Sasha stood in the dimly lit staff changing room, her hands trembling as she adjusted the stolen scrubs. She was done weeping, dried her face, secured a clinical mask over her nose and mouth, and tucked her hair beneath a surgical cap.

Her heart hammered so violently she could hear it in her ears. She slipped out of the changing room and made her way down the corridor toward Ishita’s ward, keeping her head low.

Her hands would not stop shaking. Every time a real nurse or doctor passed, her stomach twisted, half expecting one of them to stop her or recognise her.

As she turned the corner, her steps faltered. Two gammas were standing guard outside Ishita’s door.

Her heart pounded even harder, sending a cold shiver down her spine. She forced herself to keep walking, breathing deeply.

They’ll let me in. I’m dressed as a nurse. They have no reason to suspect me.

Ms Sasha?

Dr Lorenzo’s voice came through the mind-link before she had managed even three more steps, startling her so badly she nearly stumbled.

She halted abruptly, her gaze darting around the corridor as though she expected to find him standing behind her. In her panic and anxiety, she had completely forgotten the mind-link.

Where are you? the doctor’s voice came again.

I... I’m... I’m in the hospital premises, she stammered through the link. Is... is everything alright?

Jerry’s complications have started. He’s asking for you. He might not—

Sasha’s stomach dropped through the floor. She spun on her heels without a second thought and started rushing back the way she had come, her son’s name pounding through her mind with every step.

Her son had been born with a rare condition that had left him fighting for his life since he was small.

The doctors had never been able to find a matching blood donor because of what he was. They had been managing him with what they had instead, watching him grow weaker each year.

In her panic she did not even think to go back and change into her own clothes. She just ran.

When she reached her son’s ward, she saw nurses rushing into Jerry’s room. She could hear the high, frantic beeping of the machines from the corridor, and underneath it, faintly, her son’s voice. Crying. Calling for her.

Sasha tore off her mask and was about to push into the room when a strong hand closed around her wrist.

"Got you," the voice said.

Sasha turned slowly, her stomach already in freefall.

Connor was staring at her, his eyes flat and devoid of any warmth she had ever seen in them before.

Her heart lurched violently as her gaze travelled past him to the line of gammas standing at his back.

He produced a pair of silver cuffs.

"Connor." Her voice cracked. "What are you doing? Let me go, please. Let me see my son. He’s dying."

Connor did not answer. He simply twisted her hands behind her back and clamped the cuffs around her wrists, then gestured for the other gammas to take her.

"No, no, no, please." She was crying now, the panic spilling over completely. "I need to see him. I need to see my son. Please."

Dr Lorenzo stepped out of the room at that moment, his face tight with worry. He saw Sasha in scrubs, handcuffed, and frowned deeply.

"Gamma Connor?" he called, eyebrow raised.

When Sasha saw the doctor she broke. The tears came faster, the struggle in her body more desperate as she tried to twist out of the gammas’ hold.

"Please, Doctor! Let me see my son. He needs me!"

"Whatever you need to do here, doctor, you can do it without her," Connor said, his voice even. "She is being taken into custody for her crimes."

A female gamma was already patting Sasha down, methodical and unhurried.

Within seconds, she had produced a slim pouch from Sasha’s pocket. She unzipped it. Two syringes glinted under the corridor lights.

Dr Lorenzo’s eyes narrowed at the sight of them. His eyes darted from Sasha to Connor, then back at the door of Jerry’s room, where the beeping of the machines had not slowed.

But when he spoke, it was still on Sasha’s behalf.

"You must allow her to see her son," he said quietly. "Please. He is in distress. The boy needs her to calm him down. You can take her after he is settled."

Connor shook his head, and there was something almost regretful in it.

"I’m sorry, doctor. It’s the King’s orders."

"Please! No, please!"

The gammas tightened their hold and began to lead her away. She planted her feet, fought them, twisted her body against their grip, anything to delay the moment they pulled her further down the corridor.

She could not even name Ruby. She could not risk it. Ruby still had everything to use against her, and once that came out, it would not just be her own life that ended.

"What is going on here?"

Kira’s voice cut through the commotion.

She, Kai, and Jessica had just returned from their walk in the hospital gardens and were heading back to Kira’s room when they came upon the scene.

Connor and the gammas bowed immediately.

"Your Highness," he said. "Sasha is being arrested for attempted murder."

Sasha shook her head violently, tears running freely down her cheeks. "I didn’t do it. Please, I need to see my son. Please."

Kira’s eyes flicked from Sasha’s tear-streaked face to the open door of the ward, where the machines were still beeping in their frantic rhythm.

"Why can’t she see her son before being taken away?" she asked quietly.

"It’s the King’s orders, Your Highness," Connor replied.

"Your Highness." Dr Lorenzo stepped forward, his face deeply serious. "I understand she is a suspect, but her son is in critical condition right now."

He glanced at Sasha, then back at Kira. "He has been asking for her since the complications began, and she is the only person he trusts. If she does not calm him soon, we are going to lose him."

A fresh wave of tears slid down Sasha’s cheeks as the doctor pleaded her case to the werewolf queen.

Never in her life had Sasha imagined that a day would come when her fate would rest in the small hands of the very queen she had refused to acknowledge.

The queen she had whispered against, mocked behind closed doors, helped Ruby try to break.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Kira said. She looked around at each face in the corridor. "Let her see her son."

"Your Highness," Connor began, "I have direct—"

"I command it, Connor," Kira said. Her voice was gentle, but the steel underneath it left no room for argument.

"You can station your men around the room and take her into custody the moment that boy is calm."

Connor hesitated, his jaw working.

"If that boy dies," Kira continued, her eyes steady on him, "would you like the last thing he saw to be his mother being dragged away from him in handcuffs?"

Sasha stared at her in stunned, choking silence.

She had expected so many things from Kira in this moment. Triumph. Mockery. A small, satisfied smile. The revenge of a queen finally given the chance to step on the woman who had been trying to step on her.

She had not expected mercy.

Her knees gave out before her mind had caught up. She sank onto the cold floor in front of Kira, her cuffed hands trembling behind her back, sobs ripping out of her chest in helpless bursts of gratitude she could not put into words.

Connor exhaled. He glanced at the gammas and gave a small nod, and they released her arms. The female gamma stepped forward and unclasped the silver cuffs.

The moment her wrists were her own again, Sasha bolted into her son’s room. She crossed the floor in three strides, scooped Jerry up out of the bed, tubes and all, and hugged him tightly, whispering soothing words as his cries slowly eased.

Connor watched the scene for a moment longer, then reached for his mind-link.

Your Grace. His voice was careful and even. The Queen has ordered Sasha’s release.