Chapter 11
I swallowed hard and
consciously controlled my breathing. Kraig’s forehead was wrinkled and he was
clenching my hand so hard his knuckles turned white. His whole body shuddered
as he let out a deep breath.
“They strapped me down and
took blood, skin samples, saliva, semen”—I saw red knowing what they must have
done to him to get that—“but the worst part was when they strapped my head
down, drilled holes in my skull, and attached wires to my brain.”
Horror consumed me. “They
invaded your brain?” So much could’ve gone wrong and Kraig could’ve been
damaged for life, if not killed outright.
“More than once.” Kraig dipped
his head and pointed to faint depressions on his skull. “They asked me
questions while the wires were in there but other times they just zapped me
over and over. I wanted to fight them, but I was too weak. They kept injecting
me with stuff, and I never got enough food or water. The only time I stood up
was when they dragged me from my cage to the chair but after a while I couldn’t
even walk.”
I wrapped around him and held
him close, rage and terror impossible to suppress. “I will find everyone
involved, and they will all die.” I growled. “Every. Single. Person.”
Thankfully Kraig didn’t pull
away because I needed his scent and the warmth of his body tight to him. My
tiger soul was raging, and it was all I could do to restrain my urge to tear
into someone. Kraig put his hand on my chest and held it there. Gradually his
purring drowned out my growls as I regained control.
“Can we stop talking about
this right now?” I asked. “Just spend some time enjoying the peace?”
“Fine by me.”
I pushed off with one foot and
started the swing moving gently. Free time to just relax had been practically
non-existent since the mantle of leadership had fallen onto my shoulders when
my dad died. Resigned to a life only half-lived with Kraig gone, I’d thrown
myself into the streak. I’d been trained well, and our streak was tight-knit,
so my youth wasn’t as much of a problem as it could’ve been. Park had
reestablished our boundary lines to ensure no other groups tried to take over
the far territories, and I’d kept things settled here at home.
“Alpha!” A shout broke the
silence. Kraig yelped and flinched. I reacted to his fear and the strident tone
Park only used when things were really wrong. By the time Park had thundered
through the house and onto the back porch I had Kraig against the wall and
hidden behind me.
Park skidded to a halt far too
close. I bared my fangs and hissed. He stepped back. “What’s is it?” I asked
once he was out of arm’s reach.
He glanced over his shoulder
and frowned. “Hold on.” He turned away.
“Stop! What did you just say? You
do not come running up shouting and then tell me to hold on,” I roared.
“Ritch isn’t here.” Park
looked over his shoulder again.
“Who is Ritch?” I flicked my
claws out. My patience was rapidly running out.
“The visitor I told you about,
remember? I need to find him. He came over here with me.”
“So there’s no danger.”
Park finally stilled and met
my eyes, his expression deadly serious. “There’s danger, but it’s not knocking
on the door quite yet.”
Kraig had both hands on my
back. He rubbed them up and down. “Let him go so I can help you calm down.”
I nodded. “Fine. Go find the
human werekin.” Park took off like a shot. I took several deep breaths, wanting
to calm down before I helped Kraig back to the swing.
“A human werekin? A stranger?”
“Your brother called while you
were sleeping and told me about him. Park’s a capable Beta, so I told him to
find out why he was here.”
“But I haven’t had a chance to
tell you everything! The doctor wasn’t working with another alpha, at least not
a bonded werekin alpha. He was working with human werekin and other pure
humans.”
“Inside, now.” I snatched
Kraig up and rushed him in the house, locking the front door first. “You have
to stay safe.” I paused by the stairs to the basement, but I wasn’t that
stupid, even so close to a rage. The downstairs bathroom was too small for a
person to climb through, and the door had a lock. Kraig would be as safe as he
could get there. I did fling the drawer in the kitchen open and pull out the
gun lock box.
“Do you think you can still
shoot this?”
Kraig’s eyes were flat. “I
won’t let anyone take me again. I’ll be able to shoot,” he said grimly.
To be safer I put him in the
tub. I handed him the box. “The combo is your birthday,” I said. He grabbed my
hand and squeezed it hard.
“You stay safe too,” he
ordered.
I locked the door but left my
keys inside. Kraig would hear me shouting if it was safe to let me in the
house... or he’d hear someone breaking the door down because that was the only
way they were getting in. And they’d have to go through me to do it.
After checking the knob again,
I stepped down off the porch. My heart pounded, flooding my body with
adrenaline. My vision sharpened, and I couldn’t stand still. I paced in front
of the steps, watching and listening.
The human werekin’s scent came
to me before I saw him. He was tall and muscular, nearly as large as the men in
my streak, but I was still bigger. Park rounded the corner of the house, a step
behind him.
“Stop right there,” I snarled.
“Who are you?”
“My
name is Ritch.” The stranger’s voice was calm... too calm to be facing a raging
alpha.
TBC
Want more flash fiction? Check out these other updates:
Wow, that really had my pulse racing Can't wait to find out what happens next
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nephy! So much drama to come. Muahahahahahaha
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