on

eel so hard the leather creaked in protest. Beside me, in the passenger seat, Isabela was cu

ogged my throat. It smelled like sickness. It smelled like gu

nd a slow-moving sedan. "Tears won't ch

ly audible over the hum of the engine. "K

flicker of doubt pricked at my conscience. Her scent didn't have the milky

the emergency bay. I didn't wait for an orderly. I got

re she hit the pavement, scooping her into my arms. Sh

The sound shattered the quiet night, com

hands sticky with her cold sweat. As they wheeled her through th

, her eyes unfocused. "D

doors swung shut, c

on my nerves. I needed to shift. I needed to run. My wolf was pacing

wolf growled.

ck mentally. Dalia is our mate. I

in my blood. As I passed the nurses' station, voices drifted out from the

. "Skin and bones. And the bruises on

e replied, dripping with disdain. "The 'Honorable' Alph

said. "Like a prisoner. No wonder her wolf is fading. A

hallway window stared back a

killi

e and silence them with an Alpha Command, but my feet

stepped out. He was an old wolf, gray-haired and stoic. He had delive

f his latex gloves with a snap

my voice tight. "Did yo

he stepped closer, invading my personal space in

pha," he said, his vo

early buck

s ruptured. Poison is leaking into her body. If you

y lungs. Not p

," I stammered. "

is composure. "And do you know why her healing ability didn't stop it? Because she h

to protect. Instead, I am going in there to perform emergency s

and marched back int

llway. The fluorescent

whined, a sound of pur

ange, phantom pain in my chest, as if a thread connecting me to