Page 63 of Rescued By Four Alphas
Tears slip down her cheeks. "I tried to protect you as much as I could. I altered some of the results and downplayed your unique readings. But he already knew how special your pregnancy was. He's been tracking you since before the Crimson Plague."
"Why are you here now?" I demand, my voice hoarse with fury. "To check if your handiwork is progressing according to plan? To collect more data for your mother's jailer?"
Marianna finally meets my eyes, her eyes swimming with tears. "To warn you. Reid is accelerating his timeline. The other Omegas' losses have made him impatient. He's planning to induce labor within the week."
The world seems to shrink to a pinpoint of terror. "No. The babies aren't ready."
"I know," she says, "Even with the accelerants, they're still weeks away from viability outside the womb. But Reid doesn't care about long-term survival. He just needs them alive long enough to complete his initial tests."
The room spins around me, and I struggle to breathe. "Why are you telling me this? What can I possibly do, strapped to this bed?"
Marianna steps closer, lowering her voice to near inaudible. "Because I'm trying to make amends, even though I know it's too little, too late. And because your mates deserve to know what's happening."
My heart stops. "You've contacted them?"
"No," she shakes her head quickly. "That's impossible. This facility is completely isolated. But... Reid records everything.All the examinations, all the procedures. He's building a comprehensive dataset, including video documentation."
I don't understand at first, then it clicks. "The cameras."
She nods slightly. "He monitors everything in this room. Whatever you say, whatever you do… he sees and hears it all."
"Why are you here, Dr. Marianna?" I ask, my mind working furiously beneath my outwardly calm question. "You betrayed me to Reid. You helped him kidnap me. And now you expect me to believe you want to help me?"
"I never wanted this," she insists, checking the readouts on my monitors with trembling fingers. "I just wanted to protect my mother. But what he's doing now, for you, to the others, is too much. I can't be part of it anymore."
"So why not help me escape?" I challenge.
"Escape is impossible," she says. "The security is impenetrable. I'm only allowed here because Reid thinks I'm completely under his control."
"And aren't you?" I ask bitterly.
"I should go," Marianna says, suddenly nervous. "Dr. Reid will be checking my rounds."
"Wait," I say desperately. "Tell me about the induction process. What will happen to me? To my babies?"
She pauses at the door, "The procedure begins with a series of hormone injections to thin the cervix and initiate contractions. Given your advanced state, the process should progress rapidly once started. The fetuses will be removed and transferred to the examination team immediately."
"Will they survive?" I ask, my voice breaking.
Marianna looks away. "Reid doesn't expect them to survive long-term. His primary interest is in their genetic structure and the early stages of bond marker development." She hesitates, then adds softly. "I'm so sorry, Dahlia. For everything."
The door closes behind her, leaving me alone with the terrible knowledge that my babies' birth has become a death sentence. Reid plans to rip them from me before they're ready, study them until they die, and then prepare me to breed more test subjects for his monstrous vision.
I curl onto my side as much as the restraints allow, trying to comfort my swollen belly with gentle strokes. "I won't let that happen," I whisper fiercely to my children. "I promise you. He will not take you from me."
But the promise feels hollow. What power do I have here, strapped to this bed, pumped full of drugs that dull my mind and accelerate my pregnancy? What chance do four tiny, premature babies have against a government-funded madman with a laboratory full of willing assistants?
I close my eyes, desperately reaching for the bonds I share with my mates. If they're coming for me, and I have to believe theyare, they're racing against a clock that's ticking faster than any of us anticipated.
Hours later, I'm jolted awake by a sharp, cramping pain that radiates from my back to my abdomen. I gasp, my hands flying to my belly as much as the restraints allow.
The door opens, and Reid enters, flanked by two technicians wheeling in equipment I haven't seen before. He looks unusually animated, almost eager, as he approaches my bed.
"Excellent timing, Dr. Baldwin," he says, checking the monitors. "We've decided to move forward with the extraction process."
Chapter 19 - Onyx
"These tunnels were designed to survive nuclear fallout, not four pissed-off Alphas." Rivera spreads the blueprint across the hood of his Jeep and traces the air ventilation system with his finger. His weathered face looks ghostly in the blue glow of our flashlights. "Getting in won't be your problem. Getting out alive with your mate will be."
