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It had been hours since Kyle had dragged Zander out of the holding area. Diana was still out cold, which concerned me, and Audrey and I sat quietly in our cells, waiting for whoever or whatever was coming our way.
My frustration was a tight-coiled snake in the pit of my stomach. I hated being useless in any situation. I was ready to pull my hair out and do something stupid. The only thing that kept me in check was my worry for my pack members.
I tried brainstorming how to get us all out of there, but we were weak, and the silver cells made escape near impossible. There weren’t enough opportunities, and we would be far too easy to catch if we attempted to leave.
Because of the heavy doses of the drugs still pumping through our systems, Audrey and I took shifts to ensure one of us always stayed conscious, even though it would have been very easy to lie down and nap. The building had no windows or clocks, which I supposed was all the better to keep their prisoners disoriented, but since werewolves were tied to the moon, I instinctively knew the time. Maybe not down to the minutes and seconds, but I had a keen idea of the time of day, which weirdly helped me tolerate the captivity.
They’d come in earlier, caught Audrey and me unawares, and administered a drug through a blowpipe like we were wild animals in captivity. The drug prevented us from shifting. I knew because I’d tried. Plus, the prick who’d done the job had taken great pleasure in boasting about what he was doing.
Shifters had so much more to fear these days. The more science advanced, the more danger we were in. I didn’t know why anyone would help create such a destructive, dangerous serum. And who the fuck knew what side effects we’d suffer in the short and long term? What else had they designed to keep shifters from their natural state of being? What would this do to our species? My head was filled with questions I’d likely never know the answers to. The hunters were clearly afraid of our beasts; otherwise, why the sedated separation?
Zander had yet to return, and the hours passed much slower than I’d have liked. I was an alpha, used to taking action, being in charge of the situation. Right now, I was useless. All the different possibilities of what they were doing to him—a wolf under my protection, no less—kept playing out like my own private nightmare.
It was strange, experiencing the drug in my system. Even though my wolf was hampered by the poison those bastards had pumped into my veins, I could still sense him, was still aware of his anger at not knowing where Zander was. I couldn’t help thinking that Zander had been gone for far too long, and it stressed me out that I didn’t know exactly what we were up against.
Thankfully, I still hadn’t caught Tori’s or any other shifter’s scent since we arrived here—wherever “here” was. Every time the door opened, I paid close attention to what was out there. Either they didn’t have a large crew of hunters, or only a small team occupied this facility. Not knowing their numbers made it harder to devise a plan.
This was war, but there were too many unknowns. When I got out of here, I needed to convince the alphas of other packs exactly how at risk our species was and educate them on the hunters’ capabilities. Then, I’d try to get them to join us in Blackwood Creek, where we’d form a haven with a defense force strong enough to halt the hunters.
I’d underestimated the hunters. They were far better equipped than I had originally given them credit for.
The door popped open, and the blond, burly hunter strolled into the room and approached Audrey’s cell. He stood still as he eyed her closely. Attempting to gauge what he was playing at was nigh on impossible. He was disgusted by her because she was a shifter, but it was also plain to see he was attracted to her—Audrey was a beautiful woman—and that conflict had to be eating away at him.
He couldn’t hide it from us because, unfortunately, the smell of his arousal filled the room whenever he looked at her. I feared he’d lash out at her because he desired her, but in the end, you couldn’t control who you were attracted to. Rage and disgust lit my every cell. I wanted to set this monster straight. He wasn’t worthy enough for the likes of Audrey Greenthorne, or any other woman in my pack.
He taunted her, dangling bottled water and a sandwich in front of her. It gave the fucker too much pleasure.
“Do you want something to eat?” He thrust his pelvis in her direction, standing between the silver bars of her cell and laughing. “You must be hungry,” he cooed, actually cooed at her as if he expected her to do a trick for a treat like a trained dog. He acted like she’d be so lucky to suck him off.
A soft snarl rumbled from my throat. Had I not been in this cell, I never would have tolerated his innuendos. He’d pay for that comment.
