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“It won’t be instantaneous,” I say, not meeting his gaze. “But he should slowly begin to revert to his human form.” He definitely will, with the drug I’ve given him.

“And will he be able to shift back at whim?”

The urgent tone of Cassian’s question makes me wonder why he doesn’t want this particular shifter to be able to change forms. “You told me that you wanted him to shift into his human form and be unable to shift back, right? That is what I’ve tried to do,” I lie through my teeth.

“We should leave him in the lab and monitor him through the cameras.”

I feel a hint of panic at his words. “I don’t think that’s necessary. If the shift happens, he’ll be weak since his human muscles will have atrophied from lack of use. And we don’t know how fast the shift will be. Most probably it will take a long time or something will need to trigger it.”

Cassian comes to stand before me, forcing me to look up at him. “There was a specific component within the formula. It should leave him dazed. We don’t want him recovering his senses.”

I scowl. “Yes. You’ve told me multiple times. I accounted for it. Would you like to see the formula?” I already have a fake version of it completed. The one I’m actually using is in my head.

I bring him to the computer and show him the formula. He reviews it, and I can see that he doesn’t entirely understand it. But he seems satisfied.

“Good.” He puts his hand on my shoulder in a manner that I don’t like.

“The person who initially created the formula isn’t here, but one of his disciples will be soon.

He’s going to return by tomorrow evening, and he’ll assess your work.

If everything goes according to plan, he’ll take you under his wing and begin teaching you. ”

“His disciple?”

“His student.” Casian shrugs. “He’s also a human scientist. But he’s good. It was his idea to have you try your hand at this.”

I have so many questions, but I keep my mouth closed. Tomorrow evening? If that scientist shows up and sees this formula, he’s going to know it’s a bunch of gibberish. That means I only have till tomorrow evening to escape.

My wolf companion has been pumped full of enough drugs to knock him out, but when we reach the cell and are left alone, I take out a small vial and force the contents into his mouth. He stirs almost instantly, and I let out a sigh of relief.

The last dose I gave him was incredibly potent. It’s going to take a couple of hours to kick in, but I think it will work. Huddled in a corner of the cell, I wait for my food to arrive and then give it all to him. But as the hours tick by, nothing happens. He just lies there with his eyes closed.

I have my watch with me, and as nighttime approaches, I can feel my hope fading fast.

Twenty guards. Cassian said there were twenty guards outside this cell. I can’t get past them. Not on my own. But if I can convince this wolf to help me, we can make it. We can probably make it. To convince him of this, though, I need him alert and able to understand me.

I worked my ass off on this drug that I’ve created. If it doesn’t work, that’s going to be the end of me. They’re going to find out that the formula was nonsense, and then Cassian is going to kill me. And as for my poor companion, I can’t even imagine what they’ll do to him once I’m gone.

Tired and exhausted, with my arms wrapped around my stomach and my knees pulled to my chest, I watch him. I’ve been giving him almost all my food for the past month, keeping only the bare minimum for myself. I’m beginning to feel the effects of it. But I need him healthy.

I must have nodded off at some point because I’m startled awake when I hear the door of the cell open. I look up and see a familiar face.

Terror seizes me.

Quentin!

He sneers at me. “Awake? Good. I want you to be awake for what I’m about to do to you. And don’t bother screaming. I’ve knocked out the guards. Nobody’s coming to your rescue.”

The wolf is also awake, and he’s growling softly, looking between me and the intruder.

“Get out of here!” I jump to my feet, my back up against the wall. “Cassian’s going to be pissed off when he finds out you came here.”

The large shifter shrugs. “It’ll be too late to do anything by the time he finds you.

And I can deal with Cassian myself. In fact, some of my friends are dealing with him right now.

He’s gotten too cocky for his own good ever since he made lieutenant in the organization. He’s letting it get to his head.”

Quentin walks toward me. I try to duck past him, but he grabs me by my hair and slams me face first into the wall. I go down with a whimper, smelling my own blood in the air. The wolf begins to howl now, furious.

“Oh, shut up!” Quentin shouts at him. “Stupid mutt. You always thought you were better than me, too. And look at you now. You’re a dog, nothing more. You bark and howl. Useless thing.”

He begins fidgeting with his pants, his eyes returning to me. Even dazed, I know what’s about to happen.

But not if I have anything to say about it.

I see the small vial I gave the wolf a few hours ago. It’s made of glass, and it’s within reach. My hand wraps around it. I shatter the vial against the ground and plunge the sharp glass into Quentin’s leg, right where his femoral artery should be.

He yells out in pain and staggers backward.

I use his own momentum against him and tackle him.

Unfortunately, I gravely overestimated my own strength, even with the element of surprise.

He grabs me by the shoulder and punches me in the stomach.

It knocks the wind out of me, but that doesn’t stop me. I’m not going down without a fight.

“I am not a victim,” I snarl, sinking my teeth into his arm. He backhands me into the opposite wall, and I land next to the wolf, sinking to the ground. I can feel warm, sticky blood on the side of my face.

Not like this, I tell myself. I try to get up but fall to my knees. The wolf, who has been growling and snarling this whole time, suddenly nuzzles me and licks the side of my face.

I push the wolf away, my eyes on my opponent.

If he thinks I’m going to let him take advantage of me, he’s sorely mistaken.

He’s going to have to rip me apart to get me to stop fighting back.

Quentin seems to have realized this, and he looks irritated.

“Do you think I won’t use you when you’re bleeding on the floor, unconscious?

It’s been a while since I had a good fuck. ”

I swear at him, forcing my pain aside. “Good to know that you’re a freak both on the inside and on the outside.”

His expression twists, and he lets out a thunderous roar. He leaps at me, his claws outstretched. I know it’s coming. I don’t care. Better to die than let him have his way with me. I can’t fight him off, but I can rile him up enough to get him to kill me.

I stand there waiting, the small sliver of broken glass still in my hand. I’ll slice the other side of his face and give him matching scars to make sure he remembers who it was he killed.

My eyes squeeze shut as he is about to land his attack.

But nothing happens.

For a moment, there is a strange silence, and then I hear a guttural sound.

My eyes fly open, and I see a filthy, naked man with long, scraggly, silver hair that reaches his hips and the most stunning amber eyes I’ve ever seen.

His hand is clenched around Quentin’s wrist.