Page 36 of Midnight Bond (Wolves of Midnight #5)

brIELLE

If it wasn’t for the frequency device throwing off his equilibrium and driving Onyx crazy, Jagger could have defeated the armored men pouring into our cell.

Even disorientated with blood trickling from his ears, he managed to injure several of them before it all came to a screeching halt.

“Stop!” one of the men barked, and Jagger immediately froze.

I didn’t understand why at first, but when I managed to lift my aching head, I found several guns trained on . . .

Me.

“Submit, or we’ll kill her,” the man ordered Jagger, making my blood run cold. “We’ll kill your mate.”

Despite the pain splitting my skull from the high frequency, I could hear Onyx’s whines in my head and Jagger’s panic flooding our bond.

I wanted to reassure them somehow, to encourage them to keep fighting, but I couldn’t.

I was too scared. Too weak. If they were threatening to kill me, then the guns currently trained on me weren’t loaded with tranquilizer darts.

They were loaded with bullets. Silver ones.

I thought I’d been ready to face death again, but now that it was staring me down, I wanted nothing more than to live. To start my future with Jagger. To build a family. I couldn’t die now. I refused to. There had to be a way out of this mess, but it wasn’t this particular moment.

Jagger needed to submit. Only . . . I didn’t know if he could.

His whole body was trembling, pain and rage making his eyes flare a bright yellow.

But even though he didn’t show it, I could feel how utterly terrified he was.

Terrified of losing me. Our eyes met, and in that brief moment, I knew he’d made a decision.

Sorrow filled me as my strong and proud mate dropped to his knees and submitted to the humans.

Submitted for me.

Onyx began to howl, bewildered by Jagger’s submission. Jagger didn’t say a word to his familiar, gritting his teeth as he struggled to keep him at bay.

Oh, Jagger, I quietly sobbed through our bond, unable to stop my tears from falling as two men came up behind him and yanked his arms back to clamp restraints on his wrists.

Two more men did the same to me, roughly shoving my wrists into silver-coated shackles. Fresh pain lit up my body, and Onyx’s howls turned to fury.

It’s okay, Onyx, I managed to say through our connection, but my words were anything but convincing. Nothing about this was okay, and my own wolf began to stir in response to my stress.

No, no, no, I whimpered to her. It’s not time.

She ignored me, her survival instinct heating up my insides.

Sweat immediately dampened my skin and soaked through the hospital gown I’d put back on.

The men behind me didn’t notice, too busy dragging me to my feet.

The high-frequency noise continued to blare, making it hard to stand as the men forced me toward the door.

I craned my neck around, feeling a little better when I saw that Jagger was right behind me. One of the men holding me shoved my shoulder, causing me to stumble into the hallway. A fierce growl rumbled through the air, and several men shouted at Jagger to back down.

He did, but his anger was palpable, further adding to the heat engulfing my body. As the men marched us down the hall, my legs threatened to give out on me. I refused to fall, knowing that Jagger needed me. He would lose it if I passed out, and I couldn’t let that happen.

I’m fine, I told him, willing it to be true.

No, you’re not, he said. You’re in pain, and I can sense your wolf freaking out. And if that man shoves you one more time, I’m going to kill him.

I didn’t respond, too miserable to deny how not fine I was.

The piercing high frequency wouldn’t let up, following us down the hall to a reinforced sliding door.

One of the men placed his hand on a scanner, and the door slid open to reveal another long hallway lined with what I could only guess were more holding cells.

We passed through that hallway too, tortured by the screeching frequency the entire way. Blood was dripping from my ears and onto my white frock, dampening the fabric even more. I so desperately wanted to cover my ears, but the shackles burning my wrists kept my hands firmly behind me.

More than once, I heard a pained cry or moan come from the doors we passed. There were more prisoners like us. More supernaturals. What were they doing with them? What were they doing with us?

My wolf pushed at the constraints of my body, desperate to escape this situation before it got worse. I curled forward under the strain, and the men holding me roughly yanked on my arms.

A small cry left me, and that was all it took.

With a bellow, Jagger lunged forward and plowed into them, using his body to knock both men down. I staggered sideways but caught myself on the wall, looking back just as a sea of armored men descended on Jagger.

“No!” I screamed, watching in horror as they tackled him to the ground and began to kick and dart and zap him.

I moved forward, frantic to stop them, but an arm snagged my waist and dragged me back, back, back.

Beady Eyes had me, and when I saw that he was heading for another slider door, taking me farther and farther away from Jagger, true panic set in. “Jagger!”

Realizing that they were about to separate us, Jagger bellowed out another roar, one that Onyx joined in on. The sound was deafening in its intensity, cutting through the frequency and shuddering through my bones.

“I yield!” he shouted, his gaze locked on me as Beady Eyes reached the door and slammed his palm on the scanner.

