Chapter 127: No One Touches What Is Mine

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[Lorenzo Castelli]

Lorenzo got up right away. "Is Alex in danger?"

"We need to go over the findings first, sir."

"That wasn’t my question."

The nurse gripped the folder a bit tighter. "H-he’s stable for now, but there’s something we need to explain."

Lorenzo checked to make sure Alex was still covered by the blanket before he followed her to the door. "Speak."

The doctor was waiting in the next room, documents spread out across a desk. He looked worn out, and the seriousness on his face made Lorenzo’s instincts kick in before he even said a word.

The doctor motioned for him to take a seat. "Please, sit down."

"I’d prefer to stand."

The doctor didn’t argue with that.

"We identified the sedative used during the abduction. It was a potent compound, which explains the dizziness and confusion Alex had after waking up. His body is processing it, and we’ll keep an eye on him, but that’s not the most troubling finding."

Lorenzo’s eyes shifted to the folder. "Go on."

"The initial blood analysis showed a second substance. We ran more tests to find out what it was, and the results confirm that your husband was injected with something that accelerates an omega’s heat cycle."

For a moment, Lorenzo stayed still. He heard the words and he grasped their meaning, but part of him just couldn’t reconcile the doctor’s clinical tone with what he was hearing.

An accelerated heat cycle?

Lorenzo’s jaw tightened. "Explain."

The doctor clasped his hands on the desk. "Under normal circumstances, an omega’s cycle follows a natural hormonal pattern. The substance we found disrupts that pattern and hastens the heat’s onset. It seems it was given while your husband was unconscious."

"Why?"

The doctor’s expression turned cautious. "Sadly, there are only a few reasons someone would use such a substance without the omega’s awareness or consent."

Lorenzo stepped closer to the desk. "Tell me."

The doctor swallowed hard. "An omega in heat goes through a period of increased fertility. This compound that speeds up the cycle could be used to force an omega into heat before their body naturally enters that state. Given what you’ve described, we have to consider the possibility that whoever did this intended to facilitate forced mating or exploitation."

So rape basically.

The room felt like it was closing in on Lorenzo...for several seconds, all he could hear was the quiet hum of the ventilation and distant activity from the staff in the hallway.

Then, his fingers gripped the edge of the desk.

The doctor stopped talking.

Lorenzo slowly let go of the desk before his grip could leave a mark.

"So you’re saying someone drugged my husband, injected him with something meant to force his body into heat, and was planning to take him somewhere against his will?"

The doctor’s face had turned pale.

"That’s one possible interpretation of the findings. We can’t know the exact intention of the perpetrator just from the lab results, but considering the abduction and the condition that he be kept alive, it’s very concerning."

A cold feeling spread through Lorenzo’s chest.

He had spent weeks digging into Volpe, tracing the patterns of the attacks, trying to figure out why someone who seemed to want to weaken his organization had suddenly fixated on Alex.

The kidnappers’ insistence that Alex remain unharmed had always puzzled him, especially since the same operation had involved a bomb aimed at killing Lorenzo and anyone close by.

Now, the pieces had fallen into place.

Volpe wanted Alex alive, not just for leverage.

Not merely to provoke Lorenzo into a misstep. Someone had plotted to take his husband, meddle with his body, force him to bear children and force him into a state where he had no choices left.

His Alex.

Lorenzo’s vision sharpened around the edges. "Give me the results."

The doctor hesitated but eventually handed over the folder.

Lorenzo took it and looked over the report. Even though the medical jargon didn’t mean much compared to the explanation he’d just gotten, he read every page. He needed to memorize the substances and findings, to have full awareness of what had been done to Alex and how much time they had left before things worsened.

"If Volpe is Dante," Lorenzo said quietly, "then my brother ordered someone to take my husband and prepare him for forced mating."

The doctor stayed silent, but Lorenzo shook his head. Not that didn’t make sense at all, his older brother might be stupid, impulsive and had a obvious motive for wanting Lorenzo dead. But wanting to forcefully breed Alex?

No, that had to the choice of someone else.

"Or," Lorenzo continued, his voice turning colder, "someone else has been using Volpe’s name to hide a different objective."

"That’s a possibility, Sir."

"Either way, someone knew enough about Alex to make him the target." He closed the folder softly, but the doctor flinched at the sound.

This mysterious person better hope to God that Lorenzo wouldn’t be able to figure out their identity. Because when he does...

Lorenzo met his gaze. "Can the substance be removed from his system?"

"We can provide supportive treatment and keep an eye on the effects, but the compound has already started triggering the hormonal response. There’s no known medical treatment that can reliably reverse it once it reaches this stage."

"Then find one."

The doctor held his gaze, clearly aware that this wasn’t a request he could brush off with a reassuring smile. "We’re consulting specialists and reviewing every option. I don’t want to give you false hope, Mr. Castelli, but I also don’t want you to think we’re giving up. We can manage some symptoms and prepare for the cycle, but we can’t stop it from happening at this point."

Lorenzo looked back at the report. "So how long before his heat begins?"

"Based on the lab findings and the amount of the compound detected, we estimate your husband’s heat will start in about a week."

A week.

The words settled heavy in his mind like a deadline.

"How long would it normally be before his next cycle?"

"Under normal circumstances his next natural cycle would have been about two months away. The compound has compressed the timeline aggressively. There is no medical method to reverse or halt the process once the cascade has begun. The only way through is for the omega to experience the heat with a compatible alpha."

The man’s gaze flicked briefly to Lorenzo and then away. "You, sir."

Lorenzo’s jaw tightened until the muscle jumped once along the hinge. He sat back down with care so the chair would not scrape and wake the man in the bed.

The results paper remained in his hand, the sterile language of dosages and projected onset dates looking almost ordinary against the violence of what they represented.

A violation of Alex’s body and autonomy, planned while he was unconscious and unable to fight it.

The soft wonder of being chosen earlier in the evening had hardened into something sharper and far more absolute. No one would take Alex from him. Not whoever had ordered the syringe pushed into Alex’s arm while he lay helpless.

The nurse and doctor withdrew after a few more careful explanations, leaving the room quieter than before.

Lorenzo stayed where he was, the paper still caught between his fingers, and looked down at the sleeping face that had somehow become the center of every calculation that mattered.

The protectiveness that had always been present now carried an edge of cold, final resolve. He reached out once more and rested his hand lightly against Alex’s hair, the same careful touch as before, and spoke so softly the words barely disturbed the air.

"Good boy, Alex. You didn’t let those men take you away from me." he whispered gently. "No one touches you. Not while I breathe."