by Ruby Brooks
Chapter 16
Cole
I was flanked by four men as I followed another one into a laboratory room. They all had various knives and guns strapped to them and looked like they knew how to use them, unlike when I met Andrew and Ella.
I had kept my wolf under wraps so far, but this was going to be my biggest challenge yet. My wolf was itching to shift, even partially, so I could slide my hands out of the handcuffs. He hated me chained up like this, but I ignored his protests.
A man had his back to me when I entered the lab, but when he turned to face me my vision turned red. His broad shoulders and set of his jaw were the same as when he had grabbed Hayley, and I felt like I had been transported back to that moment. Both me and my wolf wanted to tear his throat out.
“Where the fuck is she?” I demanded, and the men surrounding me poised for action. They were dismissed by a click of the man’s fingers. I sensed their reluctance, but they obeyed.
“I don’t know who you are talking about,” he answered, his voice low and calm.
“You know exactly who I am talking about. Hayley. Where is she?” I nearly snapped the handcuffs around my wrists clean off, but I had to stay under control.
“Oh, her,” he waved his hand. “She’s fine. Get on that table over there and lay down.”
I bit back a retort. I was supposed to play this cool so I could get to her sooner, and trying to influence a human wasn’t going to end well. I lifted myself on to the table, which was difficult with my hands bound, and lay back to stare at the lights on the ceiling.
Has Hayley been lying here, too? The scent of disinfectant assaulted my nose as soon as I came in here, so I couldn’t tell if she had been here recently. I fucking hoped not. I hoped she was somewhere else, somewhere safe.
“Our home.”
One day, wolf, one day we will take her home.
“You killed one of our targets,” the man commented, oblivious to my internal conversation.
“Who are you?”
“You can call me Nathan. Aiden was one of our most intriguing targets, you know? I couldn’t wait to set our hunters onto him. He was very violent, wasn’t he? Sat right on Steelman land, too.”
I said nothing. The mention of my father’s name brought forwards too many emotions that I had fought so hard to suppress.
I watched Nathan out of the corner of my eye as he filled a syringe. The metallic scent that clung to Andrew and Ella last night wafted through the room and tears pricked at my eyes from how potent it was.
Do your best at protecting me, wolf. I don’t know what that is, but it is strong.
“Okay. Don’t panic if I disappear.”
I hoped he was going to manage to do it, but it was going to be harder than the tranquilliser from the other evening. Despite losing our mate, my relationship with my wolf had improved sevenfold since I was a teenager.
Nathan gripped my arm in his hand and pulled me out of my thoughts as he poked the needle into my vein. I watched as he injected the substance and heard my wolf hiss. I bit my tongue so hard I tasted blood, just to make sure I didn’t make a noise.
“Well?” He pressed.
“Well, what?” I had no idea where the conversation was up to anymore.
“Did Aiden hurt you?”
“You already know the answer to that otherwise you wouldn’t be asking.”
He tutted. “You need to learn some respect.”
His words echoed my dad’s, and I could see they were both cut from the same cloth.
“You two knew each other,” I commented.
“Nope.” His answer was too fast, and he turned on his heel to dispose of the syringe.
“Yes, you did. Why would you target my dad on the Steelman land? You wouldn’t stand a chance, especially if you sent someone like dumb and dumber, like you did on Friday. There are plenty of violent shifters, find one of those.”
“These sorts of questions can get you into trouble.”
“So? Can’t see how things will get worse for me.”
“They can get worse for Hayley.”
I closed my eyes. Of course – of course – he was going to use her against me. “Fine.”
“Dumb and dumber?” Nathan snorted at my earlier comment. “Don’t let Andrew hear that. He may decide to pay Hayley a visit. Oh, wait,” he snapped his fingers, “he already did.”
I pushed myself up from the bench, but Nathan’s hands forced me back. My wolf was groggy, but trying to respond, and I glared at Nathan. He looked down at my handcuffs and smirked. If only he knew how delicate the metal really was against me.
“If you don’t get off me in—”
“I’ll get Hayley in here instead. I need an alpha for an experiment, and she is the only other one we have at the moment. The rest are on missions.”
I ground my teeth. “Fine,” I hissed. Laying back down on the bench, I tried to slow my racing heart.
At least I had confirmation that she was definitely here. When I saw Andrew again, I’d fucking kill him for even thinking about harming her.
How was she an alpha though?
“Because of us,” my wolf grunted.
Calm down. I need you to rest.
“I was reading somewhere once that an alpha’s blood has additional healing properties. Have you heard of blood types?”
“Yes.” I had no idea where this was going, nor did I care. I needed to get to her.
“Then you’d know that not all blood types are compatible, and you can’t just exchange blood however you feel. An alpha however… I could inject your blood into another wolf, pack or not, and it would heal them. I want to see if that will work for other shifters – a wolf into a lion, for example.”
“Why do you care? I thought your purpose was to kill us.”
“That’s the hunters’ purpose, yes. I have my own agenda.”
“Right. Of course you do,” I muttered. “I want you to keep Hayley out of it.”
“What do you suggest?”
“I’ll do anything you want, so long as it doesn’t come back to hurt her.”
