The Wrong Brother's Temptation novel Chapter 175

14:45 Fri, Aug 28

< Chapter 175

Chapter 1/5

Sienna

“But…”

bew 目

♡

I tried to follow as they wheeled the stretcher out. My foot caught on something and I pitched forward but a hand caught my elbow before I could hit the stone.

“Easy there, Sia. You look pale as death.”

Aaron steadied me. I shook him off and ran after the stretcher into the night.

The air outside was sharper now as the night darkened, cold enough to bite. The moon hung low and thin, casting a pale silvery shadow onto everything.

The path to the pack hospital was lined with lanterns that swayed in the wind, throwing restless light across the gravel. Every breath I took fogged in front of my face but I pushed through.

By the time I reached the hospital entrance the staff had already taken Connor through the double doors marked Surgery. I shoved past a nurse and almost made it to the operating theatre before Dr. Hale stepped into my path with his hands raised, voice gentle but firm.

“Miss Miller. You can’t come in.”

“I have to…”

“Let us do our work.” He gave me a kind smile.

“Please. The Bloodroot complicates things. We need space and focus. So please wait outside. I’ll come find you the moment I know more.”

I opened my mouth to argue but nothing came out. The adrenaline that had carried me this far suddenly drained away, leaving my legs shaking.

“Sia, wait for me…”

Aaron’s voice reached me before I felt his hand settle on my shoulder from behind.

“Damn, you run fast. I’m wheezing” Aaron gulped for air beside me, trying to play it cool but then his smile disappeared upon seeing my crumpled face.

It turned careful, like he was afraid I might shatter.

“Come on,” he murmured. “Let’s get you to the waiting room. Sit down before you fall down.”

“No, I don’t…” I began but he was already steering me away.

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14:45 Fri, Aug 28

The Wrong Brother’s Temptation

Shoulders slumping in defeat, I let him guide me.

57

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The waiting area was small, and smelled of antiseptic. A single window looked out onto the dark grounds where all the pack members had walked away back into the mansion.

I sat on the edge of a plastic chair that felt too cold and stared at the closed double doors like I could will them open through sheer force of terror.

Aaron hovered for a moment, then sat beside me. The silence stretched, thick and uncomfortable. I could still feel Sandra’s venomous glare burning into the back of my neck from earlier. I could still see the way Aaron had hesitated before coming to help.

Hours crawled by or maybe it was minutes because every second felt like a decade.

My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Every time the doors swung open for a nurse my heart leapt into my throat and then crashed again when it wasn’t news about Connor.

Aaron finally spoke, voice low. “You should go to your room and rest a little. He’s in good hands now.”

I stared at him like he’d suggested I take a vacation to the beach.

“No.”

“Sienna, you…”

“I’m not leaving!”

He tried again, in a much gentler voice.

“You’ve been through hell tonight. You’re running on pure adrenaline and fear. He’s stable enough for surgery and our pack doctor is one of the best in town. Go sleep. I’ll call you the second I get an update.”

The more he tried to convince me, the angrier I became as something ugly and sharp rose in my chest.

All the helplessness, all the blood, all the times Aaron had chosen the easy path instead of the right one, transformed into one single, vicious question.

“What kind of brother are you?”

Aaron blinked. “What?”

“What kind of brother lets someone treat Connor like that?” My voice rose, cracking at the edges. “You stood there and just watched that wretched man put that collar on Connor and nearly kill him yet you didn’t say a single word. You didn’t even try.”

His face flushed. He fumbled for words, hands opening and closing on his knees.

“It’s… it’s not allowed. We aren’t supposed to interfere in the elders’ decisions. There are rules and protocols that we have to follow, Sia. If I’d stepped in it could have made everything worse for him…”

“Worse?” I laughed, high and bitter. “He was bleeding out on a stone chair, Aaron. How exactly was it going to

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14:45 Fri, Aug 28

The Wrong Brother’s Temptation

get worse?”

“You don’t understand how pack politics work. Its complicated”

“I understand that you chose to protect your own position over your brother.”

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I hadn’t meant to say it that way but the words tumbled out of my mouth before I could take them back.

“I saw the way Sandra had her claws in your arm and you almost let her drag you away while Connor was dying.”

Aaron’s jaw tightened and I saw a mixture of guilt and defensiveness flash across his face.

“Alpha Asher was there. The whole pack was there, nobody would let him die, Sia”

“Really? So if they put me through that same trial some day, you will just sit and watch, right?”

He looked like I had slapped him. He sputtered for the right response and then only managed to say in a tight voice.

“That’s not fair.”

“Isn’t it?”

The fact that he didn’t answer it straightforwardly stung more than I cared to admit. This was the guy I was crushing on since before I even knew what a crush meant.

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