Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing about this story... the writing is all L.L. Raand's and the Characters are from various televsion shows (South of Nowhere, The O.C., Orange is the New Black, Lost Girl, The Fosters, and The L Word) Credit goes completely to all listed above.

Lauren placed the cap on the tube of blood and carefully placed it into the rack on the bench. Her hands shook as she extracted the next tube and carefully labeled it: Unknown female number two.

"Their temperatures are bouncing between one-oh-four and one-oh-six," Chelsea murmured.

"That's usually fatal for humans after a few hours," Lauren said, pleased that her voice was steady. "They should be seizing." She leaned against the counter to steady herself. "We need to do something to get their fevers down. Ice?"

"We can try. At least they'll be more comfortable." Chelsea placed a damp cloth on the forehead of a blonde whose skin was so thin and pale she looked more like a mannequin than a living being. A moment later the door to the treatment room opened and her mate leaned in. "Can you bring us ice?"

Hale nodded, and the door closed.

"But you know," Chelsea said tentatively, "the normal temperature for a Were is several degrees higher than that of a human. Maybe…maybe what we're seeing is just an effect of the transition."

"But we don't get sick, or almost never, and even when we do, our temperatures remain steady." Lauren adjusted the intravenous line carrying fluids and nutrients to the dehydrated, emaciated young female. She wondered if she'd looked like this when her parents had brought her to Chelsea that first night. "Maybe you should check your records—check my history."

"These girls aren't like you," Chelsea said.

"We don't really know that, do we?"

Chelsea lifted the eyelid of the unconscious girl and flicked a penlight back and forth. "You always responded to stimuli. Their central nervous systems are so depressed, even their brainstem functions are nonreactive. I don't think—"

The door swung open and Lauren glanced over, expecting Hale. She froze when Bo strode in. She'd been aching for and dreading this moment. They'd only been apart a little while, but the longer they were separated, the more anxious and agitated she became. Her wolf clawed at her until she was certain her skin must be bleeding. Holding Bo at bay was exhausting, and she was already running on empty. She'd been fighting her heat for the better part of two weeks, and now she was faced with two patients who embodied everything she feared.

Bo took in the two girls on the table with a hot, hard glance. "The Alpha said they had the fever. Is that true?"

Chelsea slipped between Bo and the end of the treatment table, partially shielding the first girl. "We're not sure yet what they have—or what was done to them. We've just begun running tests."

"They're human," Bo said, her growl filled with disdain and distrust. "I can smell it."

"Yes, they are," Chelsea said. "But they smell like Weres too."

"They smell like sick animals, not wolf Weres. Sick animals ought to be put down." Bo snarled, her wolf demanding action. These humans, these sick, dangerous humans, could harm Lauren, and she could not allow that. "They're going to die, you know that. Why risk yourselves or anyone here when it's pointless?"

Chelsea shook her head. "We don't know that. We don't even know what's happening to them yet."

"You know what happens to infected humans," Bo said. "If they don't die, they're feral, or they end up spreading the disease. Either way, they're a danger to us all."

"That's not what happened with Spencer," Lauren said quietly. She wasn't afraid of what Bo might do to her—she'd lived with the possibility of what might have to be done all her life. But severing the connection to Bo was going to destroy her as surely as an execution.

"Spencer is different," Bo said, her wolf close to breaking through her control. Her face elongated, her claws ripped free, and pelt thickened over her belly. "Spencer had the Alpha's blood, her pheromones, her essence to counteract whatever destruction the virus was doing. These girls—we don't even know what kind of mutants they will become."

Lauren shuddered. Mutant, mutia, mongrel, mutt. She knew the terms, and she knew how a proud, dominant Were like Bo viewed anyone who was non-Pack. "If we feel they're contagious or capable of infecting any of the Pack, we'll recommend extermination. But the decision is not up to us. The Alpha will decide."

Bo closed the gap between them in one explosive leap, gripping Lauren's shoulders. "They're not worth it. They're not worth one wolf in this Pack. I'm not going to risk losing you."

