pression unreadable, yet something flickered in her eyes-hesitation, perhaps pity. My finger

y, carefully

ou're p

he air like a blade

at her, my

egn

n't quite grasp. The sterile scent of the medical room, the cold touch of the metal table beneath my fi

s pre

to belong to me. As though I were floating abov

ime to process. When I said nothing, when I didn

onfirmed it. You'r

r we

fetim

body molded against me, the way I lost myself in the heat of the mome

t used pr

tion struck

I had been reckless, desperate for something real, somethin

eyes, inhal

ucy wasn't

she said, and I knew-knew-that whatever came ne

of werewo

pounding. "That's not surprising,"

is different. Stronger. This blood

art st

s fully werewo

, each one slamming into m

zr

s a we

e moved with effortless grace, the raw power in his touch-it had all been there, right

my throat dry.

e a small, sad s

ncy, not because I was carrying a werew

iper do when

uthless. Cruel. A monster in human skin. An

ause she reached for my hand-soft, warm, human.

gently. "We'll check on the baby's development t

could barely comprehend in a

ere futures

uards grabbed me, dragging m

the weight of my reality crush me,

the darkness pr

rner, knees drawn to my

s pre

would f

ay to prote

til I felt like I would shatter. I couldn't let V

let them fall. Crying wouldn't help. F

eded

eep nev

ing weight of w

-

ged from my cell once more, m

s they led me back t

at me and sighed.

her. "What

Instead, she gesture

oo tired

rows furrowing when she saw t

estimated to be Mar

month

lifetime. It f

rely

something on the table in front o

. "They'll help with the nausea and

red at

. Like preparing for a future

ook them

the doo

e walk

ip

room

d on me, dark amusement flickeri

beside me, but

stopping just close enough that I could feel

he sm

ockingly. "You've managed to

omach

mit, Jo, I didn't expect this turn of events. But fat

eath h

is that?" I force

lightly, his gaze

nd the experiment g

of nausea rol

nsane," I

miracle you're carrying, Jo. A halfling giving birth to

ds instinctively mo

ever touch

A slow, dark,

s voice laced with cruel a

g inside

ind with fury, my nail

, the guards grabbed me, yank

boiling over. "I'll die before I

ing me like I was a fascinati

walked out, his voice

long that fight

or slam

since I had been capture

scapable. He sat across from me in a dimly lit room, the walls bare, the ai

ped his fingers against the table, the

ow valuable you are,

blank, though my hea

ooth. "Werewolves aren't just one breed. There are different kind

the forests of North America. They're the most common, the ones humans whisper about in legends but never truly fear. Lesser wolves, really. Then,

ing me closely, g

in the ice-covered wastelands of the North. Their packs are smal

ran down

id, his eyes gleaming

wed, my t

stial Wolves-are exti

my stomach twi

tial W

powerful. And yet, I had

impossible to kill. They didn't just hunt under the moonlight-they controlled it. Their connec

rying to process the informa

isappointment. "Or so we believed. But it seems one managed to slip throu

nctively curled my arms around it, a protectiv

ed. And h

be honored. You're carrying som

ooled in

lying," I

ply shrugg

to deny everything. But dee

wolf. He was something m

I was carryi

-

ks L

, but no matter how much I tried to push it awa

hallways of The Obsidian Order, my bod

y, I didn

, I was going

r human being-someone who didn't look at me like a s

office, the tension in my sho

a small smile as I

ou feeling?

"Like a prisoner

sed into a thi

file on her desk an

that your family history is accurate. It's important for you

as I hesitantly pul

deli

given the luxury of som

pped i

d f

was tucked bet

to keep my expression neutral as

to escap

lammed agai

oared in

cond, the room

htening around the edge of the fil

sc

as helping

cy, but she was already watchin

she asked, he

w. Like she had nothing to do with

llowed

isking e

on hit me like

n't Viper playing mind games w

no id

ng for certain-this

in weeks, hope sli

the storm raging inside me. Then, I

. Everything l

the closest thing to an ackno

ng. "You'll be called in

bing my arms, yanking me up and

this

e, I wasn

e, I had

t behind me, I clutched that know

se ton

as getting ou