Page 12 of Connected

“Fuck you… I’ll die before I let you anywhere near me,” she snarls. Glaring at him, a tiny flicker of Luna’s anger is suddenly revealed.

“Oh… oh you feisty—luchadora perra.” He cackles looking at Luiz, “Let’s go… it stinks in here—fuckin’lobos.”

With that, the thud of the metal door closing, the men—and the pup—are gone.

Kat slams herself against the cage door, rattling it with all her remaining strength until finally, she has to concede—there is no escape for them.

“Arrgh…” she cries out in pain. Trying to howl, all that comes out is a scream—a huge lung-bursting—but ahumanscream.

The rest of the wolves fill the room with long mournful howls in solidarity. Kat’s voice eventually fades, and she drops in a crumpled, crying heap against the mesh floor of the cage.

Zak feels her pain. Her cries and screams cut at his inner wolf and her abject sorrow hurts him. Emotionally—they’re connected—and it tears at his wolf that he can’t protect her from this hurt.

“Kat…. Oh, Kat… come here. They’re gonna come for us, I swear. Digby and Darius… they’ll come for us.”

He grabs at her, holding her tight, as she clings desperately to his chest. Hot tears streak in lines down her dirty face. “I know, I know they will.” she takes a deep breath. “I just hope it’s not too late.”

Clinging to the warmth of his flesh is a comforting feeling, and she grips her fingers against his body. Her eyelids feel heavy and weary; she closes her eyes—not to sleep, but just for a moment to rest and regain her strength.

Chapter 5

Gripping the bars of the cage surrounding them, Kat sighs mournfully as she stares into the dim red gloom. The dull red lightbulb has been left on and she focuses on the wolf at the end of the room.

“How long do you think we’ve been here?” she asks, swallowing anxiously as her voice cracks with emotion. “She’ll be devastated when she wakes and finds her pup gone. That poor little thing, he could have only been a few days old. You know he won’t even be able to shift by himself—at least not until another full moon. He really needs to be with his mom.”

The black wolf is still silent and hasn’t moved at all, and as Kat turns around, Zak can see the pitiful look on her face.

“Hey, come here.” With his legs stretched in front of him and his back pressed against the metal of the cramped cage, he beckons her to sit with him.

Shuffling back from her position at the front of the cage, she leans with her back against his chest and relaxes. He cradles her in the comfort of his strong muscular arms; wrapping them tightly around her body as they sit in silence.

The depressing gloom makes their situation seem hopeless, and Zak strokes her hair, dropping a gentle kiss on the top of her head. Brushing her curls to one side allows him to take a closer look at the deep-red burn around her neck. “We need to get this fuckin’ thing off you,” he sighs, examining the silver band bound tightly around her skin. “Does it hurt a lot?”

“Yeah, but oddly, I’ve kinda gotten used to the pain. I’m trying not to think about it too much, but it’s giving me a headache. I’m more afraid that I can’t feel her—Luna—she’s not there in my head. Zak, what happens if I can’t get this thing off and She’s gone for good? What if I can’t get her back?” She sniffs rapidly, determined not to cry—not to be weak. Taking a deep breath, she holds it until she recovers herself. “What am I going to do? Arrgh… Goddamit, I’m going to fuckin’ kill them, I’ll kill all of them. Those shifters are—”

“Yeah, well hold on to that thought. Trust me, we’ll get our chance and when we do… then they’re gonna suffer.”

“But if I can’t get this off, then I can’t shift and then I can’t be a wolf again. I can’t…” she screams. “Oh God, this has to be some fuckin’ twisted vamp thing, right? I mean, no wolf does this to another wolf. But vamps—yeah, vamps, this is them all over. They’re sick and twisted. You know they target wolves; you hear it all the time—stories in the past and what they did to wolf packs.” She growls, the sound is human and not at all like a wolf, and Zak smiles—it sounds funny and he wants to laugh but he doesn’t because she’s so upset; worrying that her wolf is gone forever.

“What do you think they’re gonna do with that pup? No, actually don’t answer that because I don’t even want to imagine.”

She gasps in despair and shuffling forward she again stares out from the bars. “Do you think they’re all pregnant—those other wolves? I mean, it crossed my mind that’s why they’re holding them, for their pups?”

Zak nods as he focuses his blue eyes on the other cages—listening to the wolves, their low, deep snarls. “Well, the vibe I’m gettin’, I’d pretty much say they are. They’re all hellishly defensive—even toward me. I wonder how long they’ve been here?”

“So, do you think this is some cartel thing? Something that Alvarez is mixed up in. Trafficking: wolves, drugs—wolf blood… Oh hell, do you think he’s trafficking pups too? What the hell would they do with them?”

“Kat, don’t think about that. You know what sick muthafuckers vamps are, just shut those thoughts out, cos trust me I’ve seen some of that shit and it’s not pretty. We need to concentrate on getting’ outta here.”

“But you know when she wakes, she’s gonna be devastated. Oh, I feel sick just thinking about it. You know, I hate them—vamps—I really hate them so much. The stories I’ve heard about what they do to people—to wolves. Why can’t they just try’n live like we do? Why do they have to be such sick-fuckers?” She closes her eyes, the lingering pain in her neck is wearing her down, and grasping at the fiery collar she again scorches her hand.

“Arrgh… this thing, it’s a sick and twisted thing to do. They have to know what this would do to a wolf—to leave it on.” Her fingers clutch desperately at the silver-band as she tries to pull it from her skin and relieve the pain—she can’t.

“Kat, come here and let me try and break it.”

“You can’t. Zak, it won’t break. It’ll just hurt you, so please just leave it.” She takes a more serious tone with him. “You know, if I get hold of one vamp, just one, I swear I’m gonna rip it to shreds—take its head clean off.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean but… well, it still surprises me, that you hate them so much,” he laughs.

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