Abandoned Alpha Mate After Rebirth

When I woke up again, I was lying in the hospital's ICU, my whole body aching.

I never would have dreamed that after giving so many essence transfusions to Victoria throughout my life, when I was facing life and death, not a single person would be willing to use Victoria's essence to save me —especially when this car accident was orchestrated by her all along!

The doctor was negotiating with my family outside the door, his voice filtering through the crack: "Ember's wolf soul was severely damaged in the crash. She needs an immediate essence transfusion or she won't make it through the night! Victoria and her wolf soul share the same origin—they have the highest compatibility rate. Why won't you let Victoria donate?"

I heard Mother's urgent voice: "No way! How could Victoria donate wolf essence? She's so frail, something might happen to her if she donates!"

Father chimed in: "Exactly! Think of some other solution, find other compatible people. We'll pay whatever it costs!"

Finn's voice was full of anger: "Ember got hit because she wasn't careful—why should Victoria have to sacrifice herself?"

Finally came Grayson's ice-cold, decisive voice: "I'll definitely find another donor for Ember."

My heart felt like it was being pierced by ten thousand arrows. I remembered how his fingers trembled when he marked me in my previous life; remembered the night light he secretly left for me; remembered when he gave me the engagement gift and asked "is this enough to buy a forest"—turns out those were all just my delusions. When it came to Victoria, I would always be the one who could be sacrificed.

Intense pain washed over me again, and I sank back into darkness.

When I woke up next, three days had passed. Opening my eyes, the first person I saw was Grayson. He was slumped over the bedside asleep, his eyes bloodshot, clutching a piece of paper—it was a forest sketch I'd drawn before, though I had no idea where he'd found it.

Hearing my movement, he immediately woke up, his eyes full of surprise: "Ember, you're awake! Does anything hurt? I'll get the doctor!"

As he turned to call the doctor, I noticed blood stains on his cuffs—my blood from the car accident, which he apparently still hadn't washed.

After the doctor's examination, he said: "Fortunately we found a compatible wolf essence donor just in time, otherwise it really would have been dangerous."

Grayson sat by the bed, carefully tucking in my blanket: "What do you want to eat? I'll have the kitchen make it for you."

"That day... I'm sorry, it wasn't that I didn't want to save you, it's just Victoria she..." He wanted to say something but stopped—he couldn't explain why between me and Victoria, he always chose the latter.

I looked at the guilt in his eyes, but my heart remained completely calm. He might love me, but I didn't need it anymore.

After Grayson left, I asked the nurse, "Who ended up donating essence to me?"

The nurse sighed: "It was a healer from our hospital. He was supposed to be on vacation but rushed back specifically when he heard about your condition. Your family's really weird though—we tried persuading them for ages, but they refused to let your sister donate. They even said 'Ember's tough, she'll definitely pull through.'"

During my hospital stay, Father and Mother never came to see me once. Only Grayson came every day. He'd bring me the blueberry cake I used to like and read me books about forests, but never mentioned Victoria.

I knew Victoria must be calling him every day, using "feeling unwell" to cling to him. Sure enough, I once overheard him on the phone in the hallway, his voice full of helplessness: "Victoria, I know you're not feeling well, but Ember's still hospitalized. I can't leave for too long..."

On discharge day, he came to pick me up as promised. Just as we reached the hospital entrance, his phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, his expression immediately changed—it was Victoria.

He answered the call, his voice immediately softening: "What's wrong? Are you feeling sick again?"

I don't know what was said on the other end, but his brow furrowed and his knuckles went white gripping the phone: "Don't be difficult, I need to take Ember home right now... Okay, okay, I'll come over immediately. Don't get upset."

After hanging up, he looked at me somewhat guiltily: "Ember, Victoria says she suddenly feels dizzy. I need to take her to the hospital first. Can you take a cab home by yourself?"

I nodded calmly. "Sure, go ahead."

Watching his car disappear from sight, I tugged at the corner of my mouth—Victoria had used "dizziness" to trick him away again, just like countless times in my previous life.

I turned off my phone and hailed a cab directly to the Alpha Council—this time, I wouldn't let Victoria get away with it.