AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The darkness was unnerving as it surrounded me, but I guided myself with the sounds of the echoes on the walls, and I trusted his steps to know where we were going. I could feel the exit not far off—a lick of freedom on a breeze from a swinging door.
If we had not been forced to run, I might have dropped to my knees and sobbed.
We ran for what felt like miles, and just as my body was about to give up, he came to an abrupt halt. I crashed into him, but he was stronger than me and managed to keep us both upright. He swore quietly, then I heard the sound of unfolding paper. He whispered something to himself, just far enough under his breath I couldn’t make out the exact words, then his hand on mine tightened.
“This way. Just…” He stopped, and I knew he was probably going to tell me to be careful or to watch my step, which might have made me laugh if I’d been capable of it.
We walked a narrow path, and low-hanging branches with sharp pine needles tore at my skin, but soon enough my hand met the metal side of a car, which had to have been partially hidden under the brush. I turned my head back toward the lab and listened. There were still people shouting, there was still something burning. Several people had died, and I wondered if any of them were Wolves, but I couldn’t let myself ask that now. I was in no condition to rescue anyone.
Instead, I followed the path with my hands to the door handle and climbed in, too afraid to believe that this was real—that I was actually out. His breathing was as swift as mine—his nerves clearly on edge. The distinct Omega scent of him was only stronger in the car as he started it up, and I tried not to let myself breathe in too deeply. Instead, I focused on what I could identify without my sight.
The car was older, the seats rough and torn beneath me. The bite of jagged leather made me suddenly aware I was in nothing but the flimsy hospital gown the humans had dressed me in just before they tied me to the bed. I was desperate to take it off, desperate to shed all traces of that place, and I wondered if I would actually have the opportunity.
“Do you have a place to lay low?” I asked as we hit the open road. The car lurched forward as he pressed the gas as hard as he could, and though the windows were up, I could still taste the breeze on the edges of my tongue.
“We’re heading… somewhere,” he said, sounding like he was nervous babbling, and I nearly laughed because it had been so long since I’d heard anything except barking orders from humans who only promised less pain for my cooperation. “I have GPS and… and fuck. Fuck.” He sounded on the verge of hysteria, and I breathed out, hoping I wasn’t going to have to calm him down. “I was promised this place was safe, and there will be someone coming for you.”
“For me,” I repeated. There was someone coming for me—not for us. “Who are you?”
“A lab rat,” he said with a bitter laugh. I heard the leather of the steering wheel creak as his grip tightened. “Just like you.”
“And how did you get out?”
He laughed again. “I don’t fucking know. Some guy being marched through for processing slipped me a Post-It note telling me I had one chance to get out…” He paused for a long moment. “…but I had to take you with me.”
I cleared my throat, then turned my head and pressed it to the cool glass. I had either lost all my remaining sight, or it was pitch-black outside, but I had a feeling it was the latter. “Was he human or Wolf?”
The man was quiet for a beat. “Wolf. A Beta. The eyes,” he said, like he sensed I was going to ask how the hell he knew.
I hummed, then let out a sigh and closed my eyes since there was no point in keeping them open anymore. “What’s your name? And how long have you been there?”
He laughed softly. “It’s Misha. And almost as long as you. You were still fighting them when I was brought in.”
“My name is Kor,” I told him in response. It was only fair, after all. “I was there almost four months.”
“We’ve been there a long goddamn time.”
I almost smiled. “Why did you take the risk getting me out?”
He let out a strained, high-pitched laugh. “Because I didn’t want to rot in there for the rest of my life. Someone wants you badly enough to blow up half the compound, and it seemed like the right thing to do.” He let out a small sigh. “And I thought maybe I could use you to bargain my way out once they showed up for you.”
And so I was a prisoner again. Agitation rushed through me, but I was still too weak to do anything about it. When he reached over and settled a hand on my thigh, I flinched away, and he withdrew his touch.
“I don’t mean it like that, Kor,” he said, and I was certain the way he used my name was deliberate. A reminder that I was more than a beast to him. “If they won’t offer me sanctuary, I’m not going to do anything about it. I just… wanted out.”
I felt that, like a blow to the sternum. My wolf wanted to reach for him, to comfort him. Whatever it was about him that smelled like Omega was fucking with my senses. He was hurt the same way I was hurt. They would have killed him eventually—just like they would have killed me.
“We’re both out,” I finally said.
He let out a tiny laugh. “Yeah, and we’re both probably screwed. It’s not like there’s anywhere to hide out there, you know.”
I didn’t know. “The humans grabbed me before the treaty went public. I have no idea what it’s like out there.”
Misha let out a long sigh. “It’s… a lie. It’s… the treaty’s a fucking lie. I mean, the government officials are making it look like it’s all above-board but—” He let out a high-pitched laugh again. “Right before they took me, there was this conspiracy theory going around that the Wolf and human governments came to an agreement. Sacrifices would be made on both sides. And it all seemed like bullshit until people started going missing.”
I furrowed my brow and rubbed at my eyes, wishing they would start to heal from whatever toxins the humans had pumped into me. But I still only saw a faint ring of light around the edges. I swallowed thickly. “What do you mean going missing?”
Misha groaned, and I felt the car pick up more speed like the devils themselves were on our tail. “I mean at first, no one noticed, but then a few high-profile people disappeared, and the government acted like it was nothing. They shut down protests, started censoring the internet. Right before that though, someone leaked documents saying that Wolves were also going missing. That some of them were seen being loaded into a van. Someone posted this long document about labs and genetic experiments.” He let out another frustrated laugh. “I thought it was bullshit until I woke up in a fucking prison cell with an IV in my arm. I saw Wolves being paraded through the lab after that, and there was no way they could have gotten there without help from their own. No human should have been able to take them down. Not without help.”
