Chapter 58
SKY
The forest was eerily silent, save for my sobs and River’s ragged breathing. Thompson didn’t move, and neither did his men; their feet were rooted to the ground, awaiting orders from their boss.
“You…bastard…” River choked out, pushing himself up despite the blood soaking his shirt.
Thompson didn’t give him the chance. He strode forward and placed his boot directly on River’s wounded shoulder, digging his heel in hard. River cried out in pain, bucking beneath him.
Panic rose inside me. “Stop!” I cried. “Stop it! You said you wouldn’t hurt him! You said—”
My breath halted in my lungs as Thompson turned the pistol on me. “Shut up,” he snapped. “I’ve had enough of your whining. And you…”
He ground the heel of his boot into River’s bullet wound, drawing out a broken cry from my Alpha brother.
“Just because I need you alive for my experiments doesn’t mean you don’t have to suffer.
Keep fighting. I dare you. I’ll chain you in silver and beat you bloody, then when it comes breeding time, I’ll harvest your seed and implant it in your brother myself.
You’ll never see him, or anyone else, again. Don’t test me, mutt.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, my body shaking with silent sobs. This wasn’t what I wanted. I was a monster. I squeezed my eyes shut tight, but all I could smell was blood and dirt and the awful bite of Dr. Thompson’s formaldehyde reek.
I blinked twice to dislodge the tears, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. A flash of silver through the woods, shrouded in shadow.
My heart skipped. A wolf? No… They needed to leave! They needed to run away, or else Thompson would hurt them too.
“Alright,” Thompson barked. “Enough lolly-gagging. I want to get our guests reacquainted with their rooms. They’ll be spending a lot of time there, after all.”
He smiled coldly at me, then gestured at River as he stepped back and wiped the blood off his boot in the damp grass.
“Get him up. Let’s go.”
Two of the guards dragged River roughly to his feet. When he stumbled, one punched him square in the gut. River buckled over with a groan.
I forced myself to look away. Another wolf came running out of the woods, dark-pelted and as stealthy as the shadows that surrounded it. How had no one seen it? I glanced away, my heart pounding.
I hated this. River said the pack was here to save us. That he needed to stall Thompson, but with River injured, were they out of time? Could I buy us a little more? Think, Sky, think!
As the men dragged me to my feet, I willed my body to go completely limp. I collapsed on the forest floor with a cry of pain.
“C’mon, you stupid wolf,” the man said, jerking at my shoulder.
“I-I can’t!” I uttered. “I can’t feel my legs!”
“What do you mean you can’t feel your legs? Stand up!”
“I’m trying!”
That wasn’t a good enough answer, apparently, because Thompson struck me across the face with the back of his hand.
“Don’t play me for a fool, whelp. I see your lies. Carry him,” he barked.
“Yes, sir.”
The guard jerked me to my feet and roughly tossed me over his shoulder—and that’s when we heard the first howl.
It came from the woods, warbling and low.
“What was that?” one of the men asked.
“Goddamnit!” Thompson grabbed River by the shirt front and shook him. “Did you bring backup, you little shit?” he snarled, spittle flying. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll kill them all!”
He shoved River away from him, then spun around to face where the eerie sound had come from. His face red with fury, he shouted, “Come out of the woods, wolf scum!” and pointed his pistol into the darkness, waving it threateningly.
Another howl rose from the west. Thompson spun around, like the beasts might come at him from all sides.
“Dr. Thompson!” A guard barked in alarm as a gray wolf went running from the direction Thompson had been facing only moments before.
Thompson wheeled around and fired his pistol. Bark exploded off a nearby tree. Thompson shook his head, backing away slowly.
“Goddamnit. We retreat. Stay close and fire at anything that moves.”
“Yes, sir.”
My breathing came short and fast, and my guard dumped me on the ground so he could use both of his hands. I knelt on the forest floor and watched as wolves of different colors and sizes rushed the group, then veered off into the woods, while Thompson and his men fired shots into the night.
My ears and skull rang with each blast—Bam! Bam! Bam!—and Dr. Thompson’s scream: “I’ll kill every last one of you!”
Howls echoed through the woods, too many to count, and with them, my hope rose as well. Maybe we did have a chance…
“MONGRELS!”
Suddenly, a blinding light illuminated the forest, and boots stomped over dirt as figures ran closer. A man shouted, “Put down the weapons! Hands where we can see them! You’re under arrest!”
Cops? My heart skipped a beat. I scrambled to do as they said, only to come face-to-face with the muzzle of Dr. Thompson’s gun. I gasped and froze. He looked down at me, his eyes wild and his face contorted into a twisted, desperate expression.
“Don’t come any closer!” he screamed back. “I’ll fucking kill him!”
