Page 32 of Midnight Bond (Wolves of Midnight #5)

brIELLE

I woke to a world full of rage.

Bellowing roars pounded my sensitive ears, but the raw fury flooding my body was what alarmed me the most. It only took me a second to realize that the anger wasn’t mine but Jagger’s. Our bond was buzzing with powerful emotions, each one so intense that I struggled to breathe.

Another roar shook the air, so terrifying that I knew Onyx was still in control. A loud boom startled my eyes open, followed by a tremor that rocked the ground beneath me.

Clearing my hazy vision, the first thing I noticed was that my green sweater dress had been replaced by what looked like a white hospital gown.

I tried to stand, but my weak limbs immediately gave out on me.

I collapsed to the floor again, shaking and still in pain from whatever they’d injected me with.

I focused on the cold, hard surface beneath me, noting that it too was white.

My eyes traveled its length but were stopped only a few feet later by a solid white wall.

I quickly took in my surroundings, and my heart stopped.

I was in a cage. A cage.

There was no handle on the door, and the small room was windowless. It wasn’t silver like the one in my dream but pure white, like a sterile lab. Still, a cage was a cage. I was trapped like an animal, and by the sounds of it, so was Jagger.

Another bellowing roar and boom shook the ground, this time followed by a guttural howl. “Mate! MATE!”

The call was so frantic, so heartbreaking that I weakly cried out Onyx’s name to reassure him.

A voice immediately answered me. Not Onyx’s, but an achingly familiar one. A voice that didn’t boom through the air but instead filled every corner of my mind.

Brielle!

I gasped, caught off guard by how close he sounded, like I could reach out and touch him.

“Jagger!” I answered back, so relieved to hear his voice that I forced myself upright and staggered to the door.

But the second I touched the sleek white surface, a powerful jolt streaked through my body.

It blasted me back, and I hit the floor, twitching uncontrollably as painful electrical currents sizzled through my veins.

brIELLE! Jagger roared, so loudly that it sounded like he’d just shouted into my ear.

When I didn’t respond, chaos ensued. The roars and booms intensified, shaking my little prison. At any moment, I expected a massive wolf to explode through the walls.

The door to my room suddenly opened, and in walked two burly men wearing full-body protective gear. Only their faces were visible behind clear blast shields. One was black with an ugly scar down his cheek, and the other had beady little eyes and a menacing expression.

I blinked, immediately recognizing the second one. He was the man who’d impersonated an orderly and tried to take me from my parents’ home on Thanksgiving.

When they both reached for me, I kicked out and caught Beady Eyes right in the groin.

My bare foot did little damage to his protective gear, unfortunately, and he barely even flinched.

With an annoyed grunt, he retaliated by backhanding me across the face.

My head snapped back, pain flaring in my cheek.

Jagger bellowed my name again, his rage a wild thing in my chest. Using it to fuel my own, I lashed out again with a furious cry, only for Beady Eyes to block my strike and thrust a long stick at me.

The second the tip of it touched my skin, white hot agony streaked through me.

I opened my mouth to scream, but the pain snatched my breath away.

My entire body convulsed on the floor as high voltage currents wreaked havoc on my system.

I’d been zapped by an electrical outlet before, but that was a pinprick compared to this.

This was pure torment. Torture. They were treating me like I was a wild animal that needed to be subdued, but nothing about this was humane.

While I endured the searing torture, Onyx continued to roar and fight to break free of his own cage.

Jagger called to me over and over, his voice so clear in my mind that it felt like he was beside me, encouraging me to hold on.

Darkness slipped over my vision, but I clung to his voice, desperate not to lose consciousness again.

I didn’t know how long the torture lasted, but when Beady Eyes finally pulled the stick away, the fight in me was completely drained. Little currents of electricity continued to zap me, seizing up my limbs and leaving me gasping for air.

Reaching down a second time, the two men grabbed my arms and dragged me from the room.

I didn’t struggle as we left my prison behind, but I forced my heavy eyes to take in everything we passed.

The floor in the hallway was also white, along with the walls.

Except that they weren’t walls at all but rooms. Cages.

Dozens of them with high-tech scanners placed outside each one.

