Page 23

Chapter Twenty-Two

Z ack woke to darkness and pain.

His first instinct was to shift, to let his bear's strength protect him, but when he tried, nothing happened. A cold weight encircled his wrists and ankles—metal restraints, he realized groggily. Something about them blocked his ability to shift.

"Don't bother," a voice said from somewhere in the darkness. "The cuffs are silver-lined. Quite effective against shifters, I've found."

Zack blinked as lights suddenly flickered on, revealing a sterile, white room that looked like a cross between a laboratory and a hospital. He was strapped to a padded table, medical equipment surrounding him.

"Where am I?" Zack demanded, his voice hoarse. "What do you want?"

A man stepped into view—tall, impeccably dressed in a tailored suit. Sean Pearson. Noah's father.

"Mr. Hunter," Pearson said with a thin smile. "Thank you for joining us. I apologize for the rather...dramatic means of bringing you here, but I find that willing test subjects are hard to come by."

"Test subjects?" Zack pulled against his restraints, the silver burning his skin. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Pearson walked around the table, studying Zack with a clinical detachment. "You're quite unique, you know. A male omega bear shifter who's successfully conceived. Do you have any idea how rare that makes you?"

Zack froze. "What?"

"Oh." Pearson's eyebrows rose in mock surprise. "You didn't know? How interesting." He picked up a tablet from a nearby counter and turned it to face Zack. On the screen was what looked like an ultrasound image. "Congratulations are in order, I suppose."

Zack stared at the image, unable to process what he was seeing, even though all he could see was barely a black dot. "That's not possible."

"And yet, here we are." Pearson set the tablet down. "Male omegas are extraordinarily rare in shifter communities. Most are identified early and claimed by alphas before they ever come to my attention. But you..." He smiled coldly. "You slipped through undetected. A bear shifter who never knew what he truly was."

Zack's mind was racing. There had been something Victor had wanted to talk about, but Zack had assumed he meant the bite.

“And Noah was very helpful. Of course, I soon realized he was torn between wanting to protect his brother and not wanting to betray you all.” He sneered. “He told me what he thought was inconsequential. The length of time you were bonding for. Your mating bite. He didn’t realize, of course, how significant that was.”

"What do you want from me?" Zack asked, fighting to keep his voice steady. He didn’t blame Noah.

"Progress," Pearson replied simply. "Humanity has tried and failed to harness the extraordinary abilities of shifters. Regeneration. Enhanced strength. But the ability to transform genetic material—to actually change one's fundamental biology—that's the holy grail."

He gestured to the equipment surrounding Zack. "Imagine what we could do with that knowledge. Cure genetic diseases. Enhance human capabilities. Create perfect soldiers who could heal from battle injuries.”

“Someone already failed at that,” Zack slurred, wondering why he was struggling to speak.

“Ah yes, I am aware of the shortsightedness of the idiot who attempted to create shifters from human subjects that you successfully defeated last year.”

“Shor…sight…dness?” Zack struggled. Fuck, he was so tired. He realized he’d closed his eyes, and it seemed to take a gargantuan effort to open them.

Pearson chuckled. “I don’t need to create shifters. You can successfully manage to copulate on your own. Controlling them, however, is a delicious thought. I’m sure you realize the governments of this world are already salivating over getting their own shifter armies. But what no one is considering, and I must say I find this incredibly foolish even if it’s a golden opportunity that will make me billions, is how to stop them.”

Zack thought the words stop them but his lips seemed numb and making them form words was too much of an effort.

“Exactly,” Pearson said, as if Zack had answered. “In their small minds the superpowers of the world will just fight might with might. Boys and their toys,” he chuckled. “But what I’m going to offer is a drug to neutralize the effectiveness of shifters. Sap their strength.” He leaned forward. “Stop them from procreating or cause them to birth regular babies without shifting abilities.” Alarm flooded Zack, even if he didn’t seem to be able to react.

“I’ve managed to experiment on shifter children, but up to now I’ve been unable to get my hands on an embryo.”

An embryo?

“Now, I’m sure you are feeling weary. The drugs currently pumping through your system are taking care of that, but there are two doctors on their way to see how your embryo reacts specifically.” He smiled. “After all, we don’t want to kill it…not yet, anyway.”

Zack fought to stay conscious, but the drugs in his system were too powerful. As his eyes slid shut, one thought burned in his mind: Victor and Mo would find him. And when they did, Pearson would regret the day he ever heard of shifters.

When he woke again, the lighting in the room had changed. Shadows stretched across the floor, suggesting hours had passed. His mouth felt like cotton, and a dull ache had settled in his abdomen. Zack tried to shift his position, but the restraints held firm, the silver burning against his skin.

Two figures in white lab coats stood at a computer terminal across the room, their backs to him. A woman's voice, clinical and detached, floated over to him.

"The embryo's vitals are strong despite the sedation. Remarkable resilience."

"Pearson wants tissue samples," a male voice replied. "Can we proceed without risking termination?"

"I believe so. The abdominal sac is forming nicely. We should be able to extract what we need without disturbing development."

