Page 56 of Feral

“Shit!” one of the men inside snarled, and then a body came flying through the door and collided with a heavy smack against the corridor wall behind us. Jarl slid to the floor, his eyes glazed from the impact.

“Fall back!” Jerome snapped, but he needn’t have. Eric stumbled backwards out of the cell the next second, struggling to keep on his feet, eyes wide with unadulterated horror. A vicious rattle of chains, as if a large beast was straining at the end of his bindings, rang from the room.

“Shit,” Jerome growled. “What the fuck did they do to him?!”

“That’s not fucking Barnes,” Eric said, eyes never leaving the dark door opening. “They fucked him up, Willis. They fucked him up bad.”

“Let me talk to him,” I said, placing a hand on Jerome’s arm.

“Lillian—”

“No. No. Whatever they did, he’s still my mate. Let go of me.”

He cursed under his breath, but finally lowered his arm.

I climbed over the broken door, heart slamming in my throat as the darkness of the cell blanketed my vision.

A deep growl from the man trapped within resonated down my spine—it was the sound of a beast waiting for the right moment to attack, and some faraway instinct murmured about danger. But it never made it through the numb, electric buzz sweeping through my body as I approached him.

“Zach?”

A light flickered on. One of the men outside must have found a switch, bathing the room in a dim cider glow.

And I finally saw him.

My mate.

His skin was covered in so many fresh scars it took me a moment to realize it wasn’t just dirt marring his naked body. Despite the low wattage of the light, he held up a hand toward the source, eyes shut tight.

They’d chained him by the throat and wrists to the wall, but with enough length that he could move around a little. I stared at the mountain of a man still covered in thick bands of bulging muscle, still every ounce the alpha I’d met what seemed like a lifetime ago.

“Zach?” I whispered again, and it was as if something in my brain slowly slid back into place, because despite the state of him, his name resonated deep in my core—in the deepest part of my soul.

He was still in there—I could feel him in my bond. Just the faintest sliver of the man I’d known in those brief moments when the drugs had worn off.

Zach.

He growled again, still such an angry sound, but I was sure I could pick out a questioning note.

“It’s me—it’s Lillian. I’ve come back for you.”

Slowly, he lowered his hand, squinting against the light.

“Hey,” I whispered, swallowing hard at the sight of the bruises on his face. I’d known the pain he’d undergone in the scientists’ hands. I’d felt it. But seeing it…

Everything inside of me ached, but it was different than it had been. It wasn’t a slicing agony tearing me up from the inside. It was this wave of emotion, like being drowned in sorrow and hurt and desperation after having been unable to feel anything but physical pain for so long. It was as if just a sliver of my own humanity returned on that wave of sadness, washing away the cold, empty hollowness that had taken over who I’d once been.

And then, at last, he saw me. Our eyes met, his narrowed to avoid the painful light, but he went rigid the moment our gazes locked, straightening to his full height.

We stared in silence at each other for three long seconds.

“Zach,” I whispered, reaching out toward him as I stumbled forward, pulled by the invisible hook yanking on me from behind my ribs.

I was nearly by his side when his lip curled up in in a silent snarl, a void sliding over his narrowed eyes—and he threw himself at me like a wild beast ready tomaim.

CHAPTER 24

ZACH

---