I can stop him, my wolf makes me shift. The guard posted by the door takes a step back when I lunge at the cage. All of the pent-up frustration and regret over what I let myself become when I left my pack bleeds out of me.
Our mate is dead.
My execution is coming.
It doesn’t matter what we do anymore.
Chapter 31 – Brianna
I run to the end of the hall and reach a double door. Wes shouts for me to stop, but I still push through it.
Or try to.
The door doesn’t budge.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
Rapidly approaching footsteps come from behind me. I frantically look for another way to escape. It appears I’m in some kind of hospital, but there’s no staff around.
“Brianna!” Wes calls.
He’s almost reached me, so I take off down the next hall. I can’t believe he hasn’t caught me yet, but just as I’m about to try another door at the end of this corridor, a large hand clamps over my bicep.
“Brianna, you need to stop.”
Wes’s voice is firm yet gentle. He’s not even winded, which makes me realize he was humoring me. He could have caught me at any point, and I’d simply made a fool of myself.
I can only imagine what I look like when I turn to face him. Desperation clutches my gut in an impenetrable hold, and I want to wail in frustration.
His eyes soften, but his voice remains firm. “If you don’t cooperate, I’ll have to restrain you, and I don’t want to do that.”
I grab onto Wes’s shirt. “Where is he? Please, can’t you just tell me?”
He frowns, that perplexed expression appearing before he removes my claw-like hands from his chest. “Brianna, Collin doesn’t care about you. He’s a murderer and demented. Whatever he did to you, it was for his own gain. I’m sorry if he made you feel that you mean something to him, but I can assure you that you don’t. It was only a matter of time before he killed you. You’re lucky we found you when we did.”
“But he wouldn’t kill me!”
“He would. That’s what all rogues do.” He pulls me back down the hall even though I resist. When it becomes apparent that he’s as freakishly strong as Collin, I know there’s no point trying to break free.
His grip loosens when he understands that I’m not fighting him anymore, but he doesn’t let go. “We only have a few questions, and then we’ll give you some time to clean up and get something to eat before you go home.”
I press my lips together even though inside I’m raging. Maybe if I cooperate he’ll be more likely to listen to me. If I just answer his questions, maybe he’ll let me ask a few of my own.
It’s the only thing that keeps me from screaming in frustration.
Wes takes me to an elevator, and we descend to another hallway. This one is long and devoid of rooms. Whatever infirmary we were in upstairs is long gone. Everything about this new area has military written all over it.
“This way.” Wes’s shoes click on the concrete as he guides me to the end of the hall. He stops at a door and places his palm on top of a scanner.
“Welcome, Wes McCloy,” a robotic voice says. The door clicks open.
Inside, a table with ten chairs awaits. Seated at the table are two men and a woman. But even though they all look human, I’m assuming everyone in this place is some form of supernatural.
The woman stands and offers her hand. She’s tall, like me, and also has dark hair. “Brianna, it’s good to see that you’re safe. I’m Priscilla, this is my brother, Phoenix, and at the end there is Ray. We’re part of the rescue squad that saved you in Nevada.”
I shake her hand, more from habit than anything, but I look her squarely in the eye when I reply, “I didn’t need rescuing.”
Her eyebrows rise.
Wes pulls out a chair for me. “Brianna is under the impression that Collin cares for her.”
She sits back down, and I reluctantly follow suit. Wes takes the chair at my side as Phoenix and Ray look on. I can tell that Phoenix and Priscilla are related. Both have dark hair, brown eyes, similar facial features, and the identical shade of honey-tanned skin. Ray, on the other hand, is huge. Even though he’s sitting, I’m guessing he’s around six-four. He’s of African-American descent and watches my every move. Something tells me