46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

‘ Y ou have to move back, Miss Layla. There's nothing you can do for her now.'

Faith's words cut her—nothing she could do.

How many children did they have locked up like this? What traumas had they already endured? Was this the world Hope would grow up in?

Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it as she kept her face against the silver bars, looking over at the girl who hadn't stopped crying since the Hunters threw her into the cage. She looked even younger than the girl above Faith, maybe five or six. She hadn't heard anyone else being brought in with her, so she might have been alone. Where did the Hunters find her? Why was she covered in blood?

‘Do you think they killed her family?'

‘Or they could have just snatched her off the street like they did to me,' Faith answered. ‘I still don't know how they found out. I was always so careful around humans and went two towns over when I needed to shift. But they caught me as I walked back to my room after classes.'

She turned back to look at Faith. It was easy for a wolf to know when a Hunter was close because of their scent, so how were they hiding themselves? How were Hunters being so accurate in determining where the wolves would be? The unshifted girls barely smelled of wolves, so even if they used their hounds, they shouldn't have caught the girls.

‘Something is different with them. Something's off.'

‘I've never seen a Hunter in person, so I don't know. But I've never heard of them experimenting on us before. You might be right.'

Faith sighed and put her head down on her knees. Her arms trembled as she tightened them around her legs to keep her body on the small mat under her. She could see the exhaustion that was weighing the young girl down. How long were they expected to sit like that? Not moving in case they sat on the silver and poisoned themselves?

She looked back down at her own body. She stopped bleeding and was far from healed, but she'd been able to sprawl across the cage to get into a more comfortable position. No one else could do that.

Except for her mother.

Somewhere in this hellhole, her mother was going through the same thing.

Wincing, she forced her body back on the mat and mirrored the way Faith was sitting. Since the Hunters had cameras on them, it wouldn't make a difference now, but she didn't want to be comfortable when her people were not.

Her people. She had to save them. Somehow.

A sound she came to dread echoed through the warehouse, and the atmosphere changed again. The metal door, the heavy boots... Who did they come for this time?

'Keep your head down,' Faith said urgently.

She didn't think they were picking their victims randomly. She and the scout were chosen soon after their arrival. Did that mean they had come for the little girl?

She rose to her knees and rushed to the bars again. As expected, four Hunters appeared at the top of the aisle—the two in front with their weapons and the two at the back ready to drag the next wolf away. The little girl wouldn't survive the things they subjected her to.

Desperation rose inside her when she saw their expressionless faces. They didn't care if the girl survived or not. They would just remove her body from the cage as they had done several times.

They walked past her and stopped at the cage. The girl must have sensed them because she stopped crying and lifted her head. And then she scooted to the back of her cage, her fear clear on her face and eyes. They must have already done something horrific to put that much fear in her.

"Please... Take me, instead," she whispered. "She's just a little girl."

One Hunter unlocked the girl's cage, and the other reached inside. The girl screamed and pushed back against the silver bars.

"Please! Leave her alone," she shouted.

They didn't react to her words; she wasn't even sure if they could hear her.

‘Miss Layla. Please don't do this,' Faith said in her head.

The Hunter reached in farther, his large hand swiping across the empty space as he tried to get his target. Her screams turned to sobs. Gut-wrenching sobs as if, even at her tender age, she understood that she wouldn't come back alive.

The Hunter pulled back without a word and stood back, signalling for another to step forward. The monster pulled something off the arsenal of weapons strapped to his body and approached the cage. It wasn't until the little girl's sobs cut off that she understood what she was looking at.

The Hunter had a small catchpole and hooked it around the girl's neck. Like a stray dog. A wild animal they wanted to get rid of.

Fury rose within her, taking over all her thoughts and actions. It filled every cell in her body, awakening her bruised and broken body even though it was futile. Her palms slammed against the silver bars, and a sound that sounded alien yet familiar filled the warehouse. A growl. A growl so deep and loud it made the hair on the back of her neck stand.

The Hunters paused while pulling the girl out and turned to face her.

"I said take me," she snarled.

She knew the words came out of her mouth, but her voice didn't sound familiar. It was deeper and raspier.

The guards released the girl and approached her cage. Their eyes were still emotionless; they didn't look fazed by the rage she knew they could sense. Her body trembled with the effort it took to hold it in as if it was going to burst from her body.

