The Scorned Luna-Chapter 133: False Alarm
Sofia was about to take her first bite, the fork almost touching her lips, when her body suddenly revolted. Her stomach cramped so hard she gasped, and a wave of nausea hit her hard.
She dropped the fork, the metal clattering loudly against the ceramic plate, and leaned over, vomiting onto the floor.
Bella’s heart skipped a beat. She frowned for a split second, her eyes flashing with annoyance, but she quickly masked it with a look of deep worry. "Oh my god, Sofia! What’s wrong?" She rushed to Sofia’s side, rubbing her back.
Sofia couldn’t answer. She clutched her stomach, sliding off the chair and onto the cool tiles. "I don’t know," she gasped, her voice tight with agony. "It hurts... it feels like my insides are on fire!" She let out a sharp scream as another cramp ripped through her.
Miles away, Damien was halfway through reading a report when a sharp, stabbing pain shot through his chest. It was the mate bond. He could feel Sofia’s emotional and physical agony.
"Sofia! What is happening? Speak to me!" he roared through the Mind Link.
"Damien... I don’t feel well... help me..." Sofia responded weakly.
"I’m coming! I’m almost there!" Damien shouted as he stormed out of the mansion, jumped into his car, and slammed his foot on the gas.
Inside the apartment, Bella’s mind was racing. She stepped away for a second and opened a link to the Rogue King. "Honey, Sofia is having a terrible stomach ache. She hasn’t eaten the food yet. Should we just come and take her now while she’s down?"
"No!" the Rogue King growled back. "That pain is not due to the poison, so it won’t stop her powers from working if she’s awake. She must be sedated. Make her eat the pasta. Do whatever you have to!"
Bella turned back to Sofia. She picked up the fork and twirled some pasta, holding it near Sofia’s mouth. "Maybe you just need some food in your stomach, Sofia. It’s just a cramp from hunger. Try a little bit."
"No," Sofia groaned, pushing Bella’s hand away. Her skin was pale and covered in cold sweat. "The smell... it makes it worse. I think I need a doctor."
A few minutes later, a loud knock came on the door. Bella rushed and opened it.
Damien burst inside, completely ignoring Bella as he rushed straight to the dining room floor where Sofia lay.
"Sofia!" He knelt beside her, his large hands trembling as he touched her face.
"Damien... please... the hospital," she whispered, grabbing his shirt.
Damien’s frown deepened. He turned a glare toward the girl standing by the table. Bella had already quietly dumped Sofia’s plate into the trash and rinsed it.
"What did you do to her?" Damien growled, his voice vibrating with Alpha power.
"I didn’t do anything! We just got back from the mall and she collapsed!" Bella cried, her voice high and trembling. "I was just trying to help her eat!"
Damien didn’t believe a word she said, but Sofia’s painful moan pulled his attention back. He gathered her into his powerful arms, lifting her as if she weighed nothing.
"I’m coming too! I want to help!" Bella said, sounding panicked as she grabbed her coat.
"No," Damien barked, his eyes flashing. "Stay here."
"Please, Damien," Sofia managed to say, her eyes fluttering shut. "Let her come... she was helping me all day..."
Damien’s jaw tightened. He hated the idea, but he wouldn’t argue with Sofia while she was in this state. "Fine."
Damien drove like a madman, his hands gripping the steering wheel so hard the leather groaned. Every moan that left Sofia’s lips in the backseat felt like a dagger in his own heart. Bella sat huddled in the corner of the car, playing the part of the distraught friend, but Damien refused to believe it.
When they screeched to a halt at the Full Moon Pack hospital, Damien didn’t wait for anyone to open the door. He scooped Sofia into his arms and ran through the entrance.
"Doctors! Healers! Now!" he roared, his Alpha command shaking the very walls of the building.
A team of medical staff rushed forward with a gurney. Damien laid her down gently, his fingers lingering on her hand until the doctors firmly pushed him back.
"Alpha, you must step out," the head healer said. "We cannot work with your energy clouding the room. Please."
Damien wanted to refuse, his wolf snarling at the idea of leaving her side, but he forced himself to back out of the room. The doors swung shut, leaving him in the sterile, white hallway.
He turned his head and saw Bella standing a few feet away, her eyes downcast. In a flash of movement, Damien was across the hall. He grabbed Bella by the throat, pinning her against the wall.
"Sofia has been perfectly fine," Damien growled, his voice loud and full of rage. "She was fine until you showed up yesterday, and now she is screaming in pain. What did you do to her?"
Bella let out a choked sob, fake tears streaming down her face as she clawed at his hand. "Nothing! I swear... I was just cooking for her... I love her, she’s my only friend!"
Damien’s eyes were pure gold, the Alpha inside him not believing her. "I don’t trust you. I don’t care how many tears you cry. If the healers find even a trace of foul play—if anything goes wrong—I will kill you myself. Do you understand?"
He let go of her, and Bella sank to the floor, gasping for air. Damien began to pace the hallway, his mind full of worry, until the door finally opened.
"Alpha? You can come in now," the healer said.
Damien rushed inside to find Sofia sitting up in bed. The color had returned to her face, and she looked surprisingly calm. He reached her in two strides, cupping her face and kissing her forehead.
"Sofia, thank God. Are you okay? What happened?"
"I’m okay, Damien," Sofia said, her voice steady. "The pain... it just vanished."
Damien turned to the head healer, his expression demanding an explanation. "It wasn’t poison? Someone didn’t try to hurt her?"
The healer shook her head, a look of wonder on her face. "No, Alpha. There are no toxins in her system. The pain Sofia felt was actually menstruation pain."
Damien stood frozen for a second, his eyes blinking in confusion as the intense Alpha rage drained out of him, replaced by a deep sense of sheepishness.
"Menstruation pain?" he repeated, his voice filled with disbelief. He cleared his throat, suddenly finding the floor tiles very interesting.
The head healer nodded, a small, relieved smile on her lips. "Yes, Alpha. However, because Sofia is a White Wolf and her body is currently undergoing massive cellular changes to accommodate her new power, her cycle has become significantly more intense. Her body was essentially rewiring itself while under the stress of the shift. That is why the pain was so sudden and violent. She will need rest, but she is perfectly healthy."
Damien let out a long, ragged breath of pure relief. He leaned his forehead against Sofia’s, his hands finally stopping their trembling. "I thought... I thought something was wrong," he whispered.
Just then, the door pushed open and Bella walked in, her face pale with innocent concern. She looked at Sofia on the bed and let out a shaky breath.
"Sofia! Oh, thank goodness," Bella said, clutching her chest. "You looked so gray, I thought something terrible had happened. Are you really okay? What did the doctor say?"
Sofia gave a tired but reassuring smile. "I’m okay, Bella. It turns out it was just menstrual pain. The healer says my body is just changing because of my wolf, so it hit me ten times harder than usual."
Bella nodded quickly, her eyes darting to Damien, who was still hovering over Sofia like a gargoyle. "Oh... just that. Well, I am so glad it wasn’t anything more serious."
She stayed for a moment, the silence in the room growing heavy as Damien’s cold gaze shifted back toward her. Even though the diagnosis was natural, his instincts were still bristling like a dog sensing something off.
Bella sensed the shift in the air and decided to play her card of pity. "Sofia, I think I should go."
