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  The fresh scent of blood was thick in the air as they came to a dead end. Two metal doors were set in the rocky walls, one on each side of them. “Half and half,” Alexander ordered, his voice nothing more than a mere whisper. The others nodded, even the ones in wolf form.

  Marrok quietly pulled on the large handle of the door on his right. It opened easily, the hinges well-oiled. With one dark eye pressed into the crack, he quickly evaluated the room in front of them.

  Easing the door closed, he turned back to Alonzo and Alexander.

  “There is a large hallway and more rooms,” he murmured to the men. “It's lit artificially, but I didn't see anyone inside. I did see a camera mounted up near the ceiling, so the hallways must be monitored.”

  “Could you scent other werewolves?” Alonzo asked, his expression intense.

  “Their scents have been masked by a chemical, but I still picked up a trace. Many of our

  brothers and sisters are here, as well as other supernaturals. The scent of death and pain is heavy in there, too strong to ever be covered up.”

  “And your mate?” Alonzo pressed Marrok. “Could you scent her?”

  Marrok nodded, his face grim. “She's here.” He didn't elaborate on it further.

  “I'll take care of the camera,” Alonzo said, his voice firm. “The sooner we move, the better.”

  Alexander spoke up. “The element of surprise won't last for long. Remember that. Strike hard,

  and free our people as quick as possible. The more we have released, the better it will be for our victory.” He gestured for the team behind them and counted down with his fingers. At the fist they moved in immediately, a group storming each door.

  The three men spread out across the stark hallway. Quick as a flash Alonzo leaped onto the

  wall, his features partially turning into his wolf form. When he jumped back down, a thick, black cloth was wrapped completely around the lens of the camera on the wall.

  Marrok separated from the group, moving quickly as he made his way to the stairwell. This

  floor was empty, appearing to be a back-up area for the ill or injured. It was very similar to the human's hospital rooms.

  Nothing deterred him. He'd go through every level of this hellhole if he had to. He wasn't

  leaving without his mate.

  Running into the stairwell, he inhaled deeply. In the distance, a woman screamed. The element

  of surprise was over.

  The scent of his mate was stronger in the stairwell. He ran up the metal steps, two at a time.

  Yanking the next door open, he leaped into the hallway. An alarm immediately went off, the sound loud and irritating to his sensitive ears.

  Three humans were standing around a computer, each of them wearing white lab coats. They

  looked at the wild, savage man in front of them in horror and paled. One of them held a cup of coffee.

  At the first sight of Marrok, he dropped it, the Styrofoam busting as coffee splattered everywhere.

  “Help,” a younger male screeched, stumbling out of his chair and backing away. His body

  shook with fear as he held his trembling hands up. “Please, don't hurt us.”

  “Take one more step, and I'll split your skull,” Marrok ordered, his voice lethal. Moans of pain filled the air from the various rooms down the long hallway. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened to them. The three in front of him had willingly tortured innocent people. They didn't deserve any mercy.

  “Taylor Moore,” he growled out, his dark eyes promising death. “Where is she?”

  Another male lifted up a shaking hand and pointed down the hallway. “Six doors down, on the

  right.”

  They stood staring at him, their faces blanched with fear. How dare they? It angered him, the cries of the innocent adding to his rage. How many of their victims had stared at them with the same expressions they wore now, as they'd brutally tortured, then massacred them? His hand tightened on the wooden handle of his tomahawk. “Give me the keys, now.”

  Fumbling in his pocket, he quickly handed them over. “Very good,” Marrok replied, his lips

  parting into a savage grin. “Now bring me something to tie you up, unless you'd rather me just kill you and put you all out of your misery.”

  The younger male opened up the bottom drawer of the desk next to him and pulled out a long

  line of cord. Marrok didn't bother questioning what it was used for. In a facility like this, he imagined they liked to keep their instruments of torture close.

  It took him less than a minute to tie them together, tightly. The terrified technicians wouldn't be going anywhere. With one last disgusted look, he sprinted off down the hallway.

  An explosion rocked the entire facility, dust and grit from the ceiling spilling on the floor. The battle between humans and wolves was growing fierce. He didn't have much time. Stopping in front of a heavy metal door, he checked to make sure nobody was following. The hallway was clear, the

  technicians sobbing in the distance.

  His hands trembled as he searched for the right key. The scent of his mate was strong, although surprisingly free of fear. She was alive, and it was all that mattered to him.

  In the space of less than twenty-four hours, his life had changed dramatically again. The grim, bleak future that had stretched before him was over. After thirty-one years, he was to be reunited with Taylor, the woman he believed he had lost forever.

  It was humbling. It was awe-inspiring. His mate, and he was so close. Tears stung his eyes, but he quickly blinked them back. There would be time for that later. They weren't out of the woods, yet.

  The key turned in the lock, as he shoved the door open. The tiny cell within was lit up, the

  artificial lighting casting a sickly, greenish-glow over the solitary cot and metal toilet. Taylor was seated on the edge of the cot, her shoulders drooped as she stared at the ground. At the sound of his entrance, she slowly lifted her face to greet him.