"Bo, you have to go." Lauren shuddered. Every fiber of her being yearned for Bo, to join with her.

Bo's eyes flashed wolf-gold and her canines plunged outward. Her voice turned to gravel. "No."

Lauren braced her hands against Bo's chest. "Spencer is normal, she bears the Alpha's young. She may have been infected by a similar virus, and she lived. These girls may survive, and if they do, they may help us learn how to protect ourselves and all our young in the future."

"They won't survive." Bo drew a breath, dragging her wolf back, holding her down.

"There's no evidence they've ever been bitten. Whatever was done to them, it was some kind of medical experiment. They've been tortured, Bo."

"That's not my problem—they're dangerous," Bo said. "They're a risk to others in the Compound. They should be caged."

"They're too weak to be of any harm," Lauren said quietly. "They're patients, not enemies."

"You don't know that. Chelsea just said you don't know what they are. We don't know what they're capable of, what they might transmit. We have young in the Compound." Bo gripped Lauren's arm. All she could see was danger to Lauren. "At least restrain them."

"The nursery is not accessible from this area," Lauren said reasonably, nearly dizzy with the rush of pheromones released by Bo's touch. "When we know something, we'll let the Alpha know."

"The Alpha depends on me to protect the Pack," Bo said, her voice and her eyes hard and unyielding. "You reminded me of that just today. I say they ought to be behind bars. Move them to the prison block."

"We can't right now. They're too unstable. They're unconscious—they can't harm anyone." Lauren ignored the tendrils of fear snaking through her depths. She had known this day would come, but she'd let herself forget. She'd let herself believe, for a few hours, that she and Bo could share what other Weres shared. She'd always known that wasn't possible for her, but for Bo, she'd ignored her own defenses, and now, she was defenseless. But she would not abandon these girls, even if it cost her everything. "You should leave, Imperator. This is our job."

"And mine is to protect the Pack." Bo couldn't think beyond the raging of her wolf and the rush of adrenaline warning her of a threat to all she loved. "Mutants do not belong here—how many times do we need to see them turn into mindless beasts before we learn that?"

Chelsea growled. "Bo, mind your—"

"Spencer didn't turn into a beast," Lauren said calmly, beyond worry and fear now. The time for truth was long past. "And neither did I."

Bo jerked. "What?"

"Neither did I, Bo," Lauren repeated, her heart shattering at the flare of wrath rising in Bo's eyes. "I was human once too."

"No," Bo roared. She rounded on Chelsea. "I remember when the Alpha brought her here with her parents. The Lewis' are Weres."

Chelsea shot Lauren a helpless glance.

"My adoptive parents," Lauren said. "They rescued me when the Pack imperator wanted me killed. They sought sanctuary here, and Ashley's mother granted us asylum."

"All this time?" Bo asked, dazed. "All this time and you've never—" She stiffened, fury burning through her disbelief. "Ashley knows, doesn't she?"

"Yes. Bo—" Lauren reached for her and Bo jerked away.

"You don't want to touch me right now," Bo said with deadly emphasis. She pointed at the sick girls. "If I see one of them outside this room, they die."

Bo whipped around and wrenched the door open, nearly tearing it from its hinges.

Lauren pressed a hand to her stomach, wondering how she could still be alive when everything inside her was dying.

"What kind of assault on the Pack?" Ashley asked Madison, tightening her grip on the back of Spencer's neck. Her mate was on the verge of losing control. "When and where?"

Spencer snarled. "Who? Who is planning to attack us?"

"Well, that's the problem," Madison said quietly, crossing one leg over the other. She extended her arm and stroked the length of Shane's outer thigh. Her senechal stood as if carved from marble, never taking her eyes off Spencer. "I don't know the details, only that something is planned and my assistance was requested."

"To do what?"

"I'm afraid I don't know that either."

"What do you know?" Spencer snapped, breaking away from Ashley and striding over to Madison. She towered over the seated Vampire, staring down at her as anger hardened the planes of her face. "You enjoy playing games, and I'm not in the mood tonight."

