Page 64 of Alpha Hunt

“I’ve felt it too,” says Sierra. “Some days it’s like Jagger’s in my head – and he’s not even psychic. The bond is that strong. Trust me, if you ignore it, you’ll regret it. Savvie’s right. You have to trust your instincts.”

“My instincts?” I scoff. I’m suddenly remembering my conversation with Jagger yesterday, and the irony isn’t lost on me. I’d told him I could no longer trust my instincts, and now my words are coming back to haunt me. “There’s a joke. I haven’t been able to trust them through this whole fucking mess.”

“Hush!” says Sierra, putting her hands over Gina’s little ears. “There are children present.”

Savannah gives her sister a little nudge and grins at her. “Silly!” she tells her, then looks at me. “But seriously, Casey, you can’t ignore this. It’s how we wolves are wired. You can’t deny what you are.”

I stare at the pair of them, my arms curled around Bree, who’s looking up at me wide-eyed. I dip my head to inhale a breath of her sweet baby scent.

“You’re right,” I say abruptly because suddenly, I know that it’s true. There’s no point in hiding from what I am…a mated wolf. There’s no sense in fighting off these undeniable feelings.

I sit up straighter, my heart pounding. It’s like a fog has lifted, and everything is crystal clear. I look Sierra in the eye and then turn to Savannah.

“Edirn needs help,” I say, my voice steady and sure because I may not know about love, but this is something I do know about. Being in control, having a mission. “My mate is in trouble, and I have to find him.”

Chapter 24

Edirn

The cold metal beneath my bare skin makes me shudder as I blink awake, my eyes adjusting to the harsh fluorescent lights that illuminate the stark white tiles surrounding me. The room resembles a laboratory, with its sterile surfaces and the faint scent of antiseptic hanging in the air. A sense of vulnerability washes over me as I realize I’m in my human form, stripped of my clothing and left exposed to the cool atmosphere.

What the fuck is this?

Fury builds within me, mingling with frustration at my predicament. This is bullshit! The cage I’m in is spacious enough to stand and move about in my current state if I dip my head. But if I shift, it’s going to be fucking claustrophobic.

I rattle the bars of the cage, testing their strength. Closing my hands around the bars leaves my palms burning.

Silver!

Fuck. The metal is infused with the stuff, I’m sure of it. It’s going to be damn near unbreakable. That should be enough to chill me, but there’s more to it than that.

They know we’re vulnerable to silver.

The realization that my captors, though human, possess knowledge of shifters leaves my head spinning. Someone must have told them…one of us. My own species. The thought of shifters and humans collaborating to trap others of our kind is a bitter pill to swallow. It’s wrong on so many levels.

A low growl from nearby has me turning to look around. As I take in my surroundings, my anger intensifies when I notice the other wolves trapped in cages that are lined up along the walls.

Some are lying crouched, jaws gaping as they pant fitfully. Others are prowling within the tight confines of their tiny enclosures: two steps forward, spin around, two steps back, spin around, two steps forward…

Just watching them makes me feel ready to explode. I can only imagine how these creatures feel after all the time they’ve been stuck like this.

Why aren’t they shifting?

The question comes to me out of the blue.

“Hello,” I say, looking at the animal closest to me. Its pale green eyes bore into me, chilling me. I know I should be seeing some sign of intelligence there, should be reading it from the animal’s mind, but there’s nothing.

“I’m one of you,” I add. I carefully reach a hand between the bars, avoiding touching them, and am rewarded by a slavering snarl. Still no sign of anything beyond the madness of those eyes.

I take another look around me, taking in the sight of the other wolves here. There are seven in total. Eight, including me. But there are more cages. Empty ones. Too many of them.

Beyond the hoarse animal panting and claws tapping against tiles, the sound of dripping water echoes in the room, a maddening rhythm that only serves to heighten my agitation as my mind races with questions.

I don’t know what worries me more. The thought that there may have been others here before me who’d been taken away or that these empty cages might be waiting for new occupants.

Just like me.

Idiot.

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