The Alpha's Hybrid Mate

chapter 10

‎The silence Ace left behind wasn't peaceful; it was heavy, suffocating, and thick like the calm before the storm.

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‎Rose sat frozen on the edge of the leather sofa, her chest heaving as she stared at the locked door. He had locked her in. He had treated her like an animal, a captive, a fragile piece of glass that would break at the first sign of trouble.

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‎“A human mate is a death sentence in a pack war.” His , mocking voice replayed in her mind, sending a surge of fierce heat straight to her body.

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‎But as the adrenaline of their argument began to fade, a different kind of heat took its place. It started deep beneath her chest a strange, pulsing pressure that rapidly radiated outward, flooding her veins with a sudden, scorching fever.

‎Rose gasped, pressing a trembling hand to her throat. Her skin felt hot to the touch.

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‎Calm down, she reminded herself, her medical training automatically kicking in to fight the rising panic. It’s just delayed shock. Hyperventilation. Breathe, Rose. Just analyze the symptoms.

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‎Steeling her resolve, she pressed two fingers firmly against her artery, looking toward the clock on the cabin wall to count the seconds.

‎One second. Two seconds. Three.

‎Her fingers throbbed violently against her wrist. The beats were coming so fast, so unnatural, that she didn't even need to focus to count them. She timed it for exactly fifteen seconds, then multiplied by four.

‎142 beats per minute.

‎Rose’s breath hitched. Her dark eyes widened as she stared at her own wrist. By every medical textbook she had ever memorized , this should be impossible.

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‎At 142 beats per minute while sitting perfectly still, her body should be entering hypovolemic shock. Her heart should be failing, her lungs gasping for oxygen, her cognitive functions rapidly deteriorating as her organs shut down from heatstroke.

‎Instead, she felt an terrifying surge of energy. Her mind wasn't clouding; it was clearing. The exhaustion from her exhausting shifts at the clinic completely vanished, replaced by a restless, alertness.

‎"This is biologically impossible," Rose whispered aloud.

‎The sound of her own voice hit her ears with the force of a physical blow. She flinched, covering her ears as the ticking of the clock across the room suddenly amplified. It wasn't just a dull background noise anymore. It was like a, deafening sledgehammer.

‎She could hear the individual gears grinding together inside the wooden casing.

‎Panic, finally broke through her logical defenses. Rose scrambled off the sofa, her knees sliding onto the dark hardwood floorboards. As she put her hands out to catch herself, she looked down at her palms.

‎The raw, red, scrubbed skin,the painful blisters she had gotten from hours of harsh chemical disinfectants at the clinic yesterday,were completely gone. Her palms were perfectly smooth. The skin was flawless, and radiating an unnatural, vibrant warmth.

‎It’s already healed.

‎A sudden, sharp pain seized her abdomen, forcing a low groan from her lips.

‎Desperate to see what was happening to her, Rose dragged herself up and staggered toward the small bathroom off the living room. She gripped the edges of the white porcelain sink, leaning heavily against it as she forced herself to look up into the mirror.

‎The girl staring back at her looked like a stranger.

‎Her pale skin was flushed, damp with sweat, but it was her eyes that made her heart stop. The deep brown of her irises was swirling, revealing a striking, molten silver flecked hue that practically glowed in the dim light of the cabin. It wasn't the fierce, blazing gold of Ace's Alpha wolf. This was something darker, rarer, and infinitely more dangerous.

‎"No, no, no..." Rose whimpered, shaking her head.

‎A sharp, agonizing pressure flared in her jaw. She winced, her upper lip curling back involuntarily as her canines elongated, growing into sharp, lethal fangs that instantly sliced through the sensitive flesh of her bottom lip. The taste of metallic copper flooded her mouth, but the tiny cut healed before the blood could even drip down her chin.

‎I am not human,the realization shattered her mind, leaving nothing but raw survival instinct in its wake.

‎The silver in her eyes flared with a wild, unbroken power. As another wave of intense heat crashed through her, Rose gripped the porcelain sink tighter, her fingers curling into fists. A sickening crackle echoed in the small bathroom.

‎She looked down in absolute horror. Her fingernails had hardened, lengthening into sharp, obsidian claws. Under the accidental force of her new, supernatural strength, the porcelain rim of the sink webbed with deep, jagged fractures.

‎"Stop it, please, just stop," she begged her own body, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to use every ounce of her willpower to suppress the transformation .

‎For a agonizing twenty seconds, she fought her own genetics, breathing through the burning pain until the claws slowly receded back into her fingertips and her teeth shortened. She opened her eyes, gasping for air, looking at the cracked sink. She had managed to hide the physical traits, but the fever was still roaring.

‎Then, her heightened hearing picked it up.

‎Ace was coming back.

‎And she had exactly five seconds to figure out how to hide a shattered porcelain sink and the glowing silver of her eyes before the Alpha of Night root walked through the door.

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