Ava POV
Gasps tore through my throat as the darkness finally receded.
The death serum Ben had administered was wearing off, leaving my blood feeling like glacial sludge moving through my veins.
"Ava? Can you hear me?" Ben’s voice was a frantic whisper.
I blinked, my vision swimming in and out of focus. We were still in the holding cell, but the heavy steel door was open.
"I'm... alive," I rasped, my voice sounding like grinding stones.
"Barely," Ben said, hooking his arm under mine to help me sit up. "The guards bought the act. They took your 'body' to the morgue. I intercepted the cart halfway there. We have to go. Now."
My head pounded, but a strange, icy clarity washed over me.
The pain in my shattered knees was duller now, masked by the adrenaline and the awakening power of my White Wolf blood.
*Ava.*
Ethan’s voice slammed into my mind like a physical blow.
It wasn't the usual imperious command. It was panicked.
*Where are you? The bond... it feels cold. Answer me!*
I closed my eyes.
For ten years, that voice had been my sun and my moon. Now, it sounded like a stranger shouting from the bottom of a deep, dry well.
*I am gone, Alpha,*
I thought the words, not directing them to him, but letting the wall of silence slam down between us.
*Ava! I command you to answer!*
The Alpha's Command hit my mental shields.
Usually, it would force my body to obey. To kneel. To speak.
But this time? Nothing.
It felt like a gentle breeze breaking against a granite cliff. My Inner Wolf didn't cower. She sneered.
"He's trying to Command me," I whispered to Ben, awe coloring my tone. "It's not working."
Ben’s eyes widened. "The White Wolf... it breaks the hierarchy."
"We need to move," I said.
I leaned heavily on Ben, my legs trembling under my weight. We navigated the back corridors of the Pack hospital, heading toward the exit.
Suddenly, a scream echoed from the adjacent lab—Chloe’s private medical suite.
It was a man’s scream. Raw, guttural, and filled with agony.
"That sounded like..." Ben froze, his face draining of color. "That sounded like my assistant, Josh."
"We keep moving," Ben said, pulling me forward.
"No," I said, stopping dead.
My nose twitched. Under the sharp sting of antiseptic, I smelled blood. Fresh, arterial blood. And magic.
"She's butchering someone in there."
I didn't wait for Ben. I limped toward the door and pushed it open.
The scene before me was a waking nightmare.
Chloe stood over an operating table. Her pristine white gown was splattered with crimson.
Josh, the young Beta intern, was strapped down, unconscious but groaning through a gag.
Chloe held a scalpel poised over an incision. Her eyes were manic, dilated and black.
"It's not compatible!" she shrieked at a terrified nurse cowering in the corner. "His kidney isn't compatible! I need a replacement! My body is failing!"
"Chloe!" I shouted.
She spun around.
When she saw me—bloodied, dirty, and supposed to be dead—she didn't look scared. She looked annoyed.
"You," she hissed. "You just won't die, will you?"
"You're harvesting organs?" I stared at her, horror replacing my anger. "To fix yourself?"
"To keep the lie alive!" Chloe screamed, gesturing wildly with the bloody blade. "My body is rejecting the synthetic hormones I take to fake the pregnancy scent! My organs are shutting down! I need fresh ones!"
She lunged at me with the scalpel.
I was weak, but I was angry. I sidestepped, grabbing her wrist mid-swing.
"You are sick," I growled.
"And you are in my way!"
She kicked my broken knee.
White-hot pain exploded up my leg. I collapsed, gasping.
"Ben!" I yelled.
Ben rushed in, tackling Chloe. But Chloe was fueled by madness and desperation. She scratched his face, drawing deep lines of blood.
"Guards!" Chloe screamed, her voice piercing. "The traitor is alive! She's attacking me!"
Heavy footsteps thundered down the hall.
My heart sank.
Ethan.
His scent—storm clouds and ozone—flooded the room before he even appeared.
He burst through the door, his eyes glowing Alpha red.
He saw me on the floor. He saw Chloe disheveled and screaming, blood on her hands that he assumed was her own.
"Ethan!" Chloe wailed, throwing herself into his arms. "She tried to kill me! She tried to cut the baby out of me!"
Lies. Always lies.
Ethan looked down at me.
There was no love in his eyes. Only cold, hard judgment.
"I thought you were dead," he said, his voice devoid of humanity. "I should have made sure."
