Page 17 of Bound By Pain
Turning to where he’s at, I cross the room and feel the barely noticeable crack he’s referring to. There isn’t an obvious switch nearby, just a few wall outlets. I crouch and examine the closest one, not noticing anything unusual. Catalco follows my lead and checks the next one over. His head tilts, and he grabs the outletcover. It swings upward, revealing the switch to the hidden doorway.
We follow the path through an underground tunnel before we find a ladder upward. Catalco takes point. When he heaves the hatch at the top open, I can see stars shimmering in the sky above us. Without stepping outside, I know Marcus is long gone. That coward wouldn’t have stuck around to see how the rest of the raid went.
Hauling myself out of the underground exit, I scan the parking lot. It’s still and quiet, with only the sounds of the occasional gunfire from inside disturbing the silence. “Marco and Everett will sweep the lot, just in case. Let’s head back inside and-”
Catalco’s words fade to a buzz when I spy movement from the corner of my eye. Turning my head, I watch as none other than Doctor Harrison tries to dart between one of the empty buildings and the row of vehicles parked outside. My feet are moving before I can tell the others what I see.
Instinct takes over, sending fury pounding through my veins. Red covers my vision as I round a van and come face-to-face with the man who hurt my mate. He screams, turning on his heel to run away, but I’m faster than this weak, pudgy Beta. My body slams into his, sending us both crashing into the dirt.
“You sick bastard,” I roar, pulling my fist back and slamming it into his face. His nose breaks with an audible crunch, blood flowing freely down his face. Blow after blow, I unleash all of my anger on this madman. Hands grab at my shoulder and arm, trying to stop me, but I shake them off. I’m not backing down until he’s in as much pain as my Omega was when he stole her scent glands.
“Ridley!” The other Alpha’s bark echoes in my mind, but it isn’t strong enough to stop me, not when I’m on a rampage.
A body slams into mine, knocking me away from Harrison’s blood-soaked body. I growl, fighting against their hold. More bodies join the first, piling on top of me until I can no longer move. An arm presses against my throat, cutting off my oxygen. They hold me like that until I come back to my senses.
Tapping Catalco’s arm three times, he eases his weight off my neck and watches me with narrowed eyes. “I’m good,” I croak.
“You’d better be. Lex found your girl.”
Jumping to my feet, I take off toward the passageway we exited through. I don’t spare Harrison a second glance on my way past. Content with the damage I’ve already done. If he’s lucky, he’ll live and get thrown in prison for the rest of his life. If not… His death won’t taint my soul. Not after the atrocities he’s committed.
Weaving through hallways and empty rooms, lingering agents direct me to where Lex is. I crash through an open doorway and turn to look down yet another hallway. My pulse races when I see my roommate push his way through a crowd of agents. In his arms is my Omega. She’s limp and way too pale to be safe.
Bile crawls up my throat seeing her in person. The wounds on her body and the blood covering her legs. Lex’s shirt is thrown over her torso, providing her with some small piece of privacy.
“Sunshine.” I gently trail a finger down her cheek, but she doesn’t react. “She needs a doctor.”
Lex grunts, shifting to move past me. “Porter called a medivac for her. They’re going to land outside near the entrance to the mine.”
“I can carry her,” I offer, but he growls at me. Fucker.
She’s here, and she’s safe, for now. I can wait to hold her until after she’s received medical treatment.
CHAPTER 11
“Come here, Lex.”
Glancing up from my toy cars, I see Mom motioning for me to join her in the hospital bed. Her voice is weary, showing how exhausted she is. She’s sick, like really sick. Enough to make her hair fall out from the medicine the doctors have been giving her.
I set my favorite car back in my bag so no one accidentally steps on it, and cross the room to clamber up onto her bed. Her arms are cold when they wrap around me, pulling me down into her side so she can rest her head on top of mine. I grab her blankets and pull them higher, wrapping them around us so she can be warm again.
“Would you like to hear a story?” she asks.
I nod my head slowly. Mom always tells the best stories! Full of aliens and robots and race car drivers!
Curled against her, I listen to the action-packed tale she spins. The soft sound of her voice makes my eyes grow heavy, but I don’t want to sleep. She hasn’t felt up to sharing many stories lately. Dad said it’s cause her throat hurts too much from getting sick to her stomach so often.
She’s quiet after the story ends. The rhythmic rise and fall of her chest make me think she fell asleep. Then her lips brush against my hair. “I love you so much, my sweet boy,” she whispers. “Never forget that. Wherever Fate may lead you, so long as there is love in your heart, your life will be the greatest adventure.”
Two taps on my shoulder pull me from my memories. That was the last time I heard one of my mother’s stories. Cancer took her life just a few short days later, leaving me to rot in the hell my father’s grief created.
Peterson raises one brow in question, and I scowl at him. With an exasperated shrug, he motions to the front of the building, where the breeding camp has been trafficking their victims. Night has fallen now, leaving an eerie silence in the small patch of forest our teams are hiding in. The distant ember of a lit cigarette is the only visible sign of life ahead of us.
The door on the wall facing us opens, marking the outside guard’s shift change. Our cue to move in. I slide a helmet over my head and grab my weapon from where it sits at my hip. I keep the muzzle pointed to the ground as we silently cross the dirt-packed lot. Our team comes to a stop behind the abandoned building near the south end of the main building. The other teams will attempt to breach their sides first, but we suspect internal renovations will lead to those doors being dead ends.
When the call goes up, confirming we were right, Porter motions for us to move. Two guards stand outside the entrance.Lazily leaning against the wall without even a weapon in sight. I watch Peterson’s back as he approaches from the left and incapacitates one guard, timing his takedown with the agent on the opposite side.
With both guards taken care of, we carefully test the door. Of course, it’s locked. The FCDA came prepared, though. An agent from the back approaches the door with a square of cardboard housing a small block of C4. He and another agent carefully align it below the door handle, then they run a length of detonating cord away from the entrance. We split up, half of our team taking each side in case the Eternal members inside attempt to flee after the door blows.