"Step back," Shane murmured, her body still as stone.

Ashley rumbled a warning.

Madison merely smiled, tilting her head ever so slightly to glance at Spencer. "I know Ashley has acquired some very powerful enemies in some very high places. Her intention to form an alliance with the human governments is seen as a betrayal of Praeterns."

Ashley said, "That's certainly not the opinion of the other councilors on the Coalition or the Praeterns they rule. Frank Foster is the leader of one of your most powerful Clans, and he supports both the Praetern union and the goals of the Coalition."

"Frank is a businessman before all else," Madison said with a shrug. "His primary investments are in the military-industrial complex, so of course he will ally himself with the human governments that provide so much of his business."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ashley asked. Madison never did anything that didn't ultimately benefit her. "Why ally with me if you don't agree with me?"

"Ashley," Madison said, sounding hurt. "You know I've always supported the King High Pack, and I'm so very fond of you."

Spencer snarled.

Shane slid in front of Madison, nearly touching Spencer. "You would do well not to threaten the Viceregal."

Ashley bounded forward, landing between them, forcing Shane to back up. "Threaten her again and I'll tear you apart."

Shane smiled. "I welcome your attempt."

"It's all right, darling." Madison gripped Shane's hand. "Ordinarily I love a fight—especially when it's over me—but now might not be the time. Spencer—forgive me, the Prima—is just marking her territory."

Ashley sent Shane another warning glare and slung an arm around Spencer's waist. She wasn't about to let her mate fight, but she wouldn't stop her from stating her claim either.

"You still haven't answered my question," Ashley said. "Why are you telling us?"

"I was hoping if you realized how unpopular your position has become, you'd rethink it."

"And if I change my mind, what exactly would you and your…allies like me to do?"

"Ultimately, we'd like to see the Coalition disbanded," Madison said. "We believe the cost of civil integration is too high and unnecessary. What we seek is sovereignty, the right to govern ourselves, separate from human law."

"You want to live among humans but not be subject to human law?"

"We already are, darling—we have been for millennia."

"The humans are not likely to accept that," Ashley said. "And until human law recognizes us, humans will not be dissuaded from attempting to exterminate us."

"If we have our own army," Madison said softly, "they won't dare."

"You would go to war rather than negotiate?"

Madison lifted a shoulder. "Some very powerful individuals would prefer just that."

"Who?" Spencer demanded. "Who came to you?"

"I hear a great many things from a great many sources," Madison said. "What matters is Praetern unity—together we are strongest."

"Unity," Spencer said coldly. "Is that what you call sending your enforcer to help human monsters torture Weres in a secret lab?"

Madison shook her head. "And this is why we need to work together. Shane wasn't in that lab to harm anyone. When we heard rumors of its existence, naturally we wanted to learn more. If you hadn't freed them, we would of course have notified you."

"Of course," Spencer said.

Madison rose and Shane stepped to her side. "I've come out of respect for our ancient alliances and to affirm our new ones. Please consider where your true loyalty lies, Ashley, before it's too late."

Spencer wrapped her arm around Ashley's waist and watched the Viceregal sweep from the room. "The next time she touches you, I'm going to tear her arm off."

Ashley caressed Spencer's neck. "She is very old and very powerful."

"I don't care. She might have enjoyed you once, but now you're mine."

"Yes," Ashley whispered, backing Spencer against the desk. She scraped her canines down Spencer's throat, then licked her way back up until she reached her mouth. She kissed her, sucking the sweet tang of Spencer's pheromones from her tongue. She'd been waiting since they'd escaped the burning forest to taste her. "I'm your—"

The doors banged open and Bo lunged into the room, her eyes wild. "You knew! You knew and you let her live like that! What kind of Alpha are you?"

Ashley leapt before Bo could issue challenge. She caught Bo by the throat and took her down, clamping her thighs around Bo's hips and her hand on Bo's throat. "Another word and I'll kill you."