Page 41 of Redeemed Wolf

“Yeah, sure. No problem,” I said, and he turned toward the door, eager to get somewhere.

We did this about once a month or so. We had a large cooler at the back of the building where we kept all our tissue samples, and he had me go through them and take out all the outdated samples to make room for the fresh ones.

Silas’s voice flitted through my head. “Where do you think he’s getting these samples from, and what does that have to do with what’s supposedly making you sick?”

“Hey, Dad? Where do you get the tissue samples?” I asked, and he swiveled to look back at me, a sharp frown pulling his mouth down at the corners.

“What?”

“Well, do we have animals here on the premises or do you order them in from somewhere? I’ve never seen any bunnies or… wolves around here,” I said, picking animal species off the top of my head. “But I haven’t seen deliveries being made either.”

He stepped back toward me, watching me closely. “You’ve never asked before,” he drawled slowly, suspiciously, and it sent up a little red flag, warning me to tread carefully.

“I just want to be sure that the animals are being treated humanely, that’s all.”

Dad’s smile was tight and hard. “Do you really need to ask me that? Do you think I’m some kind of monster?”

Those instincts I’d been learning to trust told me I needed to run, but I forced my feet to stay rooted to the floor. “Of course not.”

“All right then. Get to work.” He stalked out of the room, and I noticed he hadn’t answered my question.

Adrenaline flooded my system as that voice in my head whined in fear, so loud that I almost clamped my hands over my ears—as if that would do any good.Shh, it’ll be okay, I soothed the voice, and it tapered off to a mere whimper. It wasn’t as if my own father would actually hurt me… right?

I could feel Sandra watching me, so I kept my movements slow and steady as I closed up my workstation and headed for the back cooler. As soon as I was out of sight, though, I gasped for breath and clutched a hand to my chest where my heart was bucking inside my chest. I continued walking down the halls, feeling the gaze of each and every security camera. Why would a lab working on a cure for a fairly benign virus require this much security? It wasn’t like we worked with infectious diseases or anything.

Doubt trickled through my veins, and even though I swore the air felt warmer in here today, I felt a chill all the way to my core. Why hadn’t I ever considered these things before? It made no sense! I wanted to believe I was a fairly logical person, but it was like I’d been asleep this whole time, going through the motions but never stopping to wonder why.

Every fiber of my being told me that I needed Silas. It wasn’t like I’d be able to tell him what was wrong, not when I didn’t understand myself, but I somehow knew that he would be able to make everything better. What did he know about the lab and what went on here? What hadn’t he told me?

Stepping into the back room, I dropped into a chair, clutching my thighs hard. Everything was soloud. The cooler fans grinding away, my breath sawing in and out, my blood rushingin my ears. My bones ached, my skin itched. What the hell was wrong with me?!

My impending panic attack was interrupted by a blaring alarm, the lights overhead switching to emergency lighting. The ground beneath my feet shuddered, a violent vibration that shook the whole structure. I jumped off the chair, reaching for the door and whipping it open. The halls echoed with shouting and the clomp of boots as guards took off running, their guns in hand.

One of them stopped and pointed at me, shadows thrown over his face from the bright white spotlights illuminating the halls. “Go lock yourself in the lab,” he shouted. “Don’t come out until Dr. Taylor tells you it’s safe.”

I nodded, and he ran off, but I never had any intention of listening. The only place I was going was to find Silas. I felt him there in my chest, a beacon, and I crept along the wall, trying to keep out of sight.

What kind of emergencies required guns? I tried to swallow, but my throat had closed up tight. When I peeked around the corner, I saw Silas jogging down the hall, a set of keys jangling in his hand. He was unlocking all the doors.

The way he was looking over his shoulder, crouched and furtive, it looked to me like he was doing something he shouldn’t. This was my father’s lab, so shouldn’t it have been my responsibility to stop Silas from doing something illegal?

Frowning, I stepped boldly out from hiding. “Silas, what are you—”

He spun around to face me, a war of emotions flashing across his face. He held his hands out in front of him. “Carter! You can’t be here, it’s not safe.”

But then a young woman stepped out from one of the unlocked rooms, wearing nothing but a thin blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Not a room, I realized, but a cell. These were the cellsthe guards had been talking about. But… there werepeoplein them? That made no sense. Where were the animals?

Without giving myself a chance to second-guess my actions, I peeled off my lab coat. The girl’s first reaction was to step back from me, mirroring my actions in a way that was almost familiar. I stopped right where I was, keeping my distance.

“Here,” I said softly, holding my coat open for her. She met my eyes, her lower lip quivering, before she sniffed the air once, twice, nostrils flaring. Whatever she smelled, it seemed to embolden her, and she straightened her spine and tilted her chin up, before she stepped closer to slip her arms into the sleeves.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice husky, as she pulled the sides closed to cover her nudity. She grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. I swore I could feel her strength, her resilience.

Other people had emerged from the cells, emaciated, squinting in the bright light. The alarms were still blaring from all directions, and I instinctively turned to Silas who drew me closer, bringing his mouth close to my ear. His scent filled me, grounded me, along with the voice in my head vibrating with comfort at being so close to him. “We need to get these people somewhere safe. I promise, as soon as we get out of here, I’ll explain everything.”

I was already nodding, and Silas gestured to the people to follow him, leading the way down the hall toward the door.

This was my father’s lab, and I’d always just done my job, but suddenly if felt like I wasn’t doing enough. These people needed help, and there was no question that I would do whatever it took to give it to them—and if my father had anything to do with this, he could go straight to hell.

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