How To Lose Your Billionaire Alpha Husband In 365 Days (Or Less)!-Chapter 87: Overdose???

~Jasmine’s POV~

Aiden sat on the edge of the bed, hunched over with one hand pressed against his chest. He was breathing heavily, sweat soaking his shirt, turning the white fabric into a translucent second skin that clung to every muscle.

He had his head down, dark hair sticking to his forehead, but it was his eyes that really hit me like a punch to the gut. Not just Aiden’s eyes, but also Ace’s.

They had this strange, almost otherworldly glow... deep golden hues struggling to break through a dark surface. You could sense a battle between him and his wolf, going on right in his gaze.

And he was losing.

I took a few steps forward, slowly entering his room, and then I noticed a syringe. It was broken and lying near his foot, the sharp glass shining in the dim light. My stomach turned at the sight.

But that wasn’t all.

There were thin, angry scars on his wrists, fresh and red, marks that hadn’t been there before. And underneath the tangled blankets, I noticed a necklace peeking out.

"What the hell did you do?" I whispered, my voice trembling with a fury I didn’t fully understand yet.

He looked up slowly and hesitantly, as if just moving his head was painful. His face was pale, drawn so tight it looked like his bones might crack through his skin.

His teeth, God, his teeth were lengthening, not in a full shift but just enough to betray how close he was to the edge.

"Get out," he growled. His voice was a split chord, torn between himself and Ace, threaded with something jagged. "I said go, Jasmine. I can’t hold him."

My pulse roared in my ears. "You injected yourself?"

His fingers twitched, claws stretching out a fraction more. He didn’t answer.

"Leave." His eyes darkened, but that molten core still flickered, hotter now. "I don’t want to hurt you."

"You already are," I snapped, stepping forward, even as Lyra’s voice snarled in my head.

"Fuck, this isn’t looking good," Lyra hissed. "He’s not bluffing, Jas. He’s losing it."

"I know," I muttered.

But I couldn’t walk away.

"You’re trying to hurt yourself." My voice cracked, fear bubbling up as my eyes darted back to the syringe, to the burns on his wrists.

"Is that... wolfsbane? Did you overdose on wolfsbane to take the edge off? To kill Ace? Or to kill yourself?"

He flinched. It wasn’t a big reaction, but it was noticeable, and that was my answer.

"No." My throat tightened as I took another step. "No, you don’t get to do that."

He swayed, his breath breaking into shallow gasps as his claws dug into his own thighs, trying to anchor himself. It didn’t work. The control he always wore like armour was fracturing, splintering in real time.

The necklace glinted as he shifted, and before he could react, I reached for it.

He jerked back, a feral snarl tearing from his throat. "Don’t," he warned in a low, guttural growl.

But I didn’t listen.

I grabbed the chain, ignoring the sting as the wolfsbane-imbued metal seared into my skin, and yanked it free. It snapped with a sharp crack as I flung it across the room.

It clattered against the wall, landing somewhere behind the dresser.

The wristbands were harder. They were strapped tight, biting into his skin with tiny, hidden spikes. Every buckle I undid made him jerk, his body recoiling, as if my touch was both salvation and torture.

His claws grazed my arm once, accidentally, but deep enough to draw a thin line of blood.

He pushed me.

Not too hard, not like Aiden would, but enough that I stumbled back onto the bed. The mattress squeaked as I fell, and it wasn’t exactly graceful.

He staggered as he crawled, moving to the far side of the room, his shoulders trembling with effort to keep himself in check.

"Don’t come closer," he rasped, his back to me now, fists clenched at his sides. His fingers twitched, claws flexing in and out like he was seconds away from shredding through the walls.

"You’re not scaring me," I said quietly.

"You should be scared," he shot back. "I can’t... I don’t have this under control, Jasmine."

"No," I agreed, standing up slowly. "Maybe not today... but we will figure this out."

"You think you can control this?"

"I’ve dealt with worse."

"That’s a lie."

"Yeah," I admitted. "But it sounded good, didn’t it?"

