I didn't fight when they took my wrists.
The restraints were cold—
too cold—
like metal dipped in ice water.
When the clamps sealed around my skin, I felt it immediately:
My scent dimmed.
Not painfully—
just enough to remind me the choice was no longer mine.
The hallway outside the medbay was painfully bright.
Too white.
Too quiet.
Every footstep echoed as the operatives escorted me out.
Lucian walked behind them—
not allowed near me, but refusing to leave my sight.
His face was tight, pale, furious in a silent way.
Chandler carried Rowan beside him.
Rowan's hands trembled in tight fists, fingers curled around Chandler's shirt.
His eyes were red.
Swollen.
Barely focused.
As I was led forward—
Rowan reached for me.
Just barely.
A small, desperate motion.
"Elleanore…"
Chandler caught his hand before he could step closer.
"Rowan—wait—baby—"
"No—" Rowan's voice broke.
"No, no, no—don't take her—don't—!"
Aris looked back once.
"Contain the Omega if necessary."
Chandler growled so deep it shook the walls.
"Try it."
Rowan clung to him, shaking.
When his eyes met mine—
they were full of something that hurt to see:
Guilt.
Fear.
And a kind of helpless love that belonged to someone too soft for a world this cruel.
"Elleanore—please—don't go—"
He whispered it like a prayer cracking in half.
I forced myself to smile at him.
Gentle.
Warm.
As steady as I could manage.
"It's okay," I murmured.
"I'll be alright."
He shook his head violently.
"No. No, you won't. I can feel it—I can feel you fading—don't let them—don't let them take your scent—"
Chandler wrapped his arms around him tighter, lifting him slightly to pull him back.
Rowan sobbed once—quiet, broken.
Something inside me nearly snapped.
But the restraints pulsed—
and a soft numbness spread again.
HORACE DOESN'T STAY DOWN
We were halfway down the corridor when an alarm blared behind us.
A shrill, panicked monitor tone.
Lucian froze.
"Oh god—no—no—"
He sprinted back toward the medbay.
Chandler swore and ran after him with Rowan.
Aris frowned.
"Status?"
One operative tapped his comm.
"There is movement in the Alpha subject's vitals."
My heart stopped.
Horace.
I yanked against the restraints.
"LET ME GO—"
The operatives moved instantly—
locking their grip on my arms.
My instincts flared, but the restraints dimmed them again.
Aris turned calmly to the guards.
"Secure the Prime. I'll handle the rest."
I could barely breathe.
"Horace—
LET ME GO TO HIM—"
Aris didn't look back.
"He will be sedated."
That sentence tore something primal and vicious inside me.
I shoved against the operatives so hard one of them slid half a step backward.
"Elleanore—STOP!" Lucian's voice thundered from down the hall.
For a moment—
a terrifying moment—
my instincts spiked hard.
I felt heat rise in my chest.
Pressure in my throat.
A scent pulse fought against the restraints—
and the metal buzzed sharply as they suppressed it.
I shuddered.
My knees almost buckled.
Lucian appeared at the doorway of the medbay—breathless, furious, terrified.
"Elleanore—calm down—Horace is awake—he's alive—just calm down—before the restraints knock you unconscious—!"
I stopped struggling.
My heart hammered painfully.
"H–Horace…?"
Lucian nodded, wiping sweat from his brow.
"He's fighting the sedation. Hard."
My breath hitched.
Chandler stepped behind him, holding Rowan tightly against his chest.
Rowan was crying again—quiet and shaking.
"He's asking for you," Chandler whispered.
"But if you go back in, they'll restrain him too. You'll make it worse."
Rowan flinched at the thought.
"Elleanore—don't—please—don't let him see you like this. It'll hurt him more."
I swallowed hard.
Lucian came closer.
"Elleanore," he said softly,
"listen to me. Horace will survive. He's stabilized enough. He just doesn't understand why you're leaving."
I closed my eyes.
Pain cut warm and sharp beneath my ribs.
"He shouldn't have to."
"No," Lucian said gently.
"He shouldn't. But he will."
Chandler added:
"And we'll stay with him. Until you come back."
Rowan nodded, wiping his eyes.
"We won't leave him. Not for a second."
Something inside me eased—
just enough to breathe.
Lucian lowered his voice.
"You need to go. Before Horace hurts himself fighting the sedation."
He held my gaze.
"I promised we'd come for you."
His jaw tightened.
"I don't break promises."
I nodded.
Then the operatives pulled me away.
Rowan's soft sob echoed down the corridor.
THE TRANSPORT RITE
The transport chamber was colder than I expected.
A wide circular room.
Walls lined with containment seals.
In the center—
a glass cylinder.
Large enough for a person.
Tall enough to make anyone feel small.