Zack's heart raced. They were talking about his baby—their child. A child he hadn't even known existed until Pearson told him. He strained against the restraints again, panic lending him strength.

The doctor turned, noticing his movement. "He's awake again."

"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—"

"No," Pearson cut her off. "That's too risky. It took too much work to get the bear here." He stopped pacing, his expression calculating. "How stable is the embryo right now?"

A chill ran through Zack that had nothing to do with his fever. He knew what Pearson was considering.

"I don’t recommend extraction, if that’s what you’re thinking," the doctor said quietly. "Perhaps in another week. The research value of observing the full gestation—"

"I'm aware of the trade-offs, Doctor," Pearson snapped. "But if the host dies, we lose everything. Prepare for extraction tomorrow morning if you are unable to stabilize him. We'll continue our research with the embryo in vitro."

Zack fought against the restraints with renewed desperation, ignoring the burning of the silver against his skin. "No!" he gasped, his voice raw. "You can't!"

Pearson turned to him, seeming almost surprised that Zack was coherent enough to follow their conversation. "Mr. Hunter," he said, his tone maddeningly reasonable. "Surely you understand your situation. Without your mates, you'll die anyway. This way, at least your contribution to science will be preserved."

"It's not a contribution," Zack snarled, summoning his remaining strength. "It's my child. Our child."

Something cold and calculating settled in Pearson's eyes. "It's fascinating how quickly shifters form attachments to their offspring, even before birth. Another trait worth studying." He nodded to the doctor. "Increase his sedation. I don't want him conscious for this. His anxiety may bring on further complications."

The doctor moved toward the IV, but hesitated, her hand hovering over the controls. "Mr. Pearson, I’m worried the increase in sedation could put the embryo at risk. If this is mating sickness, the embryo will not be at risk until the bear dies. He will suffer, certainly, but we have time before the embryo is in danger."

Pearson chuckled. “What happened to ‘do no harm?’”

She flinched at his words. "I'm trying to preserve the integrity of your research, Mr. Pearson. That's all."

"Yes, well, I appreciate your dedication to the scientific method." Pearson straightened his already immaculate suit jacket. "Monitor him closely tonight. If his condition deteriorates further, we'll initiate the extraction.” He paused. “Do we have any idea of a timeline for mating sickness?"

She nodded. “From the data I’ve seen, mating sickness is in most cases strongest after an initial bonding, then peters out when the bond is strong and established. Successful absences have been noted, even survival after the death of a mate. It does, as I said, depend on the length of the bond. However, the bear is already displaying protective instincts. He knows his own death would cause the death of his child, so it would be interesting to see how long he can fight his own instincts to remain alive for the embryo.”

“For the full pregnancy?” Pearson asked, betraying his sick excitement.

“I doubt it,” the doctor replied, “but it definitely isn’t an emergency requiring immediate extraction.” She glanced at the readout from her machines. “As I’ve said, he will suffer, but so far the embryo doesn’t seem to be in any immediate danger.” She hesitated and lowered her voice. “There is my other research, of course.”

Pearson frowned. “I thought that was still experimental?”

“But isn’t everything?” she murmured. “I think it's safe to at least accelerate the development of the embryo another month.”

As they exited the room, Zack let out a shuddering breath. The pain was getting worse, radiating outward from his core. He'd never felt anything like it—as if his body was trying to tear itself apart from the inside out.

Mating sickness. The words echoed in his mind. He'd heard stories, of course, but wasn't sure he'd believed them. But with his bond to both Victor and Mo was so new, so intense...

A fresh wave of pain crashed over him, and Zack bit back a scream. His bear roared inside him, desperate to break free, to find his mates, to protect their cub. But the silver restraints held firm, burning against his skin whenever his desperation triggered even a partial shift attempt.

Their cub. The reality of it still hadn't fully registered. He was pregnant. Somehow, impossibly, he was carrying their child. A child that Pearson planned to cut out of him if Zack couldn’t keep him or her alive.

"No," Zack whispered fiercely to the empty room. "I won't let that happen." No matter what pain he had to endure.

He had to escape. Had to find Victor and Mo. But how? The restraints were unbreakable, the door locked, and his body was growing weaker by the hour. For the first time since his capture, true despair threatened to overwhelm him.

Then, through the haze of pain and fever, a memory surfaced. Something the doctor had said about his condition. The pregnancy complicated matters. His body was trying to maintain the bond connection for both himself and the developing fetus.

The bond. Could he use it somehow? Shifter bonds were more than just emotional connections—they were psychic links, especially between alphas and their mates. Zack had always been able to sense Mo's and Victor’s emotions, but the drugs were complicating everything.

Closing his eyes, Zack tried to focus through the pain. He reached for that thread of connection he'd felt with Victor since Victor had shown his wolf, now strengthened by their mating bond. And then for the newer, but equally powerful connection to Mo.

Victor. Mo. Find me. Please.

He poured every ounce of his remaining strength into that silent plea, visualizing his mates, picturing the sterile room, the medical equipment, anything that might help them locate him. The effort left him gasping, pain clouding his brain, darkness beckoning.

And for the first time, he didn’t fight it.