Chapter 40: 41: Dead Ends

ALEX

I watch Ariel load up her motorcycle as my stomach fills with dread.

Ultimately, I agreed when she said she needed to go. I trust her.

~It’s Xavier I don’t trust.~

I know she’s a strong warrior, but I still hate this.

She’s heading straight into the hunters’ den.

I wish I could go with her, but I can’t leave my pack alone.

Or my father…

“Ariel, at least take some pack warriors with you,” I say, making a last-ditch plea.

“A warrior squad will give us away,” she responds, “and we’re gunning for the element of surprise. Anyone else would just slow me down.”

“Just Angel, then,” I say. “He can help.”

“Angel’s got his own shit to deal with, Alex. He needs time to try to regain more of his memories. I don’t want to set him back.”

Ariel stands on her tiptoes and plants a kiss on my lips, lingering for a moment that I wish I could hold onto forever.

“I love you,” Ariel says resolutely. “I’m just going to get my nephew back, and then I’ll be right here by your side. You just focus on your pack duties and spending as much time as you can with your dad.”

After one more sweet kiss, she pulls away and straddles her bike.

She gives me a smile over her shoulder before riding away.

My heart wrenches inside my chest as the sound of her engine fades off in the distance.

ARIEL

I hate leaving Alex behind, but I have to put saving my nephew first. For my dad. For my sister. For my whole family. They’re all counting on me.

I’m near the designated meeting point and can make out the silhouette of Xavier’s black sports car in the distance. The car he used to take our squad on joyrides in when we were teenagers.

He’s leaning against it as I approach.

I cut the engine and flip my leg over my bike. Xavier straightens up as I walk toward him.

“Ariel,” he says with a smile, “thank you again for coming.”

“I’m here to help,” I say. “Anything I can do, I’ll do.”

Xavier and I resolve that I’ll head in first on my bike. Keeping our numbers low to stave off any suspicion or alert hunters that we’re coming is our highest priority.

It’s another half a day’s drive from this point, but we’re both determined to make the journey in one go so that we’ll have the cover of night to mask our infiltration of the lab.

Nothing is going to stop us from getting there.

***

It’s well past midnight by the time we hide my bike and Xavier’s car on different dirt roads.

The lab is just a couple of miles away.

We make our way through a clearing and come upon a two-story concrete building. The laboratory.

It reeks of bleach and the bitter scent of medical supplies even from the outside. Xavier stops in front of me, and I wait for his command like a good warrior.

I watch as he listens intently, scanning the area for signs of people. I can’t make out any humans. Not by sound anyway. But their faint scent is coming from somewhere.

“Move forward with caution,” he says. I can’t help but recall our warrior squad training with Xavier in command.

Back before we knew we were destined mates. Before I was taken, and my entire life was ripped away from me.

We make our way around the building, hugging the shadows as we come to a side entrance.

“Let’s go,” he says, barely able to keep his voice to a whisper.

Following his orders, I kick in the door, and Xavier runs in first.

We scan the area, but there are no signs of humans.

Or the baby.

I run upstairs and check each of the rooms.

Nothing.

Only the scent of them lingers.

I make my way back down the metal staircase.

Xavier stands leaning over a table, his arms tense and his head down.

“I’m sorry, Xavier,” I say to him. “They must have been here only a few hours ago. But we missed them.”

I’m startled at the sound of his fist slamming down on the table.

“I can’t scent Xavi at all,” he says. “There’s no sign that they had him here.”

In a rage, Xavier sweeps the medical supplies on the table to the floor. He tosses the table over onto its side and one of the legs breaks off.

When he can’t do any more destruction in this area, he moves on to a gurney, slamming it against the wall, then he crashes into a cabinet filled with vials and surgical supplies.

He only stops when a vial shatters against his skin.

Liquid silver.

And it’s burning right through the flesh on his forearm.

“Xavier, stop!” I say as he yelps in pain.

I pick up what appears to be a clean, folded towel and some latex gloves to wipe the silver from his skin. Then I pull him over to a sink in the corner to make sure we flush all of it off of him.

He’s got a third-degree burn from the silver, and I can see the tissue under his bleeding skin.

~I can’t heal Alex’s father, but…~

Taking off my gloves, I lay my hands over the burn, and he’s healed almost instantly. I feel the pain transfer into me as it exits his body, but soon it’s over, and I feel a sense of relief.

Xavier is breathing heavily and is still clearly pissed, but he manages a baffled, “What the—”

~At least my powers are somewhat useful.~

“What did the hunters ~do~ to you?” Xavier asks.

“I’ll explain later. There must be something we can learn here,” I say, my eyes darting around the room.

Some syringes and vials of blood litter the floor. I carefully pick up what’s not broken to take back to the Royal Pack and have them looked at.

“Ariel,” I hear Xavier from across the room. I look up, and he’s standing by an old dinosaur of a computer.

There are stacks of disks next to it. I walk over and see that the one on top reads “X7, Day 42: Wolfsbane Shift.”

I swallow hard as Xavier places the disk in the disc tray of the computer and hits play.

The screen is filled with an overhead view of a figure strapped to the table Xavier knocked over just moments ago, arms and legs held tight in silver shackles.

He’s covered in full-body tattoos, and I can see immediately…

~It’s Angel.~

My body reacts involuntarily with a tense shiver when I see the burns that cover his wrists and ankles.

I know exactly how it feels.

People in lab coats stand around him, and one adds wolfsbane to an IV with a syringe.

The Angel on the screen begins to convulse and struggle against the pain.

Finally, he can’t take it anymore and lets out a bloodcurdling scream as his bones break and puncture the skin of his arms and legs.

They’re forcing a shift, and it’s almost unbearable to watch knowing that I was in the exact same situation only months ago.

I glance at Xavier as he watches in horror at what they’re doing to the helpless werewolf on the table.

Then, he meets my eyes as if searching to see if this was what I went through.

Overcome with what almost feels like shame, I stare at my feet.

“Is…this what they did to you for those two years?”

“Among other things,” I reply softly. I look back to the figures on the screen, one hunter in particular catches my eye.

I’ve seen him before. He was one of the ones who had experimented on me under Curt’s orders. One of the ones I killed to escape.

I look at the date in the upper hand corner of the screen.

~December 12.~

At this same time, I was also locked up in a lab very similar to this one.

Just days before I died strapped down to a table.

Days before being brought back by the Goddess.

Days before I murdered six men to gain my freedom.

The hunter I recognize sneers in the video image. As if he’s enjoying this horrible, bloody, excruciating show.

I feel my hands begin to tremble, and my breath catches in my chest. I’m suddenly sweating and can’t breathe.

“Ariel?” Xavier puts his hand on my shoulder, but I quickly shrug it off and try to walk away from the computer, placing my hands on my ears to block out the screams.

But it’s not Angel’s screams I’m hearing anymore. It’s my own.

I collapse down on all fours and feel my claws extending, my wolf’s white fur beginning to sprout out from my skin, and the unmistakable feeling of my bones cracking and contorting.

~Goddess, no.~

~Not again!~

~Not here!~

My wolf is trying to protect me from the trauma by taking over, but I fear what will happen if I let her have control.

The last time she came out on her own, I was stuck for weeks. Only Alex could bring me back.

I can’t let her take over. Not here. Not away from Alex and the safety of the Royal Pack.

“Ariel!” Xavier comes to my side and kneels down. “Ariel, what’s happening? What can I do?”

I try to speak, but I can’t get the words out.

My voice is silenced by the piercing howl of my wolf.

I know it’s no use when I finally rip through my clothes.

I have no control.