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Chapter Twenty-Five

Z ack drifted in and out of consciousness, each return to awareness bringing fresh waves of agony. Dr. Mayer had administered the new drug hours ago—or was it days? Time had lost all meaning in this sterile hell.

"Remarkable progress," he heard her clinical voice somewhere above him. "The embryo's development has accelerated significantly. What would normally take weeks has occurred in days."

"And the host?" A male voice—Dr. Chen, Zack thought dimly.

"Deteriorating, as expected. The mating sickness is progressing faster than anticipated. His system is prioritizing the pregnancy over his own survival."

Zack tried to focus on their words, but the fog in his mind made it difficult. He understood enough to know what was happening—his body was keeping their child alive at the cost of his own.

The pain had changed, spreading from his core throughout his entire body. Every heartbeat felt like it might be his last, each breath a struggle. The silver restraints no longer burned his skin—he was too weak to even attempt a shift.

"How much longer can he last?" Chen asked.

"Hard to say. Bear physiology is remarkably resilient, but the combination of mating sickness and the accelerated gestation is putting an incredible strain on his systems. At this rate, I'd estimate 48-72 hours at most."

"And the embryo?"

"Developing perfectly. Another week, and it should be viable for extraction. We just have to keep him alive for a week."

Zack wanted to scream, to fight, but his body wouldn't respond. A week. He wouldn't last a week. And when he died, they would cut their child from his body and continue their sick experiments.

No. He couldn't let that happen.

With monumental effort, Zack focused on the bond, that fragile thread connecting him to Victor and Mo. It felt impossibly thin now, like a single strand of spider silk stretching across an endless void. But it was still there.

Find me, he pleaded silently, pouring what remained of his strength into the bond. I'm here. Our baby is here.

A new pain lanced through him, sharper than before, and Zack gasped. Something was wrong—beyond the mating sickness, beyond the experimental drugs.

Dr. Mayer must have noticed the change in his vitals, because suddenly she was beside him, checking the monitors.

"Pulse is erratic. Blood pressure dropping," she reported, her voice tense. "We're losing him."

"The embryo?" Chen demanded.

"Still stable, but if he dies now, we lose everything. Pearson was clear—he wants both the subject and the offspring."

Hands moved over Zack's body, attaching new monitors, injecting new drugs. The pain receded slightly, but the darkness at the edges of his consciousness grew deeper.

"Come on," Dr. Mayer muttered, more to herself than to Zack. "Not yet. Just a—” But the alarm that sounded drowned out whatever she was going to say.

Alarms blared throughout the facility, red emergency lights flashing as a mechanized voice announced, "Security breach, level two. Containment protocol activated."

"Move!" Victor ordered, shoving Mo behind him as armed guards poured into the corridor from a side entrance. Victor shifted partially, his claws extending as he met the first guard head-on, tearing the weapon from his hands before throwing him against the wall. Daniel took out the two nearest him, and Raschid's wolves engaged the remaining guards. The narrow hallway filling with snarls and shouts. Mo pressed himself against the wall, Riley using his body as a shield as chaos erupted around him.

"Victor!" Riley yelled over the din, pointing toward a door at the end of the hall. "That one!"

Victor fought his way through the melee, his focus narrowing to that single door. The bond with Zack pulsed weakly but distinctly now, calling to him like a beacon.

"Cover me!" Victor shouted to Daniel, who nodded grimly as he took down another guard.

Victor reached the door—a heavy metal barrier with a keypad and retinal scanner. "Asher, we need access to lab 7!"

"Working on it," Asher's voice crackled through the comm. "Their security just went into lockdown. Give me thirty seconds."

Those thirty seconds felt like an eternity as the fighting continued behind them. Mo slid along the wall to join Victor, his face pale but determined. Riley right behind them.

"I can feel him," Mo whispered, pressing his palm against the door. "He's right there."

The lock disengaged with a heavy click just as another wave of guards appeared at the far end of the corridor.

"Go!" Daniel shouted, positioning himself and his wolves to hold them off. "We'll keep them back!"

Victor didn't hesitate, pulling the door open and rushing inside with Mo close behind him. Riley following. The laboratory was blindingly white, filled with advanced medical equipment surrounding a central examination table.

And there, strapped to the table with silver-lined restraints, was Zack.

