Page 20 of The Alpha

A tear slid down her cheek. She was terrified!

An older man, maybe late fifties, early sixties, looked down at her. His light red hair was mixed with gray and combed back. His beard and mustache neatly trimmed. Pale blue eyes looked her over carefully as he smiled.

Pari cringed. He looked excited, and not in a good way.

“I was going to examine you while you were unconscious, but decided I’d wait until you were at least a little coherent.” He leaned toward her. “And under control. I wouldn’t want you to slip away.” He smiled again, and a chill went up her spine.

“Now, let’s begin,” he stated with glee. “Oswald!”

A man appeared on the other side of the table. Pari recognized him. He was the man that was in her apartment!

“Yes, Dr. Charles.” He looked down at Pari, then gave his attention to his superior.

“I want a full blood work up. Tissue samples, the works. I want to know if she’s Muiraran.”

“Yes, sir.” Oswald smiled down at her. “Will she feel us working on her, sir?”

Dr. Charles frowned. “Does it matter? Besides, if she can, then we can better determine how much Muiraran blood she has. They’re stronger than humans. They can take a lot of pain.” He looked her up and down. “Let’s find out how much you can take.”

Pari shuddered as fear gripped her, making it hard to breathe.

There came a thud from behind her and to her left.

“Ah, look who else is awake!” the doctor chortled. He looked down at Pari and patted her arm. “There must be quite a bit of Muiraran in you if he’s so determined to reach you.”

Thud…thud… thud…

Dr. Charles watched with amusement, then looked down at her again. “In case you’re wondering, he’s throwing himself at the door to his cell.” He glanced toward the sound again. “And that’s after we put enough sedative in him to drop three elephants.” He looked her up and down. “So, my dear. What’s so special about you that makes him fight so hard to get to you, hmmm? Let’s find out.”

He looked at the man called Oswald who still stood on the other side of the table. “Proceed.” He turned to someone out of her line of vision. “Tranq him. I want him napping while we work on her. Twenty cc’s ought to do the trick.”

He patted Pari’s arm again. “My own special recipe. Works well, though we’re still trying to figure out the correct dosage to keep him docile.” He left the table and she could no longer see him.

Thethudsagainst the glass wall were getting louder.

She heard the cocking of a gun, followed by a “phhhnt” sound, then a low guttural growl. Was there an animal in here somewhere? A wolf perhaps or big cat?

There came another loud thud followed by a few more, but they grew weaker, fainter, and eventually stopped all together.

Oswald tied a thin rubber strap around her right arm, felt around for a vein, rubbed some damp cotton over the area, then jabbed her.

Pari flinched.

“Sorry,” Oswald said, voice soft. “I’m sorry about earlier too.” His eyes darted to another part of the room. “In your apartment,” he whispered.

Pari stared at him. Did this Oswald have a conscience? If so, would he help her escape?

“He’s down?” she heard Dr. Charles ask.

“Affirmative,” a man called back.

“Good, let’s bring him out and run some tests. No sense wasting time. Let’s hook him up to an IV in case we need to sedate him again. And for Heaven’s sake, strap him down tight.”

Dr. Charles came into her line of vision again and stood next to her table. “You, on the other hand, we’ll question. I want to know everything there is to know about him.” He tossed his head at the other table.

Pari’s eyes moved in that direction, and she found she could turn her head more than an inch or two now. The movement was slow, laborious, but she managed it.

Like her, they’d put the big man on a gurney and wheeled him alongside the empty steel table. It had to be eight feet long, and she noticed it took five men to lift him from the gurney onto it. That done, they began to strap him down. The straps were thicker than hers, and she noticed the table she occupied was shorter. One for him, one for her, as if they knew what they’d need.

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