48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

L ayla 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 headache persisted. The mat in the empty cage above her shielded her from the blinding lights, but it was still too bright for her sensitive eyes.

She moved her head as slowly as possible until she could see Faith in the next cage. The young girl was paler than before, and the trembling was worse. Her arms were no longer around her knees but had fallen to the side, barely on the mat underneath her. She was running on a bit of sleep and hardly any food; it would only be a matter of time until she collapsed onto the silver like the others.

And she couldn't do anything to help.

She groaned as she moved, trying to find a comfortable position on the silver bars biting into her back. But she knew that was impossible. She didn't dare to look down at her body to see what they did to her, but the pain was enough to tell her it was worse than the first time.

All because her wolf chose that moment to show up. Chose to growl and challenge Hunters while locked in a cage in an unknown location.

And this was the beast that Diedre said she had to trust.

‘Are you awake?'

Her gaze returned to Faith's face and saw the empty eyes that looked back at her. She was so sure that Jax would find them that she probably wasn't resting when she could.

‘I okay,' she lied. ‘Get some rest.'

‘How did you growl at them like that? I haven't felt my wolf since I got here.'

She pushed herself upright and tried not to wince. She was in her underwear. The white gown they gave her had been lost after the first time they took her, but now she felt self-conscious of her naked body when Faith looked at her. The young girl gasped and lifted her head.

‘Don't look. I'm fine; I'm already healing,' she lied again. She wouldn't heal quickly as long as she was stuck in the cage. ‘Please get some rest, Faith. I don't want you to pass out.'

‘But, Miss Layla—'

‘Rest, Faith. We'll worry about everything else later.'

The sound of the door echoed through the warehouse, and something dropped in her stomach like lead. What now? Were they going to take her again? Or were they going to try to take the little girl? Had she only delayed the inevitable by trying to stop them?

‘Don't get taken again,' Faith said urgently. ‘Please, I don't think you'll come back.'

Heavy boots. The sound of dragging feet. The stench of Hunters and blood combined.

Would she be able to sit back if they took someone else? Like before, there was no sign of the wolf inside her— the wolf liked to appear when least expected. But Faith was right. She had to keep her head down and think of Jax. Their lives were linked; he would pay the price for any foolish thing she did if it resulted in her death.

Her whole body burned as if she was just a giant open wound. She wouldn't survive another round with those doctors.

The Hunters appeared at the top of her aisle again, and she sucked in a breath. Had a day passed already? The Commander told them they needed to keep her alive for tomorrow when he would reveal whatever he planned to do with her.

But she wasn't ready. She was in too much pain to even think about fighting.

A familiar scent drifted up her nose. She tensed at the same time Faith lifted her head to try to get a better look. The groan from their prisoner sounded familiar, too, but she could not move forward to look.

The Hunters stopped in front of her cage and unlocked the cage above hers. Her heart stopped beating when they hoisted their new prisoner and threw him in. She looked up as the prisoner's face started sizzling against the silver above her.

Gavin.

Poor Gavin. His eyes were closed, and he was groaning in pain but unable to move. That was her fault. She'd ordered him not to come after her, but he must have been looking for her all this time.

The cage was slammed shut, startling her as the Hunters started to walk back the way they came.

‘Gavin!' she cried in the mind link. ‘Gavin, move. Please.'

She struggled to her knees and reached above her to touch his face.

‘Please wake up. You need to get off the silver.'

How could she have been so irresponsible? She should have stayed back until there was a plan to rescue Jax. She should never have gone out on her own. Gavin had to be okay. He had a family that relied on him.

A different kind of pain filled her body as she willed Gavin to wake up. His blood was already dripping from the wounds inflicted on him, falling onto her and the cage underneath. He looked worse than the scout they brought in, who'd died only a short time later. His white gown was already soaked in it; she could only imagine what they did to his body.

‘Please, Gavin...'

Tears fell to her cheeks, but she didn't have the strength to wipe them off.

‘I found you.'

Her gaze went back up to his face, and she saw a slight smile on his lips.

‘You shouldn't have! You should have stayed home,' she cried, running her fingers over every inch of his face she could reach.

‘I must protect my Queen.'

And those words hurt more than anything. How could he lie there, being burnt and poisoned by the silver and still smile like that?

‘Move to the mat before you get worse.'

Gavin hoisted himself up and then shuffled over to the mat. It wasn't big enough for him to lie on but at least less of his body would be exposed. But it looked like moving that much took too much out of him.

She was about to reach for him again when the sound of another cage opening made her look back.

"No."

The pleading whimper cracked her heart in two.

Faith shuffled back, ignoring the sting of the silver as she tried to evade the Hunter's grasp. Her skin sizzled but she still plastered herself to the back of the cage. The little Omega would not survive the doctors. She would come back like the scout and...

"No!" she shouted, rushing forward to put her fingers through the cage. "What are you doing?"

The Hunter stepped back, and as they had done when they tried to take the little girl, another one stepped forward with a catch pole ready.

"Please," Faith cried.

This couldn't be happening. She and Faith had a bond she didn't have with anyone else. They couldn't take her.

The silver wire on the pole looped around Faith's neck, and her whimpers cut off.

"Leave her alone!" she shouted, banging on the silver bars.

But the Hunters didn't even look in her direction as they pulled Faith by her neck towards the cage door. Her screams didn't move them. Her banging didn't move them. Faith was too weak to struggle much; she was no match for the Hunter's strength when they dropped her to the floor.

They didn't bother to pick her up by her shoulders. They pulled the catch pole, tightening the silver chain around her neck.

A calm settled over her when Faith's harsh breaths reached her ears. When the sound of her scraping along the cold floor and the scent of her blood registered in her head.

It took her a second to turn around and rip the cage door off its hinges. A second to drop to the floor and start running up the aisle. The stabbing pain in her body didn't register as only one tithing became her focus.

No one was taking Faith from her. No one.

By the time she reached the top of the aisle, her claws were extended, and she saw nothing but red. Her nails dug into the Hunter dragging Faith first. One second he was walking towards the door, and the next, his head rolled across the floor. And then there was nothing else in her mind except the hunger for their blood. Their screams. It filled her so completely that even saving Faith fell to the back of her mind.

She didn't feel their punches when they fought back. She broke their weapons when they tried to use them. It was just like the night at the gates when she killed Hailey, but this time she didn't see giant red paws. The blood was on her hands. Dripping down her chin. Spilling all over the warehouse floor and splattering against the walls.

Flashing lights brought her focus back to the room and a loud siren pierced her ears. Faith sat against a wall, covered in blood but with the wire no longer around her neck. Tears rolled down her face, but her eyes focused on the Hunters who lay dead in front of her.

‘Save her,' the beast in her head said. ‘Let's go.'

She looked back at the cages in the warehouse, at the wolves inside, looking at her with eyes full of hope. Save Faith? What about everyone else? They were her people, too.

‘We can come back,' the beast said. ‘Move.'

A hissing sound made her look up at the ceiling. The same contraption hung up in the glass room where the doctors tortured her, but a smoky gas came out of this one right over the door. It spread quickly above her, filling the room. The wolves in the cages started to cough.

‘Move!' the beast screamed.

But her head was woozy before she took a step towards Faith. She fell to her knees, her eyes on Faith as the girl continued to look at the destruction around her.

She knew before her head hit the floor that she'd fucked up. The Hunters were going to make her pay for what she did.

The last thing she saw before the darkness took her again was the heavy doors sliding open and many heavy boots marching in.