My wrists are numb to the pain now; the nerves must be burned out of them. I’m growing used to the tubes that the humans shove into my body when I am unconscious—tubes that control when I wake and sleep, tubes that feed me poison. Every time I wake up in here, I have new pain.
Every day is the same here, waking up alone with the same thoughts running through my head. How I am trapped here in pain and there is nothing that can be done about it. The only person in the world who would know to look for me is probably the one who handed me over.
They don’t even let me see my wolf.
I’d never been this alone in my entire life.
The only thing I have to mark the time is each new mark on my body, the new pains that come with each waking. The constant pain of my wrist until it numbs out.
Today, it’s a pain in my stomach… like a burning line across my lower abdomen.
There is nothing I could do except guess at all the twisted things they have done to my body… to guess if I will ever leave this place.
I can’t do a damn thing about it.
I’ve been abandoned by my only family. By my pack.
There isno onecoming for me.
Chapter 4
Nyx
Two Years Later
It’s like our alpha has gone mad—not that any of us can blame him. If I’d found out the humans had takenmymate, I would rip them apart, too. Not that I’ve sparked with my soulmate yet, but it’s still horrific to think about.
None of the high-ranking wolves in the Blackwood pack have ever seen our alpha rage the way he did when we first entered the industrial compound. Our alpha is the type to work with his hands for the good of the pack. Before Roman took over, it was unthinkable that such a powerful alpha would stoop to building cabinets and installing toilets for the rest of his pack. He is a good leader, who works hard. I am proud to fight for his cause. And now… he is out forblood.
He ordered us to kill every last human we find.
My claws are stained red from slaughtering these pathetic humans who tried to scurry away from us in their lab coats, drenched in the scent of tranquilizers and misery.
Now, the only thing left of them are their helpless pleas still ringing out in our ears.
It doesn’t give me any pleasure to cut their brief lives short. This was nothing close to a fair fight… it was an extermination. It had to be once we saw what they have been up to. There isn’t anywhere they can hide where I won’t chase them down.
A howl rings out, signaling that the humans who ran this facility have all been mauled to pieces. Our focus now is to rescue as many of the shifters as we can… if we can.
Our alpha works with ruthless efficiency, breaking apart the silver manacles of every one of our kind that we find here.
But this rescue mission has somehow become even more grim. Some of the shifters we attempt to rescue are inbadshape. The damage done to their bodies… It’s like these scientists weretryingto cause them permanent damage, not just study them.
We are breaking into isolated rooms, snapping the shackles off the imprisoned shifters one by one. I’ll be surprised if some of them even make it. These conditions are barbaric—they are all chained up either to beds or metal gurneys, and have been constantly poisoned by the silver in the cuffs for who knows how long…
I find a shifter who’s clearly had his leg amputated. The humans must have infused silver into his stitches, preventing him from being able to heal. The injury looks so old, but it still seems to be seeping. I don’t know if it will ever be possible for him to reverse the damage.
The entire reason we have extended lifespans—the reason our bodies are able to heal so quickly—is because our wolves are written straight into our blood. Whenever we transform fromman to beast, it forces our bodies to regenerate to a physically pristine condition. Injuries melt away, leaving us whole again.
What were thesescientiststrying to accomplish here? They are intentionally disfiguring us, as if they are testing shifter limitations, seeing how hard they can push before their bodies give out completely.
More than anything though, this feels like blatant human greed and jealousy. In pure human fashion, they see something that we have and want to take it for themselves—in the cruelest way possible.
As fast as we can, we continue breaking into room after room. Ignoring the searing burns on my palms, I rip off chains and break them apart. Some shifters transform into wolves as soon as they are removed from the taint of silver; restoring themselves instantly.
But other shifters just lay there… still breathing, but looking more dead than alive. They look like they have been here a long time. Even after being freed from the silver around their wrists, they don’t move. They don’t wake up.
Is it already too late for them?