Your whole body went numb as Price glared at you, betrayal and fury burning in his eyes.

“You lied to me,” he growled.

You had never seen him this angry before. Not at you. But now? His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, his jaw set like stone.

“I had to,” you whispered, throat tight.

“No, you chose to,” he snapped. “You chose to deceive me. To deceive all of us.”

His words cut deep, but fear overshadowed the guilt curling in your gut. You knew what was coming. The brass wouldn’t just take your title away—they would punish you. They would strip you of your rank, drag you out of the med bay, and throw you onto the front lines like cannon fodder. And if you didn’t comply? They’d make you. Break you.

“Price, please,” you tried, voice unsteady. “You know what they’ll do to me.”

His expression flickered, but his resolve didn’t waver. “You brought this on yourself.”

Your stomach twisted. “I was just trying to survive.”

His eyes darkened. “And now you’ll face the consequences.”

Terror clawed at your chest. You weren’t ready for this. You couldn’t be ready. You had seen it happen before—hybrids beaten into submission, forced to stay in their true form, treated like little more than animals. You had spent a decade hiding, suffering in silence, just to avoid this fate. And now it was crashing down on you.

“I saved lives, Price,” you said, voice shaking. “I earned my place here. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

For a moment, just a moment, hesitation flickered in his gaze. But then his jaw tightened.

“It doesn’t change the fact that you lied,” he said coldly. “Pack your things. Report to the brass in an hour.”

A cold chill ran through you. This was it. The end of everything you had fought for.

And the beginning of something much worse.