"Oh god," Mo choked, tears immediately filling his eyes.

Zack looked barely alive. His skin was ashen, his body glistening with sweat. IV lines ran into both arms, connecting him to various machines that monitored his vitals. His chest rose and fell in shallow, labored breaths.

A woman in a lab coat—Dr. Mayer, Victor recognized from the photos—stood frozen by a computer terminal, her eyes wide with shock at their sudden entrance. The second doctor took one look and ran in the opposite direction through another door.

Riley moved incredibly fast, but the second he touched Zack's restraints, he hissed in pain. "Get these restraints undone," he boomed.

Victor's wolf surged forward, a ferocious growl tearing from his throat as he stalked toward her. "What have you done to him?"

Mo didn’t hesitate. He simply climbed on the bed and pressed himself to every part of Zack’s body he could reach. “I’m here baby. We’re both here.”

The monitors around Zack suddenly erupted in a cacophony of alarms. The steady beep of his heart rate monitor flattened into a single, continuous tone that pierced the air.

"He's coding!" Dr. Mayer exclaimed, professional instinct momentarily overriding her fear of Victor. "Get off him!" she shouted at Mo.

"No!" Mo cried, clinging tighter to Zack. "I'm not leaving him!"

Riley grabbed Mo's hand. "Let go, or I can't do this."

Victor was at Zack's side in an instant, tearing at the silver restraints with his bare hands despite the burning pain as the metal seared his skin. The restraints snapped under his desperate strength.

"Riley!" Victor roared at him, his eyes blazing red as his partial shift intensified. "Save him!"

Riley placed both his hands on Zack's chest and closed his eyes. The doctor screeched as wolves ran in and secured her.

Victor placed his hand over Mo's where it pressed against his own heart, and in his mind he reached out to touch Zack. The bond between them, though faint, still existed. Victor closed his eyes, focusing every ounce of his strength on that connection.

"Zack," Victor called, not with his voice but with his soul, pushing his energy through their bond. "Fight. Come back to us."

Mo seemed to understand instinctively what Victor was doing. He closed his eyes as well, adding his own strength to Victor's, calling to their mate through their shared connection.

Something shifted in the air—even as Riley sagged to the side, Daniel just managing to catch him.

The monitor gave a single weak beep. Then another.

"How are you doing that?" Dr. Mayer whispered, staring at the readings. "He was coding."

Riley heaved a breath. "Victor, Mo, get in next to him. Touch him." Riley took a shuddering breath. "It's not safe to make him shift."

Victor didn't need telling twice, and they got on the bed pressing themselves to each side of Zack. Zack's heartbeat slowly stabilized, each beep of the monitor growing stronger. His chest rose with a deep, shuddering breath.

"That's it," Victor encouraged, his voice thick with emotion. "Come back to us."

Asher, and a dozen of Raschid’s wolves, raced into the lab, quickly securing the doctor despite her shrill protestations of science and the greater good, but Victor drowned them all out, and kept hold of Zack and Mo. He heard Daniel and Asher clear the room, and then they dragged a trembling man in a white coat in there.

“I want all the drugs stopped immediately,” Daniel ground out, and practically threw the doc toward the bed. Hands shaking, the doc did exactly as instructed and removed all the IV lines. “Why can't he shift?" Daniel asked, looking at Riley.

Riley smiled weakly. "Because the baby's too far along."

Daniel frowned, but then tapped his earpiece and listened intently. “Understood. I’ll let him know.” Mo had yanked his out, wanting to concentrate on Zack. Daniel grinned. “Pearson was just about to climb into his helicopter to escape. Raschid shifted and got to him before they took off.” He paused, eyes sparkling with unrestrained glee. “He doesn’t have much of a throat left. Well, any really.” He glanced at Mo. “We’ve also found five shifters chained downstairs. Khloe’s alive.”

Mo gasped. “Alive?”

Daniel nodded. "They’re all being taken to an appropriate medical facility then a safe house while we sort out where they want to go, but Khloe’s in reasonable shape and will be brought to Hunter’s Creek as soon as the docs have checked them over.”

Victor nodded once, and when Mo’s hand reached over Zack’s chest to clasp his, he whispered, “Can I say it now?”

Mo’s smile was huge.