55. Chapter 55

Chapter 55

D id 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 something they said was impossible. I have elevated my people to a place every Hunter will remember in history. I'm the man who beat the wolves. The man who risked everything to rid the world of this plague."

"By becoming one of us?"

Crazy. The man was wholly unhinged, with no business being in charge of anything.

"I will always be a Hunter. I will always be better than an animal," he hissed, turning back to face her.

"Are you sure? If you let that man out of his cage, who will he kill? Me or you? Who is his Alpha?"

There was a hint of uncertainty in the Commander's eyes, but it disappeared quickly.

"I am his Alpha. He was born to hunt animals, not people. Do you think this is our first breakthrough? My soldiers are one hundred per cent more effective than in any other sector because of me," the Commander said. "But if you want to test that theory, I'm more than willing to oblige."

The Commander grinned and turned back to his creation.

"What is your primary objective, soldier?" the Commander asked.

The Hunter in the cage stopped pacing and faced his leader. He stood perfectly still though his eyes still flashed. The wolf inside him was unstable, yet he showed control of it. But he was still...off.

She sniffed the air again and opened up her senses. The Hunter's heartbeat was elevated, and she sensed anger in him. The darkness that shrouded all the Hunters still engulfed him. But if he successfully turned, wouldn't his wolf still have to adhere to its nature? Wouldn't it have to submit to a real Alpha wolf?

"To bring victory and pride to the Hunters by destroying our enemies," the caged Hunter said.

Even his voice was steady.

She looked over at her mother and saw the worry in her eyes. Having wolves in the Hunters' corner would lead to the end of everything. The Commander would win, just as he was so confident he would.

Her fists clenched again as her anger returned.

Perhaps it was the fate of a Queen to go down with her sinking ship. It was her fate to make the difficult choices to protect Hope and all the other wolves still safe outside the Hunters' den. It was her fate to die for her people.

"Does that answer your question?"

Her focus returned to the man who sealed his fate with hers. The grin left his face, and his gaze was on her fists. Had she given herself away?

"You haven't forgotten our deal already, have you? Do I need to bring those girls in again to make you do your job?"

"Don't touch them," she growled.

The Commander's brows lifted as his gaze met hers head-on. She never felt challenged when anyone in her pack accidentally met her gaze for too long, but something lurched violently inside her when she realised that was what the Commander was doing. He knew what he was doing since he had hunted and studied wolves all his life.

"You still need a lesson on who's in charge here," the Commander said, nodding to someone behind her.

One of the guards walked up behind her. She braced herself for a blow, especially if it was the huge Hunter who brought her out of her cell. He could knock her clear across the room.

Something stung the back of her neck instead.

She spun around and clasped her neck. Something burned through her veins, and the beast inside her reared forward, ready to defend them. Pain shot through all her limbs, weakening her despite her wolf. Cold. She felt ice-cold despite the fire in her veins. She gasped and fell to her knees before looking up at the culprit. The guard looked back at her emotionlessly with a syringe in his hand. A clear liquid dripped to the floor from the needle. There was no scent, nothing that she could use to identify it. Was that how they messed her up before? Would her wolf disappear again right when she needed it the most?

"That's another of my breakthroughs," the Commander said. "If you change into your wolf, it will die a painful death. Thanks to the animals in the cages, I've already tested it several times. I will strip you of that abomination you carry so you will be neither human nor wolf."

Shock froze her to the spot as the Commander's words repeated in her head. What the hell...? How was that even possible? The wolf was a part of her, even if she was a half-blood. How could someone snatch it away? It was a lie, another one of the Commander's mind games. This had to be the same shit the Hunters used to subdue them.

"You're lying," she whispered, looking back over her shoulder at the man who stood proudly with his hands behind his back and a smirk on his face.

"Am I? It doesn't matter to me if you believe it or not. If your wolf dies, I have another one just like you," the Commander said as he turned to Rebecca's cage. "She's been resisting, but I think I can persuade her the same way I persuaded you. I'm sure she won't want to see her child die right in front of her eyes."

She closed her eyes at those cruel words. Her mother abandoned her to avoid ever being in this situation. If she hadn't understood it before, she understood it perfectly now. Rebecca would do anything for her, including giving the Commander what he wanted, even though she fought them from the beginning.

The pain ebbed until it was a dull ache. With a shaky breath, she forced herself to stand and face the Commander.

"You said I was the key to everything, but you're willing to risk it all?" she asked.

"I'm not stupid. I watched what you did to my men. I'd rather live long enough to see the day the world is free from your kind. I don't care if I have to kill you and start again. Call it my insurance. Now, shall we get on with this? I have a rather busy morning scheduled- everyone is eager to see how things have gone."

What else had she expected from a monster who let wolves die from hunger and sleep deprivation?

The crushing realisation that the man already killed her sent a chill down her spine. The grin was back on his face when he started to unbutton the top buttons of his black uniform and roll up his sleeve.

"Bite me exactly how you bit my soldier, or I will kill those girls you're fond of."

She looked at the exposed arm. It was tattooed, with hateful symbols and words, and wrinkled. The thought of sinking her teeth into it without the option to rip him apart made her sick to her stomach.

But she would do it until she found an opening to make her move.

The Commander stepped closer and lifted his wrist to her mouth as if he was feeding one of the vampires in the books she'd read about in fiction books.

"Open your mouth, Layla."

The Commander didn't take his eyes off hers for a second. Her wolf surged forward as if she was going to force a shift, and a sense of panic took her over. If the Commander was telling the truth, she couldn't waste the one shift she had left.

‘You're going to sacrifice me?' the wolf asked.

For the greater good? She was going to sacrifice both of them.

Her mouth barely opened when someone burst into the room. The Hunter rushed to the Commander's side, giving her temporary relief when the Commander lowered his hand.

"Is everyone already gathered?" the Commander asked.

The Hunter looked at her before leaning close to his leader's ear as if that would stop her from hearing him.

"We have a problem," he whispered.

"Well, fix it. We can't afford to have delays today."

"There were calls from town. I need to speak to you in private," the Hunter said, looking at her again.

And just like that, she knew the problem was something to do with her. Her heart started to race again. Was it Jax? Had he found her? But hundreds of Hunters were on the base—Jax would never make it!

The Commander wasn't pleased as he led the way out of the room. She sensed them walking back the way she came to the main doors of the restricted areas. Her ears picked up everything—their footsteps, the Hunter's elevated heartbeat. She sensed his fear.

"They have found us," the Hunter whispered again. "They attacked the town. I'm not sure how many, but the reports have come from most of the families."

"Then what is the problem? This is our turf, soldier. We don't bow to those animals."

"Should we reinforce our gates?"

"No. We do what we were born to do. Let's go hunting."

No! Jax!

Her breathing was harsh as she turned to face her mother.

This was it. It was now or never.