Kael's POV
"We are going to get out of here, Ravenna," I whispered into the cold darkness of the cell. My voice was a low, scraping rumble, muffled by the heavy titanium collar around my neck. I shifted my weight, making the chains rattle against the concrete floor. "I just need a little more time. The human doctor is working on a way to stabilize the environment. You have to hold on."
On the strap table across the room, Ravenna let out a ragged, trembling breath. Her eyes remained closed, her pale skin covered in a sheen of sick sweat. "I won't make it, Kael," she rasped, her voice weaker than I had ever heard it in all our years of training together. "My time is running out."
"Don't speak like that," I commanded, the Alpha in me refusing to accept her defeat. "You are the commander of my guard. You are stronger than this."
