Complete chaos followed.
Stella’s wolf didn’t recognize the scent of the shifters that stormed into the room. There were so many of them.
Two huge male shifters grabbed Stella and pulled her out of the room and into the hallway. She struggled and shifted into her Lyman form, but even partially shifted, she was no match for two males that were twice her size.
A couple of other ma*sive males grabbed Harper. Harper partially shifted as well, claws slashing and fangs bared.
Harper almost managed to fight her way out of their grasp, slicing one of the males across his forearm.
He didn’t even blink, and the men quickly grabbed hold of her even tighter, picking her up off th ground and carrying her out of the room and into the hallway with Stella.
Harper’s wolf was desperate, but there was no way she could defeat the two males holding her. Especially after another one put a bag over her head as they carried her away.
She listened for what she could, trying to hear if Taya screamed out, but it was no use. They took her away too quickly, and all she could make out was the sound of crashes and clanging metal coming from the room.
She thrashed and thrashed, but the hands on her only tightened their holds. Claws poked into her arms, though she barely felt the pain as she tried to get away and get back to Taya.
Who were these shifters?
Just what kind of mess had Rosalie gotten them into?
And then, just as abruptly as they came, they left.
Harper was dumped onto the floor, and by the time she reached up to take the bag off her head, they were gone. There was no sign of them anywhere.
She looked over to see Stella heaped on the floor beside her, looking just as dazed and confused, her eyes wide with fear and adrenaline. They were both still in their Lyman forms, and their chests heaved as they tried to regain their breaths from struggling so hard.
Without a word, they both looked at each other, then looked in the direction of the hospital room where Taya and Rosalie were. Harper jumped up first and reached the doorway a second before Stella.
Harper gasped as she took in the room.
It was a disaster.
The beds where the women had been laying were overturned, and all the medical equipment had been smashed.
Stella rushed past Harper and ran into the room, her eyes taking in the scene. She looked back at Harper, panic on her face, when both women realized that they didn’t see anyone in the room.
But then, they both saw a foot at the same time.
They raced to where the woman was lying behind one of the overturned beds.
Taya and Rosalie had been dressed identically for the transformation ritual, naked apart from a hospital gown.
For a second, Harper couldn’t tell who was there, but when she got closer and sniffed, she realized it was Taya.
It had to be.
Because this was a human.
The ritual hadn’t worked.
They’d been interrupted too early, and the stranger shifters had taken Rosalie away. Perhaps as a punishment for what she was trying to do.
Stella kneeled next to Taya, felt her wrist then her neck, then looked up at Harper and shook her head.
Taya’s head was pounding.
It felt like a dozen little people with jackhammers were inside of her skull.
And words couldn’t even begin to describe the disoriented feeling that had overtaken her.
She stretched her arms and legs out a bit, her limbs aching with the movement and causing a wave of nausea to flow through her.
Forcing her eyelids open a little, she almost cried when she realized she could see light. Everything was blurry, so she blinked multiple times, praying to the goddess that she would be able to see more than just light and shadowy blobs.
Then again, even that was better than the total darkness from before.
From before…
She’d been in the hospital before. And this was most definitely not the hospital. The sheets beneath her felt silky, not stiff and scratchy from over-washing like at the hospital.
Had Harper or Jackson taken her home with them?
Taya blinked a bit more, and the shadowy blobs started to take until she found herself being stared intensely at by a penetrating pair of almost-black eyes.
Taya immediately felt flustered, and she quickly lowered her eyelashes to block his burning gaze.
He stared at her for a long time. When he was sure that she had really woken up, he straightened, turned around, and walked out without saying a word. Soon, he came in with an old man.
The old man had blue eyes and white hair. He was wearing a dark suit with a white doctor’s coat, looking polished and professional.
Taya had never seen either of these men before.
After the first man brought the old man in, he pointed at Taya. “George, how did she wake up?”
George? As in Dr. George?
Taya froze for a moment.
Stella said that Griffon had contacted a world-famous cardiology expert for her named Dr. George. Could it be him?
George did not reply to the man. He turned on the equipment and began to give her a full-body examination. He looked very focused, and his eyes were full of disbelief.
His expression was the same as that of the man. It seemed he was also surprised that she had woken up, as if she shouldn’t have.
George couldn’t wait to finish her examination. He looked up at the man and said, “This is extraordinary. Absolutely extraordinary. Of course, I’ll have to run more tests to determine the full scope of her condition, but her heart sounds healthy.”
Hearing this, a trace of impatience appeared on the man’s handsome face. “You said that she wouldn’t wake up. What’s going on now?”
George scratched the back of his head. “When I diagnosed her before, the results were inconclusive. It would appear that Rosalie’s transformation ritual indeed worked, and it has healed her heart.”
The man seemed to roll his eyes at him and looked a little annoyed. “What should we do now?”
George helplessly spread his hands. “I don’t know, either…”
Holding his chin with one hand, the man thought for a moment and said to George, “Why don’t we kill her?”