Layla groaned and tried to move but the pain took her breath away. It radiated all over her body, inside and out. What the hell did they do to her? Was she still strapped to the table? She didn’t have the strength left to try to move anymore. ‘Miss Layla?’ Faith’s voice was too loud in her head. She kept her eyes closed and tried to push Faith out of her head, but everything seemed out of focus. It was as if she was still learning to control her heightened senses all over again. The hundreds of heartbeats, the scents, the emotions—everything mixed and hammered her from the inside. ‘Miss Layla, what did they do to you?’ The noise was like a knife through her skull. It was too much. Everything needed to stop, just for a moment, until she caught her breath. ‘You missed dinner again, so I saved my bread for you.’ Too much. Her head felt like it exploded, and then the welcome oblivion returned. When her eyes opened, she couldn’t tell how much more time passed but the splitting h
It was a fortress. A colossal monstrosity of wire and metal that lay hidden in the woods on the outskirts of Bluffhill. The scent of Hunters was as overwhelming as the stench of death that hung over it. Jax’s eyes were red and his claws extended as he watched from the treeline. There was a wall of Hunters guarding the perimeter, hidden from his view and a thick wall topped with barbed wire all around the property. He was willing to bet it was silver. ‘We should wait,’ Dylan said in the mindlink. ‘We need backup.’ Wait? His bond with Layla was still distorted, but her scent led him there. She was writhing his reach. How could he wait when he didn’t know what they were doing to her? He could sense hundreds of people inside, most likely all the wolves that had been kidnapped, but he could feel just as many Hunters. It had been hard enough fighting the few that came after him at the hotel. He could get many of them if shifted fully, but how would he fight their weapons? Going in blind
The light was more blinding when Layla opened her eyes. She closed them and tried to roll to her side, but something held her in place. And then it all came back to her. Her rage. That weird shift when she was half a beast, clawing Hunters’ throats out. The blood and screams. And that gas that had knocked her out. Her eyes snapped open as she sensed the danger she put herself in. It was all around her, even though she could feel no one else in the stark white room. She looked down at her bound limbs and torso. Her feet were spread apart, the silver chain holding them in place on bars on either side of the cold, metal bed they tied her to. Her arms were stretched above her head, also connected to some bars at the top. Only a pair of underwear covered her modesty, so she could see her smooth skin where she had previously been covered in wounds. At some point, between escaping her cage and waking up tied down, she had completely healed. Her wolf did that. It tried to be a hero, k
Layla didn’t fight when the Hunters wheeled back to the warehouse. She’d spat a few times, but the metallic taste and scent of blood still overwhelmed her senses. It made her nauseous. And she could still hear the Hunters' applause when they finally forced her teeth away from their guinea pig’s flesh. Everything else inside her was numb. Everyone has told her since discovering she was a red wolf that she was special and she would protect the pack. But now, she was just a weapon the Hunters would use against her people. They wheeled past the restricted door, but she didn’t feel the pull she felt when she’d gone past it before. That was because Rebecca was still in the room beside hers, unconscious. Vulnerable. There were no moves to make while the people she loved were at risk. Her hands were tied. The stench in the warehouse pulled her out of her thoughts as they wheeled through the door. The unit in the ceiling that gassed the room crossed her vision, reminding her again tha
The full moon was high and the night was almost over. He could feel the wolves near him itching to run and follow their nature, but everyone stayed still. Everyone waited. Hunters had been driving into the base throughout the night. The car park was almost full like those fuckers were having a party while his mate was imprisoned inside their walls. He had never seen so many Hunters in one spot, not even when a hunting party chased them through the forest, and they were still coming. There was no doubt that whatever they were doing involved all the wolves they took. Soft footsteps behind him didn’t take his attention away from the gate. One chance. That was all he needed to get into the fortress the Hunters built for themselves. He wasn’t about to let anyone distract him from waiting for it. ‘I think you should rest while we wait,’ Dylan said in the mindlink. He didn’t bother to respond. There was no point repeating himself. The sound of another vehicle coming down the road r
Layla sat on the edge of the filthy mattress on the floor, staring at the blank wall. There was no TV or a comfortable bed, and they hadn’t provided another meal. The only thing they gave her was a new gown. The Commander liked mind games. Her people were stuck in their cages, cursing her for what they thought she did, losing their trust in their Queen. They thought she was living in luxury while they suffered. She hadn’t been able to mindlink Faith or Rebecca, but she could sense their emotions, even from the basement. The Commander never had any intention of treating her like a person. He was trying to alienate her to continue using her for his sick project. Mutherfucker. Her fists clenched for so long that they were numb. But she wouldn’t make the mistake of moving too soon again. The sound of wheels rolling on the concrete floor shifted her attention to the door. They kept the overly bright lights on in the small room, so she still couldn’t tell what time it was, but the
Irvine had been a rookie, but he’d had traps set up all over his property. It was only right to assume all the Hunter families near the base would do the same. Their traps would probably be more elaborate. ‘Everyone’s ready.’ Jax looked back at Dylan and then at the gates of the house he had chosen. He had never thought much about the Hunter family structures since he assumed they were all soulless bastards. For what he planned to do to them, he hoped that was true. Not that it would damage his already unsalvageable reputation, but Layla wouldn’t like it if he went around killing innocent people. Even if they fucking deserved it. She’d been disgusted by what he did to the Circle’s vampire assassins, but this would get uglier. ‘Remember to watch out for the traps. I see a lot of silver and smell wolfsbane. The fuckers must bathe in it,’ he told Dylan. Dylan turned back to whisper, ‘silver and wolfsbane’ to Chase, who was foolishly sticking to him, and another wolf from Ryker’
Did she mishear him? Layla’s eyes widened as she looked at the unhinged Hunter in front of her. She’d only briefly been in the restricted area, but she knew what those disfigured Hunters were—failed experiments. So the Commander was ready to risk his life after one successful bite? They weren’t even sure if there would be any side effects. It hadn’t been long enough to tell if the experiment succeeded. “Didn’t you hear me? I said bite me, Layla,” the Commander said. He stepped forward, forcing her to take a step back. His eyes sparkled as if he was high on anticipating what was coming. She wanted to bite him—right through his neck. But there were guards in the room with their weapons pointed at her, and she didn’t know if Faith and the children were safe. They were her priority. “You’re willing to risk your life?” she asked. “I’m not risking anything. Don’t you see what I’ve done?” he asked, turning back to the glass cage and sweeping his arm at the turned Hunter. “I have done