He had always thought that the internalized pitiful whimpering and pleas for mercy were annoying. Many times the wolf had lashed out to Theo, ordered him to be quiet, to just stop being...him.

How odd that now that he was given what he wanted, he no longer desired it. This chilling, oppressing silence made him feel sick to the core.

He felt hollow....empty. Void of any happiness, any true emotion beside this lack of anything and everything.

Twitching in the bed, he sighed, grateful for the soft rush of cool oxygen that aided his breathing. The wolf knew he was under constant supervision both inside and outside the room.

One of the pack's Enforcers was seated beside the entrance of his room, letting his eyes flit across the varying instruments that kept Theo and his wolf alive.

In the hallway was another Enforcer, as Theo's wolf had heard her come in a few times, murmuring softly to the male guarding him.

The guards weren't just there to make sure Theo's condition didn't deteriorate. They were also there in case Theo-.

The wolf swallowed thickly, eyes tilting back to avoid the building tears from slipping.

He hadn't known he was Smothering Theo, that he was slowly but surely killing his person. The only true person that was destined to be with the wolf, as their Alpha pointed out.

"You can never be certain when or if you can find your mate." Alpha Roland had glared over his shoulder to one of the Russian Enforcers, who inclined their head respectfully. "As you found out in the flesh, finding your mate is not an automatic guarantee that you keep your mate."

The Alpha had glared down, eyes fixed onto his own as he added "There are many who spend their entire lives without finding their Fated Mate. And then there are also more than a handful who get rejected and only have their own wolf to fall back to."

The realization had been a slap in the face of Theo's wolf. Because he couldn't deny the truth in the Alpha's words. All this time, Theo had been by his side and had listened to his every complaint, every bitter drop of venom he had spewed towards the soft, weak Omega.

An Omega that had remained by his side, had never reprimanded him. Just nodded along in acceptance of his every word, apologies whispering from his lips even if the comments wounded Theo deeply.

Everything he had said to Theo...every vicious snarl and hate filled rant designed to hurt Theo, had all been taken as gospel, as truth.

The wolf could've been Theo's support. Guiding him through life, be the one to always support and protect the Omega, like he was born to do.

So why didn't you?

He didn't have an answer for that, not really. Theo's wolf felt that part of the blame laid within the pack, for always pointing out the difference between Theo and his wolf, instead of accepting them for who they were.

In the same breath they used to praise one of them, they always had to put down the other. They'd praise Theo's soft and kind nature but then also state that his wolf was too powerful and confident for being an Omega.

Admiring the strength and endurance of the wolf but then lamenting the fact that he could've been a powerful Alpha, if not for Theo.

It had grated and irked on the wolf's nerves. To never be good enough, to be blamed for Theo's lack of pure Omegan traits or be burdened by Theo's soft nature.

It hurt to think that the way they were, who they are, was not good enough for the pack. They didn't want some Half Omega with an Alpha wolf.

He could never win, was never good enough. The pack drove home that they would never be fully accepting of a half Alpha, half Omega.

They needed to be one or the other. Not both.

At first, the wolf had been kind and patient to Theo's whims, had listened and felt compassion for his Omega half. But when they were rejected because of Theo, something had snapped within the wolf.

The already fragile bond between Theo and the wolf was damaged even further when their own mate revealed that he would've had no problem mating them.

If only Theo wasn't half an Omega.

It was bitter irony that, when the wolf took the pack's advice, he was now being blamed for that as well. His respect and trust for the pack had taken a tremendous blow.

When...if they survived this...he wasn't sure if they were able to live here any longer. Every single face in the pack would just be a reminder that he was unwanted.

They would always be seen as a lesser being. Half, not completely whole.

A sharp pain in his chest made the wolf wheeze slightly, jolting in the bed before rubbing over the offending spot. He had been informed that these phantom pains were the only connection left between him and Theo.

Theo's dying struggles.

The wolf sighed before closing his eyes, tracing the pain as best as he could. His Alpha had urged him to try and connect to Theo in any shape he could.

If he could reach out and find Theo, could touch his soul, that could be enough to latch on and never let go again. To provide Theo with the life energy the young Omega so desperately needed.

To nurture him, nurse him back to health and guide him back into the light.

Because these sudden bursts of pain would persist for a while before slowly fading away. And when those surges left his body, so would Theo.

Mentally calling out to Theo was only met with a dead silence, not a whisper to be heard. There wasn't even a fluctuation within the pain to show that Theo had even heard him.