Operatives typed rapid commands onto a panel beside it.
The chamber lit up in blue.
Aris walked ahead of me.
"This is a standard Prime Transfer Unit," she said without emotion.
"You step inside. The restraints will hold you in place. The chamber will suppress your scent output and psychological spikes."
I stared at the glass.
It looked less like transport equipment—
more like a vertical coffin.
"What happens if I refuse?"
Aris didn't even slow her stride.
"You'll be sedated and transported unconscious."
A tremor ran through me.
"What happens when I arrive?"
Aris clasped her hands behind her back.
"You'll be placed under isolation observation for twenty-four hours."
"And after that?"
"That depends on how quickly your scent stabilizes."
"And if it doesn't stabilize fast enough?" I asked quietly.
Aris paused.
Then turned.
Her gaze sharpened in a way that felt clinical.
"Then we retrain you."
Cold settled in my stomach.
"What does that mean?"
Aris didn't blink.
"Everything you are—
everything your instincts want—
everything your blood pushes you toward—
will be rewired."
She said it calmly.
Professionally.
Like it was a medical procedure.
Not a violation.
Not a stripping of identity.
Just "policy."
My voice was barely a whisper.
"You're going to break me."
Aris tilted her head.
"We're going to shape you."
The room blurred for a moment.
Then came back into focus.
And something inside me—
a small, stubborn ember—
lit.
I wasn't dying here.
I wasn't breaking here.
I wasn't being rewritten.
Not while Horace was alive.
Not while Rowan was crying for me.
Not while Lucian had risked treason to help me.
The operatives guided me to the chamber.
The door slid open.
Cold air spilled out.
I stepped inside.
The restraints pulsed again—
numbing
dulling
quieting everything primal inside me.
Aris approached the control panel.
"Any last words, Prime Fonze?"
I stared through the glass.
I could see the hallway behind her.
Chandler holding Rowan.
Lucian watching with clenched fists.
And I whispered—
not loud,
but clear:
"I'm coming back."
Then the chamber sealed.
A hiss of air.
A hum of power.
And the world went still around me.
Inside the Glass
The chamber sealed with a soft, final hiss—
a sound so small, but so absolute it felt like a lock clicking shut inside my chest.
Cold air swirled around my ankles.
Thin, sterile.
Filtered through vents that made the entire cylindrical room feel too clean, too quiet.
The floor vibrated faintly beneath my shoes, humming with containment sensors.
I didn't realize I was shaking until the restraints pulsed again—
numbing my wrists
dulling my scent
muting a part of my instinct in a way that felt like someone dimming my heartbeat.
Aris stepped to the control panel outside the glass.
"Primary seal engaged. Begin stabilization sequence."
A low hum filled the chamber.
Lights flickered inside the glass—soft blue, slow, rhythmic.
I tried to breathe normally.
I failed.
It didn't hurt.
Not physically.
But it was the first time since awakening that something held me down
so quietly
and so completely.
I lifted my gaze.
Through the distortion of the glass—I could still see them.
Lucian.
Chandler.
Rowan.
Horace's room was far behind them down the hallway, but I could still sense him—not through instinct (the restraints muted that), but through the ache in my chest that came from leaving someone I shouldn't have left.
Chandler stood with his arms wrapped around Rowan so tightly it almost looked painful.
Rowan clung to him, shaking silently, tears slipping down his cheeks even though he tried to wipe them away before anyone could see.
Lucian stood in front of them. Pale. Jaw tight. Eyes dark with restrained fury.
Aris didn't look at any of them.
Only me.
Her hand hovered over the next control.
"Stabilization begins in three—two—"
"STOP."
Chandler's voice thundered down the hallway.
Everyone froze—including me.
Chandler stepped forward, Rowan clinging to his shirt, trying desperately not to cry again.
Aris's eyebrow lifted.
"Mr. Monteverde, this is not your business."
"The hell it isn't."
Chandler stepped forward until he was nearly toe-to-toe with Aris.
Rowan grabbed tighter, burying himself in Chandler's shoulder like he was hiding from everything.
"You're taking her against her will," Chandler snarled.
"She just survived something none of your Council drones have ever faced. She protected this school. And you treat her like a criminal?"
Aris didn't blink.
"Mr. Monteverde. Elleanore Fonze is not a student at this moment. She is a Prime. A liability. And a potential threat. Her safety, along with yours, requires containment."
Chandler's jaw clenched so hard I heard it crack.
"She is not a threat."
Lucian stepped forward.
"She's human," he said quietly.
"More human than any of you."
Aris exhaled sharply.
"Assistant Veras. One more sentence, and I will have you detained as well."
Lucian didn't move.
He didn't look away from me.
And beneath his calm expression—
the smallest twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Subtle.
