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“It was my plan.” Marceline’s lips curled in a salacious smile before she turned in a flash and teleported across the room, leaving Kairos with a space before him.

Amaros chuckled and left with Michaela to meet with his sexually-frustrated leaders, whose carnal nights Sherman had interrupted by Amaros’s order.

~YH~

“Excellent. The People’s Governor will be pleased to hear of your safe return.” The lead scientist, a man whose name they’d never gotten to know, was just like rats who were not deserving of knowing who poked and prodded them.

She and Avalore remained silent, forcing their worn and frightened expressions to stay.

The lead scientist stepped closer to them, his keen eye assessing them both. The other scientist appeared eager and relieved, but this middle-aged man with shaggy, black hair and thick, brown glasses seemed more apprehensive.

It wasn’t clear to her if he was suspicious of them or the preternaturals.

Thump. Thump.

His heartbeat sang to her. The room was filled with a cacophony of heartbeats from the five white coats and two guards, a Vampire’s perfect symphony.

Michaela’s nose twitched, and she could sense his blood, more intense because of his closer proximity to her. It was thick and rich, flowing in streams through his veins.

Her gums burned, and she subtly glided the tip of her tongue over her sharp teeth.

Her beast fluttered in her core, wanting to feast, rip out some throats, and bathe in the blood of her enemies.

But she swallowed and forced it back, just as Amaros had trained her.

It wasn’t time yet, and she needed to keep herself under control because this perceptive scientist would surely pick up on crimson rings appearing in her eyes.

Everyone was counting on her and Avalore. No one else could give the shifters the direct access they needed to get inside rapidly.

“You two were clever rodents. Luring in the guard and attacking him before you escaped.” He tutted and shook his head.

“Be grateful he didn’t die and woke up after a few days.

Otherwise, you’d be looking at extermination.

The Governor of the People doesn’t take kindly to murders within the Wall and deals with them swiftly, as you all know.

Nonetheless, you both volunteered for these experiments for the good of the human population that is left and that comes before all things. ”

We didn’t know the extent of what we were volunteering for.

There was a low rumble.

Thankfully, everyone glanced around and above, trying to figure out where the sound came from, and didn’t suspect it came from Avalore.

Please, Ava, don’t glow.

When they’d all gathered at a secret location in the Drahk territory hours ago, no longer trusting the meeting grounds to be a secure place, she’d been wowed by her friend’s transformations.

When they changed into the dirty, ratty clothing they had on now, Michaela had seen her friend's beautiful markings. Earlier, she had noted the difference in hers and Avalore’s smelly, torn clothing, while she was missing almost a whole pant leg, and the sleeves of her shirt were missing; Avalore's rips and holes were strategically placed.

There was a tear below one of Avalore’s ample breasts, revealing unmarked skin of her torso, the collar of her long-sleeved t-shirt was torn towards the front, and the hem was shredded, but it hung around Avalore’s full, clothed hips.

Avalore’s clothes were filthier than as if she had fallen into a river of mud—all to disguise the scale markings.

Michaela remembered how Liekki’s, Ava’s mate, scale marks had glowed when she’d almost bitten her friend. Ava no longer had that sweet human scent to her, so Michaela had no craving for her friend. She was more than grateful for Ava’s change.

The shaggy-haired man cleared his throat. “No matter. That won’t happen again. There will always be guards at this back gate.” He swept his critical gaze down the length of her before he moved directly in front of Avalore. “Where have you two been all this time?”

“Some caves north of the Wall. We wanted to see if we could find others, maybe survivors. Yesterday, those beastly people found us and dragged us back here.” Ava stretched her eyes wide, shifting her gaze around as if traumatized, while she lifted a hand and made a production of scratching her long waves, causing clumps of dirt and mud to fall around their feet. “We didn’t know they were out there.”

That was true.

If the situation weren’t so serious, Michaela would have laughed at her friend's production.

“Eck!” Two scientists skittered back in disgust as some of the muddy dust drifted their way.

“They’re beasts, man-shifting animals!” Ava shrieked, looking as if she was close to losing her mind at any moment. “Why didn’t the People’s Governor tell us. Warn u-us!”

Michaela used Avalore’s gross distraction to reach out to Amaros, and figured Michaela had done the same with her mate while Michaela was talking.

Amaros .

Are you okay? His voice came into her mind like a soothing balm, calming her agitation.

Everything relied on her and Avalore, the early intel, and getting back to the vehicle gate to let the Vampires and Lupines in.

Yes. Fine. We are still standing in the corridor along the side of the vehicle garage. There are two armed guards there. All the vehicles are facing towards the exit as if they are stationed to drive out.

We figured that with the shifter mutants found in the territories, the humans were gearing up for an attack once they had you all back. How many are there with you?

Michaela made sure to nod her head and bunch her eyebrows toward the center of her forehead to appear in accord with Avalore’s words even while she spoke rapidly in her mental communication.

Five. But there should be another two or three in the lab area.

