Page 26

C old. That's the first thing I notice as my consciousness creeps back. My head is pounding like someone's taken a jackhammer to my skull. The light above me burns too bright, making me squint as I try to figure out where I am.

I'm in a laboratory. It's not mine. The equipment is military-grade, sleek, and expensive. The walls are bare concrete, and there are no windows.

I try to move, and panic spikes through me when I realize I can't. The metal restraints bind my wrists and ankles to a chair bolted to the floor. I pull against them, and I feel the bite of cold steel against my skin.

"Fuck," I mutter, twisting my hands to test the strength of the cuffs. They don't budge.

My head throbs, and my mouth tastes like cotton. Whatever they drugged me with has left me disoriented and nauseous. I try to piece together what happened. The concert with Axl. His penthouse. The drive back. The vans. The men.

"Axl," I whisper, my heart clenching. Is he alive? Did they hurt him?

The sound of a door opening makes me snap my head up. Heavy footsteps approach, and I see General Hammond. I've only seen him on TV before, but his face is unmistakable. He's tall, with close-cropped silver hair and cold eyes that remind me of a shark.

"Dr. Baldwin," he says. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

I jerk against my restraints again, harder this time.

"I wouldn't waste your energy," Hammond says, circling my chair slowly. "Those restraints are designed to hold shifters three times your size. You'll only hurt yourself."

"Let me go," I demand, hating how my voice shakes.

He ignores me and continues his predatory circle.

"An Omega," he muses, like he's talking to himself.

"All this time searching, experimenting, trying to create the perfect biological weapon, and here you were, existing in the wild." He stops in front of me, bending slightly to meet my eyes.

"If I'd known you existed, I might have abandoned my virus project altogether."

"Sorry to disappoint you," I spit. "But I'm not interested in being your lab rat."

"Your interest isn't required, Dr. Baldwin." He reaches out and I flinch as his fingers brush a curl from my face. "You're quite beautiful, aren't you? Even in this... disheveled state."

"Don't touch me." I jerk my head away from his touch.

"And spirited too." He straightens, resuming his circle. "I appreciate that. The strong ones always produce better results."

"I won't be here long enough for you to find out," I say, trying to sound more confident than I feel. "They'll find me."

"They?" Hammond raises an eyebrow. "You mean your little collection of Alpha males? How many is it now? Four?" He chuckles. "That's quite greedy of you, Doctor."

My blood runs cold.

"You seem surprised that I know about your... arrangement." He smirks. "I make it my business to know everything, especially about assets as valuable as you."

"I'm not an asset," I growl. "I'm a person."

"You're much more than a person." Hammond stops behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders. I stiffen at his touch. "You're a miracle. You're the key to everything I've been working toward."

"And what exactly is that?" I ask, trying to keep him talking while I subtly test my restraints again.

He moves back into my field of vision. "Progress, Dr. Baldwin.

Evolution. The next stage of human and shifter development.

" His eyes gleam with fanatical light. "Your Omega biology is the missing piece.

With you, I can create a breeding program for super-soldiers.

Imagine Alphas with enhanced abilities, paired with Omegas who can stabilize their transformations.

And more Omegas, of course. We'll need many more like you. "

Bile rises in my throat. "You're insane if you think I'll help you with that."

"Your cooperation isn't necessary." He shrugs. "Your body will do what it's designed to do, regardless of your opinion on the matter."

"Evan will find me," I say, clinging to the one hope I have. "He won't let you get away with this."

Hammond's face splits into a wide grin. "Evan? Oh, my dear, you don't know, do you?" He leans closer, his breath hot against my ear.

"Who do you think delivered you to me?"

"You're lying," I shake my head. "Evan wouldn't…"

"Wouldn't he?" Hammond straightens. "There's so much you don't know about your precious billionaire."

"What are you talking about?"

"Evan Blackthorn helped me create the first test that turned into the Crimson Plague," Hammond says, watching my face carefully.

"Did he tell you that part? Or did he conveniently leave it out when he was fucking you?"

I keep my expression neutral, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing Evan had already confessed this to me. "You're trying to turn me against him. It won't work."

"I don't need to turn you against him," Hammond says. "I just need you to understand your situation. Evan has always been weak, and conflicted. He couldn't commit to our original vision, but he'll come around. Especially now that I have you."

