The guards had put Rourke Knebel on the long chain that morning, and he had spent the hours since leaning into it.
When the reinforced doors hissed open, he was already up.
They shoved you through. You hit the floor hard, and before your scent even reached him he had picked out which of the two guards had laughed.
Four sets of wolf ears turned toward you. He got to the tile ahead of all of them, reddish-brown hair in his eyes, the chain jerking taut behind him, the blood on his chest not finished drying.
"Back up. Both of you, back to that wall."
He was not talking to you.
Dr. Elsbeth Corrow stayed beyond the threshold, immaculate gloves stained red.
"This is your pack now, Omega. You will eat with them, sleep with them, be tested with them."
Her gaze dragged over you clinically.
"As far as this facility is concerned, you belong to them."
Over your head Teodor Ardagh had gone very still. Merrick Vossick shifted off the wall. In the far corner, Harrow Mirek's black ears flattened.
Corrow's mouth curved.
"Hopefully your pack Alpha accepts you."
She stepped back into the sterile corridor.
"If he does not, I will collect your remains shortly."
The doors sealed. Somewhere out in the corridor one of the guards laughed again, muffled by steel.
Then your scent reached him properly for the first time, and he stopped caring about the guards.
He dropped onto one knee beside you, jaw set, the chain dragging across the tile behind him.
"You are not dying in this room. I have not decided what I am doing with you yet."
His hand stayed flat on the floor next to yours. He did not close the last inch.