  “Hello, Marrok,” she told him, her voice flat and devoid of feeling. Her eyes were large,

  luminous, and haunted as she swallowed before continuing, “I wondered if I would live long enough to see you again.”

  Marrok's heart slammed within his rib cage, beating with enough force to rip through his chest.

  His body was filled with anticipation, heat burning along his nerve endings. Every emotion he believed to be dead after discovering her gone came back to life with a vengeance.

  His eyes were starved for her, devouring every inch of her frame. He immediately realized she

  hadn't aged a day since the last time he'd seen her, not that it would have mattered if she had. A mating was for life, based on something much more significant than the outward effects of time. Once they joined, it would stop her aging process, regardless.

  Had the night they spent together somehow slowed the ravages of time? Or had it been the

  result of something far more sinister, instigated here within the halls of this research facility? They would know soon enough, he was certain the head pack doctor would be able to determine the cause of this unexplained phenomenon. He shoved it to the back of his mind to ponder on later.

  “Taylor, come to me,” he ordered, glancing down the hallway again. It was still empty, but that could change at any moment. He wouldn't leave the doorway unguarded. Facilities like these were known to have all kinds of hidden tricks, and he couldn't risk the two of them getting locked in the cell by a computerized mechanism.

  She sat still and unmoving on the bed, watching him but making no move to join him. Unease

  ran through him. Although human, their initial contact that night so long ago would have worked on her as well. She would have felt his loss as keenly as he felt hers. Even right now, she should be experiencing the same overwhelming need to be close to him, to touch him.

  Although still beautiful, her time in captivity had been hard on her. Her frame was smaller
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  underneath the clothing she wore. The long-sleeves and pants hid her skin, so he was unable to determine the extent of her injuries. They'd left her face alone, but who knew what tortures she'd gone through in the last several years?

  He stared at her in concern. “I can't leave the door,” he explained, his eyes scanning for

  anything to prevent it from closing. There was nothing, the room stripped of everything but the bare basics she would need. “Are you able to walk?”

  She nodded her head and finally stood up. Walking to him, she kept her face pointed at the

  ground. Her hair was like a pale waterfall as it swung down to her thighs. He sent up a silent prayer of gratitude. Had they decided to dissect her skull, they wouldn't have been able to do it with those thick locks in the way.

  “Quickly,” he urged, watching her with a puzzled expression. He couldn't understand the delay.

  He didn't sense any fear from her, despite his appearance. An Apache, in full war get-up, was known to bring the strongest men to their knees in terror, but it wasn't affecting her. For that, he was relieved.

  Something was, though, and it was tearing him up alive.

  She moved within reaching distance, and he grabbed hold of her hand to pull her close. “You're safe now, Taylor,” he said thickly, noticing how fragile her hand and frame was. Her pores were releasing an odd, sickly scent, so light he would have missed it had he been human. “I'm going to get you out of here.”

  “Nicole is here,” she told him in a flat, low voice. “We can't leave without Nicole.”

  “I won't leave her behind,” he assured his mate softly. With one arm wrapped gently around her, he stepped out into the hallway. His sensitive nose detected the scent of fire and smoke. It wasn't close, but that would change quickly. He needed to work fast. The floor was full of prisoners.

  The stairway door slammed open. Alexander ran in, his pale skin covered in soot. He was

  followed by two guardians, and they quickly ran over. Another explosion went off in the distance, immediately followed by gunfire. “The facility is going down,” Alexander said wryly. “As if you couldn't have guessed already.”

  “I'm going to release the prisoners on this floor,” Marrok replied, pulling Taylor to the door across the hallway from hers. “We can't leave them behind.”

  Alexander grabbed the keys from his hand and said pointedly, “You are going to get your mate

  to safety. The other prisoners are mostly free. I'll release these.”

  The other two guardians exchanged uneasy looks. “My Liege, we can't allow you to do this,”

  one of them declared, his expression concerned. “You're our king. We can't let you place yourself in danger like this.”

  Alexander grimaced and shot Marrok a grieved look. “The real truth is they are more afraid of

  Carole Anne getting her rifle after them should something happen to me. I'm an alpha, but coddled to death.”

  He looked back at the worried guardians. “Fine,” he agreed, with a big sigh. “Release them, but have a care for yourselves. We'll meet you back at the original site.”

  The guardian took the keys from him and immediately unlocked the first door. It opened to

  reveal a male shifted into wolf form. He took off past them and waited at the metal door to the stairwell.

  “Let's go,” Alexander told them, moving to join the wolf. Marrok pulled on Taylor's arm, but

  she held back. “Nicole,” she insisted, stoically. “I won't leave until she's brought out.”

  Marrok growled, wanting to get his mate to safety. “Which room?”

  She pulled away from him and walked calmly to a door several feet away. “This one,” she

  replied softly, her blue eyes pleading as she stared at him.

  Marrok jerked his head at the door. The guardian quickly opened it to reveal the naked woman

  within. They exchanged puzzled looks. She was spread out on the cot, completely unconscious. He couldn't see any visible signs of injury so he asked, “What's wrong with her?”

  “She's human, so she wasn't used for testing, at least not anymore. They kept her unconscious

  until she was needed.”

