Page 44 of Feral Mates (Ruthless Instinct #1)

“I don’t care.” She was adamant, completely agitated. And determined.

“Get ready for an attack,” Kai told me.

I was more than ready to finish off the monster who’d dared lay a hand on her.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Any of you. I hope you can understand me because we don’t have much time. You need to back away from the door.”

She pulled out the handgun. She was going to shoot the lock off.

“Not necessary,” I growled in response. “We can handle it.”

With a single look into my eyes, she nodded. “Then do it. Quickly.”

Every beast caged was leery, a lion driving his paw through the bars.

“Stop. Now. We are your only chance of survival.” Kai bared his canines as he padded closer to one of the cages. “Do as the lady said. Now. She is one human you can trust.”

I had to give the wolf due credit. He was one dominating beast.

And they listened, every creature poised to escape.

With a single swing of my paw, I knocked the lock loose.

Kai and Roman followed my lead.

“Do it again,” she said with more urgency. “We’re running out of time. I can feel the men coming as well.”

Together, the three of us worked and on the fourth try, the gates swung open.

The beasts rushed from the cages. Some were weak. Some were injured. But they were free and ready to escape the prison they’d been in.

If only they understood what they’d already become.

“Out. Now!” My keening roar was meant to warn the men helping us.

Savannah took off running toward the stairs and within seconds, we heard gunshots.

There were sounds of boots rushing down the corridor.

Within seconds, we were approached.

There were gunshots and snarls as the other beasts attempted to get away.

Screams from men as they were ripped apart.

“Savannah!” Mark yelled. “This way. All of you.”

He pointed to another corridor and I stood behind while she took off following him. But I craved sinking my teeth into the bastards who’d hurt her.

She would be safe with the soldiers.

“Three up ahead,” Kai said.

“Finish them,” Roman roared.

The rage had been building for days, enough that the three monsters who pointed weapons in our direction didn’t stand a chance.

The moment I sank my canines into the man’s throat, tossing him back and forth, I sensed a presence behind me. After dropping the soldier, I twisted my neck while licking my chops. Mark stood, ready to fire if necessary.

He had no need to fear us.

And we had need to fear him.

He offered a silent nod before turning back the way he came.

Less than a minute later, the fight was finished. The monsters had been killed.

The animals had been freed.

Savannah…

Thoughts of her swept through my mind.

Something was off.

Snarling, I threw my head toward Kai and Roman. “She’s not close.”

Kai took a deep inhale. “I can’t smell her.”

“She’s in danger.” Roman rushed by me, racing down the corridor.

“Savannah. Savannah? Where are you?” Mark called. “She slipped away. I sent one of my soldiers after her, but he’s not responding on his communicator. Find her, boys. Then stay away from the building. I know you can hear me. Just protect her.”

Snarling, I nodded so he’d know I heard him.

“We have one minute,” Sam called. “We need to blow this now.”

I knew exactly where she had gone. Roman and Kai also knew.

We bolted past the soldier heading toward the refuge. Our little mate was bound and determined to get herself killed. The forest was dark, filled with night creatures, the light wind sending various scents to our nostrils.

Some of them rotting flesh from where the animals had been tortured, killed, and their bodies dumped.

The rage continued to build, festering to the point I wasn’t certain I could maintain control. But all I could think about was getting to our mate.

As soon as we were within a hundred yards, we knew instantly we were not alone.

The vampire was here.

Suddenly, a deep rumble began, intense vibrations, but not from the expected destruction of the building. They were animals running through the woods, ignoring any aspect of danger. Thanatos had freed a dozen of them. And why? Another way of hiding his tracks. He knew his days were numbered.

Tonight, he’d meet his end.

At least from what I sensed, none of them had been affected by the horrific experiments performed at the laboratory.

Savannah’s shriek penetrated the night sky. So did the howls of the remaining animals and there were only a few. They were the lucky ones. They’d yet to be turned into something that would alter their lives forever.

We crouched as we approached, issuing low, husky growls. There was no need to mask our approach. He’d sensed we were coming.

When we found Thanatos inside the facility, it was the same room where we’d been kept behind steel bars for weeks.

Now our beautiful mate was locked inside one of those very cages.

The moment was strange and powerful, as if the world around us no longer existed.

There were still caged animals in the facility, all injured, all fighting to be freed. Their howls and deep growls permeated the space. This is what science had come down to.

“Help him! The bastard is killing him.” Savannah called, her tone imploring, but it was the wild charge of electricity that broke the hypnotic spell.

The soldier sent to locate and protect our little mate was thrashing on the floor, struggling yet losing a battle to keep his life.

The monster Thanatos was sucking the life from him. A powerful energy source shimmered all around him, electric pulses shooting from every angle. A protective shield also surrounded him, the heat in the room oppressive.

With the soldier on the floor, both his eyes and mouth open wide, slender beams of neon light were flowing from the soldier directly into Thanatos.

Before our eyes, the soldier’s life force was ebbing, his skin wrinkling.

There was no hesitation. The three of us advanced, lunging toward him prepared to kill.

But the force field was too strong, pitching us against the wall.

Agony tore through me, my muscles constricting from the blinding pain.

Panting, Kai jerked away first, tumbling toward him while issuing an intense howl. “Get her out of here. Roman and I will distract him.”

“No. I fight with you.” Her words were screamed mentally and completely clear. What Thanatos couldn’t do was to break our connection or hear our thoughts. “Hey, you fucking asshole,” she yelled at the vampire, “come get me.” She rattled the cage, gaining his attention.

His snarl was inhuman, sharp teeth bared. “I’d shut up if I were you, Dr. Morgan. If you’re a good girl, perhaps I’ll save your mates.”

Thanatos studied us the way we were doing with him. As specimens that didn’t belong on this earth.

