon enough, hot streams of tears began pouring down his face as he continued to scream his protestations.
Lurgard stepped forward instantly, clamping a strong hand onto Alex’s shoulder and wrenching him backward to break his hold on me.
"Get a grip of yourself and get the hell out of here!" Lurgard commanded, his tone sharp, icy, and totally devoid of sympathy.
"No!" Alex choked out, shaking his head aggressively as he fought against Lurgard’s grip. "No, I have to save my baby!"
Driven by pure panic, Alex reached out and lunged at Leonard, his hands clawing at the top of Leonard’s shirt in a pathetic, heartbroken plea.
"What do you want me to do...?" he asked, his voice catching painfully as he choked on a sob. The fierce rival was completely gone, replaced by a broken man begging for mercy. "Tell me—I’m ready to do anything you ask, anything at all, just so you change your decision!" he cried, his tear-filled eyes wide and desperate as he searched our cold faces for a single sliver of hope.
If anyone had ever dared to tell me that one day Alex—the feared, ruthless Alpha of the Bloodfang pack—would be reduced to a shattered mess, crying and desperately begging us to grant him a single request, I would have laughed in their face and declared it utterly impossible.
Yet, as I stood there staring at the broken man trembling helplessly before us, I couldn’t stop the question that crept into my mind.
Was he really this monumentally foolish?
My eyes remained fixed on him, searching his grief-stricken face, unable to comprehend how he could cling so desperately to a decision that carried such devastating consequences.
Did he not understand the grim reality staring us in the face?
The truth was painfully clear, impossible to ignore, yet he seemed completely consumed by desperation.
Pursuing the other choice meant accepting an agonizingly high risk—one that could cost him everything. It meant gambling with both lives, leaving open the terrifying possibility of losing not only the unborn child but the mother as well.
The thought alone was enough to leave a heavy weight pressing against my chest.
The agonizing choice we had just made was, without a shadow of a doubt, the absolute best decision—not just for us, but for everyone involved.
It was a cruel, poetic twist of fate that the very day he finally discovered he had a child on the way was the exact same day he was forced to lose it.
I suppose that was his karma coming back to claim its debt.
He was probably sitting there, desperately wishing with every fiber of his soul that he could rewind the hands of time and fix every mistake he had ever made, but time was a relentless force, and going back was totally impossible.
I slowly pulled my gaze away from Alex’s pitiful form and turned to stare intently at the heavy, silent doors of the room where Theresa was currently inside, waging a silent battle for her very life. A quiet, unyielding fire ignited in my chest as I made a silent vow to her.
’I will always protect you, Theresa!’ I promised inwardly, my knuckles turning stark white as I clenched my fists tightly by my side. ’And I pray to whatever gods are listening that I never, ever find myself reduced to the pathetic state Alex is in right now!’
"Go home, Alex," Lurgard said, his voice dropping into a cold, flat rhythm as he casually looked away from him, completely unbothered by the dramatic display of grief. "Your presence here isn’t needed any longer."
But Alex didn’t listen to a word he said. Completely overwhelmed by the crushing weight of his loss, his legs gave out entirely, and he collapsed onto the cold, polished hospital floor.
He crumpled into a heap, burying his face in his hands as he began crying miserably, his chest heaving with desperate, gut-wrenching sobs.
Watching him break down like that made my heart skip a sudden, uneasy beat. A sharp flash of dark superstition ran through my blood.
Theresa wasn’t dead—she was still in there fighting with everything she had—so he had better stop crying his damn eyes out right in front of her door before his pathetic weeping somehow managed to jinx her safety.