Page 43 of Feral

She started and turned to him. Though her eyes were wide with surprise, the life in them was dulled. “You know my name?”

Of course he knew his mate’s name. Though… he hadn’t spoken it before.

The damn bond twinged again and he rubbed at his chest. This wasn’t how a claim was supposed to happen. The female should have been worshipped, felt treasured… surrendered willingly. Not like the parody of a claiming they’d gone through.

The result was a damaged bond.

He’d been too drugged out of his mind to give her anything more than the very basest of care during the vital first days. And now, instead of something beautiful and serene, the hook in his chest gnawed and twanged with her distress.

Smoldering anger flared in his gut. He pushed it down again, promising himself that the scientists would suffer for the damaged bond as well as the months of his life they’d robbed him of.Afterhe’d gotten his mate to safety.

Nothing would matter if he failed.

He moved to the mattress and knelt by her side. Unable to keep his hands from her when she was so close, he stroked a lock of her hair from her cheek. She didn’t flinch away, but she lowered her eyes, unwilling to meet his gaze.

Worried he’d want to rut her.

He pushed down the instinctive urge to force her into submission and remind her that, no matter the circumstances, she enjoyed their matings. And she washis.

There wasn’t time. Not now.

“Lillian,” he said again, because he liked the taste of her name on his tongue, light and soft like a kiss. “I have a plan to get us out, but I need your help.”

Her eyes widened even further, some of the dullness finally receding as hope bloomed. “How?”

“When they bring dinner, you will pretend to be ill. Get them to open the door. I’ll take care of the rest.”

She frowned. “I don’t think that’s going to work. Even if they care, even if we get out of the cell, we can’t make it past the guards and escape the compound.”

“Leave that to me. I promise, if you get that door open, Iwillget you out of here. No matter the cost.”

“Oh.” She looked up at him, uncertainty in her eyes, but nodded nonetheless. “Okay. We’ll try. Can’t get much worse, right?”

He touched her cheek again. “If things don’t go to plan… if I am held up or killed, you need to find your way to St. Halls in Georgia. Find Jerome Willis. Explain to him what’s happened. That you’re my mate. He’ll take care of you. Got it?”

She nodded again, hesitantly. In her eyes he saw the instinctual agony just the thought of losing your pair-bonded mate brought. But he knew it was a very real possibility that he’d die for her tonight. And if he did, he needed to know that she would be taken care of.

“How are you so clear?” she asked, the waver in her voice the only outward indication of her emotional response. “They haven’t tested you for days—the drugs should be—”

Noises from the lab interrupted her, and they both turned to stare out through the bars. The tell-tale clanging of metal trays announced the arrival of dinner.

“Zach.”

He turned back to look at her at the sound of his name, but though his female’s lips were parted as if she wanted to say something more, she never did.

When the sound of the clanging trays came closer, he got to his feet and stepped toward the back of his cell, giving whoever came to feed them the impression that it’d be safe to open the door and tend to Lillian. “Now.”

She drew in a deep breath and crawled closer to the door. Once there, she lay down on the cold concrete and stilled so completely she looked like she was dead. If it wasn’t for the quiet strumming of the bond in his chest, he’d have panicked at the sight of her lifeless form.

They waited for nearly five minutes—long enough that he had to fight the urge to pull his mate off the cold floor. Her discomfort now would be worth it soon enough.

He heard the neighbor alpha receive his food, and the female once more plead for freedom, and then it was their turn.

351 sent a silent prayer to a god he’d long since stopped believing in and tensed his muscles, readying himself for the battle ahead.

“Jesus Christ, Lillian!”

The voice belonged to the lab assistant.Good.This should go smoother.

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