Chapter 8
Eight
Neil
One second I’m worried I might have to actually fight my fated mate and the next the alpha spins around, his low growl directed at the metal gate on the opposite side of the ring.
A beat later, a loud clang precedes the slow slide of the gate, opening enough to allow three people to slip past and into the ring.
One of the new arrivals is holding a dogcatcher style metal pole with a loop on the end, his attention focused only on the alpha.
The second guy keeps himself slightly angled behind the first as the third edges along the side of the ring with something that looks uncomfortably like a taser in his hand.
Whoever these guys are, this can’t be good. They don’t appear to be more fighters, but adding unpredictable variables to an already tense situation is a surefire way to make things worse.
The alpha lowers his head, the fur along his back standing on end as he snaps his teeth and growls in Pole Guy’s direction.
The aggressive display doesn’t appear to phase Pole Guy. He simply sneers. “Down, mutt.”
There’s no Alpha command in his voice, but for a second it seems like the alpha might actually listen, a slight wobble in his knees as if he’s fighting to stay on his feet.
But after a split second of unsteadiness, he tenses his muscles, growl rising in volume, as the guy with the pole continues forward.
Pole Guy scowls, then glances over his shoulder at the second guy and jerks his chin toward the alpha. Guy Number Two narrows his eyes and lifts his hand to display a small, black, rectangular object resting in his palm.
The alpha lunges forward, snarling, but he doesn’t get far.
Number Two presses the button on the strange remote and the alpha yelps, falling to the ground with a painful-sounding thud as his legs give out.
The asshole with the remote grins, malice flashing in his eyes, and presses the button again, this time holding it down as the alpha’s muscles jerk and twitch, his paws scrabbling at the air.
My heart twists in my chest as I watch the looped end of the pole go around the now unresisting alpha’s neck. Seeing such a powerful animal brought down by something so tiny just feels wrong.
I’m not sure what I expected, though. It’s clear by now that the alpha is not here voluntarily and they’d have to have a way to control him. I guess I just never thought I’d see an alpha wearing a shock collar like, well, a dog.
The loop tightens just below the metal collar and the guy holding the pole yanks the alpha to his feet.
The wolf stumbles as his captor drags him forward, forcing him toward the still open gate.
Bleary, pained eyes meet mine, then the alpha looks away, defeat and shame hanging heavy on his shoulders.
My wolf urges me a half step forward, one hand out, instinctively reaching for my mate.
Raquel’s grip tightens on my arm and she lets out a soft whimper, pulling my attention away from the alpha.
The third guy, the one I’d completely forgotten about, is drawing closer to us with what I can now confidently identify as a taser held out in front of him, the prongs pointing in my direction.
“You going to come quietly? Or are we doing this the hard way?” He snickers as he aims the taser at my chest.
My gaze darts from his face to the alpha and back again, my mind spinning as I try to weigh my options here.
Getting tased would definitely not be ideal.
If I’m incapacitated, I can’t protect Raquel, and, without knowing what’s going on or why they chose to break things up, it’s probably best to go with the flow or whatever.
Live to fight another day and all that.
I hold my hands up by my chest. “We’ll go quietly.” I press my lips together and glance at the alpha again, the ache in my chest growing. “Just don’t hurt him anymore.”
The asshole scoffs. “He’s dealt with worse.”
I close my eyes, taking a deep breath to steady myself. There’s no way to change the past, so I’m choosing to focus on the future no matter how much my wolf would love to rip that mocking smile off this guy’s face.
Taser Guy jerks his chin toward the gate. “Let’s go.”
I nod and follow his instructions, attempting to keep myself between the taser and Raquel as we walk. The thing could still hurt me, but not as badly as it might hurt a human.
Past the slowly closing gate is a square concrete room.
The space is small, definitely too small for the number of people currently crammed in here, and I find myself squished against the wall near the gate, Raquel still behind me, and the alpha huddled in the opposite corner.
I’m assuming this is some kind of double entry system, and my suspicions are confirmed when the gate to the ring slides closed with a loud clang and the set of metal doors on the other wall swing open, revealing a concrete-lined corridor.
The shifter holding the pole drags the alpha forward, the guy with the remote once again tagging along behind him.
Once they’re in the corridor, the remaining asshole prods me with the taser.
He doesn’t actually discharge the thing, but he presses it into my side hard enough to draw a pained noise from me.
The sound is nothing, barely louder than a sharp inhale, but it snags the alpha’s attention and he glances at me over his shoulder.
“Get moving,” says Taser Guy. He pokes me in the side with the taser again, then wraps his hand around my arm.
The alpha’s gaze slides to the hand on my arm and a low rumble starts in his chest, his eyes going cold and blank.
Taser Guy ignores what I think is a pretty clear warning, gripping my arm even tighter and yanking me forward.
Wrong move.
All hell breaks loose. The alpha’s growl turns into an outright roar as he lunges toward Taser Guy, the movement so sudden and unexpected that he yanks the pole right out of his captor’s hands.
The shifter makes a grab for the escaped pole, misses, and stumbles forward as the alpha takes a leap in my direction, the pole trailing behind him still attached to his neck.
The shifter again reaches for the pole sliding along the concrete, managing to wrap his hand around the very end of it and jerk the alpha to a stop for half a second before the alpha twists away again.
