Chapter 45
Jackson
I shift to get more comfortable and pull Kayla closer.
I marvel at the feel of her in my arms; I know I will never take this for granted.
I want nothing more than to get us out of here, but I know the smartest thing is to lay low for a while.
Wait until there isn’t as much security, and things have relaxed a little.
Then, we’ll make our move. We just have to survive until then.
For now, I can give my girl what she wants.
I tell her about the pack I grew up in and how messed up it was.
I tell her how Ransom and I survived being out on our own at fourteen.
I tell her how Lucien joined us a few years later, and a few more rogues joined us after that.
I tell her how Ransom and I made our first crude cabin when we were just fourteen, and that it’s grown into a profitable business for us.
I don’t shy away from telling her what happened that fateful night when the vampires got the slip on me and gave me a shot of something that put my wolf to sleep in essence.
I tell her how I was taken to a vampire site, not too different from this one.
I don’t tell her too much as I want her to be able to sleep at night.
I tell her how a group of us planned to escape, and seven of us didn’t make it.
I tell her how losing those seven gutted me, and there’s not a day that goes by that I don't think about it. I tell how we escaped and made it to the pack in Orlando, Maverick’s pack now.
Then I tell her how I smelled her scent on Ava and tangled with Bryce over it.
In the end, I tracked her down and found her at Mama May’s.
I take a break from everything I’ve been telling her and look down.
I can only see the top of her head, but I’m pretty sure she’s asleep.
My wolf is calmer now with our mate right here, but he’s still on edge.
I’m on edge too. Every little bit, I open up my senses.
So far, though, no one has come back in here.
I don’t know what the alarms were for, if there really was an intruder or not; but it certainly worked in our favor.
I know better than to think they’ll forget about us.
It’s going to be a fine line between being patient and waiting for a good time to escape and not waiting too long that we get more weak.
I don’t know the last time I ate, and while I’ll be okay, it’s definitely not ideal for me or my wolf.
Kayla’s lost weight since she’s been here, so I can’t imagine she’s been eating well either.
My wolf tries to rise, but I push him down.
It won’t help her now. All we can do now is simply escape.
Then I’ll take care of her and treat her the way she deserves to be treated.
Now that she’s accepted that I’m not going anywhere and she’s ready to be in a relationship with me, I can stop holding back.
My immediate goal is to get her and Noah out of the awful apartment they’re in.
I’m hoping they’ll move in with me to the rental.
I want to provide for both of them and take care of them.
I want to hold Kayla like this every single night for the rest of my life.
I lean the slightest bit forward and kiss the top of her head.
I’m sure ready to spoil my girl, if she’ll let me.
A sound wakes me, and my eyes snap open.
I go still and let my wolf sense what’s going on.
I’m shocked I slept at all. I feel Kayla shift against me.
Someone’s in here, I tell her through our bond, and she immediately stops moving.
I take a deep breath, trying to scent as much as I can.
I end up taking a lungful of my mate’s scent into my lungs, and it immediately calms me and my wolf.
It’s hard to think past the scent; it’s intoxicating.
But I force myself to search past that. I know there’s a vampire in here, but who, I don’t know.
It’s not Alicia, and it’s not one of the ones that were in and out of my room when I was hooked up.
There’s something about the scent that puts my wolf on edge, but I don’t know why.
“You know, they told me the wolf who’d escaped my other facility was here.
I told them there was no way, but it seems I was wrong.
” My blood goes cold at the voice, and dread snakes its way down my spine.
His voice sounds like several people talking at once; it’s beyond creepy.
Kayla stiffens against me, and I can hear her heartbeat speed up.
My own has picked up speed as well. There’s a chuckle, but it’s cold and nightmare-inducing.
“Ah, fear. It’s one of the greatest motivators. Is it not?”
Jackson? Kayla’s voice is uncertain.
My mind is racing, running through every possible scenario of getting us out of here alive.
Whatever the statistics are, they were just greatly reduced.
My wolf is right at the surface, but I keep him contained.
I don’t know that the vampire knows where we’re at yet, and I’m certainly not going to reveal our location.
I hear as well as scent several more vampires enter the room.
Every muscle in my body is tight and ready to spring.
We’re going to have to fight our way out of here, I tell Kayla.
Okay.
There’s no fear in her voice, even though I can hear her heart racing and her uneven breathing. The longer we stay in here, the more it gives them time to gather reinforcements.
Let’s go then.
I don’t waste any time climbing out of the long laundry cart.
I face the vampires for a moment while Kayla stands up.
Five. Five vampires. Keeping my front towards them, I lift her up and out of the cart.
She stands at my side a moment later, and I’ve never been so aware of the frailty of humans.
I’ve never been particularly afraid in my life, but now?
With my mate at my side, fear like I’ve never known floods me.