If that wasn’t alarming enough, I caught sight of several more burly men in protective gear standing at attention in the hallway.

As we approached, they raised their weapons.

Some carried long sticks like the one Beady Eyes had prodded me with, while others held guns of varying size—probably filled with tranquilizer darts.

They were all human and obviously knew how dangerous werewolves were, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those guns contained silver bullets. One bullet to the heart was all it would take to kill even the most powerful hybrid.

Sudden realization hit me, and I knew those guns weren’t meant for me.

They were for Jagger. For Onyx. The booms and roars were almost deafening now, and I could feel how close he was.

Sure enough, the two men carrying me stopped beside the room next to mine.

Electricity crackled and guns cocked as the dozen or so men prepared to open the door.

Afraid they were going to shoot Onyx, I opened my mouth to warn him.

Before I could, Beady Eyes gripped my hair and dragged me to my feet.

Pain lit up my scalp, and that was all it took to whip Jagger—and Onyx—into a fresh frenzy.

They both bellowed their fury, and a loud boom filled my ears, the door feet away from me groaning under the impact.

The men surrounding me held their ground, their weapons trained on the door.

“Now!” Beady Eyes abruptly barked, and his scarred partner slammed his hand on the scanner.

The second the door unlocked, both men shoved me forward.

I hit the door and stumbled inside, sprawling onto the floor as my wobbly legs gave out.

An earth-shattering roar greeted my entrance, threatening to blow out my eardrums. Something huge rushed past me and plowed into the door, but it had already slammed shut.

Onyx continued to bellow his fury, mindlessly throwing himself at the door as if unaware that I was there.

His black claws scrabbled against the slick floor, struggling to gain traction.

When he backed up to charge the door again, I scooted out of the way just in the nick of time.

With barely any room to gain momentum, he raced forward and slammed into the thick reinforced barricade.

It violently shuddered under the impact but held strong, a fact that was obviously driving Onyx insane.

Only then did I see the blood smeared on the white surface and smell the stench of burnt fur and flesh.

Every time he struck the door, he was electrocuting himself.

Hurting himself. I’d only been able to feel my own pain and Jagger’s desperate rage up until now, but seeing Onyx’s beautiful black fur singed and glistening with blood broke my heart.

He’d been trying to get to me. To save me.

Even now, that was all he could think about.

Save mate, save mate, save mate, he chanted over and over, backing up to ram the door again.

As he rushed forward, his claws scraping against the floor, I finally realized that he hadn’t spoken out loud. Neither had Jagger. They were speaking in my head, a clear confirmation that we’d completed the soulmate bond.

Onyx’s massive body struck the door with another resounding boom. More blood splattered the white surface, burnt flesh permeating the air. His frame trembled from the electrical shocks, his breathing ragged from the pain he was in, but he wouldn’t stop.

Save mate, save mate, save mate.

He backed up again, and I struggled to stand, desperate to stop this somehow.

Despite his immense strength, he’d been weakened from the sedative injections.

He’d been darted dozens of times, and it was a wonder he was even standing right now.

Not only that, Jagger and I had both lost weight the past couple of weeks.

Our health affected our wolves’, our bodies and psyches intricately entwined.

At any other time, Onyx might have been able to break out. But right now, he was only hurting himself, and my heart couldn’t take it anymore.

“Onyx, stop,” I said, swaying yet refusing to fall again as I stood to my feet.

Save mate, save mate, save mate.

He shifted his weight to his powerful hindquarters, deaf and blind to everything around him but that door. Jagger had been right. Onyx couldn’t be reasoned with. Words meant little to him, which meant that the only way to get through to him was to act.

Just as he was about to lunge forward again, I moved to stand in the middle of the room—directly in his path. Setting my jaw, I squarely faced him and barked, Onyx, NO.

Mind to mind. Something he was used to. My voice was firm, filled with command. Up until now, he’d only ever submitted to Jagger, but I had to hope, had to pray he would recognize me. See me. Hear me.

Because I wasn’t going anywhere.

At first, his blood-red eyes stayed fixed on the door, oblivious to the female in his path. His powerful muscles bunched, prepared to launch him forward.