The three of us snarled, which made him laugh. The sound was pure evil. “You’re not as strong as you believe yourselves to be. I am far more powerful.”

I cocked my head, inhaling the stench of death. With his attention drawn away, I scanned the room. We needed to break the force field.

As soon as I glanced from Kai to Roman, even before I mentioned the idea in my mind, they knew my intentions. Electric prods had been used on our bodies to keep us in line. It would be the perfect charge to break the force field if only for a few seconds.

Just long enough to attack and kill.

“Doesn’t she look beautiful?” the vampire asked. “I know you want to save her so I’m going to allow you the opportunity to do just that. But you will do it my way.”

He obviously underestimated our strength.

And our love for our beautiful mate.

The soldier moaned, even managing a weak punch against Thanatos.

That was enough time for Kai to rake his claws against the lock keeping our little mate a prisoner. She scampered outside, prepared to fight.

“Get the prod on the table near the sink.” She didn’t question my direction, scuttling away on her hands and knees, keeping low to the floor until she was out of Thanatos’ sight.

The vampire’s bellow echoed in the space and he whipped his head toward her. We intervened, leaping across the floor. While the force field remained in place, his rage caught him off guard.

We repeated the action, pummeling our bodies toward him.

The three of us were in agony, but it didn’t matter. We would do anything to save our mate’s life.

Powerful jolts of electricity surged through us from the life force he’d captured from the soldier, now using the energy as a weapon. He threw thunderous bolts from one to the other of us and in being forced to fight against three, the power was being sucked from him.

Kai was tossed to the floor, muscles torn and blood flowing.

“No. No!” Savannah cried, but the sound wasn’t one of despair or pain. “Never again!”

It was a battle cry.

“You little bitch,” Thanatos snarled, throwing his arm out with intention of using a killing bolt. I threw myself in the middle and instinctively, she jumped to the side.

In her hands was the electric prod, the end already sparking from the high voltage selected.

Knocked to the floor, I managed to pitch my body away from another blast just as Roman lunged from behind.

While Roman’s body jerked from being driven against the force field, the hit had been hard enough that Thanatos was pushed forward.

And directly into the end of the electric prod.

“Take that, you motherfucker!” The force field was immediately slammed shut, the high voltage entering every cell and muscle in his body until he was lit up like a Christmas tree.

There was something awe inspiring about the stench of frying flesh.

Every sound from her luscious lips spurred my desire. She was a true warrior, as determined to protect us as we were of her.

The three of us could feel the joy in the caged beasts, their howls no longer ones of despair. They knew soon they would be freed.

While I stumbled to my feet, she hit him again. Thanatos threw his arms out, his entire body jerking as if placed in the electric chair.

We didn’t allow the moment to go to waste, attacking from all sides. Our claws ripped through his flesh, our canines crushing bones.

He managed to throw several bolts of current, but his power was being drained with every passing second. With a hard blow from my paw, he stumbled backward, finally smashing against the edge of the table and slowly sliding to the floor.

Savannah was shaking, her face pinched in fury and a moment of satisfaction. But the fight wasn’t finished.

Not yet.

“Don’t look. Just back away,” I told her. “And trust us.”

“With my life,” she whispered, obeying my command and backing away.

I was lucky enough to see Thanatos’ expression of shock when we lunged forward together once again as if in formation. The monster had no chance, not against the three of us. Together, we sank our canines into the man who’d wanted to play God.

The vampire intent on sucking the life from beasts and humans alike.

As the light slipped from his eyes, I realized there was no usual satisfaction, just profound anger from what he’d put so many creatures through.

When it was over and he lay dead, as I’d done before, I threw my back my head and howled. So did Kai and Roman.

This time, our cry wasn’t just one of victory. It was a warning to others to flee and never return.

“Oh, my God. I can’t believe this,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry for everything. You’re hurt. He hurt you.”

“We’re fine, little mate,” Roman told her. “ There were no killing blows.”

There would have been had she not been by our side. Perhaps unconvinced, she pressed her hands on our wounds, shifting from one to the other as tears slipped past her lashes.

Her sorrow was geared toward everything that had occurred for weeks, months that had led up to this moment.

And for what the future would bring.

“The soldier,” she moaned, breaking free and crouching down by his side, pressing her fingers against his neck. “His pulse is weak, thready.”

“He won’t make it, little mate,” Kai said with reverence. The soldier had fought bravely.

She shook her head as she peered down at him. “I’m sorry. Thank you for everything.”

The soldier opened his eyes, moving his lips. She leaned over so she could hear what he was saying. When she lifted her head, her lips were pursed.

He lost his battle seconds later and, in my mind, he’d died a hero.

“What did he say?” I asked as she joined me, rubbing her hand across my back.

“He told me we needed to run and never look back. I think maybe he was right. We can’t stay here.”

“No, little mate. We can’t.”

“But we will be together,” Roman insisted.

“Yes. Forever,” she breathed.

Together, we freed the few remaining animals, encouraging the bruised and battered beasts to seek refuge elsewhere and to try to remember not all humans were evil.

There were a few good ones.

Once outside in the night air, the earth beneath us rumbled and a massive explosion lit up the night sky. Flames licked above the trees, smoke billowing into the night air.

The facility and the magnificent lifeforms were dead.

But in doing so, others had been saved. Those in another universe who had no understanding of just how dangerous this world could be.

And for us? We were one of a few. Mutants. Hybrids. Shifters.

Alpha men.

Very slowly, we shifted once again for no other reason than to be able to wrap our arms around her, holding her tightly against us. For a few moments, we enjoyed the fireworks. There was no need for words. There was nothing to say.

Yet as a strange peace fell, enveloping us in our knowledge that for now, we were safe and that we’d protected our mate, I had a bad feeling the nightmare was far from being over.