Chapter 3

The next day, the post was all anyone at the medical center could talk about.

When I passed the parents' lounge, Keira was surrounded by over a dozen mothers.

"Alpha pups get the finished product, and our kids get the risks."

The moment she finished, someone chimed in. "No wonder they draw so much blood every time."

"We didn't get lucky with free treatment. We were picked for this."

The more they talked, the more real it sounded.

One mother rolled up her son's sleeve and photographed the needle marks. The boy's wolf had mostly recovered. He was crouching by a chair, playing with a toy. She didn't photograph the bright glow in his eyes. She zoomed the camera in on the bruise.

When I walked past, the chatter stopped for a few seconds.

Keira was the first to smile.

"Relax, everyone. This is a modern medical center, not an Alpha's council chamber. She can't order us to shut up."

A few others laughed along.

I didn't stop.

What they wanted was a public confrontation, ideally one that forced my wolf to the surface.

I hadn't been back in my office long when Lydia walked in carrying a cup of coffee.

She set the cup beside me, using the same familiar tone as always.

"Viola, don't stoop to Keira's level. She's just worried about Ollie."

I glanced at the coffee but didn't touch it.

"Do you believe Mia was used as a test subject?"

Lydia hesitated.

"Of course I don't want to believe you'd do something like that."

Not "don't believe."

"Don't want to believe."

She had left herself a way out.

"When Mia had her first collapse, you signed every consent form in the emergency room yourself. You know better than anyone why her blood was drawn."

Lydia gripped the handle of her cup.

"But we're not doctors. Those reports are so complicated. Who knows where the blood ends up?"

"Every blood sample has a serial number and a destruction record."

"Then make it public."

She finally looked up, her voice rising.

"Just release everything, then give us the treatment funds going forward. Problem solved."

"So you're not here to ask where Mia's blood went."

I pushed the coffee back toward her.

"You're here for the money too."

Lydia's face flushed.

"I just think the money would be safer in the mothers' hands. We could pick our own clinics instead of begging the Alpha's medical center to take our kids every time."

"When did you ever have to beg for Mia's treatment?"

She had no answer.

I secured the hospital bed. I paid for the medication. When she was terrified in the middle of the night, I sat with her until dawn.

Now all of that had become evidence of a different crime: because I had helped her, she was under my control.

Paige pushed through the door, her face pale.

"Northridge Hospital suspended next month's joint treatment. And two media outlets just showed up downstairs."

She handed me the tablet.

The number-one trending topic now read:

#ContaminatedZoneOmegaPupsUsedAsAlphaTestSubjects#

Several new anonymous posts had been pushed to the top.

"My daughter runs a high fever after every treatment, and they say it's normal. Looking back, they were obviously testing dosages."

"They draw blood every week but never let parents take the samples home. That blood was definitely sold."

"One time my child was crying and refused to go into the treatment room, and the nurse just carried him away. Poor kids don't even get the right to say no."

All the IP addresses traced back to the Moonbridge Medical Center.

I recognized one of those stories. The child had refused to enter the treatment room because he was afraid of needles. The nurse had asked the mother's permission first. The mother had even rushed her from outside the door, telling her to hurry so she wouldn't be late for work.

Now the mother had deleted herself from the story.

All that remained was a child being carried away against his will and a cold-blooded medical center.

Lydia was still standing by my desk.

"See? Everyone's scared. Viola, why don't you just stop the treatment for now and hand out the money? You can deal with the rest after things blow over."

I picked up the coffee, now cold, and poured it into the trash.

"Get out."

"I really am trying to help you."

"Get out."

She bit her lip and walked out, bumping against the doorframe as she turned. She didn't look back.

My office was soon flooded with phone calls.

Partner hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, media outlets, the Elder Council. One after another.

The messages from strangers were even worse.

"You profit off children. The Moon Goddess will punish you."

"Just like Alphas to treat the contaminated zone like a dump."

"You couldn't even save your own child, and you dare touch other people's kids?"

That last one kept appearing.

Keira knew that Leo would cut deeper than any question about the serum.

She also knew that the moment she put "poor children" and "Alpha" in the same sentence, the truth would have to wait in line behind the outrage.

I turned off my phone and dialed Diane on her direct line.

"Notify all staff and parents. Nine a.m. tomorrow, the main conference hall."

"There will be a final decision on the free treatment program."