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"Increase the sedative," her colleague said without looking up from the computer.

"No," Zack managed to rasp out. "Don't touch my—" He couldn't bring himself to say the word.

The woman approached, her face expressionless as she checked the IV line running into Zack's arm. "Try to remain calm, Mr. Hunter. Stress isn't good for your condition."

"My condition," Zack repeated bitterly. "You mean the pregnancy you're planning to experiment on?"

Something flickered in the woman's eyes—discomfort, perhaps even guilt—but it disappeared quickly. "We're simply gathering data. The embryo won't be harmed."

"Yet," Zack added, remembering Pearson's words.

She didn't respond to that, instead adjusting something on the IV pump. Almost immediately, Zack felt a new wave of drowsiness wash over him.

"Wait," he slurred, fighting the medication. "How is this...possible? I'm not an omega."

The woman paused, studying him with clinical curiosity. "That's precisely what makes you so valuable, Mr. Hunter. You're what we call a latent omega—a shifter whose omega traits remained dormant until triggered by the right alpha." She glanced at her colleague, who was still absorbed in the computer data. "It's exceptionally rare. In most cases, latent omegas never discover their true nature."

Zack's thoughts were becoming foggy again, but he forced himself to focus. "And the baby?"

"Is developing normally, though at an accelerated rate." She hesitated. "The bear shifter genetics seem to be dominant, though interestingly, there are markers from both the alpha and the human in the fetal DNA. Quite unprecedented."

"Both?" Zack slurred, confusion cutting through the fog in his brain, trying to remember his school biology and failing.

The doctor seemed to realize she'd said too much. "Rest now, Mr. Hunter. We'll continue our discussion later."

As the sedative pulled him under again, Zack tried to make sense of her words. She had to mean Victor and Mo. But how could Mo's DNA be present when he hadn’t come inside him?

The next time Zack woke, he was alone. The restraints remained, but someone had adjusted his position slightly, relieving some of the pressure on his back. His body ached all over, a bone-deep ache that felt different from the soreness of his captivity.

He tried to focus, to assess his surroundings. The laboratory was dimly lit, suggesting it was night. How many days had passed? He couldn't tell. Time had become a blur of sedation and brief, confusing moments of consciousness.

Something felt wrong. Beyond the obvious horror of his situation, his body was sending warning signals. A fever seemed to be building, his skin alternately flushed and chilled. His heart raced despite the sedatives, and the ache in his abdomen had intensified.

"Victor," Zack whispered to the empty room. "Mo. Please find me."

As if in response to his words, a sharp pain lanced through his abdomen. Zack gasped, instinctively trying to curl around the pain, but the restraints held him still.

The door opened, and Pearson entered, followed by the female doctor. She immediately noticed his distress and moved to check the monitors.

"His vitals are destabilizing," she reported, her professional demeanor cracking slightly. "Temperature 102.3 and rising. Heart rate elevated."

Pearson frowned. "What's happening?"

"I don’t know," she said. “It could be a reaction to one of the drugs. We will have to separate each one individually to confirm. It could also be the separation from his bonded mates is triggering a physiological response. We've seen this in other omega subjects, but never this rapidly."

"Will it affect the pregnancy?" Pearson asked, and Zack wanted to snarl at the man's obvious concern for the experiment rather than the suffering he'd caused.

"If we don't stabilize him, yes. The fetus will be at risk." She was already preparing an injection. "This will help with the symptoms, but it's not a long-term solution. Mating sickness is progressive."

Zack's vision blurred as another wave of pain washed over him. Mating sickness. He'd heard of it—a condition that could affect bonded shifters when separated from their mates for too long. But he'd always thought it was just an old wives' tale, something to keep newly mated pairs close to home.

"How long?" Pearson demanded.

"A few days at most before permanent damage occurs," the doctor replied. "The pregnancy complicates matters. His body is trying to maintain the bond connection for both himself and the developing fetus."

Pearson cursed under his breath, pacing the sterile floor. "We need more time. The tissue samples haven't yielded enough data yet."

The doctor hesitated, her eyes flickering to Zack's face. For a moment, he thought he saw compassion there. "There might be a way. If we could simulate the presence of his mates—perhaps with pheromone therapy or even if you could get the human mate here—"