The scream Zack let out wasn't human. It was a jagged, visceral sound that tore through the quiet of the safehouse, vibrating the very marrow in Nathan’s bones. Zack buckled, his hands clawing at the rug, his spine arching in a way that looked like it should have snapped."You’re doing this," Zack gasped, the words bubbling through a throat that sounded like it was filling with gravel. "Nathan, stop... make it stop!""I can't," Nathan rasped, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs. He knelt, his large hands hovering over Zack’s writhing form. He knew this agony. Every member of the Cocolink bloodline remembered their first "Flare"—the moment the dormant, predatory DNA finally overrode the human shell. It was a systematic breaking and rebuilding. Bones didn't just move; they shattered and reformed. Muscles tore away from the bone to knit back stronger, denser."It’s just your time, Zack," Nathan whispered, his voice thick with a helpless kind of grief. He scooped Zack up
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