“We think…” The doctor trailed off hours later as he seemed to be trying to find the right words to say. “Webelievethat the patient was injected with a cocktail of hormones, and based on the information you gave us, went through a process called plasmapheresis where the plasma from an alpha and an omega was put into her body. As such she is exhibiting signs of allthreedesignations.”
The other guys seemed at a loss for what that meant, their brows drawing together in confusion.
I was able to connect the dots, however. I knew what the doctor was saying, but I also knew that his words were batshit crazy.
“That’s impossible,” I cut in. “Plasmapheresis shouldn’t be able to change biological makeup like that.”
I had fought to double major when I was in college despite my father’s urging to focus on my computer science degree and all of the lectures I had listened to in college about designations andtheir genetics had been very clear: there was no known way to change a designation. It was a part of the very core of our DNA.
The doctor shrugged his shoulders, his lips forming a tight line. “I’m just going off of the information that you’ve given me and the tests we’ve done. Unless I was able to actually see the room she was in, I’m just making assumptions. But you said there’s no way for me to see the room, right?”
We all remained silent. That room was definitely swarmed with FBI agents right about now, and unless we wanted to do another stint in federal prison, there was no way for us to show him the room.
“That’s what I thought,” the doctor said with a huff and a shake of his head. “Itcouldbe that whatever she was injected with is acting like a virus or bacteria and her body is fighting it off—hence the seizures—and that it will eventually go away once her immune system kicks in. That could make these, uh,designation flare-upsgo away eventually as her beta genetics reassert themselves.”
“And what if her body can’t fight it off?” Elio asked, his fists clenched tightly in front of him like he wanted to punch the nearest wall.
The doctor shifted uncomfortably on his feet and I just knew what he was about to say wasn’t going to be good. “Then there’s a chance she could permanently experience urges attributed to all three designations, becoming something like a hybrid which would mean she is one of the first to successfully have her designation changed which is a scientific feat that I never thought I would see in my lifetime—”
The sudden light in the man’s eyes grated on my nerves. It was like he was forgetting he was talking about a real human being who had just been kidnapped and put through torture. She wasn’t a fucking science experiment.
“Get to the point,” I snapped at him, my voice a low growl that made the man stiffen.
The doctor cleared his throat, his face flushing red as he seemed to realize he’d been too overzealous in his explanation of what was going on with Cini.
“She’s stable at the moment, though we expect to see more seizures in the coming days as her body acclimates to the new genetic material that was introduced. We will keep her for observations to see what other potential side effects she may experience.”
“Should we be worried about her dying?” Dante asked, making the rest of us wheel around to stare at him.
He was the only one brave enough to finally ask the question that we’d all been thinking since she started convulsing in the backseat of the car.
The doctor looked uncomfortable. “I want to say no, but truthfully we have no idea. This sort of thing isn’t usually attempted because, ethically, there is too high a chance for the test subject to deteriorate and die at any given time. But, her vitals are strong despite the seizures and her body seems to be taking to everything shockingly well. Whoever did this to her seemed to know what they were doing, as terrifying as that sounds.”
I swallowed hard, wishing we had kept the doctor alive earlier instead of shooting first and asking questions later. When we’d entered the room he’d been holding a scalpel over Cini’s bare chest and Elio had pulled the trigger without blinking.
“You said she was exhibiting signs of all three designations,” Elio said, finally speaking up, his face a neutral mask. “Would that mean if she bites someone there’s potential for a bond to form?”
The doctor’s brows drew together. “She’s the first of her kind, so I don’t knowwhata bite from her would do… why?”
Elio put a hand up to his neck that a nurse had bandaged for him earlier. “Just curious.”
The overhead speaker crackled on, calling for a doctor by name and making the man in front of us jump. “That’s for me. I’ll come and check in on her in a bit.”
“Wait!” Nicolo called before he could hurry off. “Can we see her?”
“Ask the nurse!” the doctor threw over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner, probably to save more lives.
We were silent for a moment as we all seemed to be digesting the sudden influx of information thrown at us.
“Do you really think she bonded with you?” I asked, turning to our pack leader with a frown.
Elio shrugged, his expression blank. “I dunno, I just know that this doesn’t feel like a typical bite. It’s more tingly, like what I would assume an alpha’s bite would feel like if I ever was to get bit.”
“But alphas can’t bond with each other,” Nicolo pointed out unhelpfully.
“I knowthat, I’m not an idiot,” Elio shot back with a roll of his dark eyes. “But Cini’s not an alpha—not really. So who knows what she’s capable of now?”
Then he turned to go and find a nurse so that we could go and see our girl.
