Page 13 of Feral

“Relax, sweetheart. He’s just knocked out. He’s much too valuable to kill, even though he’s sorely testing my patience these days.” His cool eyes narrowed as they returned to me.“You,however… I can’t say I’m not disappointed I’ll lose such a fine data analyst, but youarereplaceable.”

I swallowed thickly and steeled myself as the guards came forward to hoist the passed-out alpha up. He was so big, it took all three of them to carry him off.

As much as my heart ached for the feral alpha and the fate that awaited him, I had to focus on my own situation now. I’d known there was a very real risk involved in trying to break one of Dr. Axell’s test subjects free—and now I had to face it.

“Are you going to kill me, then?” I asked with far more bravery than I felt. On the inside, my heart felt like it was trying to escape through my throat and my stomach was a hollow pit.

Dr. Urwin scoffed. “Hardly. We’ll hand you over to the authorities. You tried to sabotage a project funded by the Ministry of Defense.”

“Of course, death might be preferable to being tried for treason,” Dr. Axell mused. “But maybe they’ll go easier on a dumb female who thinks with her ovaries.”

I blanched. Somehow, while I’d prepared my plan, I’d never thought of what would happen to me if they handed me over to the authorities. I’d thought they might kill me, or—best-case scenario—I’d get turned over to the police and I’d end up with a petty charge and a ruined career. But in between those two extremes, I’d not considered the ties to the Ministry of Defense.

Yes, they would undoubtedly try me for treason.

“Please. Don’t. J-just kill me if you have to. But don’t… They’ll send me to Ezban.” It wasn’t that I wanted to die—not by a long shot. But… there were worse fates than death. Being labeled a traitor to your country was definitely one of them.

“If you didn’t want to go to Ezban, you shouldn’t have let your bleeding heart get in the way of a fucking government-stamped research project, should you?” Dr. Axell snarled. “Fucking women. We let you into the sciences, and this is the reward we get. It’s going to take usweeksto get 351 back in line now, all because of what? He makes your pussy tingle, is that it?”

“You torture them!” I snapped. “He disobeyed you, and you beat him bloody. You’ve taken their voices, their humanity! It’s not right, and you know it.”

“Theirhumanity,”he sneered. “They were hardly human to begin with. Do you know what 351 did? He murdered his commanding officer while out on assignment in the desert. He’s a war criminal, andyoutried to release him into the public. That one?” He pointed at the nearest caged alpha, who bared his teeth at the doctor. “Raped and killed five children below the age of twelve before they caught him. Trust me, they deserve every damn thing coming their way. And so do you. Nowget up.”

The world seemed to twist below me, centering on the black pit in my stomach as my indignant anger at what they’d done to these men faded to the background. Imminent fear for my own life set in instead. The few stories that ever made it out of Ezban made it very obvious that any other fate was better than being sent there. The nation had no concern for the wellbeing of traitors and war criminals. Anyone with even a shred of sanity would choose death over what awaited them there. “Please, don’t turn me in. There has to be another way.”

“I don’t think so. You tried to ruin my research after I let you onto my team—I have no pity for you.” Dr. Axell said, disdain clear in his voice. But when he stepped forward to grab me, Dr. Urwin raised his hand.

“Hang on a moment.”

Dr. Axell turned to his colleague, eyebrows raised in question.

“You saw how 351 acted around her on the video surveillance,” the beta male said as he gave me a coldly calculating look. “He seems interested in her. Perhaps, if Miss Dorne is certain she would rather find another solution to this predicament she’s put us in, she would be willing to test out the theory she suggested during the mating trial she overlooked.”

I blinked, my brain taking a few moments to zero in on what he was referring to. Then I remembered my thoughts on them trying to force a mating bond. “You’re kidding? You think he’d claimme?”

Dr. Urwin shrugged. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. I’d be curious enough to test it out to perhaps overlook your transgressions, seeing as no other female has had any non-sexual, positive reaction from 351 yet.”

“Hm, that is a good point,” Dr. Axell conceded. “It would at least be worth a trial, now that the opportunity has presented itself.” He looked down at me. “But of course, if you don’t want to…”

“No, I’ll…” I swallowed thickly and forced the images of Gloria tied to the breeding post out of my mind. Whatever happened in that room, it would be better than going to Ezban. “I’ll do it.”

EIGHT

LILLIAN

“We had another female employee in the early stages of the project,” Dr. Urwin said when I handed him the signed contract allowing SilverCorp full discretion over my body for the next year. It stipulated that I was to allow matings with alphas of the research team’s choosing, and that I agreed to not hold SilverCorp or its agents responsible for any and all bodily harm that may occur under their care.

Despite its content, I didn’t hesitate to sign it. Not even when I read the part where a “successful bonding” meant the contract would be extended indefinitely.

“She also got swept up in her feminine emotions and tried to smuggle pictures of what goes on here out to the press,” Dr. Urwin continued as he looked over my signature. “It was before we had an easy supply of female inmates for our alphas, so we struck a similar bargain with her—her cunt in return for not turning her in to the feds. I must say, it is a disappointment to see an educated mind lose all sense of reasoning to irrational emotions. It makes it hard to argue against the alphas who suggest your gender belongs at home, barefoot and pregnant.

“And then you go and prove them rightagain,after Dr. Axell hired you against his better judgement not to take on any more females for this project. I guess he was right—no amount of accolades can make up for the softness between your legs. He’s been watching you, you know. The security cameras in 351’s cell captured all your sweet little moments with him. When we saw you tending to him after his failed mating, we knew it was only a matter of time before you betrayed SilverCorp.”

“What happened to her? The other woman?” I asked. Taking his bait wouldn’t help me now.

“Oh, it was very unfortunate.” Dr. Urwin motioned with one arm for me to walk out of his small office. I obeyed, following his directions down the narrow corridor until we came to another locked steel door. “It was before we began forcing heats on our female subjects, or tying them down. So instead of submitting to her first alpha, she tried to fight him off. Stupid woman. He predictably went into a rage and killed her before we could intervene.” He gave me a small smile devoid of emotion as he swiped his access card over the lock and pushed the door open. “But you have nothing to worry about. We have had no fatalities since we implemented the heat treatments.”

I blanched as he stepped aside to allow me into the room, and I finally saw what was inside. It was a small room, clad in tiles and white paint, with a fluorescent light flickering in the ceiling. And by the far wall stood a narrow, padded examination bench with leather restraints attached.

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