Page 3 of Feral

“Yes. As much as it purifies their alpha nature, it obviously also enhances their dominance and disregard for following orders. Not exactly prized qualities in what we hope will be the nation’s most elite soldiers.” Dr. Axell took a step closer to the cage and the alpha within reacted instantly. His snarl grew to a roar as he launched himself at the bars, barging against them with his shoulder so hard they shook. When unsuccessful, he started pacing instead, as close to the bars as he could without touching them, a look of absolute murder in his eyes as he stared Dr. Axell down.

“W-what are you working on to pacify them?” I asked, doing my best not to let on how hard my heart was pounding after the feral alpha’s display of aggression.

“It’s more about control than pacification,” Dr. Axell said. He cocked his head while he watched the alpha pace, still seemingly unfazed by the threat of violence emanating from the man. “We’ve worked on a lot of solutions, but when it comes right down to it, there is only one thing that can be used to control any alpha on the planet. Even a feral one. A mate.”

I blinked and finally wrested my gaze from the feral alpha to stare dumbfounded at Dr. Axell. “W-what? He has amate?There are rules for mated pairings, even in cases of violent crime.” Only in the most extreme cases was a criminal sentenced to death row if he’d taken a mate, because it was deemed too cruel a punishment for the—often innocent—surviving spouse to lose her mate before his time. There’d only been three cases in the past decade where a mated alpha had been sentenced to death, as far as I could recall, and that’d made waves across the country because in all three cases, their mates had been accomplices.

“No, he does not. None of them do.” Dr. Axell returned my gaze with a calming smile. “Not yet. But it is our working theory that if we can get them to claim a mate while in this state, they will be much easier to control. We keep the woman with us, safe and sound, and her alpha will obey every command given.”

“But…” About a thousand questions tumbled through my brain, but I found it hard to word any of them. An esteemed researcher like Dr. Simon Axell would never break the strict codes of conduct every person employed within the sciences swore an oath to uphold, and I didn’t want him to think I was accusing him of doing anything of the sort. Yet this…

“How will you find the women to bond with these men?” I finally asked.

“We already have.” Dr. Axell nodded toward where the central, glass-paned room curved around. When we’d entered, I’d noticed a door leading out of the room on that side. “Inmates at several women’s prisons across the country were given the option of shortening their sentences by taking part in this research. Those who accepted were given a physical before they arrived. Every one was deemed in a fitting physical state to participate. Don’t worry, Miss Dorne. Everything is above board. I would never ask fellow researchers to partake in anything that could harm their careers.”

“I wasn’t implying that—“

He put a hand on my shoulder. “I know, my dear. And I want you to feel safe in confiding any concerns that may arise during your employment here. We take the welfare of our employees, as well as our test subjects, seriously.”

I offered him a brief smile of gratitude that he responded to with a quick squeeze before he removed his hand and turned away from the caged alpha still pacing in his cell. “Now, if you will come with me. I’ll show you your work station. You won’t often have need to come down to the lab, but on occasion, someone will forget to jot down the relevant numbers in the reports you’ll be given. If that’s the case, you can always come down and read them off the cells. Just be careful not to come within reach of the bars.”

I nodded shakily, my gut clenching at the thought of being close enough to one of the feral alphas that they might reach through the bars and grab me. One final look at the still-pacing 351 made it very obvious I wouldn’t like the outcome of an encounter like that.

THREE

LILLIAN

I settled into a rhythm at my new job quickly enough. My colleagues were friendly, if a bit aloof, like most researchers tended to be. I was the most junior member of the team, and a newcomer, so I didn’t mind too much that I spent most of my time alone by my computer. I was determined to prove myself the best analyst Dr. Axell had ever employed, hopeful that I’d improve my standing with the accomplished alpha enough that he’d eventually consider me part of his core team.

So I worked overtime hours from my second week, staying later than anyone else to catch up on the pile of work that’d been accumulating while they didn’t have an analyst employed. Spreadsheets and bio measures haunted my dreams.

It was a full month into my employment before I had to return to the lab.

It was past 8 PM Friday night, and I was the last employee left in the whole compound, save the guards patrolling the upper layers and surrounding grounds. I’d decided to run the last few numbers on the latest test results from Subject 351. But as I sat yawning in front of the computer screen, staring at numbers that slowly began to look like ants to my tired eyes, I realized Dr. Axell had forgotten to fill in the alpha’s daily calorie intake for this past week. Either I had to wait until Monday to get the numbers, or… I had to go read them off his chart myself.

A small jolt of nerves made me grimace. I’d been in plenty of labs before—that this one contained several aggressive alphas really shouldn’t make me flinch like an intern. They were safely locked up. It didn’t matter that I’d be the only staff member down there—not if I wanted to get this report done for Dr. Axell to hand over first thing Monday morning.

After only a moment’s hesitation, I snatched pen and paper off my desk and made my way to the lab. Impressing my new boss was far more important than the dumb animal instincts nagging at my spine at the prospect of being all alone in a room full of alphas.

The lab was only half-lit when I stepped in through the sliding door after having swiped my card on the scanner. I briefly considered flicking the bright fluorescent lights on to make it easier to see the numbers on 351’s chart, but a quick glance at the nearest cages made me decide against it.

In contrast to when last I’d been here, the alphas within view weren’t pacing restlessly. Instead, they all seemed to be in some state of rest, and I didn’t want to disturb them.

I walked as quietly as I could down the left row of cells, but even though I didn’t go unnoticed, no one growled at my presence. A few got to their feet to watch me as I passed their cage, alert but unaggressive. I scented the air and blushed at my own lapse into primitive instincts. I was usually much better at ignoring the small, primal urge to smell for pheromones that always jabbed at the base part of my brain when around alphas—but then again, it wasn’t often I found myself surrounded by this many of them.

Despite the heavy smell of disinfectant in the air and the relative calmness of the lab’s inhabitants, the bitter note of alpha aggression still hung above it all, a silent reminder of the much different atmosphere the other staff members saw during regular working hours. Faint as it was, it still wreaked havoc on my nerves, and I sped up on my way to 351’s cell. The sooner I got this over with, the sooner I’d be able to get out of here.

Subject 351 sat against the near wall when I got to his cage. His eyes snapped open when I stopped in front of the door where Dr. Axell’s notes were attached to the concrete separating his cell from the next.

“Hey,” I said, feeling halfway stupid talking to a feral alpha who’d likely rip me apart if he got the chance—but also too uncomfortable under his dark stare to pretend like I didn’t notice him. Besides, the sound of my own voice calmed my frayed nerves, if only a little. “I just need to get your stats for the week—Dr. Axell forgot to complete them.”

He didn’t respond, obviously, but he didn’t move closer to the bars either. I relaxed a little and pulled out my notepad, intent on getting the task done.

Dr. Axell’s writing wasn’t the most legible at the best of times, and in the dim lab, I had to squint and lean in to decipher the numbers and notes he’d scrawled on the alpha’s file for the week. I was so absorbed in my efforts that I didn’t realize I’d taken a step closer to the bars—nor did I notice the alpha getting to his feet. Only when I took another step and my shoulder brushed against the metal did I notice what I’d done—and by then, it was too late.

A large hand, with strength to rival a freight train, closed around my upper arm.Hard.

I shrieked and flailed, dropping my notepad and pen. My heart pounded in my throat so hard I thought I might throw it up, and I pushed at the bars in a vain attempt at getting free. I might as well have tried to dislodge a boulder.

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