Page 29 of Connected

He pulls on the heavy metal door and as he opens it, the smell of warm stale air from inside hits them like a wall of smoke. It floods their senses and Digby gags, his stomach churns, and he retches. Turning away, he covers his nose with his arm. “What the fuck is that smell?”.

Digby steps just inside the doorway, pulling his sleeve over his nose, and for the second time, his mouth drops open. Aghast, he curses, and his eyes widen as a loud angry chorus of snarling growls followed by howls and snapping barks fill his ears. The noise is deafening as it echoes around the walls of the room, and as Darius steps inside next to him, it ratchets up to double the decibels.

“What the hell?” he looks at Oz for answers as they stand still and stare at the cages filled with wolves; teeth bared, drool dripping from their hangry mouths. They snap ferociously at the men.

The presence of Digby and Darius feels like a threat, and the caged she-wolves all take up a defensive stance to guard their territory. “Hey, hey… Shhh!” Digby tries to quiet them—it doesn’t work. The sound of his voice just sends them spiraling into a louder frenzy. “Okay, okay so you might wanna back it up there a little, Dee, cos these ladies seem kinda pissed.”

He continues to scan the room. Noticing the now-empty cage nearest the door, he crouches down, looking at the up-turned bowls. Then, taking a long-sustained breath, he can smell a familiar scent. “Fuck…” he growls. “Seriously? This is where they kept Kat and Zak. You know I’m gonna kill that little-fucker—Alvarez—I’m gonna kill his damn shifter-ass right now!”

As he slowly stands up, his gaze is met by a pair of piercing blue eyes. At the far end of the room, a large black wolf glares back at him from behind the bars of her cage. Her front paws pushed forward as she hunches down in an aggressive stance. Her fangs on display; she snaps angrily.

“Shit… what the hell’s her problem? Man, she is one seriously pissed-off wolf.”

“Yeah, she is… and to be fair, she has every reason to be.”

Digby turns around, suddenly surprised by the sound of Kat’s quietly calm voice over his shoulder—dressed in a khaki vest top and matching pants—he smiles at her.

“What the hell’s going on here?” Darius questions.

“I don’t know exactly, but I do know why she’s so pissed. She’s hurting… she’s the one; the one they took the pup from. The guys that Zak killed, they drugged her and then stole her newborn pup.” Her voice cracks. She coughs, then regaining her emotions, continues. “They took it from her—the pup. I don’t know what happened to it, but I think Alvarez took it when he left. She must be in so much pain. Hell, I don’t even wanna imagine how she feels. So yeah, yeah she has every damn right to be pissed.”

She sighs wearily, rubbing her head. “We need to get them out of here—allof them. We need to set them free.”

As she steps forward into the room, Darius places a hand on her, holding her back. “Hey, now just hold up there—wait a minute. We will get them out, but we need to get organized first. They’re safe, in here for now—and so are we. We can’t just turn them loose, they’re hungry, so who knows what the hell they’ll do. They look like they’ve gone feral and we don’t know that they won’t turn on us.”

Kat pulls away from his touch and sneers. “What? Seriously… but we can’t just leave them in here? They’re all pregnant and starving.”

“Kat… Darius is right. We need to decide on a plan first. We’ll get somethin’ to eat, while we figure it out. The last thing we need is anyone else from the team gettin’ hurt. From what I can see right now, those bars are the only things stoppin’ us from gettin’ our heads ripped off.”

Eventually, she relents and reluctantly agrees with a nod. “Okay. But what about her? The pregnant woman, we can let her out, right?”

“Woman?” Darius frowns. Looking to where Kat gestures at the far end of the room, he now notices a woman crouched down at the back of another cage. “What the Fuck… What the hell is going on here?”

“She’s pregnant too. They all are. I guess the plan was to take all the pups?” Kat’s head drops and Digby can see the pain etched on her face as she turns away from him.

“All right, c’mon let’s get you outta here. Oz, get that woman out and bring her outside.”

“What me? Oh, oh yeah, great—yeah, thanks for that. Sure Oz,justgetthat woman out. And how the hell am I supposed to do that?” He sighs watching as Digby shrugs. “Okay then… I’ll get her out.”

He swallows nervously and steps forward.

“All right ladies, let’s just have a little hush now. I’m not gonna hurt anyone, I just need to get to—”

“Oz… they’re in fuckin’ cages. Quit belly-aching and just get the hell on with it.”

“Oh yeah, well if it’s so fuckin’ easy, why don’t you come do it?”

“Oh, stop whining,” Digby laughs—secretly he’s just as apprehensive as the noise fills the room.

The atmosphere becomes more tense with each step Oz takes, and the growls echo louder in the confines of the enclosed space. As he reaches the end cage, the sound of snarling barks is deafening, and although he knows they can’t escape, it still sends his blood pressure soaring and his own inner wolf snaps back.Why the hell do I get all the shit jobs? Where the hell is QT when you need him? Oh, fuck… here goes nothing.

Oz takes a deep breath and calms himself. “Hey, ladies c’mon give me a break and be quiet… Please.”

Slowly he slides the bolt, unlocking the cage, and offers his hand to the naked woman. She crawls out and Oz can now see the round of her pregnant belly. Feeling awkwardly uncomfortable as he can’t help but stare, he takes off his shirt and wraps it around her. “C’mon, let’s get you outta here,” he smiles as she apprehensively grabs a hold of his hand and clutches him tight.

“Gracias,” she cries. “Thank you… so much—Diosmio.”

Her fingers grip Oz’s arm and he smiles, trying to reassure her. “Hey, it’s all right. You’re safe now. Let’s get you outta here and get somethin’ to eat. You hungry?” he smiles.

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