Remote Guy jerks in surprise, eyes wide as he plasters his back against the wall of the corridor to avoid the alpha.
He frantically fumbles for the remote, but the small black object clatters to the ground and the dragging pole catches the side of it, sending the remote skittering across the ground toward me and Raquel.
All color drains from Taser Guy’s face as he stares at the quickly approaching alpha.
The clearly enraged alpha. Taser Guy edges backward, his gaze firmly locked on the snarling wolf.
The alpha lunges again, but the pole dragging behind him wedges between the walls of the corridor, preventing the wolf from getting closer.
The trapped alpha snarls and violently tries to shake himself free without any luck, and Pole Guy starts to close in from behind as Taser Guy moves forward.
My wolf wants me to go help my mate, but this is probably about as good a distraction as we’re going to get, and I can’t waste this opportunity.
Glancing at Raquel, I jerk my chin toward the remote and she nods in response, already starting to move in that direction. She knows just as well as I do that the best weapon we have right now is the alpha himself, and that makes getting possession of that remote priority number one.
I quickly strip out of my shirt, barely taking the time to unbutton my pants before shoving them down my legs and shifting.
My wolf emerges with my hind legs still in my pants, but I shake them off and lunge toward Taser Guy who’s so focused on the alpha that he doesn’t even notice I’ve moved until I knock him to the ground.
Without hesitation, I wrap my jaws around his throat and bite down until I feel something crack.
He makes a wheezing noise, blood bubbling from between his lips as he struggles to pull in air.
Hard to do with a crushed windpipe.
But I don’t have time to wait for him to suffocate to death.
I bite down harder and shake my head sharply from side to side until there’s another crack—presumably his spine—and he goes still.
Lifting my head, I catch movement from the corner of my eye as Raquel dashes to the area where we saw the remote land. From the opposite side of the corridor, the remote’s original owner peels himself off the wall and scrambles in the same direction.
Now that Taser Guy is down, and I’m not in immediate danger, the alpha pauses long enough for the other shifter to grab hold of the pole. The alpha’s head is yanked to the side as the shifter struggles to maintain his grip and get the huge wolf under control.
“Get that fucking remote,” he yells at Remote Guy.
But unfortunately for him, his partner can’t comply because Raquel reaches the remote first, grabbing it and holding it up in triumph.
She spins around, her eyes widening slightly as she takes in my wolf form, then sprints back toward me, Remote Guy not far behind.
I move to face her pursuer, leaping across the distance and latching on to his arm to pull him to the ground.
He screams as I clamp down on his wrist and violently shake my head, the crunch of breaking bones like music to my ears.
I’m not inherently violent, but Doyle and his underlings have pretty much literally backed me into a corner here, and I’m going to do whatever I have to in order to get the hell out of here.
And both me and my wolf want them to pay in blood for what they’ve done to my mate.
I release Remote Guy and he scrambles backward on his ass, whimpering and cradling his injured arm against his stomach.
I can’t find a shred of pity for him, so I do what I have to, pouncing on him and driving his back into the concrete floor, then close my jaw around his throat and shake him by the neck until he’s gone still.
Once I’m sure he dead, I lift my head and take stock of the situation.
It seems the alpha managed to take out Pole Guy while I was otherwise occupied, so things are actually looking pretty good at the moment.
The alpha catches my gaze and sits back on his haunches, panting and showing off bloody teeth.
The sight should disgust me—or at least make me uncomfortable—but I can’t find it in myself to care about the deaths of these guys.
Not even a little bit.
In fact, the whole “touch him and die” thing that started this off was kind of hot.
I pull my eyes away from my mate and look around, my gaze landing on a camera in the corner of the ceiling, red light blinking. Shit. There’s no telling how much time we have before Doyle sends more people. We need to get out of here.
But first…
I slowly pad over to the alpha, belly low and tail between my legs in a submissive posture.
He sits unmoving, gaze locked on my face as I approach.
The odds of him attacking me are small, but not nonexistent.
I’m sure he knows we’re fated mates, but even if his eyes aren’t completely blank anymore, he’s unpredictable and there’s no telling what he might do.
I creep across the last few feet with my belly to the ground, then butt my head against his large, furry chest and make a low whining noise.
He lowers his head and rubs his cheek over my ears, letting out a contented rumble.
Leaning my full weight against his legs, I close my eyes and just sit there for a moment, enjoying the closeness and warmth of my mate.
Raquel clears her throat, and I open my eyes, meeting her gaze and lowering my chin in a slight nod. She stares at me for a beat, then cautiously approaches, arms loose at her sides and eyes on the ground, only glancing up a few times to check in with me.
As she draws closer, the alpha goes tense and the happy noise turns into a growl as he slowly rises to his feet. He flashes his teeth and the hair along his back starts to rise. I whine, trying to get his attention, but his attention is fixed firmly on my friend.
Not a good sign.
A feral shifter loses their humanity, their wolves in full control.
No logic. No reason. They kill without remorse, and the only thing that can stop them is death.
I don’t think my mate is quite to that point, but he’s definitely right on the edge and if he attacks Raquel unprovoked, there might not be any coming back for him.
Or for us.
Whether we’re fated mates or not.