Page 40 of The Beast's Betrayed Mate
The door slid open slowly.
In the corridor beyond, what had been stark whiteness was now all blackness.
They hadn’t discussed what they should do or which way they should go. There had been no time. But she gestured for him to go left, and he gave a short nod. She held onto the back of his shirt, as he guided them through the deep shadows. She was beginning to be able to make out softer shapes in the blackness, but she would rather rely on his night vision than her barely functioning eyes.
She reached a hand forward pressing her fingers into his right arm. He turned right down another corridor. There was no point in them going back and leaving through the garage. They’d have to leave her car behind anyway—it was too conspicuous.
And Peter could barely fit into it as it was.
They’d have to head for the back entrance and hope that they’d been wrong about being bugged. If they weren’t intercepted it was the cleanest escape, taking them straight onto the helicopter pad and then to the forests beyond.
They could get lost there.
Roll in mud, mask their scent, run.
“Olive,” a voice sounded over the intercom. It was Cora. “Maybe you shouldn’t even try to escape. Hmh? I promise you nothing’s going to happen to you. Not if you cooperate.”
“Fucking psycho,” Olive hissed, glaring at the ceiling even though she couldn’t spot the intercom to save her life.
“I prefer Fucking PsychoBoss, actually,” Cora remarked.
The intercom made a dreadful, high-pitched noise, and Peter screamed in agony, going down on all fours with his scream turning into a low-throated growl.
Fuck.
She straightened up from where she had hunched down, following Peter’s movement as her hands were still holding onto him. The noise was hurting his ears badly enough to take him out of commission and, as she looked down the corridor, her breath caught in her throat. Staring back at her were half a dozen glowing, golden eyes.
The lights flickered back on again.
The guards were still in human form, but it didn’t take away the underlining of the threat they posed. Their eyes continued to glow, even in the bright light of the corridor. She had the immediate impression that they wouldn’t hesitate to attack in wolf form at even the slightest movement.
A pack.
So much for Peter being valuable real estate.
“Peter,” she said, going down on her knees.
He was still clutching his ears, breathing heavily against the pain.
Could he even hear her?
“Isn’t this a lovely picture?” Cora asked, the guards moving aside to let her approach. “The animal and the human. Two sides to one coin. Their value defined by their relationship with the other,” she scoffed, her gazed locking onto Olive’s. There was an icy sharpness in Cora’s eyes that Olive had never seen before. She had respected this woman, looked up to her, learned from her. Cora observed her, then asked, “Heads… or tails?”
She raised an eyebrow, nodding to Peter still on all fours on the floor.
Olive frowned at her, not understanding.
“Heads it is,” Cora said, kicking a leg out as her eyes began to glow red; the toe of her high heeled shoe struck Peter in the forehead.
“Stop!” Olive exclaimed.
“Why?” Cora asked. “You’re both trespassing. You’re dangerous, as far as I know. I’m just protecting myself from you attacking me. You’ve stolen something, and I want it back.”
“We haven’t,” Olive tried.
“Please,” Cora shook her head. “I can smell the deceit all over you. It has a surprisingly tangy flavor. It’s quite nice.” She dropped the airy tone as she said, brokering no argument, “Give it to me.”
“I don’t have anything, I swear,” Olive said, holding both hands up.