  “Needed for what?” Marrok asked, motioning for the guardian to pick her up.

  “Entertainment,” Taylor replied, her expression and tone flat. She was robotic in her actions and speech, as if all emotion had been brutally ripped away. Taylor was just a shell of the vibrant woman she'd once been. What had these bastards done to her?

  “We need to move, now,” Alexander hissed, ignoring the pleas from the three tied on the floor.

  “Can you walk?” Marrok asked Taylor.

  “Yes,” she replied stiffly.

  A chilling voice came over the intercom, easily heard despite the loud alarm. At the man's voice Taylor froze, her hand reaching up to crush the back of his shirt in her fist unintentionally.

  “This is Commander Carlos Sanchez,” the deep voice said, his tone cold and unaffected by the

  chaos within the facility. “And I lead this research facility. We don't know who you are, but I guarantee that we will. If you leave now, we might leave your loved ones alive.”

  He stopped to laugh cruelly. “I doubt it, though. You might think you've won, but you're dead

  wrong. We are powerful, our reach is worldwide. You can never outrun us. Never. For everyone

  participating in this attack, know this. Your days are numbered.”

  Alexander and Marrok exchanged an unamused look. A guard moved next to Alexander, but he

  shook his head and told him, “Gather up a team and try to locate this scum.”

  Leaving the other guard behind to finish freeing the last prisoners, he took off.

  “As to our test subjects,” he continued. “We know everything about you, from what size shoe

  you wear to your very DNA. When we find you, your time spent here will look like a relaxing vacation.

  You'll wish you were dead.”

  “Oh, shit,” one of the escapees said, hobbling as fast as he could to get past Marrok. When he got to Alexander his eyes narrowed. “Open the damned door, and get the hell out of my way. Big papa is fixing to get the fuck out of this joint. There is just one surefire way to make a man wish he was dead. The only thing these bitches ain't touched yet is my balls, and I'm damned determined to keep them.”

  With a bemused look on his face Alexander quickly complied, holding it open until the man

  started down the stairs.

  “Commander, we need to leave,” said a voice in the background. Another explosion within the

  bowels of the building came across the speakers, loud to everyone that heard it. Marrok hoped the other guardians could reach them before they had a chance to escape.

  “My time here is done,” the self-assured voice continued. “But my time with all of you isn't.

  And as to my pet, Taylor. Don't ever think for one moment you've escaped me. With every second that goes by, know that I'm a second closer to finding you. I will recapture you. Count on it.”

  Taylor's eyes were wide, her face blanched of any color. Marrok wrapped an arm around her,

  sure she would pass out. “Don't worry,” he whispered by her ear, hating to see the fear deep within her eyes. “No matter what it takes, I'll make sure he never gets the chance to have you again.”

  The intercom cut off. “Let's go, now,” she told them, moving forward. “We don't know what

  they will do next, and we can't risk being captured or killed.”

  Alexander pushed open the heavy door before grabbing it with both hands. In one forceful jerk, he ripped it cleanly from the frame. Laying it against the wall, he dusted his hands off as several wolves ran down the stairwell. “They'll be able to get to freedom easier this way,” he told Marrok, although an explanation wasn't needed.

  Moving down the stairs, they stopped at each level to take off the door. More prisoners joined th
em. Regardless of what form they were in, each shared the burning need for freedom. They all bore the scars of their time spent within the facility, both internal and external. In various states of recovery, they made their way down to the door that would give them what they sought most.

  The lights flickered and went out. Taylor was silent, but her body trembled against his. “We're nearly free,” he muttered close to her ear. “Although it's dark, I can see fine. The fire has burnt out the wiring, but usually there's some type of backup lighting.” As if Marrok had willed it, an emergency generator kicked on, the solitary lights barely illuminating the concrete stairwell.

  She looked up at him, her expression relieved. “I hate being in the dark,” she replied with a

  shiver.

  “Can't blame you there,” he replied gently, urging her down the stairs.

  “We have a camp set up at the base of the mesa,” Alexander called out, his authoritative voice reaching all the way up the large stairwell. “Follow the scent trail to reach it. We have plenty of food and water, and we can sort it all out then. Move quickly, though, and assist with any that you are able to. We don't know how much longer this facility will hold.”

  The other wolves sensed the urgency in his voice, scented the smoke and fire thickening the air.

  They moved faster, and it wasn't long before the three reached the opening in the mesa. “I'm free,”

  Taylor said softly, at the first sight of the clear night sky. A lone tear slipped down the pale smoothness of her cheek, her pale blue eyes shining in the moonlight. “I'm actually free.”

  Marrok pulled her into his arms. “You are free,” he agreed, swallowing past the thick lump of

  emotion lodged in his throat. “And I vow to you, that even if it takes my life, you will always remain that way.”

  Alexander stopped to watch them, his classic male features pulled into a frown of concern. He

  sensed that all was not well with Marrok's mate, but he didn't know what it was. The events within this facility would change the lives of werewolves as a whole for a long time to come, if not forever. He shook his head and moved on. It was too much to take in standing outside of such a place of horrors.

  “Wrap your arms around my neck and hold on tight,” Marrok ordered gently. “I'm going to get