He didn’t answer. His breath hitched, and suddenly he was on his knees, one hand braced against the floor, the other clawing at his chest like he was trying to physically rip Ace out.

He told me to leave.

But I didn’t.

I moved closer, taking careful and quiet steps, like trying to calm a scared animal. Each step felt risky, like walking through a minefield, but I kept going.

He was right on the edge, close to losing it. I could see it in the way his muscles tensed and how his claws twitched, almost ready to grab onto something, anything.

But he wouldn’t hurt me.

"You’re not going to hurt me," I whispered, voice steady even though my heart was jackhammering inside my chest. "You never will."

Lyra was dead silent in my head. That alone scared me more than anything. For once, the snark was gone. The jokes, the flirting, the eye-rolls.

All that remained was a hushed, focused presence, like she knew how close we were to losing him.

I knelt in front of Aiden, the floor rough beneath my knees. The room was suffocatingly cold, but he was hell-hoy under my hands when I cupped his face. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Aiden, look at me," I demanded.

He didn’t move at first. His head hung, hair falling like a curtain, shadowing his face. But when I tightened my grip, not painfully, but firm enough to tell him I wasn’t going to let go, his gaze finally lifted.

And that’s when I saw it.

His eyes flashed with black and gold, like a storm brewing. Ace was fighting to break through, clawing at the edges, while Aiden struggled to stay in control. It felt like watching someone drown slowly, his own body turning against him, inch by inch.

"Stay with me," I murmured, leaning in, my forehead nearly touching his. "Don’t give him the wheel."

His breath hitched, his chest rising and falling like he’d just sprinted a marathon.

"Why did you do this?" My voice softened, the sharp edges dulling as my thumb brushed his cheekbone, tracing the fine line of stubble, the tension coiled in his jaw. "Why the wolfsbane?"

He tried to speak, but the words snagged somewhere in his throat. His lips pulled back in a snarl, not at me, but at himself, like the truth hurt too much to say out loud.

"Because I can’t protect you," he ground out. "Not like this. Not when I’m losing to him."

It was a heartfelt confession, messy and unfiltered, pouring out in bits and pieces.

"You’re not losing," I said, thumb brushing again, as if I could erase the pain carved into his expression. "You’re fighting. That’s different."

His lips parted. I could see the protest forming, the self-loathing rising like a tidal wave, ready to drown us both. But it didn’t come. The argument died before it reached the surface. He was too tired... too broken.

His breath remained ragged, but as I knelt there, as my hands stayed anchored on him, his breathing started syncing with mine, slower, steadier, like he was clinging to the rhythm of my heartbeat just to stay above water.

"That’s it," Lyra murmured, her voice soft for once.

"Keep him here. Keep him in the now."

"I can’t..." Aiden began to speak, his voice breaking on the word.

"Yes, you can." My voice left no room for argument. "You’ve done harder things. You’ve survived worse. We’re not breaking tonight. You don’t get to quit on me, Aiden Stark Frost."

His chest hitched again, a shuddering breath ripping through him, leaving him visibly shaken.

"I’m right here." I pressed my forehead against his, closing my eyes. "I’m not going anywhere."

And then... I kissed him. It wasn’t romantic, passionate or intense, but it felt comforting. Warm. Genuine.

It was just a gentle kiss that seemed to say, Stay with me. You’re not alone. It wasn’t a kiss that made fireworks go off; it was the kind that brought you back from a dangerous edge.

Ace stopped fighting.

The change was subtle. His claws didn’t retract fully. His muscles remained tense, coiled like a loaded spring.

But his eyes, those wild, untamed eyes, dimmed. The molten gold simmered, no longer flaring to consume him. The snarl he had been holding back turned into a shaky breath. His shoulders dropped, and the fight drained out of him, bit by bit.

I held him close, running my fingers through his damp hair, using my touch to keep him grounded. I cradled his face in my hands, hoping that I could somehow help him find his way back to himself.

His body gave a final tremble, as if something within him snapped loose.

"Aiden?" I whispered.