Tense.
A look I'd grown to understand:
Lucian had already done something. Or was about to.
Aris spoke again.
"Resume the sequence."
My breath hitched.
"Wait—"
A soft beep cut me off.
The lights inside the chamber brightened slightly.
The hum deepened.
I felt the air pressure shift—like the chamber inhaled.
Cold crawled up my spine.
Aris adjusted controls without looking up.
"As the system calibrates, your instinct spikes will be suppressed—"
"I'm not spiking," I whispered.
"No," she agreed coolly.
"But you will."
ROWAN BREAKS AGAIN
A sharp, choked sound escaped Rowan.
I looked toward him immediately.
Chandler shifted so Rowan could see me—not perfectly, but enough.
Rowan's breath came in short, panicked gasps.
"Elleanore—Elleanore—please—please don't disappear—"
"I'm not disappearing," I said softly through the glass.
But he couldn't hear me well.
He pressed his small palms against the glass wall beside the chamber.
"Don't go—don't go—"
Chandler hugged him again, rubbing his back.
"Hey—hey, sweetheart—it's okay—she'll be back—she promised—"
Rowan shook his head.
"I can't feel her—I can't feel anything—she's fading—I can't—Chandler—help—help—"
Chandler paled.
Lucian cursed under his breath.
Aris didn't react at all.
"Prime resonance suppression affects nearby Omegas," she said calmly.
"It will pass."
Rowan pressed his forehead to the outer glass, tears streaking the surface.
"Elleanore… don't leave me alone… please…"
I pressed my palm against the inner surface.
Rowan lifted his hand to match mine.
A thin layer of reinforced glass separated us.
But his trembling reached me anyway.
"Rowan," I whispered,
"I'm here."
Chandler swallowed hard.
Then—quietly, urgently—he murmured into Rowan's ear:
"Sweetheart… you're allowed to fall apart. It's okay. I'm right here."
Rowan broke into full sobs.
"I'm sorry—I'm sorry—I'm trying—I'm trying to be brave—I'm sorry—"
Chandler's voice cracked as he held him.
"You don't have to be brave. You just have to breathe."
Lucian stepped forward.
"Councilwoman, if you don't want him to collapse, you need to stop the sequence for thirty seconds."
Aris didn't spare Rowan a single glance.
"He is not the Prime."
Lucian's eyes flashed.
"No. He's just a child who watched everything fall apart. Are you really this cold?"
Aris turned her head slightly.
"Yes."
Rowan trembled harder.
Chandler glared at Aris, voice barely holding back violence.
"Look at him. LOOK at him. He's terrified."
Aris didn't look.
She pressed the next control.
The chamber hummed louder.
HORACE WAKES TO HER ABSENCE
A faint, distant alarm sounded from down the hall.
Lucian froze.
"Oh no…"
Chandler lifted Rowan slightly, panic flooding his expression.
"Horace?"
Lucian sprinted toward the medbay.
I pressed my hand harder against the glass.
"No—no—Lucian—what's happening—??"
Lucian didn't answer—
because he was already gone.
Rowan stiffened in Chandler's arms.
"I feel—I feel—something wrong—something—"
Chandler pressed a steadying hand to the back of his head.
"Stay with me, Rowan. Breathe."
Rowan's breath hitched violently.
"He's awake—Chandler—HORACE IS AWAKE—"
Chandler lifted his head sharply.
"What?!"
Rowan began shaking uncontrollably.
"I—I can feel him—Chandler—he's calling—he's calling her—he's—he's angry—he's—scared—he's—"
The hallway shook.
A faint crash echoed.
Aris straightened.
"What was that?"
Lucian's voice echoed from the medbay:
"OPERATIVES—HELP ME—HE'S TRYING TO STAND—!!"
Aris muttered something under her breath and ordered two operatives to assist.
Rowan sobbed harder.
"Don't let him hurt himself—please—please—Chandler—help him—!"
Chandler kissed the top of Rowan's head.
"I'll go with Lucian. I won't let anything happen."
Rowan clutched him desperately.
"No—stay—stay with me—please—don't leave me too—!"
Chandler froze.
Rowan's tears soaked his shirt.
Small, broken sounds escaped him as he clung harder.
Chandler held him close and whispered into his hair:
"I'm not leaving you. Not for a second."
Lucian's footsteps echoed urgently as he returned to the entrance of the medbay.
"Elleanore—HORACE SENSED YOU—he's fighting three operatives—he's unstable—he's not thinking straight!"
My heart cracked open.
"Lucian—let me out—LET ME OUT—"
Aris pressed a button.
The restraints pulsed harder—
my knees buckled.
Pain shot through my wrists.
"No—no—NO—let me go to him—he needs me—!"
Aris shook her head.
