Page 91 of The Alpha King's Fate

If so, she could understand why their policy was always to run instead of fight. She hadn't been awake long but could already see that escape would be difficult. Rescuing everyone else was impossible.

Shame filled her at that thought.

The cowardly queen who would try to leave everyone else to die, including the little girl above Faith’s cage.

She didn’t deserve all the respect they gave her since they accepted her as Jackson’s mate. She didn’t deserve to be their queen.

Was that why her wolf led her there? To show her she was still a nobody, even if she mated the King? To show her it was in charge and would show up when it was ready, not when she wanted?

Even Diedre's words meant nothing now. Whether she believed in herself or not, she could do nothing by herself.

"I'll leave you in the team's capable hands. Behave, Miss Carlisle, and things will go much more smoothly for you than the others."

With that, the vile man turned and walked out. Another man in a white coat came in, pulling a trolley loaded with sinister objects. Needles. Vials. Sample bottles. Drills and scalpels. There were other things, too, that she had never seen.

Cold seeped through her body and her heart squeezed.

"Start with the blood samples," the first man said.

"You're making a terrible mistake," she hissed.

The two looked at each other and laughed.

"They all say that. But this has been my life's work, Layla. May I call you that?" he asked as he put the tablet down and then picked up a pair of gloves from the trolley. "I know your physiology like the back of my hand. You're feeling a little dizzy now, a little foggy. That's thanks to a little serum I developed. It dulls your scents and bonds. No one in your pack will be able to track you. I have all the time in the world to do everything I want to you and then some."

A serum? Would it stop Jax, too? Could it dull a true mate bond?

The second man came forward with a blood withdrawal kit with several collection tubes. There was just enough give in the silver chains to allow him to tie her arm before he startedcleaning an area on her skin. Like a real medical practitioner. Did they have no shame?

She flinched when the sharp needle punctured her skin and watched helplessly as he filled vail after vail. Why did they need so much of her blood? The commander said she was the key, but to what? Would they use her blood to hurt everyone else?

When the man had lined up several tubes, he put them on the trolley and pulled forward an aspiration kit. The needle was larger than any she had ever seen the many times she'd taken Gerald to the hospital.

“This might sting a little,” the man said with a grin.

“I’m afraid we need more than your blood,” the other doctor said. “This will take a while, so relax.”

Her eyes fell back on the drills and scalpels. The doctor picked up the biggest, the sharpest and held it up before he grinned. He was enjoying it. He was as sadistic as the Commander, excited at the thought of causing her pain.

She froze as he brought the scalpel down on the part of her stomach that wasn’t covered in chains.

“I like this one,” the one who drew her blood said.

Pain shot through her whole body as the scalpel cut through her skin. That was really happening. She had become a monster’s guinea pig, aiding in whatever twisted game he played with all the wolves.

“The other red one would have tried to bite me by now,” he continued.

Her world stopped.

The other red one...

Rebecca.

She had been right. They had her mother.

Chapter 42

The Hunters had access to weapons that could seriously injure him, but all Jax could see were handmade traps or antiquated weapons. He’d easily overpowered the kid and tied him up on one of the pillars that separated the lounge from the dining area.

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