 🔹 THORNE
Horror churned in my gut as the delta worked on her, hands deft but just as confused as I was. Her skin had greyed to a terrifying pallor.
I watched them crowd her—three deltas, including Ivanna, all moving around but none of that did nothing to ease the knot of dread tightening in my chest.
Blood still seeped between her legs, soaking through the furs they'd laid beneath her. Too much blood. Far too much.
"What's happening to her?" My voice came out rougher than intended, edged with something I refused to name.
The head delta—an older woman with silver streaking her dark hair—didn't look up. "We don't know yet, Alpha."
"Then figure it out."
"We're trying—"
"Try harder."
Ivanna moved closer, her expression carefully neutral. Professional. But I caught the flash of something else beneath it. Something that looked almost like satisfaction.
"Alpha," she said, her voice as neutral as she could manage, "we need space to work. You should—"
"I'm not leaving."
