An Alpha's Choice (Talon Pack #2)(52)

Fuck.

She met Finn’s eyes and they each growled.

Someone had found a way to sedate wolves. Finn had been right. These humans weren’t working alone.

Her head hit the bottom of the cage as she passed out, praying she’d wake up again.




Only when she woke up, she almost wished she were back in the cage. The humans had strapped her and Finn to separate tables so they were forced to look at each other. The tables were on an incline, so it was as if she and Finn were almost standing. Thick metal bars and straps across their legs, hips, torso, chest, and forehead held them in place.

The human that had shot them with the darts stood between them, an odd smile on his face. “Thanks for joining the living, Brynn Brentwood,” he drawled. “I wanted you awake for this.

She screamed as the man went to Finn’s table, a large blade in his hand. Finn met her gaze, his eyes narrowing as the human cut into Finn’s flesh. The butcher made two long cuts down Finn’s stomach, the thin trails of blood following made Brynn’s stomach heave.

Finn’s jaw clenched at each cut, but he didn’t scream, didn’t let out a sound. The f*cking humans had to know that having her watch would be another form of torture.

The doctor finished up his cuts and turned to Brynn, a puzzled smile on his face. He wiped Finn’s blood off the blade using his white coat, forcing more bile to Brynn’s mouth.

“Let’s see if female wolves bleed the same as male ones do.”

“Are you really done with me?” Finn asked, his wolf in his voice. Her mate’s wolf didn’t come out often. This couldn’t end well.

“I’ll be back to you soon,” the doctor said, not letting his gaze leave Brynn’s. “Now, you screamed for him, will you scream for yourself?”

She raised her chin as much as she could, considering she was strapped down. “Fuck you.”

“I don’t do animals, but my partner might.” He licked his lips then stabbed her in the hip. Not a slice, but a deep f*cking stab that she was sure scraped the bone.

A whimper threatened to break through, but she held it in, even as the fiery agony of the deep cut raced through her system. Her wolf slammed into her, wanting out, wanting blood, but she couldn’t shift while locked up like this.

Finn growled, screamed, and cursed as the doctor slid the blade out of her skin and stabbed again, this time a little higher. Black spots danced behind her eyes, but she refused to pass out.

The doctor tilted his head, as if studying her reaction then slid the blade back out once more.

“Interesting,” he mumbled.

“Fuck. You.” A trail of blood slid out of her mouth and she wanted to scream. He’d cut her deep, and for some reason, she wasn’t healing. Neither was Finn now that she thought about it. There had to be something on the metal of the blade or in the tranq they’d given them earlier. Hell, this wasn’t good. Not only for them, but for whoever the humans caught in the future.

The game had changed once again.

This wasn’t magic, this was science. She could feel it in her wounds.

The doctor held the blade up to her eye and she tried to pull back. “I wonder if you would be able to shift without an eye. Of course, you would, but your wolf would only have one eye. Right? Or would it have two? I wonder…” He shook his head. “Soon. For now, just this.”

He cut into her face, a single slice down her cheek. She screamed then. She broke, the pain intensifying with each passing moment. Finn howled, an agonizing song that turned into the crunching of metal.

The doctor flew back, the knife landing next to his body. Finn broke the man’s neck then went to Brynn. Bruises and cuts marked Finn’s body where the bands had been. He still had the long cuts on his stomach, leaving blood trails as he moved, but he seemed to ignore them. He’d broken through the metal by shear force, and she knew he had to have internal bleeding because of it.

“He cut you,” he growled, his voice more wolf than man. “He won’t hurt you again.” With that, he let his hand turn to claws as he pulled at the metal encasing her. It creaked and groaned, breaking in his hands. “Can you walk?” he asked, his hands now human and pressed against the wound on her hip.

Pain flared and she tried to nod, only to shake her head. “I think he broke my hip.” Her eyes widened. “How did he do that with just a knife?”

“There was something on that knife, Brynn. We’re not healing. Fuck.” He turned and pulled out some bandages from a drawer, pressing them to her hip and face. She winced, trying to help with his wounds, but he wouldn’t let her. Damn man. Yes, she was worse off, but she needed to help him.

“You can help me soon, princess. Okay, I’m going to carry you on my back. I can’t carry you in the front and still fight. Hopefully, by the time we get out of here, you’ll be healed a little bit more and we can shift. I just don’t want to use up the energy to shift now.”

She nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck and climbing onto his back when he turned in front of her. She kissed his neck above the mark she’d left, which seemed like years ago.

“We don’t know how many people are out there, and we don’t have a weapon.”

Finn grunted, his hand on her thigh. He moved toward where the knife lay on the floor and picked it up. “Hold this. We need it analyzed anyway. We’re getting out of this, Brynn.”