"Why haven't you helped her?" Kira asked quietly.
"Because she doesn't want our help," I said.
Kira's head snapped around. "What?"
"She told us," Kellan explained. "She needs our help, but she doesn't want it. She feels forced into this. Trapped. We're not going to touch her until she can honestly say she wants us here."
"No. She needs help." Kira stopped, something shifting in her expression. "That's why I brought her to you."
"Explain."
She stood, moving away from the nest. When she spoke, her voice was low, meant only for us.
"Naomi's mother was bonded to an Alpha. A cruel one. He used her, abused her, controlled every aspect of her life. When Naomi was eight, her mother tried to leave. He killed her for it." Kira's hands fisted at her sides. "Naomi watched it happen. Watched him beat her mother to death for daring to want freedom."
The room went silent.
"She's spent her whole life terrified of ending up like that," Kira continued. "Trapped by biology. Controlled by an Alpha who claimed to love her but really just owned her. That's why she never dates. Never lets anyone close. Never lets herself need anyone."
"Then why bring her to us?" Kellan asked, his voice rough.
"Because you're different." Kira met his eyes. "That night at the club, she came home glowing. Terrified, but glowing. She said you made her feel safe. That you asked permission. That you cared about her pleasure more than your own." She paused. "And when she went into heat, when she was dying, I knew. I knew that if any Alphas could help her without destroying her, it would be you two."
"But she doesn't trust us," I said.
"Not yet. But she could." Kira's voice was fierce. "If you give her time. If you prove to her that you're not him. That not all Alphas are bad."
"We can't prove that if we can't touch her," Kellan pointed out.
"I'm only telling you this because you haven't touched her," Kira said. "You could have claimed her while she was desperate and out of her mind with heat. You could have bonded with her and she wouldn't have been able to stop you." She swallowed. "But you didn't. You asked for consent. You respected her boundaries even when she was too far gone to enforce them." Her voice cracked. "That's everything."
I looked at Kellan. Saw my own turmoil reflected in his expression.
"I'm going to wake her," Kira said. "And I'm going to talk to her. Make her see reason."
"Kira, you don’t have to do that."
"She's dying." Her voice was flat. "Three days of breakthrough heat with no knot, no Alpha pheromones, no relief, she's dying. And if she doesn't let you help her, she's going to leave me forever." She turned back toward the nest. "So I'm going to make her understand that not all Alphas are like her mother's Alpha. That sometimes, needing help isn't weakness. It's survival. It’s care."
She crawled carefully into the nest, settling beside Naomi's unconscious form.
"Nai," she said softly, shaking her shoulder. "Wake up. We need to talk."
Naomi stirred, whimpering. "Kira?"
"Yeah, it's me. I'm here." Kira stroked her hair. "Listen to me. You need to let them help you."
"I can't."
"You're not going to be like your mom." Kira's voice was firm. "These Alphas are here to help. They've had you vulnerable and desperate for hours and they haven't touched you. Haven'tclaimed you. Haven't done anything except ask for your consent."
"But if I say yes…"
"If you say yes, you live. If you don't, you die. Those are your options." Kira cupped her face. "Please don't make me watch you die because you're too scared to accept help."
Naomi was crying now, silent tears streaming down her face. "I'm so scared."
"I know. But Nai? Every Alpha isn't bad. Some of them are good. Some of them care. And these two?" She glanced back at us. "These two have been treating you like you're precious. Like you matter. That's not ownership. That's care."
