Page 31 of Feral

I did. There was nothing else I could do, so I walked out of the cell, bare feet pattering against the cold concrete floor, still trying to keep some illusion of modesty with my hands clasped across my naked body. It didn’t help much, and as Kenneth walked me by the rows of feral alphas at a safe distance from the still-snarling 351, more than one came to the front of their cage, eyes locked on what I couldn’t cover. Growls, rich and indulgent rather than aggressive, filled the lab as I tried to shrink in on myself and somehow cover my nose from the assault of alpha stench without taking my hands off my chest or lower half.

Ahead of me, 351’s aggression shifted from his jailers to the caged alphas. He snapped and snarled at the other ferals. Only the merciless metal bands encircling his arms and neck kept him moving forward.

We were led through a door I hadn’t noticed before and down a long, echoing corridor lit up by fluorescent lights reflecting off white paint. It smelled like disinfectant, but underneath was the faintest lingering odor of alpha aggression.

When we got to three doors more or less side by side, the guards shoved 351 through the farthest one and slammed it shut before Kenneth opened the middle one for me. 351’s furious growls echoed from within, and when I stepped through, I saw that we were in the same room, only he was separated from me by sturdy metal bars.

His side of the room was large and empty, made purely from concrete with video cameras mounted behind mesh casings set high in the ceilings. My side was much smaller, but equally bare. A grid in the center of it sharpened the anxiousness twisting in my gut.

On the opposite side of the bars separating me from 351 was a large glass pane much like the one between the breeding room and any observers. Dr. Axell was on the other side. He had a coffee cup in his hands as he watched us.

I shrank back against the bars before I knew what I was doing, the tightly fluttering bond in my chest pulling me toward 351 as effectively as a rope.

He made a soft noise that fully contradicted his furious and unwavering growls since I’d woken up. He pressed his body up against the bars, offering me what little comfort he could.

Ignoring the doctors, as well as the rational part of my brain, which screamed at me that a feral alpha wasn’t a good source of comfort right about now, I turned around to face him, searching his eyes for something—anything—that would help me get through this. Some promise that things wouldn’t be as bad as I feared.

His grim expression betrayed that he’d been locked in this particular room before. And it did nothing to ease my fears.

“Hello, Lillian. I trust you’ve had a pleasant weekend?” Dr. Axell’s voice blared through the room, making 351 jerk his head up, lip curling in a snarl.

I didn’t turn to look at him.

“Ah, you’re upset with me. I understand.” The smirk in his voice was unmistakable, even through the scratching of the speakers. “But you should take great pride in your contributions to science. Thanks to your sacrifice, we now have a better idea of what bio-markers to look for when matching up our prospective couples. As we speak, Dr. Urwin is preparing a couple of the females for some quality one-on-one time with a few of our alphas. This really couldn’t have happened without your rebellious little attempt at breaking out our prize specimen here.”

I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, trying to find some measurement of strength. The only thing I had was the tightness of the bond in my chest, but it was enough.

“What experiments are you going to run on us?” I asked, forcing myself to look at the doctor over my shoulder. “Why are we here?”

“Ah.” He smiled at me from the other side of the glass pane. “I’m sure you recall our talk about the goal for these alphas. We need them to become super-soldiers, if you will. Your role in this is to be… let’s call it ahoming beaconfor 351. So for the next few weeks, we need to establish how far we can press him, what lengths he will go to and what odds he can overcome to ensure your well-being. I—” His speech was interrupted as his head jerked to the door. Cutting off the microphone, he went over and opened it, saying a few words to the person on the other side. Then he left the room, and I had a moment’s relief—until the door into my section opened, revealing both the doctor and Kenneth.

351 roared a challenge out as they walked to my side, pushing at the bars so hard his muscles bulged in the process, but they didn’t move.

“Calm down, subject 351,” Dr. Axell said, throwing me a smile and a head-shake as if to say“Crazy alpha.”“You need to listen, because I am going to tell you what you need to do to protect your mate. Got it?”

Despite the absolute fury in 351’s eyes, he stopped pushing at the bars to get through, his snarl dying to a low growl.

Something in his quick submission made my stomach clench. Yeah, he’d been to this room before. And whatever was about to happen… it wasn’t good.

“In a moment, guards will put a few objects in the room. If you attack them or try to escape… I will hurt your mate. Got it?”

351 didn’t respond. He just kept his darkened eyes glued on the doctor.

“Once the objects are in place, I will assign you a series of challenges. Complete them quickly enough…” Dr. Axell brushed a finger along the side of my neck, making me flinch and 351 snarl, “…and she won’t be harmed. Fail, and she will suffer the consequences.”

The ominous threat sent a chill down my spine, and 351 roared in fury.

“Hm, I think we need to do a test to ensure our alpha understands the seriousness of the situation. Kenneth, please hold the female,” Dr. Axell said.

Too late, I tried to flinch away, but even though the lab assistant was no alpha, he was still faster and stronger than me. He grabbed hold of my left shoulder and right arm, twisting it up behind me until the pain immobilized me.

“Ow!” I hissed, trying to kick back at him. “Let go of me! You sick pricks!”

On the other side of the bars, 351 went ballistic. Hebellowedand threw his full weight against the bars shoulder-first, making them twang. They didn’t yield, but that didn’t stop him from ramming into them again and again, howling with rage the whole time.

“Just get it over with,” Kenneth hissed in my ear. He sounded… less than thrilled about what was about to happen, but that didn’t make him ease his grip. “The less you fight, the less it’ll hurt.”

I knew he was right, but I couldn’t stop myself from fighting him as he spun me around to face Dr. Axell and the taser in his hand.

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