Layla's POV
The underground lab smelled like chemicals when I stepped through the reinforced door. Brock spun around the moment he heard my footsteps, his hand going to the gun at his hip before he recognized me in the dim fluorescent lighting.
"Were you followed?" His voice came out aggressive.
I rolled my eyes while pulling off my jacket because honestly his paranoia was getting old fast. "I cleared my tracks three times on
the way here and Zeke thinks I'm at a tea party with some of the Luna's from neighboring packs so unless he's developed psychic abilities overnight I'm pretty sure we're safe."
"You better be right about that because if he finds this place we're all dead." Brock moved away from the door but his hand stayed near his weapon like he expected Zeke to burst through the walls at any moment.
"You're one to talk about being careful," I snapped while crossing the concrete floor toward where Golden lay on a medical bed in the
corner. "Running away like that was the stupidest thing you could have done because now you'll forever be a suspect and you'll forever be on the run instead of being able to return to your normal life once this is all over."
"I didn't have a choice after they started pulling vehicle registrations and cross referencing with personnel files."
Brock's jaw clenched tight enough that I could see the muscle jumping. "It was only a matter of time before they connected me to the SUV."
"You could have played dumb and
acted surprised when they questioned you but instead you ran and confirmed their suspicions."
I reached the bedside where Golden lay motionless except for the shallow rise and fall of his chest. His skin looked too pale under the harsh lights, almost translucent like I could see the veins beneath if I looked close enough. "How long
has he been like this?"
"Since yesterday morning." The new voice made me jump because I hadn't heard anyone approach. Fatima emerged from behind one of the makeshift partition walls that
divided the lab into sections, her dark hair pulled back severe from her face. She wore a white coat over her clothes like she was some kind of legitimate doctor instead of a traitor helping us kidnap her best friend's child.
"What are you doing here?"
I demanded while turning to face her fully. "I thought you were supposed to stay in Seacreek and keep Cecelia from getting suspicious."
"Cecelia already left Seacreek to go to Zeke's territory so there's nothing for me to do there anymore." Fatima moved to the opposite side
of Golden's bed and checked the IV line running into his small arm. "Besides, someone needs to monitor his condition because none of you have any medical training and this child is deteriorating faster than we anticipated."
"Don't worry that Cecelia will never suspect you?"
I asked though I already knew the answer because Fatima had been playing the concerned friend role perfectly from what I'd heard.
"She trusts me completely and why wouldn't she when I've been her only friend for three years." Fatima's
voice held no remorse whatsoever like betraying someone who considered you family meant absolutely nothing. "As far as she knows I'm just as devastated about Golden's
disappearance as she is."
I looked back down at the boy on the bed while trying to ignore the small twinge of something that might have been guilt. He looked so much like Zeke that it hurt to see,
the same bone structure and the same dark hair though his was curled while Zeke's stayed straight. His little chest moved up and down too fast like he couldn't get enough
air no matter how hard he tried.
"What's wrong with him?"
I asked though part of me didn't want to know the answer. "Why does he look like this?"
Fatima sighed while adjusting something on the medical monitor beside the bed. "The problem with removing the magic from someone this young is that his body wasn't
developed enough to handle the extraction process and the separation is causing his system to go into shock because the magic has been part of him since before he was born."
"Can you fix it?" Brock moved closer to the bed now, his earlier aggression replaced with something that looked almost like concern though I doubted he actually cared about the child beyond what Golden could give us.
"That depends on what you mean by fix." Fatima pulled out a small flashlight and checked Golden's pupils which didn't react the way they should have to the bright light. "If you
mean can I keep him alive then yes for now but there are complications we didn't anticipate."
"What kind of complications?" I
crossed my arms over my chest while watching her work because something in her tone suggested this was worse than she was letting on.
"He's an Alpha wolf which means his genetics are different from a normal pack member and his body is trying to compensate for the missing magic by triggering an early wolf emergence." Fatima straightened up and faced us both with
an expression that said she was about to deliver bad news. "If that happens before his body is ready it will kill him because
children his age aren't physically capable of surviving their first shift."
The words hung in the air between us like a death sentence. Brock cursed under his breath while running his hand through his hair, pacing away from the bed then back again like movement would somehow help him think better.
"How do we stop that from happening?"
I asked though I suspected I wouldn't like the answer based on how Fatima's expression tightened.
"The only way to stabilize an Alpha
child going through premature emergence is to have their father present constantly to give them Alpha essence through proximity and the parental bond."
Fatima gestured to Golden's small form. "Without Zeke here to anchor him, this child's body will continue to deteriorate until either the magic extraction completes or his wolf tries to emerge and kills him in the process."
"We can't bring Zeke here," Brock said immediately like that was even a possibility we'd consider. "That defeats the entire purpose of taking
the kid in the first place."
"I'm aware of that but I'm telling you what the medical reality is." Fatima's voice stayed clinical and detached like she was discussing a stranger instead of a child she'd known since birth. "Without intervention, Golden has maybe three days before his body gives out completely."
The door at the far end of the lab opened and Theseus walked in with that confident stride that Alpha's always had like they owned every room they entered. He was older than Zeke by at least fifteen years
with gray threading through his dark hair and lines around his eyes.
"How's our little prize doing?"
He moved to the bed and looked down at Golden with the same expression someone might use when inspecting a particularly valuable piece of property.
"Not well," Fatima said bluntly. "He's declining faster than expected and unless we make some decisions soon we're going to lose him entirely."
Theseus frowned while studying Golden's pale face. "That's
unfortunate but perhaps it's time we cut our losses and move to plan B."
