Page 57 of Defiant Beta

She doesn’t laugh or even smile. “What happened?”

“I might have done something a little reckless.” My back no longer hurts. I feel slightly woozy and wonder if the lack of pain I’m in has everything to do with the needle someone stuck in me, pumping me up with something to numb the pain.

I wish they would double the dose. Maybe then I could stop thinking about what those alphas did to me in that dark room with the freezing concrete floor.

“You had marks on your back and the doctor said?—”

“Doctors exaggerate all the time, so people don’t sue them. I’m fine. Did they say when I could get out of here?” I start to sit up. Ever pushes me back down again.

It is disturbingly easy for her to do.

She leans closer. “Della. You had a stroke.”

Okay. That’s not good. “But I feel okay now.”

“They want to keep you here for a few more days to observe you. They found a drug in your system, and they didn’t know what it was.”

“You’ll be our science experiment. What happens when you give a beta a double dose of great grandpappy’s special sauce? I’d say something interesting with the way you’re sweating. Got an itch for my knot, yet?”

A cold sweat chills the back of my neck as I push away the memory I’m desperate to forget. I swallow the lump in my throat and offer my sister another reassuring smile. “They got rid of the drug?”

But not the memories of what came before those drugs.

Of what those men did to me.

She nods. “It’s out of your system now. But it took some time.”

“Please tell me I’ve not been in a coma for the last ten years and missed out on the first flying car.” I quip.

She doesn’t smile. “This isn’t funny, Della.”

I drop my smile, knowing how much she worries about me. “I know. What time is it?” The sunlight makes me think it’s early.

“Ten in the morning. You’ve been unconscious for over twenty-four hours.” Her eyes grow misty. “They said you’d be out for longer, but I told them you wouldn’t. No one fights harder than my little sister.”

My eyes prickle with tears at how close I came to losing her. “How did you know where I was?”

“Lucas Security. Garrison called when they found you.”

The distant sound of male voices and footsteps in the hallway pulls me back to the factory. Heart racing, I choke down my fear. “I feel better now. What’s stopping me from going home?”

Her expression doesn’t change. “The police were here before. They want to speak to you about who took you.”

I don’t intend to speak to the police about anything. They can’t help me. “Have you gotten any sleep since then?”

“A little. Kylian is getting coffee. Do you want something?”

“The only thing I want is for you to go get some rest. I’m good.”

“I’ll get a doctor.” She releases my hand and stands up.

“I’d kind of like to hold off on being stuck with needles right this second. I just woke up. Get some rest. I’ll be okay here.”

“Then I’ll get a nurse.” She pauses, eyeing me closely. “The doctors said you should talk to someone about what happened to you. They have a psychiatrist at the?—”

Yeah, that’s not going to happen. “Ever, I’m fine.”

“You were abducted and attacked and?—”

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