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CHAPTERFOUR
Deep growls rumbled in Rylan’s chest as he prowled around the small cell he’d been put in when they brought him to the warehouse two days ago. He was exhausted, hungry, and worried to death about his family and pride. He’d been stuck in lion form since he woke up surrounded by steel bars, unable to shift because of the size of the cage. Not that he wanted to stand there with his dick hanging out when the bitch who’d brought him there walked in the room.
Rylan had only seen the woman once so far. He’d learned her name was Vanessa, but not much else. Others who must work for her came and went from the room, eyeing him clinically. They’d shoved food in the cell with him the first day, but he refused to eat after inhaling deeply and scenting that it was laced with some kind of drug. It didn’t matter how hungry he was, he needed to be alert and ready for whatever was coming his way.
He turned his head when he heard the quiet whimpers of one of the other shifters that was in the room with him. The female fox in the cell next to him didn’t look very old, but since she was in her fox form, he couldn’t be sure. She was a dark reddish-orange color, with streaks of white and black throughout her coat. Her ears were black, as were her paws, and there was a white mark on her forehead in the shape of a star.
In the cage on the other side of her was a massive, black, male leopard who was easily over two hundred pounds. He was pissed the fuck off, and not quiet about it. Not that Rylan had been very quiet himself since he came to consciousness locked in a damn cage, filled with rage at the thought of what everyone he cared about was going through back home. Were they okay? Had they lost anyone in this battle?
Need to get back to our cubs.
Yes, we do, he agreed with his lion, although he had no idea how to make that happen. He needed to find a way out of his prison first.
He’d noticed that the fox and leopard didn’t seem to be eating their food either, and he was glad, because when he did find a way to escape and leave this hell, they were both coming with him. There was no way he was leaving them behind for whatever Vanessa and her minions had planned.
Rylan stiffened, pausing in his agitated prowling, when the sound of voices floated his way through the door on the other side of the room. His lip curled up, a snarl resonating in his throat when he heard Vanessa. She was back.
Finally, maybe he would get some answers to all the damn questions he had.
He heard a key in the lock, and then the knob turned and someone flipped a switch, bathing the room in light. Vanessa stalked in, followed by a huge bastard with dark hair and cruel eyes. The man looked over at Rylan and grinned.
“What are we doing with him?”
Vanessa walked over to stand in front of his cage, cocking her head to the side. “I have plans for him, Gunther,” she said, a thoughtful look on her face. “Did you know he is the beta of his pride?”
“Beta? What, not good enough to be Alpha?” Gunther ribbed, coming over to stand next to her. His eyes gleamed with malice as he glared at Rylan. “Too much of a pansy?”
Rylan breathed in deeply, noticing the lack of a shifter scent coming from the man. Which meant the asshole had to be the dragon Karma was battling against when they were attacked. Dragons did not have a shifter scent, but there was no doubt in his mind that the man who stood on the other side of the bars was, in fact, a shifter. The appearance of large fangs as he bared them at Rylan confirmed his suspicion, as did the iridescent shimmer that flashed in his eyes.
“No, he is definitely alpha material,” Vanessa replied absently as she turned away from Rylan to move over in front of the fox. “Those two little brats he got saddled with after their parents died are probably holding him back. I highly doubt his pride would prefer a liger over a lion as their alpha.”
Rylan froze, his gaze locked on the woman as she stepped closer to the bars that held the young fox. How the hell did she know about his children? And the death of his friends? Or the fact that his alpha was a liger and not a lion?
“I think we will start with the fox today. I need more blood samples from her.”
The fox moved as far to the back of her cage as she could, letting out small whimpers of fear. “Bring her to the lab.”
“What about the lion?” Gunther insisted. “I want to see him on your table.”
“And you will soon, but not today.”
“I want to take a trip back to his pride,” Gunther said, crossing his arms over his thick chest. “I want another go at that female dragon I was fighting against.”
Vanessa let out a short laugh, shaking her head. “You sure about that? She almost beat you once already.”
“Only because I had to come to your aid when that little brat came after you,” Gunther spat. “If I hadn’t broken away from her to take care of him, you might be dead right now.”
Vanessa spun around, pointing her finger at the dragon as she hissed, “What you should have done was kill him, instead of just injuring him. Then you should have finished the job with the dragoness and brought her back with us. She would have been very valuable to my research. Instead, you left him and ran, to save your own ass.”
Gunther shrugged, his gaze going to Rylan, a look of satisfaction on his face. “You never know, he might be dead. I did get him pretty good.”
They are talking about Walker. It has to be him. He hurt our cub.
Unable to hold his lion back, Rylan roared loudly, slamming into the bars of his cell, trying to get to the asshole who’d hurt his son. He was going to kill him. Tear out his fucking throat.
Then he was going after Vanessa.
Vanessa turned back to Rylan, a slow smile spreading across her face. “Maybe you should take a trip back to the pride. Take several men with you. Bring me the dragoness, and both of the brats. I have room here for all three of them. They can share in the fun we are about to start having.”
Gunther threw his head back and laughed, as Rylan lunged at the bars again. There was no give in them, and pain vibrated throughout his body as he connected with the stainless steel again and again in an angry frenzy.
Can’t let him hurt our cub or the alpha’s mate.
Rylan stopped and shook out his thick mane, letting out another mighty roar. He couldn’t let Gunther leave the room. Couldn’t let him go back after his family. His pride.
Suddenly, he felt something smack him in the chest, and then his neck. He snarled as he realized he was being drugged, the tranquilizer hitting his system fast and hard, bringing him to his knees.
He heard the loud roar of the leopard two cages over, just before he fell to his side, his head dropping to the concrete floor.
“Go, get the dragoness and children and bring them to me. I can use them all in my experiments.”
Gonna make her suffer, before we kill her.
Rylan didn’t like to hurt women, but he had to agree with his lion. This one deserved to feel pain before her death. She’d threatened those he loved. His babies. The mate of his alpha. She would die in agony.
There would be a lot of pain and suffering in her future. Those were his last thoughts before the darkness took him.