But he tried, following the path that led to the darkness below. Peering down, his eyes only saw swirling shadows, even though he knew that Theo was down there.

As the wolf had discovered, the mindscape was a terrifying, ever changing place. What little he knew about it, was from books and studies, theories of a shared place within their minds.

A world where the wolf and human could meet, could speak to one another. Yet he had turned it into a realm of anger and hatred; of resentment, fear and darkness.

Now that Theo was into the darkness of unconsciousness, there was no way to easily alter the mindscape. Because it was as much the wolf's as it was Theo's.

He could barely alter the jagged cliffside into a steady but terrifying descent into the darkness. Because the wolf knew Theo was down there.

So he ventured down. Hesitated on the precarious slope he had managed to create, treading carefully on ground that cracked and shivered under his weight.

But the deeper he went, the colder it got. The air thinned to the point where he was panting, struggling to simply breathe and set one paw in front of the other.

Each step forwards burned as the cold bit into his paws, his nose, eyes. Every single hint of bared flesh was ruthlessly attacked and chilled to the bone.

His sensitive paw pads felt like they were freezing to the cold surface with each step he took, had to painfully tear them free in order to proceed.

When it became too much to bear, he retreated back to safety. Back to consciousness, where several of the nurses sighed with relief when he blinked his eyes.

"He's awake. Heartrate is still too slow for comfort, might've been a reaction to the medicine but we'll have to remain vigilant." The pack doctor muttered as the wolf slowly struggled to wake.

Alpha Roland was standing beside the doctor, eying him worriedly before sighing sharply. "Talk to me." He commanded, making Theo's wolf swallow thickly.

"I think I found him, or rather, his general location. But I can't reach him. Not without..." With that, he looked at the heartrate monitor beside him, indicating silently what had happened

"Fuck." Alpha Roland spat out, frustration tainting his scent as the man snarled deeply. Rubbing his hand through his hair in clear frustration that burdened the air with a heavy sensation.

Nobody in the room knew what to do. While there were some cases of Smothering researched, they were few and far in-between.

Not to mention that each case was unique, presenting its own symptoms and thus, its very own and unique treatment. So far Roland had found recordings of six separate occasions of Smothering.

Four of those had been lethal. One transitioned to rogue and fled the compound before they could be eliminated. And only one was healed.

The one Smothered that had been healed was a young Beta, rejected for being in an opposing pack of two packs in a vendetta for many generations.

None of the smothered so far had involved an Omega, nor an Omega with an Alpha wolf.

The odds were definitely not in their favor.

Searching for more information on Smothered was a hassle as well. No pack in existence, no decent pack, would want to admit that they had failed one of their own so badly, that their own wolf had killed them.

Most of the time, if a report had been made, it was simply with the statement that the pack lost one of their own due to a rogue attack.

With the Smothered being the rogue in question that they had to put down themselves.

Alpha Roland sighed tiredly, already feeling a headache coming up. He needed to set up a meeting with all available pack doctors to formulate a plan involving Theo.

Because time was of the essence, Theo needed to be drawn back from wherever he had disappeared to. But according to their recent findings, that meant that the wolf had to relinquish control of their body.

And in doing so, Theo's subconsciousness came to the forefront. When the alarm had been raised and Alpha Roland was rushed to the room along with several guards, they all had seen the heartrate monitor slow to an extremely dangerous level.

For as long as Theo's subconsciousness wasn't recovered, clinically speaking, the Omega was considered braindead. Without anyone in control, to keep their body stabilized, his organs would cease to function.

Hell, they had to rush to get the correct machinery brought to Theo's room, just in case his heart and breathing stopped all together.

25 beats per minute is way too dangerous.

Reaching out with his mind, Alpha Roland quickly found the Head Surgeon of the pack. "I worry about Theo's condition. The longer he waits, the less likely he can return."

There was a momentary silence in his head before Dr. Samuels replied tiredly. "Indeed, Alpha. I've done all the research I could and asked colleagues all over the world if they have any advice."

"And?" Roland raised a brow, steepling his fingers as he closed his eyes, giving the mental conversation his undivided attention.

Samuels hesitated for a brief moment, struggling to simplify the complex condition to some degree. "Well, as you know, our subconsciousness is divided into both wolf and human. True unconsciousness can only be achieved if both are not present."

"For the wolf to search for, and hopefully find their Smothered counterpart, they too have to abandon the physical body in order to put all of their energy, their attention, towards finding and recovering their human."

