FAYE
That night, I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t. I lay there on the mattress, staring at the ceiling through the dim light that filtered in from the corridor.
The room was quiet except for the steady dripping of water from a leaky pipe somewhere nearby. Every drop echoed like a countdown. My head was heavy, my body sluggish, but my mind refused to shut down.
I had spent hours thinking of ways out…none of them good, but anything was better than lying here waiting for whatever they planned next.
The injection they’d given me earlier had left my limbs weak, my wolf, Nova, silent and buried deep. I could still feel her faintly…furious, clawing, desperate to fight…but she was too far beneath the haze for me to reach.
Still, I wasn’t totally helpless. Not yet.
As soon as I managed to push myself up, dizziness swirled around me, the walls tilting for a moment before settling. My legs shook under me, but I didn’t care. I needed to move. I had to find a way out before they came back with another plan apart from drugging me.
The door was solid steel…just a small slit at the top where air passed through. My hands traced the edges, searching for weakness… nothing. I exhaled shakily and leaned against it, my forehead pressing into the cold metal.
Then an idea struck me. I couldn’t overpower them, but maybe I could outsmart them.
I backed away from the door, took a breath, and started banging on it as best as I could with the little energy I had left. I needed attention for my plan to work.
“Hey!” I shouted. I was sure someone was close by, watching over me. “You cowards, let me out!”
I hit the door again and again until my palms ached. I didn’t stop. I needed them to come.
After a while, I heard a laugh from the other side.
“Looks like our guest is feeling stronger,” a man sneered. “Want another dose, sweetheart?” He was mocking me.
Perfect.
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Chapter 1556
Claim
I smirked even though he couldn’t see me. “When I get out of here,” I said slowly, “I’ll make you regret ever touching me.”
The man chuckled. “Big talk for someone who couldn’t even stand a few hours ago.”
“Keep talking,” I hissed. “It’ll make it easier to recognize your voice when I rip your throat out.”
There was silence. Then I heard him walk away–boots echoing down the hall. For a heartbeat, I thought I’d failed, that he was going to ignore me. But then voices returned. Two of them.
“Be careful,” one warned. “She’s not as weak as she looks.”
The other scoffed. “She’s barely alive. Relax.”
Keys rattled. My heart kicked up. I stumbled back toward the bed, forcing my breathing to slow, my limbs to go slack. I dropped to the floor beside the bed, pretending to have collapsed, one arm draped limply across my stomach.
The door creaked open.
“Well, would you look at that?” one of them said as he stepped inside. “Didn’t even make it to her bed this time.”
“Alpha Draco said to keep her sedated,” the other reminded him, lifting the syringe and a small bottle filled with some cloudy liquid.
They approached me. I kept my eyes half–closed, letting my body sag like a broken puppet. When they grabbed me under the arms and hauled me onto the bed, I didn’t resist. The motion was slow, careless…they probably thought I was harmless for now.
But I was watching. Then, slowly, I let the robe fall from one shoulder. It was subtle, calculated–the smallest slip, just enough to get the needed attention from slow idiots like
these.
The man with the syringe didn’t notice at first. He was distracted as he rolled up his sleeve and prepared to inject me, but the other noticed…he leaned closer, his gaze dark and suggestive. “You know,” he muttered, “Draco didn’t say we couldn’t have a little fun with her. I mean, as long as she’s alive, Draco won’t mind.”
The other one smirked slowly as he understood the suggestion.
I didn’t move, didn’t speak. Inside, disgust burned like acid, but my silence worked. He set the syringe aside on the bedside table, laughing lowly.
“I’ll stand guard,” his companion said, glancing at the door. “Don’t take too long. I want my
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© Chapim 185
turn too.”
“I’ll try.” the man near me said smugly.
Elaine
The door closed. My pulse quickened. I could hear the footsteps of the other fading into the
hall.
When the one in the room set the syringe down, he left the vial uncapped. His arrogance was a mistake I could taste.
I acted slow because slow looked real. I let my head fall back, let my eyes flutter, let him lean in for the show. When his fingers brushed my shoulder, I snatched the syringe as fast as I could. The motion was ugly and efficient–but it was swift enough.
Surprise registered on his face–almost a human reaction–and that hesitation was a razor. I drove the needle into the soft flesh at the base of his neck before his hand could close around mine, the motion more stab than injection, more instinct than thought. His mouth shaped a curse, his knees gave, and he crumpled.
My hands shook as I pulled the syringe free. My heart was hammering so hard it hurt, but there was no time to stop. I knelt beside him, drew more of the liquid from the half–full vial that had fallen from his pocket, then turned toward the door.
I moved despite my trembling limbs. When I reached the door, I gave it a soft knock.
The guard outside chuckled. “Already done? Damn, you don’t last long, do you?”
He laughed as he opened the door–right into my waiting hand. I jabbed the syringe into his neck before he could even see my face. His laughter cut off with a strangled gasp.
He swung around as if to strike, but the drug hit him fast. His body wavered, his eyelids drooping before he crumpled against the doorway.
I had no illusions about what I’d done. The two men on the floor were a temporary solution, not a cure. The sedative still pooled in my veins, and exhaustion sat like a rock beneath my ribs. I knew there were more wolves outside, but I’d take my chances and see how far I could
- go.
As I eased the door open and slipped into the corridor, the night swallowed me with its noise. I kept my body small against the stone, ears straining for footsteps, eyes seeking the path that would take me away from this place…
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