The men holding him down stopped attacking but kept their weapons trained on him, ready to fight at the slightest sign of aggression.

As the door slid open, Jagger said, “Keep us together, and I won’t fight again. ”

I held my breath, certain they wouldn’t listen to him. After a tense-filled moment, one of them kicked his side and barked, “Fight again, and she dies, animal. Got it?”

Jagger didn’t so much as wince, even as I felt his pain through our bond.

Anger flooded my body, but it wasn’t his this time.

It ripped through me so violently that my wolf went wild.

She clawed at my insides, determined to defend her mate.

I almost encouraged her onward, images of her tearing into the men racing through my mind.

Settle, wolf, Jagger spoke into my roiling mind, his gaze remaining steady on mine as he calmly said out loud, “Yes, sir.”

The man grunted and gestured for his comrades to let him up.

After Jagger was on his feet again, we passed through the door and into a lobby area.

Ahead was another sliding door, only this one looked like an elevator.

As the door behind us closed, the blaring high frequency finally switched off.

I nearly collapsed in relief, instantly feeling better despite the silver shackles still burning my wrists and slowly poisoning me.

When the elevator doors opened moments later, I shared a quick look with Jagger. This was our escape route. Probably the only one. If we were going to get out of here, this might be the only chance we had.

“Try anything, and she gets it,” Beady Eyes hissed from just behind me, poking my side with his electrical prod.

Jagger stiffened all over, fresh anger pulsing through our bond. Yet when he raised his eyes to take in the burly man, he slowly lowered them again with a small nod.

This might be our only chance, I inwardly said to him, alarmed at how quickly he submitted. This wasn’t him. This wasn’t him at all.

He didn’t respond, and the electrical prod digging into my side nudged me forward. I entered the large elevator and was soon joined by Jagger and a dozen armored men. We were packed in like sardines, yet each of them managed to keep their weapons trained on me or Jagger.

Jagger, speak to me, I pleaded with him, worried that he’d given up. Onyx whined inside my mind as if he was worried too.

My wolf continued to restlessly stir, feeling claustrophobic as the steel box jolted into motion and began to ascend.

At least we weren’t going down. My instincts sensed that we were underground, which would make escaping that much harder.

Above ground gave us a much greater chance.

But Jagger seemed frozen, and I knew I couldn’t escape this place without his help.

As the elevator slowed to a stop and began to open again, desperation filled me, and I barked at him through our bond, Jagger, don’t you dare disappear on me. I need you!

Only when the men started to file out, prodding at us to follow, did he finally reply, I’m right here, Brielle. I won’t leave you, but I can’t lose you either. Be patient. Stay strong. We can get through this together.

Realizing that he didn’t plan to escape, not yet anyway, my stomach gave a sickening lurch. But what if they’re about to kill us?

If that was their only goal, we’d be dead already. They want us for something, and we’re going to find out what that something is. Then we’re going to destroy them.

His voice was deadly calm and laced with so much certainty that some of my panic faded. I could be patient. It was the staying strong part that worried me. Mentally, I wasn’t in too bad of shape, but my physical strength was at an all time low.

Take some of mine. Take all you need, Jagger said, clearly having heard my thoughts.

How? I asked as the men opened another slider door.

Through the soulmate bond. Emotions and thoughts aren’t the only things we can share. Here, let me show you.

A sudden rush of strength filled my body, and I audibly gasped.

Beady Eyes grabbed one of my arms to forcibly guide me through the doorway, but I didn’t stumble this time. I noticeably felt stronger, like I could punt-kick Beady Eyes through a wall. The urge to do it trembled through me, but I tamped down the feeling.

Jagger had sacrificed some of his strength for me. The least I could do was practice some patience.

Better? Jagger asked.

Yes, I gratefully replied, then added, But I don’t want you to weaken yourself for me. If anyone’s getting out of here alive, it’ll be you.

Don’t talk that way, he said, a slight edge hardening his voice. I won’t let my mate die in this hellhole.

Before I could respond, we stepped into a massive room, and my ability to speak promptly vanished.

The space was divided into at least a dozen smaller rooms sectioned off by glass walls.

The rooms contained contraptions, each one more horrific than the last. Several had steel restraint chairs or tables bolted to the floor, while others had glass incubators big enough to hold a body.

There were MRI machines and all manner of expensive surgical equipment, and high above on the room’s far side was a large glass pane window spanning the entire wall.

But it was what I saw behind that glass window that sent a shiver of dread down my spine.

Humans dressed in white lab coats—doctors, scientists—were peering down at me and Jagger.

It was the look in their eyes—clinical yet fascinated at the same time—that clued me in to what was happening here.

This was an experimentation chamber. A place to test subjects. And their current subjects were us.