When I woke up, the air felt wrong.
The first thing I noticed was the silence that thick, unnatural kind that made the hairs on my arms rise. The second was the scent. It wasn't the usual clean sterility of the clinic. No this was darker, heavier. A storm pressed into the walls, breathing down my neck.
Then came the whispers. Not from outside. From inside the room. From the trembling lips of the nurses surrounding my bed.
"Don't move."
"Keep your head down."
"Don't make eye contact."
Their voices quivered, breaking around every word.
My eyes fluttered open. Bright light stabbed at them, forcing me to blink through the haze. The world slowly took shape white sheets, IV tubes, shaking hands. And then him. The Alpha.
He stood in the far corner like a shadow carved out of the air itself. His back was straight, his head slightly lowered, but his eyes gods, those eyes were fixed on me with a silence that cut deeper than any roar.