She can’t fight a vampire. Even fully-developed shifters find it difficult.
It often takes two of us to take one vampire down, mostly because of their ridiculous speed.
My eyes land on the one in charge. I don’t know his exact role, but I know he’s ancient.
And that means he’s powerful. My guess would be he’s the one behind all these sites, the one we haven’t been able to track, let alone kill.
I've long suspected there was another vampire pulling the strings, higher up the food chain, so to speak. I have no doubt that it’s this guy.
My brain races, trying to think of every available possibility of getting out of here. It doesn’t look good.
The vampire chuckles, and it’s honestly the most chilling thing I’ve ever heard. “Whatever you think your chances of escape are, cut it in half.” The second he sets his eyes on Kayla, I snap.
"If you lay one hand on my mate, I will rip your head from your body,” I growl at him.
He meets my gaze. “But she’s the one we need to continue our work.”
“You’re not getting her,” I growl. I shift so that my body covers hers. I feel her hand on my back, and even that touch gives me confidence.
The vampire stares me down, but I don’t cower under his dark gaze.
“Bring me the one responsible for letting this wolf shifter in here.” The vampire looks at me.
“You realize I could make you cut out your mate’s heart, right?
” There’s a gasp behind me, but I keep my emotions on lockdown.
The vampire locks eyes with me. “Step away from your mate.”
My wolf snarls inside me, and I feel his rage.
It matches my own, and yet, my body responds without my mind’s permission.
I fight with everything I’ve got, but I can’t stop it.
Soon, my body is a few steps away from Kayla.
I look at her and see the horror in her eyes.
I strain against the command, but it holds.
“Now, reach out and take her hand in yours.” Dread fills me, and sweat runs down my spine as I fight the compulsion.
I strain, but my hand lifts anyway. It’s slow at least, but it’s not enough.
Soon, her delicate fingers are in my own. “Now, shatter her wrist.”
I hear a sound from Kayla, and she tries to pull her hand free.
But my hand tightens around hers, even as I strain against the command.
My wolf shoves himself against my barriers.
I almost let him breakthrough, but I don’t know if my wolf will be able to fight against the orders any better.
And he’s much more dangerous than I am. If the vampire were to release my wolf on my mate...
I can’t even process the thought. My fingers tighten involuntarily around Kayla’s hand and move up to her wrist. “No,” she says, pulling against my hold and simultaneously breaking my heart.
I fight against the compulsion with everything I’ve got, but still my fingers inch tighter around her wrist. My muscles are quivering as I fight the command.
Her wrist feels so fragile in my hand; I can feel her bones.
I know I can shatter them so easily. “Jackson, stop.” Her voice quivers, and I’ve never hated myself more than in this moment.
I strain and shove my alpha strength against the compulsion. It slows my movements but doesn’t stop.
“Here she is,” someone says.
The pressure against my mind releases, and I instantly drop Kayla’s hand. Her wide eyes meet mine. “I’m sorry,” I gasp out.
“It’s okay,” she says, just as breathless as me. “I knew you wouldn’t do it.” But we both hear the doubt in her voice.
I turn to face the vampires and take in the scene before me.
Alicia stands in front of the vampire. I don’t miss the tension in her body; I can smell her fear.
I don’t know what’s going to go down, but I know this doesn’t end well for her.
I can’t find it in my heart to feel any sympathy for her, not when it’s her fault that my mate is in this awful place.
The vampire steps towards her. “You were the one that brought the wolf shifter in here. An alpha.” There’s nothing in his voice but hatred and contempt.
Alicia lifts her head. “I did, so that we could get her. We need healers.”
He cocks his head to the side, and the move is so predatory, I take a small step towards Kayla. I’m super cautious; I don’t want to do anything to direct his attention back to us. Now that I know I can’t stand up to his compulsion, I can’t risk being ordered to do something again.
A darkness descends the vampire’s face, and I take another step closer to Kayla.
“You don’t bring shifters in. When are you all going to learn that?
You contaminated this facility and put everyone in danger.
” No one speaks up and says that they literally have several wolves right now in this facility, wolves they’ve captured and are trying to turn.
He stares down at Alicia with cold hatred. “Slice your wrists.”
I watch as Alicia fights against the order, but she’s no match for him.
She uses her fangs to tear into her wrists.
Blood begins to drip down her arms and onto the floor.
A cruel smile lights his face as he steps closer.
“I was going to tell you to rip your heart out, but I think this will be better.”
I see Kayla jerk in shock next to me and close the distance between us.
My hand reaches out and skims hers, the slightest movement, letting her know I’m right here.
Of course, that might not bring her much comfort, seeing as how I almost just crushed the bones in her wrist. My mind races to figure a way out of this.
I have no doubt this is a master vampire, one we haven’t faced yet.
The threat the vampires are against the wolves has just skyrocketed.