Chapter Six

Kara drifted awake slowly, a foreign feeling of peace settling over her. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, she wasn't cold, she wasn't afraid, and she wasn't in pain. Her memories were a hazy blur of darkness and then... this. A quiet room with warm sunlight filtering through a window, the scent of clean linen, and the steady, reassuring beep of a heart monitor beside her.

The door opened softly, and the man with kind eyes entered. He'd been a constant, gentle presence over the past few days as she drifted in and out of consciousness. "Milo," he'd introduced himself during one of her more lucid moments. Not 'Alpha Milo.' Just Milo.

"Good to see you awake for real this time," he said with a warm smile. He checked the IV drip in her arm and the readings on the monitor. "You had us worried. You've been resting for three days."

He pulled up a chair, his demeanor calm and respectful. "Kara, I know you must have a million questions. Your leg was broken in the accident, but it's healing cleanly. The most important thing I need you to know," he said, his voice gentle but firm, "is that I've given you a temporary hormonal suppressor. It will hold off your heat until your body has healed, but it won't last forever. When the time comes, you will have a choice to make about how you want to handle it. A real choice."

He then looked at her, his expression serious but deeply compassionate. "But that's for later. For now, I just want to know how you're feeling. And when you're ready, we can talk about what you might want for your future, what you want to do with your life now that you're safe?"

Kara stared at him, the words "choice" and "future" echoing in the quiet room. They felt like a foreign language, concepts that no longer applied to her. She couldn't grasp it. It had to be a ploy. A trick.

Her mind raced, searching for the angle, the hidden trap. Kindness from an Alpha was a mask, a tool used to lull you into compliance before the cage door slammed shut. Kael had been "kind" once, too, and she had the scars on her soul to prove it. This felt no different, just a more elaborate prison with softer sheets.

Besides, Elspeth had told her to go north. She hadn't made it north; she'd made it onto a dark road and into the path of a car. She had failed. She was lost, and lost things were easily claimed.

She finally found her voice, though it was little more than a raw, cautious whisper. Her eyes, filled with the shadows of her past, narrowed with suspicion as she looked at the kind doctor.

"Why?" she asked. "Why would you help me?"

Milo didn't look offended by her suspicion. Instead, a deep sadness settled in his eyes, as if her question confirmed a terrible truth he already knew.

"Because our Alpha believes that true strength is used to protect the vulnerable, not to create them," he answered, his voice soft and sincere. "And because my duty as a doctor is to heal, not to judge."

He leaned forward slightly, his expression earnest. "Kara, I know this must be hard to believe. Packs can be very different from one another—very isolated, with their own laws, their own traditions. The rules you've lived by your entire life... they are not the only rules. It's not surprising that it's all you know," he added gently. "But I promise you, it is not all there is."

His honesty was a stark contrast to Kael's manipulations. For the first time since she woke up in this room, a tiny, fragile crack appeared in the icy wall around her heart. Could it be true? Could a pack really be... different?