My arms closed around her, and she grabbed onto me, fingers digging into my shoulders hard enough to bruise. She buried her face in my neck, breathing in ragged gasps against my pulse. Her whole body shook.
“I’ve got you.” I pulled her closer. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Her nails pierced through my shirt. She made a sound like a wounded animal and dragged me tighter against her. Then her hands became fists, and she shoved at my chest.
“Get away from me.” The words came out strangled. She pushed harder, then grabbed my collar and yanked me back. “Don’t leave! Don’t you dare! I need—” Her mouth found mine, desperate and clumsy, teeth clashing. She bit my lip hard enough to draw blood.
I tasted copper. She sobbed against my mouth and kissed me deeper.
“Andie—”
“Shut up.” She wrapped her legs around my waist, grinding against me. “Shut up, shut up. I hate you. I need you inside me—” Another convulsion racked her body. She screamed and raked her nails down my back. “Make it stop! Alexander, please, it hurts. Make it stop—”
The unmistakable musk of an Omega in heat erupted over me. But it was wrong somehow, sharper and more violent. “What’shappening to her?” I held her tighter as she thrashed. “Danae, what the hell is happening?”
“I don’t know.” Danae’s face had gone white. “The readings were perfect. The calibration was exact. This shouldn’t have happened.”
“It shouldn’t have happened, no,” Cassandra said, her hands already glowing with healing fire. “But… it was just too late. Her instincts are winning out.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means she’s going into heat,” Cassandra replied, her amber eyes fixed on Andie’s writhing form. “An anomalous one. Her system thinks it’s being claimed by competing Alphas. She’s trying to submit and resist at the same time.”
Andie proved the point by shoving me away and dragging me back in the same breath. Her teeth found my throat, and she bit down, hard enough to make my vision blur.
“Mine,” she screamed. “You’re mine. You can’t leave. I won’t let you—” She shoved at my chest again. “Get off me! Don’t touch me!”
“Alexander.” Cassandra’s tone sharpened. “You need to let her go. Your proximity is feeding the loop. The longer you hold her, the worse this gets.”
“I can’t just—”
“She will die.” Cassandra didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t need to. “Her heart is already under massive strain. If we don’t break the cycle in the next few minutes, it will give out.”
Andie’s fingers found my hair and fisted. She yanked my head back, exposing my throat, and dragged her tongue up my pulse point.
“Don’t listen to them.” Her breath burned against my skin. “They want to take you away. They’ve always wanted to take you away. Stay with me. Knot me. Make me yours and I’ll stop fighting. I promise I’ll stop fighting—”
My hindbrain roared at me to give her what she wanted. She was my mate. She was in heat. She was begging for me.
Strong arms suddenly surrounded me like an unbreakable cage. Andie screamed my name and lunged for me as Argos hauled me backward. Her nails caught my forearms and tore bloody lines from elbow to wrist. Helena dove forward and caught her daughter around the waist, purple-gold light flaring as she used her bond-manipulation to hold Andie still.
“Now, Healer Reed!”
Cassandra pressed her palms to Andie’s temples. Hestia’s fire blazed orange-gold, spreading across my mate’s skull like a crown of flame. Andie thrashed against the light. Her screams faded to whimpers, then finally, to silence.
Her body went limp in her mother’s arms.
The room fell quiet except for Cassandra’s ragged breathing.
“She’s stable.” The healer pulled her trembling hands back. “The coma will hold. But I’ve never had to go this deep. The damage to her system…” She shook her head. “She’ll need days to recover. Maybe longer.”
I stood where my father had dragged me, five feet from the examination table. Blood dripped from the gouges in my arms. Andie lay motionless against Helena’s chest, her face slack.
“I don’t understand.” Danae stared at her instruments, at the readings still displayed on her Hephaestus crystals. “The science was sound. Every test confirmed the calibration was perfect.”
Helena lowered her daughter onto the examination table. Her hands shook as she smoothed Andie’s sweat-damp hair back from her forehead. “It wasn’t your fault. Hera’s will is simply too potent.” She turned toward Cassandra. “Healer Reed, what are her chances?”
“Of surviving? Good, if we keep her sedated and let her body recover.” Cassandra hesitated. “Of the curse being contained? I don’t know. This episode may have made everything worse. The feedback loop could have strengthened the connection instead of breaking it.”