Which explained why Theo's body had crumpled in the bed, why both his heartrate, blood pressure and oxygen level of his blood had dropped significantly.

Alpha Roland's mind sought for a solution, finding it after a brief moment but realized the implications of it. "He needs to be put on life support indefinitely."

A knock on the door sounded, drawing Alpha Roland's attention to Samuels as he entered the room. "Indeed, Alpha." The doctor verbally replied.

Roland's eyes flitted to Theo's wolf, who was barely awake and slowly falling asleep. He knew he could wake the slumbering pup with a command, so he let him be, instead turning back to Samuels.

"Life support will not keep him alive indefinitely." Roland's voice was dull, void of any energy or emotion. While it sounded like a perfectly plausible solution, no matter how sophisticated the machines were, they couldn't perform magic.

The longer someone remained on life support, the longer and harder their recovery would become. But it also gave them the small window of opportunity they needed.

If Theo's wolf was put on life support with the command to not return until he had found Theo and brought the Omega back, the wolf could focus all its time and energy on doing just that.

The chances that Theo died while in the medically induced coma were realistic. But Theo would certainly die without question if he wasn't brought back.

Right now, that young wolf chained to his hospital bed, was a ticking time bomb, waiting to go off. If they did nothing, Theo would most likely die soon.

If they intervened now, sent out the wolf to find its human, there was a small chance that their tattered bond could still be mended. That the wolf could provide critical life energy and nutrients while it looked for and retrieved its human.

Even if the wolf found Theo, it still needed to bring the Omega back from its prison. Their shared physical and mental health could only be improved if both were subconsciously present.

"Either we do nothing, and Theo dies by our own hand after turning rogue. Or we send in his wolf and have two possible outcomes." Alpha Roland clasped his hands around the back of his neck, gazing at the ceiling of the room.

"If we're lucky, the wolf can find and retrieve Theo in a timely manner to which you and your team can take over." Roland glanced at the doctor, who inclined his head affirmingly. "But, there is a big chance that Theo dies before his wolf finds him or during the transportation back to their subconsciousness."

It was risky, stupid even to consider this, to put this amount of effort into saving a doomed wolf. Alpha Roland knew that some, no, most Alphas would see Theo as a lost cause and grant the pup mercy by killing them before they turned rogue.

To cut the cost to a single wolf, instead of risking a rogue to emerge and potentially injure an unforeseen amount of innocents that were unfortunate enough to cross paths.

Roland didn't want any more blood to taint his hands than purely needed. He had killed his fair share of Rogues and he would be damned if he started slaying innocent pups simply because Fate could be a cruel and bitter bitch.

"Prepare the ICU room for Theo. Inform his parents and set up a perimeter around his room. Only staff and the selected guards are allowed near him at all times." Roland commanded, watching Samuels bow respectfully before he rushed to do as told.

His eyes flitted to his Beta, voice a soft command as he continued, "Send word to the Council of what happened. Spare no detail and beg for their aid in this situation. If anyone knows how to handle this, it may be them."

"B-but Alpha-" The beta shook her head, eyes wide with realization. Alerting the Council of what happened would lead to inevitable sanctions.

Roland gave a wry smile, self-deprecatingly chuckling as his eyes remained on the restlessly slumbering form of Theo. "I failed my duty as Alpha. I'll face whatever punishment they deem worthy of handing out in this situation."

"Yes Alpha. Right away Sir." The Beta bowed lowly, heart brimming over with respect for Alpha Roland. Even though he wasn't the one to blame, the Council might see things differently.

Alpha Roland would be placed under scrutiny by the highest ranking members of their society, the most ancient and powerful being that roamed their world. If they found any wrongdoings on his end, he would be punished severely.

And Alpha Roland couldn't help but feel that maybe he deserved it. What kind of Alpha was he, to not realize one of his own was in mortal danger until it was too late?

"I should've seen it sooner." Roland muttered to the quiet room, feeling lethargic and cold.

But he couldn't wallow in the past. He had a pack to guide, people who needed his protection and guidance in the world. But he was going to interrogate every last one of his pack, to make sure that everyone who had a hand in this, was punished accordingly.

Because he knew his pack wasn't innocent. Theo's wolf didn't just snap out of nowhere and Smothered his human self without cause.

People under his care had agitated the pup, wound him up until he couldn't take the pressure anymore. People who would eagerly point towards Theo's ex mate and renounce all responsibility.

But Alpha Roland was determined to make sure that everyone involved would suffer the consequences of their actions.

And they would all learn a lesson they wouldn't forget.