“Anything?” Nathan rubbed at his chin, regarding me carefully.
“Don’t underestimate what lengths I will go to in order to keep her safe.”
“Okay. I need a lot of your blood to study but you will be training in the morning. You will be in here, before the alarm, once a week so I can take some.”
“Fine. What else?”
“Complete all of our missions, too. In fact, there is one tonight I can put you on.”
✽✽✽
No one gave me any weapons, but that didn’t surprise me. My wolf fought off whatever substance Nathan had injected, but he was exhausted. I was paired with Andrew and I wanted to rip his head off, but it had to wait. I needed to hear from Hayley’s lips what he had done to her, so I could make sure to return it, ten times worse.
I couldn’t wait to be reunited with her. Touch her skin. Slide my fingers through her and tip her chin back. She looked so fucking beautiful when she would peer up at me, begging me with her eyes to kiss her.
“How are you allowed on a mission already?” Andrew grumbled, his words pulling me out of my thoughts. The bastard, I was enjoying the mental images in my head.
“Because I’m better than you.”
“I hate you,” he muttered, playing with one on the knives.
“The feeling is mutual.”
“Just so you know…” He trailed off, waiting for me to respond. I didn’t. I was too busy focussing on what was happening in front of us to care. “I’m in charge back at the base. I’m not dealing with your alpha bullshit.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come on, move it.” I rose to my feet and slipped through the trees, not waiting to see if he was following.
We were supposed to take out three packless wolves today. When I say we, it’ll all be me. Andrew couldn’t even get up without complaining. I grabbed his wrist, snatching the knife from his hand. Great alpha he would turn out
to be. In fact, I hoped he would. I would then gain even more than just my own sadistic pleasure from killing him – I’d have extra pack members, too.
“Watch and learn,” I hissed. “Don’t fucking move.”
He gaped after me as I began stalking the packless wolves. My own wolf was stirring, sensing the danger.
I’ve got this. Rest.
He grumbled, but settled back down. Whatever that shit was, it was enough to make my wolf complacent. He should have been attacking me for not finding Hayley already.
I felt Andrew’s eyes on me as I approached. The packless wolves assessed me as I walked towards them, their hackles raising for a fight.
“Stand down,” I ordered. One cocked his head, almost hesitating. He can’t have been packless for long if he was feeling my influence.
The other two lunged and I dived out of their way. Recovering quickly, I lashed out with the knife and caught the flank of the one closest to me. The wolf that hesitated initially started helping me. He pinned down the wolf for me as I broke its neck, and we swiftly did the same to the other.
Andrew had run forwards at this point, staring at us.
“Are you crazy? You have left a lot of blood.”
“So?” I shrugged. “They are dead. What did you expect?”
Rain started to fall, and it would slowly wash the blood away anyway. Shifters would detect the smell, but given we were all shifters, it wouldn’t be an issue. Besides, packless killings happened so often that no one would bat an eyelid.
“I expected you to have a plan,” he snapped.
“Says the one who is in charge? Go on, sort this out. Order me.” You don’t even know how this works out here. I kept that thought to myself, amused that he didn’t know what to do.
“We are going back to where we were dropped off and we are going to wait for the hunters.”
“So that they can take us back? Is that where you feel safe?”
The other wolf was watching us curiously and noticed Andrew’s nerves, too.
“Want to join my pack?” I projected to the wolf. Andrew didn’t hear a word and I knew then that metal substance was to keep our animal subdued.
“I— I—”
“You’re stuttering again,” I commented. “Quite frankly, I’m bored of it. We need to have a talk in a moment, but first I want to talk to the wolf.”
“Talk to the wolf?” Andrew gave the wolf a look of disdain and I stepped in front, blocking him from Andrew’s glares.
“Yeah. Fuck off and I’ll find you in a minute.”
The wolf and I watched Andrew stalk off and he muttered curses to himself. The guy had a serious ego and while alphas needed one, his was all hot air. The wolf snorted and peered at me, their own nerves swirling.
“You are going to do me a favour and I’ll let you join my pack, no questions asked about your past.”
The wolf made a slight noise which I took as agreement.
“You know the Steelman’s? Find the beta, Dane. Not Kian. If you go after Kian, the alpha would have your neck. Tell Dane I’m in trouble, but claimed a pack in Eskdale. I’m Cole Anderson.”
The wolf nodded and began walking away.
“Oh, another thing.” The wolf stopped, ears pricked in my direction. “Be careful. Thank you for helping me.”
The wolf let out a low howl in submission and trotted off. I didn’t know if it was going to work, and all I had now was hope. I couldn’t go to Hayley and not have some kind of plan for her rescue, even a far-fetched one.
I caught up to Andrew easily, wrapping my fingers around his throat and backing him against a tree.
“Is this how you had Hayley?” I tightened my grip and his eyes widened in fear. “She’s tall for a woman, isn’t she? I imagine that sort of thing threatens your masculinity.”
“You won’t like her,” he rasped. “She’s dominant.”
“I love her.”
Fucking hell. I did, and I never told her. Andrew didn’t seem to notice my faux pas, though.
