The Lycan King's Outcast Omega (by Cara Anderson) novel Chapter 173

Sage

Pain tears me from sleep like claws ripping through flesh. My back arches off the bed as fire spreads from Cassius's mark, radiating through my chest in waves of agony that feel like my ribs are being pried apart one by one. A scream tears from my throat before I can even register that I'm awake.

"Sage!" Alaric is at my side instantly, his hands hovering over me, uncertain where to touch when every inch of my skin seems to burn.

The monitors surrounding the bed erupt in a cacophony of alarms – heart rate spiking, blood pressure plummeting, fetal distress indicators flashing urgent warnings. Medical staff rush into the room, their voices distant through the haze of pain consuming me.

"What's happening?" Alaric demands, his voice carrying the edge of panic I've never heard from my warrior king. "Do something!"

"Her system is rejecting the bond," one doctor explains, frantically adjusting medications. "But this is far more severe than a typical adaptation response."

Another wave of agony crashes through me, centered on the mark Cassius forced upon my neck. The skin there burns as if branded with molten metal, the violation somehow intensifying hours after its initial placement. My hands claw at the sheets, my body twisting as if trying to escape its own skin.

"The baby's heart rate is dropping," a nurse reports urgently. "We need to stabilize her immediately."

Through the fragments of our damaged bond, I feel Alaric's helpless rage as he watches me suffer. His hand finds mine despite my thrashing, his touch the only anchor in a storm of pain threatening to sweep me into darkness.

"Where is Cassius?" one of the doctors demands. "The bond's instability requires his immediate presence."

"He left the facility two hours ago," someone responds. "Security is attempting to contact him now."

The burning sensation intensifies, spreading from my neck through my entire nervous system. It feels like my blood is turning to acid, like my very cells are rejecting the unnatural connection forced upon them. Through our fragmented bond, I reach desperately for Alaric, clinging to the faint remnant of our true connection.

"Stay with me," he urges, his face swimming in and out of focus as my consciousness wavers. "Fight it, Sage. Stay with me." Turning his rage toward the staff in the room, he roars with all the power of the Lycan King, “Fucking do something! Save her! Save our pup! Now!”

Minutes stretch into eternity as medical staff respond to his command, working frantically to stabilize my condition. Medications flow through IV lines, specialized equipment monitors the baby's increasingly concerning vital signs, and still the pain continues unabated.

"This makes no sense," the lead doctor mutters, reviewing readings with growing frustration. "The bond rejection shouldn't manifest this severely this late in the stabilization course."

"Unless the bond has been compromised," an older doctor suggests quietly. "There are only a few scenarios that would trigger this severe a rejection response in an established claim."

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