A jerky nod was his only immediate reply.

Long moments stretched in reverent silence before he finally murmured in a low, graveled rasp, "For you?"

"Yes," she exhaled fervently. "For me, please. Please be well and do as they say. The faster you gain control...the sooner we can be together freely."

The words seemed to reverberate through his frame with the same rippling potency as her initial aura pulse.

Cobra’s eyes slid open, and in one fluid, insistent motion, his hands rose to span her waist, drawing her form flush against his.

Anastasia let him.

Cobra dipped his proud head into the slender curve where her neck and shoulder met, his nose breathing in her scent.

Scenting her.

He started scenting and she did not mind at all, she was actually happy with it and even scented him back.

"Thank you," he rasped against the hammering pulse in her throat. "Thank you for doing it back."

"Just be well," she managed in a whisper thick with emotion. "Please, Cobra, do this for us."

He nodded again, the motion almost invisible as they remained locked in their intimate embrace for several drawn-out beats of her pounding heart.

Then, with visible reluctance, Cobra drew back just far enough to meet her searching gaze once more.

"I’ll try," was his simple, solemn vow. "For you, I’ll do whatever it takes."

Anastasia offered him a small, sad smile - a fragile expression filled with both relief and enduring uncertainty.

Cupping the harsh planes of his cheeks in her palms, and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"I love you," she murmured against his feverish skin. "Be well..."

Then, before her resolve could crumble any further, Anastasia extricated herself from their clinging embrace and turned away.

She dared not look back as she padded to the door and slipped through once more - unwilling to let him see the glittering streaks of tears already tracing pale lines down her face.

For she feared catching a glimpse of doubt or uncertainty clouding the steadfast intensity burning in his gaze.

Deep in her heart, Anastasia clung to the desperate hope that Cobra would utilize this singular chance she was gifting him.

She has very high hopes for this.

Her only wish right now is Cobra’s well-being.

—————

The following morning dawned with a palpable tension pervading the hallowed halls of the clinic.

An eerie hush clung to the corridors, broken only by the whispered murmurs and sneaky footfalls of the staff going about their duties in a state of ill-disguised unease.

From deep within the fortified confines of Cobra’s chambers, a bestial roar of fury shattered the fragile sense of calm like a thunderclap.

The very walls seemed to shudder with the visceral power of the alpha’s wrathful howls as they echoed through the reinforced adamantium that included his sanctuary’s bones.

The double doors guarding the entrance barely had time to groan open before a diminutive, wiry figure came hurtling through - one of the attending nurses fleeing in abject terror.

Her white tunic was askew and her face ashen as she scrambled down the hall, babbling incoherently to any who crossed her path.

"He’s gone feral...can’t reason with him! Wild, like a rabid beast-!"

Before she could elaborate further, a bone-chilling snarl rents the air once more.

A hulking shape blotted out the doorway for a split second before Cobra’s colossal frame exploded into the corridor in a whirlwind of sinewy violence.

Bloody red eyes blazing like twin suns, lips peeled back from wickedly elongated fangs in a rictus of primal fury, claws scoring deep furrows in the adamantium surface beneath his feet - he was the very embodiment of unleashed werewolf savagery.

The thick leather cords binding his limbs dangled in frayed tatters, torn asunder by the force of his transformation and subsequent rampage.

"I want Anastasia!" His thunderous roar shook plaster from the ceiling as Cobra stalked down the hallway with ground-devouring strides.

A knot of orderlies rounded the far corner at a sprint, their faces whitening as they registered the terrifying vision bearing down upon them.

In their wake trailed Doctor Aelfric Koehler - the wizened clinic’s founder and a legendary healer of renowned prowess.

His piercing grey eyes narrowed with undisguised trepidation as he took in the sight of the rampaging alpha wolf tearing through his meticulously curated domain like an enraged hurricane.

"Mr. Storm, please try to remain calm," the willowy elder called in a measured tone that ill-concealed a tremor of alarm.

"The alpha is busy. We can not summon her this early in the morning. So please calm down and go back to your chamber."

"Don’t fucking touch me!" Cobra’s bellow made the very stones quake underfoot as he rounded on the doctor with blistering intensity.

In the blink of an eye, his trajectory changed, hurtling him straight towards the cluster of brawny orderlies gearing up to subdue him.

A massive paw swatted them aside with contemptuous ease, sending bodies ragdolling through the air like scattered tenpins until only the wizened old doctor remained.

Aelfric lifted his gnarled hands in a pacifying gesture, refusing to be cowed despite the thunderhead of violence looming over him. "Please, Mr. Storm, can we not discuss this rationally like civilized-"

"WHERE IS MY MATE?!" The words were less fluent speech and more a guttural roar of aggression that brooked no further argument.

Sprays of spittle-flecked the doctor’s face as Cobra reared over him, each inhale and exhale stirring the clinic chief’s silvery hair like a tempest.

They have no idea who his mate is.

At some point, they had no other choice but to grab the gun and shoot him, resulting in a strange being shot right into his chest which made his body fall to the floor unconsciously.

Everyone sighed in relief as the guard carried him back to his room.

"This," the doctor murmured grimly while raking a hand through his disheveled white locks, "is going to take much, much longer than I foresaw..."

Well, Anastasia in fact had very high hopes.