Lilith lifted her head from the mattress slowly. She was still holding her mother’s hand.

"Fine," she said automatically.

Dr. Reeves studied her for another moment. Then she pulled the chair closer and sat down beside Lilith.

"Well, you do not look fine to me at all," the doctor said quietly.

She looked at Cassandra for a moment, at the unconscious woman on the bed. Then she turned back to Lilith.

"You really don’t need to be so hard on yourself, you know that?" Dr. Reeves said. "Your parents wouldn’t have wanted this for you at all."

Lilith looked at her mother’s peaceful face. At the machines keeping her alive.

"Well, I don’t really have a choice, do I?" Lilith said. Her voice was flat. Emotionless. The numbness had settled into her completely, making it impossible to feel much of anything.

Dr. Reeves was quiet for a moment. Then she reached out and squeezed the hand that wasn’t holding her mother’s.

"You need to take care of yourself so that you’ll be able to take care of your mother when she wakes up," the doctor said. "Starving yourself, exhausting yourself, running yourself into the ground, it won’t help her. It will only hurt you both."

Lilith didn’t respond. She simply nodded slightly, acknowledging the words without agreeing with them.

Dr. Reeves squeezed her hand once more, then stood up and left the room.

Lilith remained where she was, holding her mother’s hand, her head resting on the mattress beside her mother’s body.

After several more minutes of silence, she forced herself to stand.

She kissed her mother’s forehead gently. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"I’ll be back, Mom," she whispered. "After my shift."

Then she turned and left the room.

The morning air hit her face as she exited the hospital.

It was still cold, still grey. The sun hadn’t fully risen yet. The pack territory was waking up, but only just barely.

Emma was standing near the hospital entrance, waiting.

When she saw Lilith, she moved toward her immediately.

"There you are," Emma said. "You can’t be late today, Lilith. If we’re late, they’ll dock our pay. We need our full wages for this shift."

Lilith nodded, understanding the urgency. The extra pay they’d been promised depended on completing their hours. Missing a shift, or arriving late, would cost them money they desperately needed.

"I’ll go to my room and get ready," Lilith said. "I’ll meet you at the assembly."

"Good," Emma said. She squeezed Lilith’s shoulder briefly, a gesture of solidarity, of understanding what was at stake. "Don’t be long."

Emma left, heading toward omega assembly.

Lilith turned and began towards the omega quarters.

Her exhausted body moved slowly, each step an effort. The weight of everything, the dreams, the exhaustion, the impossible timeline, the extra work ahead of her, all of it pressed down on her shoulders like a physical force.

But she kept moving.

Because there was no choice. Because her mother’s survival depended on her earning those extra wages. Because stopping was not an option, no matter how much her body screamed for rest.

She dragged her exhausted body toward the omega quarters, toward the small room where she’d find clean clothes and a few minutes to prepare herself for the long day ahead.

***

*THE BLACKWOOD ESTATE*

The training ground was alive with controlled violence.

Lucian moved across the training ground with fluid precision, his muscles responding to each movement with the kind of power that only an alpha possessed. His opponent, a warrior named Jack tried to land a blow, but Lucian sidestepped it effortlessly and countered with a strike that sent the man stumbling backward.

It was the fifth warrior Lucian had sparred with this morning.

Two weeks ago, he wouldn’t have been able to do this. Two weeks ago, Zev had been so restless, so desperate, so completely consumed with the need to reach their mate that Lucian could barely maintain human form during training. The wolf had wanted to run. Wanted to shift. Wanted to abandon everything and head toward Shadowmere to claim what was theirs.

But something had shifted in the past two weeks.

Knowledge. Purpose. Direction.

They were going to get her. In three days, they would leave for Shadowmere. In less than a week, they would be on the same pack territory. In less than two weeks, they would see her for the first time since she’d left the estate.

The knowledge had calmed Zev. Not completely, the wolf was still restless, still desperate, still pulled into her dreams every night. Still waking Lucian rock hard and aching, his balls throbbing with need, his cock demanding relief that only she could provide.

But the frenzy had diminished. The feral edge had dulled slightly. Zev had found focus.

Lucian feinted left, then struck right, his fist connecting with Jack’s ribs hard enough to force the air from the man’s lungs. Jack went down.

"Enough," Lucian said, extending his hand to help the warrior up.

Jack took it, breathing heavily, respect evident in his expression. The warrior knew he’d been bested by a superior fighter. There was no shame in it.

Lucian was pulling on a fresh shirt when Finn approached.

His beta was moving with purpose, which meant something significant had happened. Finn didn’t interrupt training unless it was important.

"Alpha," Finn said, coming to a stop in front of Lucian. "Alpha Nicholas is calling you."

Lucian looked up from fastening his shirt. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"What does my brother want?" Lucian asked.

"I don’t know," Finn said honestly. "But Alpha Nicholas said it was important and Alpha Sebastian’s already there."

Lucian’s hands stilled on his shirt buttons. Sebastian is already there? That suggested this had been planned.

"Sebastian is also there?" Lucian asked, needing confirmation.

"Yes, Alpha," Finn confirmed. "Both of them are in Alpha Nicholas’s office."

Lucian dropped the damp towel he’d been using to clean his face and turned toward the exit of the training grounds, his body still glistening with sweat from the session.

"Thank you, Finn," he said as he passed his beta.