Page 19 of The Alpha

Kwaku shrugged. “A Muiraran Alpha wants to pursue his mate. He hunts or searches for her, captures her, plays wid her… it is like a game.”

“Like flirting?” Shona said.

Kwaku shrugged again. “Someting like dat. Dey bond drough play.” He looked up and down the street. “An Alpha is not a mindless brute. He wants to win her. Make her happy.”

Shona nodded. “And during this process, the Alpha and Melvale begin to merge, like you said before?”

“Yes,” Kwaku said. “But Melvale and his mate must be able to touch one another. Dat initiates de bonding. And he must win her.”

Shona’s eyes widened. “She can walk away, can’t she? She’s not bound to him by pain.”

Kwaku gave her a grave nod. “Yes, my little treasure. She can reject him.”

“Then the sooner we find them, the better,” Dallan said. “Let’s see how far we can follow them, then fetch some help.” He looked down at Shona, kissed her, then took her by the hand and set off.

7

Pari opened her eyes slowly. Soft white light shone down on her. She didn’t recognize it, nor did she recognize the lights themselves. They were recessed, and she wondered if she’d woken up in a hospital. Had she been in an accident?

She closed her eyes, opened them again, and looked at herself. She was wearing a hospital gown. Okay, so she was in a hospital. But what happened to her?

She closed her eyes again, and when she tried to open them, found she couldn’t. She moaned with the effort and tried to turn her head. She couldn’t do that either. Seemed the only thing working were her eyes… well, okay, they weren’t working anymore. But at least they had been.

She tried listening instead but heard nothing. Then came a small sound, and she tried to open her eyes again.

Nope. Not working.

Pari cursed in her head and noticed her breathing. Her chest rose and fell normally, as if she were asleep, and she had the sudden thought she was dreaming. Pari hoped she was. That meant she’d wake up at home in bed and pray she hadn’t slept through her alarm.

She waited, listened, and heard that strange sound again. It was coming from her left. She tried opening her eyes again and this time it worked! She tried to track the sound and discovered the walls of the hospital room were… glass? What?!

She tried moving her head again and was able to move a tiny bit. Her eyes darted left, right, up, down. Yes, glass. Thick, heavy, impenetrable looking glass. But not every wall. Just the one to her left and in front of her. The wall on her right looked like concrete.

Her breathing picked up as fear coursed through her. Where was she?

Pari looked down the length of her body as well as she could. Hospital gown, her hands atop her stomach. Why could she not move? What had they…

Her eyes widened. They! But who were they?

Her chest grew tight. Could one have a panic attack while drugged? She hoped not. With her luck she’d retch and choke on it.

The sound came again, and her eyes darted up and to the right far corner. A camera was there, and it moved slightly, causing the sound. Did it not take in the whole room?

She looked left, at the thick wall of glass and blinked. Had she blinked at all before?

Pari’s eyes widened a second time. An incredibly tall man lay upon a sheet-covered mattress on top of a thick glass cot built into the wall. He was placed in the same position she was. She couldn’t see him well but did notice he had handsome features and long white hair. Yet, he was young, maybe mid to late twenties. He had dark eyebrows and eyelashes. And, like her, he wore a hospital gown.

“Ah, good. You’re awake.”

Pari sucked in a tiny breath at the voice. It was male, British…

“No, you can’t move. The drug not only knocks you out but keeps you from getting up right away. Ingenious really. Now, why don’t we get acquainted? Bring her out and strap her to the examination table.”

Her heart sped up. No! Who was this man? What was going on?!

Two men wearing white lab coats entered the glass room, lifted her useless body onto a gurney, and wheeled her into what seemed like a huge lab. They lifted her onto a long, wide metal table, then proceeded to strap her to it. Pari could feel the cold metal against her lower back, bare behind, and legs. She shivered but no one seemed to notice.

They strapped her wrists and ankles to the table, then pulled a strap across her mid-section and another over her knees. She wasn’t going anywhere.

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