“She—”
“I don’t want to hear another word.” I raised the knife that was still in my hand, and slowly traced the tip over his skin making him shudder. “When I find out what you have done to her… I’ll enjoy returning the gesture.”
“Please—”
“You aren’t in any position to negotiate.”
“But—”
“Quiet,” I commanded. He gulped and I leaned closer. “Don’t even think about breathing a word about that wolf, either.” Confident I got the message through, I let him go, and he slumped over, coughing.
“You have fucking lost it,” he spat. He stayed on his knees while he still struggled to regain normal breathing. I hoped he’d never regain it, and maybe I really was a psychopath.
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “One last thing…”
I grabbed him by the shoulder, picking him up, and turning him around, punching him directly in the kidney. It hurt like a bitch when someone did that, and I knew the pain he was going through. He cried out, faint tears leaking from his eyes.
The best part about punching someone in the kidney? It took longer for a bruise to appear. My dad taught me that.
You are turning into a him, the angel on my shoulder said.
Hayley needed you to do this for her, the devil countered.
“If anyone asks what happened to you, it was the packless, okay?” I whispered, my lips barely grazing his ear. “You’re weak. Outnumbered. You couldn’t take them on your own and I had to rescue you.”
“Okay,” he nodded and staggered as he followed me along the path. I used my wolf senses to stay alert to our surroundings because I wanted Andrew alive, and he wasn’t in a capable mindset to take care of himself.
The hunter’s vehicle was already there and the woman who drove us last time was waiting. Her arms were crossed, and the tranquilliser gun was poised, the safety off.
Prepare yourself, I said to my wolf. He just about managed to as she squeezed the trigger. I winced as the dart went in, never keen on it, and it made her smirk.
I slowed down my movements as I clambered in the car. Andrew came around the other side, trying to glare at me as he put his seatbelt on. His sedative had already kicked in and I watched him fall asleep before closing my eyes myself.
As soon as we got back to the facility, I was once again flanked by four men. I found it funny that when I was outside on a mission they would leave me alone where I could escape, but here? I always had to be escorted.
I followed the men as the one in front led me down some steps towards an area that could only be described as a prison cell. A solid, thick door was reinforced by steel and there was no window to see into the corridor.
“Nathan wants you in here permanently,” one of the men said, when he noticed I wasn’t making a move. I sighed and stepped in. They hurried to close the door behind me and I snickered. They feared me and so they should. I could take them easily these days, especially now I have reached my full maturity as a shifter. I wasn’t the same Cole they fought at the funeral.
The only thing available to me in this cell in order to relieve myself was a bucket, and I wondered how often I’d be fed. Dry clothes were in a neat pile on the ground and I peeled off my wet kit.
“Hayley,” my wolf stirred, growing agitated. “I can’t feel her. Where is she?”
I inhaled. Fuck. Her scent was clinging to the walls. I looked down in the corner where there was a makeshift bed and picked up a stray lock of hair.
We will find her. I tried to believe my own words. Trust me.
I was close.
But shit. If she wasn’t in here, where was she? The thought of her in somewhere worse than this kept me up all night. That would go directly against the agreement I had with Nathan and I should have clarified my definition of safe.
Chapter 17
Hayley
I was still furious with Micah and Andrew when I went over to the training room the next morning. As I was walki
ng, I heard voices from the stairwell that lead to the cell I used to be held in. I pressed my back against the wall and held my breath.
A group of men passed me – the same hunters that had first attacked and kidnapped me. They didn’t seem to notice me hidden in the shadows, but the man in the centre inhaled the air as they passed. I couldn’t see him exactly, only the back of his blonde head, but my heart rate picked up.
Who was that man?
A part of me knew exactly who it was, but I squashed that hope down.
“Hey, Hayley—”
I jumped when Micah rested his hand on my shoulder. The group of men passed the corner, not looking back.
“Jesus fuck, Micah. You scared me.”
“Jesus fuck? There’s a new one,” he clucked, grinning at me. “What are you doing?”
“Who was that guy?”
“I’m not sure. Nathan’s latest pet project, I think.”
“Right,” I pushed myself off the wall and started heading towards the training room. “I’m sorry for the way I screamed at you yesterday. It was a bad time.”
“I gathered,” he said, falling into step beside me. I was grateful for his presence because Micah may be human and untrained, but Andrew wouldn’t cross him. “I understand your problem with me Hayley… I am always around.”
“Why?”
He looked up and sighed, ruffling his hair with his hand. “Because I like you, okay? I have never met anyone quite like you before. You fascinate me and I’d love to get to know you, the proper you. But I can’t, and you’d never pick me anyway.”
“Micah—”
“Let me say this, please?” He took me by my elbow and guided me around the corner. There was no spark where he touched me and I knew this would never work. I could hear people arrive for training, but they wouldn’t spot us in this secluded area, and my instincts for my safety kicked into overdrive. “I know I’m human, and you’re a shifter, but think about it. I can be there for you. Protect you.”
I stopped myself from scoffing at that and shook my head. “I’m sorry, but—”
“You are interested in someone else. I get it,” he nodded, pursing his lips slightly in disappointment. “Anyway, I’ll let you get back to training.”