"Take me!" she screamed.

Her vision cleared. She could see the smallest pores on their faces, the pulse thumping at the bases of their throats. The very spot she wanted to sink her teeth in. She had never wanted to rip anyone apart like she wanted to tear them to pieces. Like she had done Hailey the witch.

One of the guards cocked his head to the side as if trying to understand what he was looking at. She knew what they could see. She mastered her emotions long before discovering she was a wolf, but they were overwhelming now. She knew her eyes were glowing. She knew her face was changing, stretching as it accommodated the beast that should have stayed hidden.

She had not shifted since the night of the last attack on the pack. She had not felt her wolf until her recent trouble with the Circle. But now she sensed her other half, rising and filling her, feeding all the destructive emotions inside her.

Her fingers tightened around the silver bars the way they itched to tighten around their necks. They would pay for this—all of them.

A radio echoed, breaking the silence before a disembodied voice echoed around them.

"Bring that one back to the lab."

‘No...' Faith cried.

But Faith's words and anguish didn't dent her rage. It did nothing but fuel it.

Jax wasn't there to help them, but she was positive he would not have taken any of this lying down. He would have fought them as the Alpha King. And she would have fought beside him as their Queen.

Perhaps it was their fate to die like that.

Something sharp hit her still-injured stomach. The air got sucked out of her lungs as pain cleared some of her anger. When she looked down, she saw a dart sticking out of her. Another sharp pain. Another dart.

She released the bars and fell to her ass. The rage completely disappeared as the smell of her blood filled the air.

And her wolf—the wolf that challenged them, the wolf that craved their blood—was gone.

What the hell was she thinking? She was injured and had only ever shifted once. She wasn't strong enough. If her mother couldn't save herself, what chance would she have?

She should have kept her mouth shut until she healed. Until she had a plan.

Her head started to swim. Images of Hope and Jax filled her head even as Faith began to sob behind her.

‘What did you do? What did you do?' Faith repeated.

The strength drained from her body even as she fought to stay conscious. But she still crashed to the floor of the cage. The sound of her cell being unlocked echoed in her ears, and then the silver noose of the catchpole landed around her neck. It cut the air from her body as they pulled her out with it, and once again, she landed hard on the floor.

The bright lights above her were blinding, but she didn't dare close her eyes. What if she didn't wake up?

‘Do everything you can to come back. Please,' Faith cried. ‘You need to stay alive so the Alpha can find us.'

But the words reverberated in her head, making no sense. She couldn't even answer back.

The Hunters didn't bother to lift her by her shoulders this time. They pulled her with her arms, ripping the useless gown as they dragged her along the concrete floor. The wounds that stopped bleeding started to bleed again. The pain was excruciating.

But still, she fought to stay conscious.

The hallways, the doctors, the guards... they took the same route they had taken before. Even with her head swimming, she sensed when they went past the restricted door.

‘Mother...'

Would she even hear her?

Her eyes closed. When they opened again, the heavy silver chains were biting down into her wrists, legs and around her stomach. She was back on the table, in the glass prison. The odd air conditioning unit hung above her, still silent.

"She's awake."

Several faces appeared around her. Their eyes were not the same as the monsters who dragged her into the room—they held a hint of excitement as if they genuinely enjoyed what they were doing.

"You've surprised me, Miss Carlisle."

The doctors moved back and the last person she wanted to see came into her line of vision.

"Normally, I hate surprises," the Commander said, "but I can live with this one. You've proved me right. Your body is full of my serum, but you still showed signs of your wolf. You're not like the others."

A slow smirk appeared on his scarred face. He'd said she was the key to whatever madness he was doing. Did he mean she just condemned her people?

"Take more samples before you do the tests," the Commander said.

"Yes, sir."

"Don't kill her. We need her alive for tomorrow. I'll let everyone know we'll be ready."

The Commander looked at her again, and the smirk widened. His face was more terrifying like that.

"I'm going to get rid of you all once and for all. And you, Miss Carlisle, will help me," he said.

His loud laugh came out of nowhere and echoed in the room. It sliced through her head like a knife, but she could not cover her ears to protect herself. She was completely vulnerable. Completely exposed. Completely helpless.

Her eyelids dropped. The Commander's face was the last thing she saw as her vision started to blur.

And then everything went black.