The alarm was deafening.
A wailing siren that echoed off every building, accompanied by flashing red lights that turned the pale morning into something garish and wrong. Doors began slamming — automatic locks engaging, security protocols activating, the entire campus shifting into a mode it had probably never used before.
Lockdown.
"Move!" Neal grabbed my arm, pulling me toward the Healing Center. "We need to get them inside before—"
The alpha woke up.
The siren had cut through the sedatives like nothing else could. His eyes snapped open — golden, wild,furious— and he lunged against the straps with renewed violence. The sled bucked and shuddered. One of the bindings snapped.
"James!"
My mate was already there, throwing his weight onto the sled, trying to hold the alpha down. But the massive wolf was thrashing now, teeth snapping, claws tearing at everything within reach. The other four wolves had frozen at the sound of the alarm — ears flat, hackles raised, caught between the instinct to run and the pull of Cal's presence.
Cal was trying to calm them. Making sounds I couldn't interpret, positioning his body between them and the chaos. But they were panicking, feeding off each other's fear, seconds away from bolting.
"The door!" I shouted at Neal. "Get the door open!"
He sprinted toward the Healing Center entrance, fumbling for his keycard. Behind me, I could hear shouts — other staff members emerging from buildings, students pressing against windows to see what was happening, the whole campus coming alive with confused, frightened energy.
We had minutes. Maybe less.
The alpha broke another strap.
His front legs were free now. He was trying to stand, trying to throw himself off the sled, and James couldn't hold him alone. I grabbed one of the remaining bindings, pulled with everything I had, felt the leather cut into my palms.
"Neal!"
"I'm trying! The lockdown — my card isn't—"
The alpha's jaws snapped inches from my face.
I didn't flinch. Couldn't afford to. Just held his gaze, let the bond between us pulse with everything I had.
Stop. Please.
He snarled. But for one moment — one heartbeat — he hesitated.
It was enough.
The door beeped. Swung open. Rae's face appeared in the gap — she must have overridden the lockdown from inside. Her expression was thunderous, but her hands were steady as she held the door wide.
"NOW!"
James and I hauled the sled forward. The alpha was still fighting, still thrashing, but the door was right there — ten feet, five feet, two—
We crashed through the entrance.
The four smaller wolves followed, Cal herding them with urgent precision. They poured into the Healing Center's lobby in a rush of fur and fear, and then—
The door slammed shut behind us.
The sound of the alarm dimmed. Not gone — I could still hear it through the walls — but muffled. Contained.
We were inside.
Rae took control immediately.
