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I said nothing as he led the way, and I was unsettled by the motion of the elevator, and how right from left felt confusing. I knew my senses would catch up, but they were taking too fucking long, and my impatience was growing.
“Sandra had a place set up for you,” Orion said, “but I didn’t know you might need help. I should probably have her take us to my place for the time being.”
I squeezed his bicep a little too hard, and I felt him flinch. “If I’m gonna live with this for the rest of my life, I’m damn-well gonna do it in my own place.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea now?” he pressed.
The reality was, I didn’t know. I didn’t have a fucking clue, but I guessed if some asshole was coming to teach me how to live with it, they’d probably have all the answers. “I need to go home, Orion. Do you understand that?”
I felt his jolt, understood that he got it. Maybe not in the way I needed him to, but enough that he didn’t put up a fight.
“I can sleep on your couch until you actually feel ready to be on your own,” he said.
It wasn’t concession enough, but I knew that’s all I was going to get.
Chapter Seven
MISHA
I didn’t expect to feel anything but apprehension and fear when the Wolves took me into custody, but somewhere buried underneath that was something else. Loss, want, need… it was hard to tell with the way my nerves had everything jumbled, but I knew what I was feeling now was nothing like the way I felt when I woke in the lab.
The Wolves’ compound was a lot like I expected. The entrance was tucked in the middle of nowhere surrounded by miles upon miles of trees. The tunnel—an unobtrusive little thing that barely fit a single car—led for a short forever in the dark. The road went on for at least a quarter of a mile before it took a sharp hill down, and then we drove another half a mile at least before it opened up to the underground.
Caves—carved intricately and probably long before the Wolves got there. There was a guard station at the gate and they were checking every vehicle. The Wolves were well equipped with weapons, two of them with Beta eyes glowering as they pulled me from the car.
Their hands were rough, but once they realized I wasn’t going to put up a fight, the walk to the SUV was easier. I sat in the back and watched yellow lights pass us, and I wondered if Kor was going to be okay. I probably shouldn’t have. I was likely sacrificing my life for his, but something in my gut was aching for him.
I couldn’t smell him—the strangest sensation, but I was tired of trying to make sense of this thing I had become.
I was wrong now. I was not human. I was not Wolf.
Abomination.
The word danced at the tip of my tongue. It had been used far too many times in history by people in positions of power to oppress and destroy perceived threats. And yet, it fit.
I wanted to ask a thousand questions about where we were going, what was going to happen to me, who was in charge, but I bit my tongue as we came to a stop in front of a building. It was hastily erected, mostly brick and concrete—naked, but I supposed they didn’t really need to guard against the elements. The air was stale and wet smelling, and I could almost taste salt on the tip of my tongue as I was dragged out and led through a side door that was made of heavy steel.
I was exhausted, weak, still aching in pain, but there was some measure of relief when I found myself standing in front of a man with wrinkles by the sides of his eyes and grey at his temples, wearing a Henley instead of a lab coat.
“This is the human?” he asked.
The Wolf who’d kept his hand on my arm the whole time gave a shrug, so I nodded and spoke for him. “I’m Misha. I, uh… I came with Kor?”
The man assessed me for a long time, then he leaned in and took a full breath before he stepped back and shook his head. “My name is Danyal Bereket. I’m one of the doctors here at the facility. A geneticist to be exact.”
I couldn’t help my shiver, and I saw something flash in the doctor’s eyes—something maybe like pity—but I was starting to realize wolf eyes were hard to read. His brown eyes flared with a soft orange—Omega, if any of my information about wolves was correct.
“Let’s go inside and we can talk,” Danyal said after a beat.
The guard released my arm, and I caught up with the other man and cleared my throat as we walked in through the sliding doors. “Is there any chance I can get out of these?”
Danyal looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “Maybe, but I’m not in the habit of letting unrestrained humans inside the lab building.”
I shivered again. “Right.”
At that, Danyal stopped and set his hand on my shoulder. “I know what they did to you. I haven’t gotten a chance to get my hands on anyone who’s been locked in a lab, but we have enough inside information to know what’s going on. That’s not what’s happening here, I promise you.”
I swallowed thickly and hated that my eyes were hot, that the doctor’s words brought relief because I was stupid enough to believe them. He was a stranger. His people had declared humans the enemy, but there was truth to his words. “I get my whole position here, you know.”
