h cold precision-defensive wound, grip strength consistent with an SSS-grade Beastki

o ready to condemn her. The shame was unfami

ross his face. The doubt. The recalculation. She was still tremb

id, her voice steadier now. "He told me to get out. I tried. He-"

tiger, crouching to check his uncle's vit

trieved the empty auto-injector. She held it up. "Suppressan

ieve a Null-Female got close enough to an SSS-

ice was flat. "I'm still here. He's s

, but the evidence surrounded him. The shattered furniture. The claw marks. Her injuri

hen the door swung open, and a team of medical personnel in white haz

om with professional detachment, taking in the wreckage, the unconscious tiger, the

dered. "Full workup. Tox screen.

s maneuvered into position. As they worked, Preston turned to the door-

u to leave

o Georgia. "The reporters are still outside. They have questions

the cameras, where a single wrong word could be twisted into a conf

herself to her feet. The torn nightgown, the bruises,

wasn't the script. "Georgia, y

ith's protest. There was something new in the way he looked at

t him, past Meredith, and into the hallw

med. Questions flew at

Shields, i

lone in the

er the Pheromone

torn clothing, the bruises, the exhaustion. And then she lifted her in

he chaos. "I was the one who called for help. I was the one who admini

etting the si

ey're testing for right now. And ask my stepsister-" her gaze flicked to Mere

hung in the ai

hite. "That's-that's a

ed toward her, sensing a juicier sto

ed and walked toward the elevator, her bare feet

-