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“We need a contrast,” the nurse explained without preamble. “This has an extract of foxglove in it to keep you from healing around it. It’ll sting, but it won’t last.”
I didn’t bother to tell her that whatever they could do to me wouldn’t come close to what I’d endured. The sting was intense, but I didn’t flinch as she got the IV going. Instead, I laid back and closed my eyes, praying to whatever deity might be watching over me that I’d fall asleep and wake up with some change.
I could live without healing entirely, but I needed some semblance of my life back or I wasn’t going to survive.
“We’re going to wheel you back now, General,” she said, and I startled because no one had used my title in so long.
I swallowed back the urge to correct her, to tell her that I wasn’t a General anymore. I was an escaped prisoner of war, in no condition to lead anyone. But I didn’t. Instead, I forced my limbs to relax, and I tried not to count the seconds until it was all over.
* * *
It was impossible to sleep during the MRI. The noise was overwhelming, and the smells were worse. My nose was starting to get used to it though, and the more I was surrounded by my own kind, the more my own nature began to reconnect to them.
By the time it was over, I was ready for a long nap, but my mind kept straying to Misha, wondering what the hell they’d done with him. Was he still alive? Was he in pain?
I had only known him a short time, but not being able to smell him or hear his heart was weighing on my nerves. The bond was still there, just a shadow—a sort of promise of what it could be—and I knew I was holding on when I should be letting go.
“We’re getting the results now. It’ll be about an hour before the doctor comes in,” the nurse said as she settled me back to my room and set the brake on the rolling bed. “Can I get you anything?”
“He needs food,” Orion said, and this time I had scented him, so I was expecting him to speak for me. “Also a shower.”
“We can bring a meal. No showers until we’re sure he can stand on his own.”
I didn’t bother telling her that I’d run from a fucking lab while a bomb was going off, and I’d slept on a moldy mattress next to an altered human before showing up there. I could manage a damn shower, but I was too tired to put up a fight.
I appreciated that Orion said nothing, and I started to drift by the time I heard a soft knock at the door. Irritation rose in me—I just wanted to be left the fuck alone for a while, but I could tell from the footsteps this was no orderly.
“General Titus?” The man’s voice was the deep rumble of a Wolf who clearly knew what they were doing.
I pushed myself to sit in spite of the ache in my body, and I turned toward his voice. “Just Kor,” I corrected him.
He cleared his throat, and then I heard the squeak of wheels, so I assumed he took a seat. “My name is Dr. Danyal Bereket.”
I startled at the name. I’d met him a handful of times—the younger brother of an Alpha I had served with. Back when his brother I were working together, Danyal had been a teenager—a wide-eyed Omega, one of the only male Omegas I’d ever met. He was smart, and his brother had spoken about him with more pride than most would have dared amongst the company of Alphas. “Zane’s little brother,” I muttered, and I heard him let out a breathy laugh.
“I wasn’t sure you’d remember me. It’s been years.” He went silent, and I heard the chair shift closer. “I want to go over these results with you, but I want to examine you a bit further if you’d be willing.”
“Can’t be worse than what the humans did to me,” I told him.
“I’m sorry for what you’ve been through,” he said softly, without pity, which I appreciated. I heard a soft click, like an ink pen tip being extended. “You’ve not been able to complete a full shift, correct?”
“Yeah,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “Half shift so far—fangs, claws, my ability to scent has been stronger. But any time I try to go further, the wolf pulls away.”
“It’s understandable. Your internal injuries have been in a constant state of healing. You likely won’t manage a full shift for a week, maybe longer. I would recommend not trying it until the next moon.”
It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but it was what I expected. “But it will come back?”
“Yes,” he promised. “I have no reason to believe your shift has been permanently affected.” I heard the sound of him writing, then the chair moved again, and I felt him closer. “What about the blindness? How long has it been going on?”
I felt my face heat up—mostly with fear because all I wanted was to know how long it would take to heal, and his hesitation was making me nervous. “Uh… a while. Things started to get dim some time ago. I wasn’t conscious for all of it. I had some sight when I escaped—just a little bit of light at the side of my eyes, but by the next morning, it was all gone.”
“Entirely?” the doctor said, though it didn’t sound much like a question.
“Yeah. It’s…” I blew out a puff of air. “It’s not dark. It’s just not there. I know that doesn’t make sense, but…”
“It does. General Ti—Kor,” he corrected, “the damage to your optical nerves is consistent with something like ethylene glycol poisoning.”
My brow furrowed. “What now?”
