Page 34 of Owning His Mate

I study the piece of gauze taped around the front of his abdomen, spanning around the side of his ribs and disappearing behind his back, and cold spreads through me. The size of that dressing scares me. Just how bad was he hurt?

FIRST FLOOR ROOM 10.

I go back to scanning the monitors, ignoring the figures milling around on various screens. Eventually I recognize the room I left, spotting the blanket I piled on the edge of the bed when I climbed out.

MAIN FLOOR.

That means the girl in the live feed is around here somewhere.

But Kye needs me…

Fuck. She’s a child. A tiny, frightened little girl. I can’t walk away and leave her if there’s a chance I can help her.

My gaze bounces to his screen and my stomach knots. What if she’s part of this and I risk everything to rescue her? I can’t dothat to Kye. He would never leave me and yet… What if she’s in trouble and I do nothing?

Fuck.

I chew my bottom lip as I find her again on the camera. She hasn’t moved from her position, but her shoulders are shaking. She’s crying.

As I cover my mouth, my insides are twisting. It’s a risk to try to save her, but it’s one I have to take. Kye would understand why I have to go to her first. I’m certain of it.

I spot movement on the screens as a small woman wearing a white lab coat walks along the corridor I think I was just in. As I watch her, my lips peel back from my teeth, a snarl poised to release.

That bitch looks so normal, and yet she works at a place like this.

The urge to go after her and tear her throat out with my teeth weighs heavily on me, but I don’t move, waiting instead until she disappears into another room.

ROOM 2.

I duck down behind the desk and find the plug to the monitors. Tugging it out of the wall, I use my bare hands and my wolf strength to rip it apart. I don’t know if it will give us a head start, but I’m not about to leave this working when it can lead our enemies directly to us.

Grabbing the wheelchair, I slowly inch the door open and double check it’s clear. Nothing moves, and the obnoxious overhead strip lights are irritating as I step out of the room.

I can smell the woman, her scent lingering in the air, as I move up the corridor in the direction she came from. This time, I pay attention to the numbers above the doors.

Following the pattern, I figure out I’m near where I need to be, and thankfully, it only takes me a few moments to findthe right room. There are no fancy biometrics to stop me from entering. In fact, it seems low-tech for an Order facility.

I bend to examine the lock, wincing. I don’t know how to pick one, but I know how to kick a door in. Just as I’m about to lift my foot, I pause. My door had been open, so maybe this one is too.

Slowly, I reach for the handle, and it pops open.

My brows fly up my forehead.

“This definitely feels like a trap,” I mutter as I push the door open.

I see the girl sitting there, exactly as she was on the camera—or rather, I see the curtain of her hair. The white gown that covers her body almost to her calves doesn’t hide her dirty feet sticking out of the bottom, and the way her knees are drawn to her chest allows her head to rest on top of them.

To my complete horror, the smell of blood lingers in the air. It’s not fresh, but it’s not old either.

Is it her blood?

I swallow down the bile trying to climb up my throat, wondering how best to approach her. I don’t want to scare her, but we don’t have time for drawn-out conversations either.

Propping the door open with the wheelchair, just in case it locks from the inside, I walk over to her slowly. A discreet sniff as I approach tells me she’s tau, like me. Her witch side is stronger than her wolf, which isn’t unusual, but it’s clear to me she’s been mistreated here.

I can’t tell how old she is, not without seeing her face, but her ankles are so small the bones protrude unnaturally, and her bare arms are so thin I could wrap my fingers around them without a gap.

Anger flames through my stomach. How could these assholes treat a little girl this way?

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