"He'll kill you," I say with conviction. "They all will."

Hammond laughs again. "They can try. But first, they'd have to find you. And this facility doesn't exist on any map."

He walks to a nearby table and picks up a syringe filled with amber liquid.

"What is that?" I ask, unable to keep the fear from my voice.

"Just a little something to help trigger your heat cycle," he says casually. "We need to run some tests, and you'll be more... cooperative when your biology takes over."

"No!" I struggle violently against my restraints. "Don't you dare!"

"I've never actually witnessed an Omega in heat with an Alpha," Hammond continues as if I hadn't spoken.

"I'm told it's quite a spectacle. Primal.

Intense." He taps the syringe, checking for air bubbles.

"I've selected a few promising candidates from my enhanced Alpha program.

We'll see which one your body responds to most strongly. "

"You sick fuck," I snarl, twisting so hard the chair rocks slightly. "I'll kill you myself if you touch me."

"I won't be touching you, Dr. Baldwin," he corrects. "I'll merely be observing. For science, of course."

"Science?" I laugh bitterly. "This isn't science. This is torture. This is rape."

"Such dramatic language. You Omegas are designed for this. Your body will crave it once the heat takes hold."

"My body isn't separate from my mind," I argue. "Forcing me into heat and throwing me to your lab-grown Alphas is rape, no matter how you justify it."

"Your moral objections are noted," Hammond says dryly. "And ignored."

He approaches with the syringe, and I thrash wildly, tipping the chair onto two legs before it slams back down.

"You'll hurt yourself if you keep that up," he warns.

"Better than letting you hurt me," I snap.

"I have no desire to hurt you, Dr. Baldwin. You're far too valuable." He sighs. "But you are making this more difficult than it needs to be."

He presses a button on a device in his pocket, and a moment later, two men in enter the room.

"Hold her still," Hammond orders.

One grabs my shoulders from behind while the other holds my arm extended, exposing the crook of my elbow.

"No!" I scream, struggling against their grip. "Stop!"

Hammond approaches with the syringe. "This will all be easier if you accept your role in what's coming, Dr. Baldwin. Fighting only prolongs the inevitable."

"Fuck you," I spit, tears of rage and fear blurring my vision. "I'll never accept this."

"You will," he says with absolute certainty. "Your Omega nature will give you no choice."

The needle pierces my skin, and I feel the burn of the liquid entering my veins. Almost immediately, warmth begins to spread up my arm.

"What have you done to me?" I gasp as the heat intensifies, spreading through my chest and down my spine.

"Just accelerated what was already in your nature," Hammond says, stepping back to observe. "The heat would have come naturally in time. I simply... expedited the process."

The warmth is rapidly becoming uncomfortable, my skin flushing and sweat breaks out across my forehead. My breathing quickens as the first pulse of arousal hits me, stronger than anything I've experienced before.

"No," I whimper, squeezing my eyes shut against the sensation. "Please, no."

"Fascinating," Hammond murmurs. "The reaction is even faster than I anticipated." He turns to his men. "Prepare the observation room. And bring in Subject Alpha-7 first. He should show the most promising response to her pheromone."

"You can't do this," I plead, my voice breaking as another wave of heat washes over me. My thighs clench together involuntarily, seeking friction that isn't there. "Please."

Hammond looks at me, and smiles.

"Be rest assured, Dr. Baldwin, we'll take excellent care of you and any offspring that results from these pairings." He reaches for another syringe on the table. "But first, I think it's best if you sleep through the worst of this transition. The initial phase can be... distressing."

"Don't," I sob, feeling my control slipping as the drug in my system works its way deeper. "Please don't do this."

"Shh," Hammond says, approaching with the second syringe. "Sleep now. When you wake, your body will know exactly what it needs."

The needle slides into my arm again, and a different sensation spreads. It's cool and numbing, pulling me down into darkness.

"Sleep," Hammond's voice seems to come from far away. "I'll return when you're ready. We wouldn't want you to injure yourself fighting what you can't control."

The darkness rises to claim me, and my last thought before consciousness slips away is of the four men who've become so important to me. Evan. Leo. Onyx. Axl. I hope they're coming for me. I hope they hurry.

I hope I'm still myself when they find me.