Page 19 of Redeemed Wolf

I nudged to the front of the group, hoping to put myself in the best position to head off any unnecessary death, on either side. “Let’s do this,” I said, taser in hand. My wolf was eager for a fight, but he was confused about who our opponent was.

Eric gave a firm nod, and one of the guards slid the door back all the way, exposing the gaping maw, nothing but darkness and a rotting stench within.

Three of the guards flinched back, but I forced myself forward through the doorway, adrenaline spiking. Wolf, I knew. Alpha. Female. It had to be Amelia.

My eyes flicked over to my wolf’s without intending to, instinct to help see in the dark, though with the red light spilling in behind me, it did little good.

A warning growl came from the corner where I found Amelia curled in a ball, her eyes locked on me.

“Now, now, this doesn’t have to be hard,” Dr. Taylor said, coming in behind me, though keeping me firmly between them as a safeguard. “You know the drill, Amelia. Lie face down on the floor and let us put restraints on you. It’ll be over in just a few minutes.”

Her growl getting louder, she rose from her crouch, her limbs quivering with pent-up rage. She was naked, lank hair hanging over her shoulders and down her chest. She was filthy and underweight, ribs protruding from her torso. Her eyes were still on me, chin lowered as she battled to defy an Alpha. She was confused, curious.

I shook my head the tiniest amount, trying to convey what I needed her to know. I was here to help, but it couldn’t be done today. For now, I needed her to play along.

Her claws lengthened, and when her lip curled back in a vicious grin, it exposed sharpened canines. Oh yeah, she was going to put on a show all right.

I saw the moment she was going to lunge, the slight flinch of her thighs, and I pulled the trigger on the taser. Her whole body spasmed with the current, choking off the growl to nothing more than a wheeze, and as she dropped to her knees, I was on her.

I grabbed her roughly and rolled her to her stomach, setting a knee in the center of her back.

“Cuffs,” I demanded, reaching a hand back blindly. Someone slapped the thick plastic handcuffs into my palm, and I brought them around to lock on her wrists.

“F-f-fuck you,” she managed to push between her clenched teeth, jaw locked in a tight clench.

“You’re not my type,” I said with a sneer. “I prefer my bedpartners human.”

The other guards were huddled in a group behind me, unsure what to do, though they seemed bolstered by my confidence. Amelia recovered from the shock quickly and used their hesitation to her advantage. She bucked her hips, nearly knocking me loose, and her foot connected with someone’s leg, kicking him to the ground. If this was her in a weakened state, I would hate to go up against her at full strength.

“Grab her legs!” I barked at the other guards, and one of them jumped forward, lying across them and trying to grab her as she flailed. They got a second set of cuffs on her ankles, then three of us set our full weight on her, pinning her down. Even then she managed to wriggle and squirm, spitting a huge gob of saliva in my face. Okay, did she really need to make it that convincing?

“Have you ever considered sedation?” I grunted, wiping my face on my shoulder as Dr. Taylor crouched and set a case of supplies down on the floor. Someone angled a light to help him see what he was doing.

“I have, but I don’t want anything to taint the sample.” He pulled out an unlabeled bottle and gestured to her. “Pull her hair aside.”

That meant I had to let go of where I held her shoulder. “Be a good girl and I won’t have to hurt you,” I said with a sneer. Her whole body rumbled with her growl, but she stayed relatively still as I moved her hair to the side, wrapping it around my fist just in case. I kept her cheek pressed to the floor as Eric cleaned off the back of her neck with alcohol-soaked gauze.

“Have you ever seen how fast they heal?” he asked me, reverence in his voice. As much as he hated shifters, I think he was also in awe of their abilities. Almost jealous. “Imagine what it could mean for the medical field if we could heal even a fraction as fast. Their immune systems are flawless.”

He brought a strange tool to the back of her neck, feeling with his gloved fingertips before pressing the barrel to her skin. It looked almost like a metal gun, but instead of bullets, when he pulled the trigger, a long needle was punched through to her spine, drawing her spinal fluid into a glass vial.

Amelia flinched but didn’t make a sound.

“Watch,” Eric said. Sure enough, when he pulled the tool back, the wound healed, though perhaps slower than what it could have done if she’d been at full health. “It’s no wonder they’re so hard to beat.”

“Then we’ll just have to get creative, won’t we,” I said.

Eric laughed. “Yes, you are exactly right, Silas.” He stored the sample, then said, “Now flip her over. I want to take samples from her thyroid.”

I looked over my shoulder at the other guards, their eyes wide, skin pale. These guys were such rookies. “Ready?” They nodded their heads, though it was more than obvious they weren’t.

I turned and raised an eyebrow at Eric, and he chuckled and shrugged. “What can I say, good help is hard to find.”

Sighing, I instructed them, “On three, okay? One… two… three!”

Amelia could’ve made this a lot worse, but just in case, I took the brunt of her weight into my arms, flipping her to her back. It crushed her arms beneath her, her shoulders at an awkward angle, and I winced. Guilt tried to flare to life, but I choked it back down. I would deal with those emotions later, but now was not the time.

Eric took multiple samples from her throat while I tilted her head back to keep her teeth clear. “Are we good?” I grunted once he’d backed up and started packing.

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