Be careful with those armed guards. The bullets won’t kill you, but an injury will slow you down until you can heal. From what Liekki explained, Avalore can’t shift into her dragon yet, so don’t let her risk getting shot.

I’ll protect my friend.

Protect what I love, little angel.

Michaela knew he was talking about her and their unborn children. Always.

She figured it would be safer to wait until they got her and Ava around the lab to start taking them out, then they could make their way back to the vehicle door. Michaela hoped that Amaros could get the message to Liekki in time to pass it to Avalore.

Their operation was so widespread and spanned multiple entities that they relied primarily on mental links, but also used radio communication.

Her intel would have to be passed from Amaros to Sherman, who would radio it to the Drahk and Lupine head of communications, who would then mentally pass it on to their leaders.

Aodh would send it to Liekki and Avalore simultaneously.

Then come back to her with Ava’s observations.

It was a lot; the first widespread preternatural assault force ever. However, they were all centuries old, and the only novices were her and Avalore. As long as they didn’t screw up their part, every level of the attacks should go as planned.

This operation was not only to keep her and Avalore out of the clutches of the scientist, who used them as a breeding factory for their government creations, but things needed to change for all those in the Dispatch. The preternaturals would see it done.

“You two look the worst for wear, but alive,” said a female scientist with ice-blonde hair pulled back in a severe bun that kept her eyebrows lifted as if in question.

“But, number 100011, let’s get you to the lab and see how those embryos have grown.

You're still too early to show. Hopefully, you haven’t lost them, but since they didn’t kill you, we can try again if necessary. ”

The fucking hell you will.

“What?” Michaela pretended to stumble and shake her head. “Pregnant. That can’t be.”

Avalore gasped and turned toward her, meeting her gaze. She gave one sharp nod, letting her know she got the message from Liekki. “What... pregnant? Do we receive extra compensation for that? My family could use the money in the district.”

“A greedy little Dispatch aren’t you, 100013? I bet if you’d have spread your legs for one of those shifters, we’d have a purer blood embryo to study.” A fat, short-haired scientist laughed.

Avalore whipped her head in the man’s direction.

Oh, hell. Ava will kill the bastard right here, and the guards will shoot her . Acting quickly, Michaela gripped her friend's hand and tugged.

Avalore shot a glance at her; a small, blood-orange flame flickering low.

Shit. Shit. Shit. She needed her friend to calm down. “Ava. I’m sure we can talk to them about some incentives. You could help your family, and I could get off the streets.”

Because, unlike Avalore, who had been underground and out with family, people who cared for her, Michaela had no one, until now.

Avalore picked up on her urging more than her words and finally took a deep breath.

Michaela was thankful, because they didn’t have time to pass the message through everyone for Liekki to tell Michaela to focus and keep calm.

“Yes, my family, Mich. My loved ones.” Ava stepped back and took another breath.

Micheala understood by Avalore’s tone that she was talking about her Drahk family, not those within the Wall who urged her to take the breeding stipends.

“Well, send that request up to the People’s Governor Muskrand. Currently, we have more pressing matters to attend to, as we have lost a significant amount of time. Come along.” The lead scientist led them up the maze of corridors.

They followed, surrounded by the other four scientists, two in front and two in the back.

The thirteen young ladies had been nothing to these scientists. One inhumane act after another, they performed on them without a thought or care for the women, and they medically assaulted them.

All because we were being paid to do it, and we’d all volunteered. A pay that Michaela figured the government never anticipated paying.

The scientist knew that the babies, whom they had been groomed to carry, would kill them. However, she was sure the scientist hadn’t thought it would take their lives early on in the pregnancy and destroy the child in vitro as well, as it had done to the other eleven women.

Bastards .

“Well, 100013, we’ll get you set up in the treatment chamber. You should be ripe for implantation, now.” Another woman with dull-red tresses cut in a sharp bob fixated on Avalore's abdomen as if she could see through the loose, torn t-shirt and dirty, worn jeans.

Michaela gritted her teeth but held it behind a tight, small smile.

She glanced over at Avalore and recognized the same artificial, ignorant, submissive expression on her friend.

However, she also saw the fierce determination and the anger hidden in Avalore’s hazel eyes, a reflection that mirrored her own.

“Can I go to the showers first?” Avalore rubbed her hands along the sides of her thighs and delivered the questions with so much false hope that Michaela would have believed that her friend still pined for the funds if she hadn’t known it was an act.

“There will be plenty of time afterward once we check you out,” said a woman with a cap of short, brownish-red curls, making notes on a clipboard. Michaela assumed it was Avalore's chart by the way she kept glancing at her and jotting notes.

Michaela figured they’d waste no time separating them.

However, that worked to their advantage.

Michaela did not doubt that even if her friend couldn’t shift, Ava could handle those who went with her, even without the swords—the weapons Liekki had permitted the Lupines hidden in the forest beyond the door to hold for his mate.

And Michaela would take care of those who were unfortunate enough to attempt to examine her.