Page 20 of Redeemed Wolf

“We are,” he said, rising to his feet and taking his kit with him. “Good job, everyone. Careful on the way out. Sedate if necessary.” He was first out of the room, leaving the rest of it to us.

I caught a few dark looks being exchanged between guards, but none of them said a word against the good doctor.

Gritting my teeth against a growl, I closed my eyes, resisting the urge to take action now, before we were ready. Yes, Amelia was no doubt suffering, but there was still so much I didn’t know enough about, like where Isaac was or how to get them past security, but more importantly, I had no clue how to get through to Carter. I needed him to leave with us, but as things stood, there was no way he would.

“All of you out, get yourselves clear. One of you by the door with a taser at the ready.” I was the newest of the guards, and the youngest, but they seemed grateful to let someone competent take lead.

“Please,” I heard her whisper, just one word, her voice rough from unuse.

I made a show of releasing her ankle cuffs, then muttered under my breath, too quiet for human ears. “Be patient. I’ll get you out.” When I rolled her to her stomach to release the cuffs on his wrists, I gripped her hand, giving it a squeeze, trying to give her even a small amount of hope. She couldn’t give up now, not when we were so close. I heard a choked sob from her as I reluctantly let go and backed out of the room.

Another guard slammed the door shut and slid the bolt home. “Fucking freak. They all give me the creeps,” he muttered, giving an exaggerated shiver. “She looks all small and harmless, but I once saw her nearly tear a man’s arm off. It’s not normal.”

I grunted in reply because I had no words. I was tempted to tear his arm off myself.

The day dragged on, and I went through the motions, but I felt no sign of Carter anywhere. By the time I drove home, I was shivering and broken, desperate for a chance to let my guard down, but nowhere was safe. My insides felt torn apart by my wolf’s teeth and claws.

The apartment was empty when I got home. I assumed Pacey had gone for a run, the lucky bastard. My hands shook as I unlaced my boots and kicked them off. I left my phone by the door, then stripped all my clothes off and left them in a pile on the floor.

I collapsed into bed and crawled beneath the covers, pressing my face into the pillow as the urge to howl surged inside me. A muffled wail slipped free, full of grief and sympathy, emotions I thought I’d long since buried. Tears soaked into the fabric, and my sobs turned to whimpers. I hadn’t let myself cry in years, not since my mother’s murder at the hands of her alpha.

Allowing myself to care for others was a dangerous thing. It could even mean a death sentence, but that didn’t seem to matter anymore. No matter what barriers I erected around myself, this job just kept knocking them down, brick by brick.

Giving up was not an option, not anymore.

Chapter 10

Carter

My fingertips were tingling,and I shook out my hands nervously.

“What the fuck am I doing?” I muttered, glancing around to see if anyone was watching me. Because seriously, it felt like I wasalwaysbeing watched. “Just turn around. Go eat lunch in the back room like always. No need to embarrass yourself.”

My body wasn’t listening to directions, though, my legs taking me out through the locked door and making a decision, right turn, down the hall and through the main part of the lab’s offices.

I wasn’t sure how I knew where I would find Silas, but I did. And no amount of second-guessing was going to change my mind about tracking him down, because he felt like a splinter under my skin, poking me again and again, no matter what I did. Needling at me, invading my dreams every night—my very R-rated wet-dream fantasies.

Nobody had ever made me feel like this. I just needed to find out one way or another if there was something there between us. Maybe it was a fluke, some symptom of whatever illness I’d had over the weekend. Maybe now that the fever had passed, I would look at him like I looked at everyone else. He would be a nobody, nothing more than a stranger I’d bumped into at the grocery store.

Except as I drew nearer to him, my heart started to beat faster in anticipation. My palms grew damp with sweat, and no amount of swallowing could clear that lump in my throat. I was excited to see him. Even before I rounded the doorway to the staff lunchroom, I drew in a deep breath, and his scent seemed to invade my senses, flooding my mind and body with his very essence.

Why do I even know what he smells like? That’s so weird!I did, though. It was as familiar as coming home after a trip and recognizing the smell of your own house. He reminded me of a camping trip I thought I might’ve taken once as a kid. Like rain on leaves, mist weaving through trees. Moss and ferns, all green, green, green.

Sighing, I stepped through into the lunchroom, and Silas’s eyes were already trained on the doorway, as if he’d known I was coming.

“Hi,” I said on a breathy sigh.

His lips eased into a crooked smile that did funny things to my insides. “Hi,” he said back.

Another man sat at the table, his eyes flicking back and forth between us. “Uh, hi…” he added awkwardly. “I’m Felix.”

“Mm, yeah, hi. Carter,” I said back, but I couldn’t seem to look at him because that would mean looking away from Silas, and it felt like tearing my gaze away from him would potentially cause me physical pain.

I’d never had a crush before that I could remember, but that was all this was, right? A crush? Because it couldn’t be anything more. It was too fast, and I knew nothing about him besides his first name and that he had a roommate. And if it wasn’t a crush, then what was the alternative? Although the intensity, the heat, the physical reaction just by being in his presence… it was a lot. There was something about him that made me feel…alive. Like I’d been sleeping my whole life and was finally awake for the first time. It was heady, and I might’ve already been halfway addicted to this feeling.

“Do you mind if I join you for lunch?” I asked as I lowered myself into the chair across from him, before realizing I’d left my lunch behind.

“Of course. It’d be my pleasure.” He hadn’t blinked even once since I walked in, almost like he was afraid I would disappear if he looked away for even one second. His eyes were such an intense green, brighter than I’d ever seen them. It must’ve had something to do with the overhead lighting.

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