"He is reacting to your absence. Once you are gone, his instability will fade."
Rowan sobbed so hard he couldn't breathe.
Chandler whispered frantically:
"Sweetheart—look at me—LOOK at me—she's not gone—she's right there—"
Rowan shook his head.
"She's locked away—she's locked away—Chandler, I feel it—I feel it in her scent—it's fading—it's being crushed—she's in pain—she's scared—she's—"
I whispered through the glass:
"Rowan. I'm okay."
He cried harder.
"No… you're not."
LUCIAN MAKES HIS MOVE
Lucian stepped between Aris and the control panel.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"You're going too fast."
Aris raised an eyebrow.
"This protocol has been used for years."
"It has never been used on someone like her."
Aris's eyes narrowed.
"You seem very invested in the Prime."
Lucian smiled stiffly.
"Shouldn't I be? She's the only one who saved all our lives."
Aris pressed another button.
The chamber locked into phase one.
If it went any further—
my scent would be suppressed completely.
My instinct muted.
Everything about me—quieted.
Aris said:
"Begin phase two."
Lucian moved.
Fast.
He shoved a tool into the panel's emergency slot and twisted sharply.
BZZZT—!!
The entire chamber flickered.
Aris spun toward him.
"What did you just—?!"
Lucian held her stare without flinching.
"I slowed the sequence."
"YOU INTERFERED WITH COUNCIL EQUIPMENT?!"
"Yes."
Aris opened her mouth to order his arrest—
But at that exact moment—
a roar echoed from the medbay.
A raw, broken, instinct-driven sound that rattled the walls.
Horace.
Lucian said through gritted teeth:
"He's awake. And he's calling her."
Chandler whispered into Rowan's hair:
"It's okay—
he's fighting because he feels her fear—
it's instinct—"
Rowan cried into his shoulder.
Aris turned back to me.
"Complete the sequence."
"No," I said quietly.
Aris blinked.
"No?"
"No," I repeated.
"My bondmates are hurting."
Aris's jaw tightened.
"You will obey—"
"No."
The glass shimmered.
For one split second—
just one—
the restraints loosened.
My scent flared—
stronger than the suppression.
Lucian's eyes widened.
"Oh god—Elleanore—DON'T—"
But it was too late.
Something inside the chamber responded to me.
To my Prime state.
To the suppression fighting my instincts.
A pulse rippled across the glass—
soft at first, then harder—
a vibration that made the entire structure tremble.
Aris stepped back.
"What—
What is she—"
Lucian whispered:
"She's breaking the seal."
Rowan's breath caught in his throat.
Chandler held him tightly.
"Elleanore—STOP—don't collapse—!"
But I wasn't collapsing.
I was awakening again.
A second stage.
Deeper.
Quieter.
Terrifying.
My voice came out low.
Steady.
"You will not cage me."
Aris paled.
Lucian whispered urgently:
"Elleanore—control it—CONTROL IT—before you knock yourself unconscious—!"
The glass glowed faintly—
a sign the chamber was fighting my resonance.
I looked through it.
At Rowan—crying.
At Chandler—trying to hold him together.
At Lucian—terrified of losing all of us.
And somewhere behind them—
Horace.
Calling for me.
I pressed my palm to the glass.
The chamber trembled.
Aris reached for the override switch.
Lucian grabbed her wrist.
"Do not touch that."
She stared at him.
"Are you threatening a Council member?"
Lucian smiled tightly.
"No.
I'm promising."
Rowan sobbed harder.
"Elleanore—please—come back—"
Chandler whispered into his hair:
"She will. She always does."
I met his eyes.
Then Rowan's.
And whispered—
"I'm coming back."
The chamber surged with light.
The restraints pulsed in warning.
Lucian shouted:
"Elleanore—STOP—!!
If you break the chamber now—YOU WILL DIE—!!"
I froze.
The light dimmed.
My scent receded.
Not by force.
By choice.
Slowly—
painfully—
I let my instincts fall back into my chest.
The restraints steadied.
The chamber's hum softened.
Lucian collapsed to one knee in sheer relief.
Rowan practically fell into Chandler's arms.
Chandler held him so tightly he trembled.
Aris stared at me—
horrified
furious
and, beneath it all—
shaken.
"You—are a danger to this Academy."
I pressed my forehead against the inner glass.
And whispered:
"No.
I am the only one protecting it."
Aris didn't respond.
She turned sharply.
"Complete containment. Now."
The chamber sealed fully.
The light dimmed.
The world narrowed to glass
cold air
and silence.
But my last sight before the chamber went opaque—
was Rowan's hand reaching for me
Chandler whispering "We'll come for you"
and Lucian giving me the faintest, subtle nod—
their quiet promise to break me out.