He cocked the gun, and the air left my lungs. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. All I could see was the end of my life dangling in front of me. My lifeless body sprawled on the grass, blood pooled around me, brains and skull shattered.
Unable to look death in the face, fear choking me, I closed my eyes. Took shallow breaths. Tried not to think about the pain I’d feel in the moments before my end.
I’m sorry Adam, Fletcher…
“Put. The gun. Down,” the cop said sharply.
“Don’t come any closer,” Thompson warned. “I’ll kill them both. I’m warning you. I’ll—”
Rapid-fire gunshots sounded, and I screamed. Instinct had me ducking for cover, burying my head beneath my arms and cowering, whimpering softly.
“Jesus Christ!” someone shouted.
“Hands above your head!”another barked out as sirens wailed in the distance.
Someone touched my shoulder. “Are you hurt?”
My head throbbed. My ears ached. My arm still hurt. But I was alive. Miraculously. I let out a half-hysterical laugh and shook my head. “Thompson…”
“Your arm, sweetheart,” she murmured, catching my wrist before I could pull away from her. “Can you stand?”
“Where’s Thompson?” I asked, voice straining.
“Let the police handle it.”
“No, I need to see! You don’t understand!” My heart waged war with my ribcage as I scrambled to my feet. She called after me, but I was already staggering towards the flock of cops. They tried to stop me, but I pushed past them. One of them grabbed my arm, but it was too late.
My gaze fell upon Thompson, his white coat stained red with blood and bullet holes, his face pale and lifeless. Dead. Gone. The nightmare was over. My shoulders sagged in relief, and then I was crying all over again.
But where was River?
Before I could go looking for him, the woman from before caught my shoulder and led me away from the scene of the crime. She got me a bottle of cold water. I gulped it down fast, like I’d been stuck in a terrible desert oasis nightmare for days.
In a way, I had been.
When the EMS arrived, they took my vitals and checked my wounds. I sat on the stretcher, but anxiety wound up inside me, a spring coiled tight, just waiting to snap.
“We’re going to take you to the hospital,” the EMT said gently. “You’ll get the care you need there.”
SNAP!
I jumped up and backed away, shaking my head. “N-No! I don’t wanna go!”
“Honey, you’re hurt. You need stitches and probably antibiotics so that wound doesn’t get infected,” he tried to explain, but I wasn’t having it.
All I could picture was being strapped to a bed and injected with medicines, and my PTSD roared to the forefront.
“No. No, no, no! Please! I don’t want to go!” I cried, frantic. “Adam! Where’s Adam? He’ll tell you! Adam!”
As if summoned by his name like some sort of genie, Adam appeared out of nowhere, and both my mates suddenly flanked me.
Confused and frightened, I only sobbed harder, grabbing onto Adam like a needy child.
“Sky? Sky, baby, it’s me. Calm down. What happened?” His fingers smoothed through my hair, but I pressed my face into his stomach and tried to breathe his scent through the snot clogging my nose.
“He’s been injured and really needs to be looked at by a healthcare professional. We were going to take him to the hospital, but he started panicking.”
“Yeah, that happens. He’s got severe PTSD from all of this,” Adam murmured. “Is there any way you could stitch him up here, and I promise we’ll get our doctor to take a look first thing tomorrow morning.”
“And who are you, exactly?” the EMT asked.
“His Alpha.” Adam’s tone left no room for argument, and the EMT did as he asked.
They cleansed and stitched my wound, and Adam held me the entire time. Fletcher played with my hair, distracting me, but honestly, the fight had sucked all the energy out of me. I lay limp in my mate’s arms, utterly exhausted.
When it was over, Adam kissed my temple. “Let’s get you home, baby.” He picked me up in his arms as if I were as light as a feather, but when we passed a couple of cops, I pointed at them.
“Wait. I need to talk to them.”
Adam set me down on my feet, and I stumbled a little, but found my footing. The three of us moved walked over.
I raised my hand. “Excuse me, officer?” The tall man’s gaze swept over me, hesitant but also sympathetic to the young, pregnant omega in a bloodied hospital gown. “There are more of us down in Thompson’s lab. Other living experiments stolen from their families and forced into slavery.”
His expression sharpened. “Where?”
“I… I don’t know. I’ve only really seen the facility from the inside, but it used to be a rehab place. Thompson has a badge on him that will grant you access to the restricted levels, though. Please, save the others.”
He nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
I leaned against Adam, resting my head on his shoulder, as my hand found Fletcher’s. “Can we go home?” I asked. “I just want to be held in bed so that I can convince myself it’s finally over.”
Because it was. The nightmare was over. River and I were finally free of Dr. Thompson’s evil reign—and the facility that held us hostage for so long would fall right along with him.