AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Don’t ask how I know.
I clench my jaw and tighten my shoulders, forcing down the urge to challenge her authority. The first and only time I ever flexed on Bridget, her mates stomped me so hard they dislocated my shoulders.
Then I was treated to a six-month, all-inclusive vacation on the prison level.
Never again.
The anger, the hate, the powerlessness and pain.
I shove them down to deal with later, someday far in the future, when I find a way to live that doesn’t make me want to punch myself in the face.
Feels like sticking the pin back in the grenade.
Won’t stop the explosion—just delay.
But it’s the best I can do, and it’s good enough when I find my fake smile, straightening my heels and throwing a perfect salute. “Yes, Commander.”
Her lips thin.
I don’t wait for more orders.
I run so fast, I’d smoke the squad. So pissed I can’t feel a twinge of pain, even though I move like a fast zombie, fueled by spite.
It’s getting harder to fake being good.
Harder and harder to smile and walk away.
Stay in control.
I have to keep myself on the leash.
Because if they ever meet the real Marisol?
I’ll never be free.
My wax smile strains when I’m buzzed into the lab. An alpha squad waits in the foyer, faces hidden behind hazmat gear, and the tips of their rifles lift to say hello.
If there weren’t special agents crouched around the pillars and potted ferns, the place would look like your average office building on TV. But no employees dash past with coffee.
Leadership clears the floor when I’m summoned.
I don’t mind.
The bad memories and red dots on my jacket are plenty of company.
A shudder slips through my facade.
The lab is where I woke up in military custody after the worst night of my life. Covered in blood, coming down from the drugs that forced me into the only heat I’ll ever have.
I was so confused.
Hurt.
And worst of all, realizing I’m not just broken—I was never whole from the start.
The past stays in the past. Keep moving forward.
Ignoring the guns and the guards’ stress pheromones scraping my throat, I glide across the lobby like I’m here to ace my job interview.