We hadn’t eaten or had any water the whole time we’d been here, and my wolf thought he looked mighty tasty. We’d give the hunters a run for their money if we weren’t drugged and caged in silver. They relied too heavily on their weapons and gadgets to even come close to being a match for a shifter if we were on an even playing field. I’d like to see what this hunter do if we were alone and I was at full strength. It’d be an intense battle, but it’d feel damn fucking good to clamp down on his throat and rip it out.
Harnessing the princess persona that she’d been raised to cultivate, Audrey ignored him completely. She stayed seated on the floor, examining her expensive manicure, tsking from time to time at a chip in her polish, and treating him like he was the shit beneath her shoe. I suppressed a laugh at the obvious annoyance plastered all over the asshole’s face. He struck me as the type of boy who thought women owed him something and didn’t handle rejection very well, if at all. Even if he weren’t a hunter, I’d have him on my radar.
The more I watched Audrey, the more I found myself in awe of her courage and fearless spirit. I hated that I’d never appreciated her before, that I’d tarred her with the same brush as her entitled parents. But she was nothing like them. They’d never have had the poise she’d shown in this situation. And they’d have sold Tori out if it meant they’d be free.
I knew Audrey and Tori had come to an understanding, even though it had baffled me when Audrey had told me. To the outside world, they were very different women from completely different social backgrounds with little in common. But despite that, they were quite similar in some ways. Both Tori and Audrey were tenacious and stubborn, strong women. I was happy to acknowledge the error of my ways and give Audrey my due.
The longer Audrey ignored the hunter, the darker his smile became, as if he was fantasizing about hurting her. I wasn’t too fond of the attention he was heaping on her. I didn’t want to know what was rattling around in his warped mind because I knew it wasn’t anything good. In our current situation, I couldn’t do much, but I prayed Kyle had a tight enough hold on his men that nothing unsavory would happen to Audrey while the plan I’d come up with to get his attention came to fruition.
Glancing at Diana in the cage beside me, I worried about both women for different reasons. Audrey because she was young and beautiful, and Diana because she was older and had been unconscious for far longer than was healthy.
I was done waiting for her to wake up. I wanted answers, and I wanted them now.
Slowly, I stood, careful to avoid the silver and doing my best to ignore the throbbing pain in my shoulder. Blood was seeping through the bandages and my shirt. Was that a side effect of the drugs, or because the wound was from a silver bullet and hadn’t been cared for properly? It wasn’t clotting like it should have been, but that was the least of my worries now. I wanted to get the hunter’s attention. If I got him focusing on Diana and me, he’d stop leering at Audrey for a while.
“Hey, guard, you need to check on the lady in the other cell. She’s been out cold since we arrived. You need to check her vitals.”
The guard grunted. “Shut up. I don’t need to do anything. I don’t take orders from animals.” He sneered at me over his shoulder before turning his gaze back to Audrey.
It was unlikely that I’d get this guy to do anything in Diana’s favor. If I caused too much of a stir, I’d be the next one dragged out of here. I couldn’t afford to rock the boat too much because I didn’t dare leave the women alone. Not that I was doing much for them now, but if I wasn’t here, I couldn’t run interference between Audrey and the guards. And if something happened to either her or Diana, I’d never be able to live with myself.
Having already lost my mother, and then an aunt to the feral disease, losing another mother figure in my life was more than I could stand to think about. I was determined to get Diana help, or checked over at the very least.
Watching the hunter closely in case he turned around again, I lowered to the ground and grabbed what was left over of the bandages Kyle had given me earlier. I gritted my jaw to contain the pain in my shoulder, and with all the shifter strength I could muster through the drugs in my system, I hurled the bandages through the bars, hitting the hunter in the back of the head.
The hunter’s head snapped to me, and in a flash, his temper erupted as he gunned for my cell. He was inside before I could blink. No way were these hunters ordinary humans. Humans didn’t move with the same speed and agility as shifters.
