Page 11 of Chain Me Knot

Mouth slack.

Eyes the color of a summer sky are open but vacant.So fucking vacant. It takes all my concentration not to become swept away in Asher’s spiral.

The medical team moves around our omega's frozen form. Dr. Chen carefully inserts a new IV while another checks her vitals. They speak in soft, measured tones, treating her like the wounded person she is.

“Severe anxiety response... catatonic state... previous trauma...” Their clinical observations feel like accusations. Each word drives another spike of agony through our pack bond as Asher watches them work.

“I’m starting a low-dose sedation,” the doctor announces, injecting something into her IV line. “We need to reduce shock.”

Asher makes a sound I've never heard from him before, part growl, part pure anguish. His knees give out. Soren and I guide him to the floor. “I did this. Claimed her without consent, and now...” His hands shake as he runs them through his hair. “What have I done? What have I done to her?”

The despair pouring through our bond makes it hard to breathe. He sees himself as no better than the monsters we hunt. He hurt her, but this isn’t just the result of his bite. Her trauma has taken systematic years of abuse to form but he bonded her, and she’ll feel everything he does. We have to calm him down.

“Let's get him out of here,” I say to Soren.

We drag his ass out of the room and I slam him against the wall in the corridor outside. He slumps against the wall, chest heaving, bond burning as he beats himself up.

“Ash.” I grab his shoulders, forcing him to look at me. “You need to get control of yourself. If we can feel you through the pack bond, she will too.”

“Pull yourself together, brother. You're our prime. Act like it. Your emotional meltdown is flooding through to her, and she can't handle it right now,” Soren speaks in a biting tone.

I shake Asher. “I know you're drowning in guilt. But she's drowning in your guilt too. You can’t take that bite back. Man the fuck up and deal with the fallout.”

Asher's eyes finally focus on us, some of the raw anguish replaced by understanding. And shame.

“You made a mistake. A fucking massive one. But having a breakdown isn't going to help her. She needs you to be stronger than this. We all do,” Soren says.

I hammer the nail in our prime’s coffin hard enough I hope it snaps him right the fuck back into the present. “Our scent match is in there fighting for her life. And your emotions are probably pushing her further into shock. Get it together, Ash. Be the alpha she needs right now, not one who is wallowing in self-pity.”

The words are harsh, but we need him focused. Need him functioning. Because this situation is fucked enough without our prime falling apart at the seams.

Finally, Asher's eyes clear, that haunted look replaced by something harder, more focused. He wrestles his emotions under control, forcing down the guilt and self-loathing. It's not gone, but it's contained. Manageable. Just in time, because Dr. Chen emerges from the omega's room.

Asher straightens, pushing away from the wall. “Doc, how is she?”

The prime alpha we know is back online, and thank fuck for that, because if there's one thing our broken omega doesn't need, it's a broken alpha trying to protect her.

Dr. Chen adjusts his glasses, eyes flicking between us. “I won’t lie. The next twenty-four hours will be critical. Her body’s under enormous strain from malnutrition, infection, and now she’s battling competing bonds from two packs.”

Asher’s jaw tightens; the smolder of our bond flares. I press a hand to his bicep, sending a silent warning to stay steady.

“Do you think she’s going to…”Make it.My throat tightens; I can't finish.

Dr. Chen’s gaze is heavy. “Her BMI is dangerously low. She’s malnourished. Dehydrated. She has multiple infected wounds, especially around her ankle, and needs aggressive antibiotics. There is evidence of repeated trauma, old and new. But the worst is systemic.” He clears his throat, shifting on the linoleum floor. “Her omega biology has also essentially shut down. It’s a survival response we sometimes see with extreme trauma. Her hormone levels are near nonexistent. Blood work shows she hasn’t cycled into heat for months, maybe even a year.”

I share a horrified look with Asher and Soren. She can’t be more than mid-twenties, an omega in her prime. Omegas normally have four heats a year.

“Will she recover?” Asher chokes out.

Dr. Chen’s voice falters. “It’s unclear at this stage. There are many factors to consider. Her body has rewired itself to block heat cycles. And now, with an additional claiming bite…”

A guttural sound escapes Asher. I grip his shoulder, grounding him and myself.

“On one hand, the new bond complicates everything. After so long with three partial connections testing her limits, a fourth only piles on the pressure she’s already struggling to manage.”

“What are you saying?” My chest tightens, breath shallow.

“Her omega functions may never normalize. She might never go into heat or form proper bonds.” The weight presses down.

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