by Mikayla Lane
Mikal began to tremble slightly with his own rage. The only thing keeping him from doing anything was that he needed the information about the other labs to find Koda and learn about her.
Alpha Two. No wonder she didn’t want to tell me her name, he thought, she doesn’t have one.
Dr. Mussberger sputtered for a moment, his face turning a deep red color.
“I . . . I had nothing to do with that! You know that! I . . . you were named before I even got there!” he said, trying to defend himself.
Alpha Two could only see one thing in her mind, and her emotions took over. Within seconds she had her hands wrapped around his throat and she was choking him.
“You were there when Alpha 12 was only four years old and asked if she could have a name of her own. She begged to be called Katie! What did you tell her? What did you say? What happened to her?” Two asked as she shook him, uncaring that he was beginning to lose consciousness.
Mikal watched unconcerned as Alpha Two choked the man to death. He honestly wanted to do the same the more he listened to what she had been subjected to. The only thing that made him intervene was his need to find Koda and his new need to find what appeared to be at least 11 more females like he and Alpha Two.
Without moving a muscle so as not to startle her or appear threatening, he spoke in her mind.
“If he dies, you will not have your answers. We will need everything we can get from him in order to free your sisters and find any others that may be kept elsewhere,” he said calmly, sending her peaceful energy.
Alpha Two immediately let go of the doctor and stepped back as he gasped and choked. She breathed deeply and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself before she did something stupid. Two hated to admit it, but she was damn glad the stranger had stopped her. He was right: she needed information from the doctor before she killed him.
Harold had no idea what made her stop choking him, but he was grateful that she had. He’d been seconds from passing out, and he was far too curious about the male to want that. Instead, he tried to calm and placate the angry specimen in front of him.
“I . . . did what we were told to do. You know how we were being watched. I was watched too! If I did anything outside of protocols put in place by others, I would have been killed!” he said, hoping she wouldn’t kill him.
Mikal could feel Alpha Two’s anger rising again. Knowing their time was limited, he pushed away from the wall and moved to stand beside the female. He allowed calm energy to bleed from him so that she could use it to help settle her emotions as he faced the doctor.
“You are stalling for time. You can either begin telling her what she wants to know, or I will take you to some friends of mine who will rip it from your head. By the time they are done, you’ll be nothing more than a drooling, mindless mess that I’ll leave to wander the streets covered in your own filth,” he said with a nasty sneer.
Dr. Mussberger shook in fear. He had no idea if the stranger could do what he said, but he didn’t want to take that chance either.
“I had the specimen beaten! Like we were told to do if they asked for anything like that. I had no control over how they did it! I didn’t know they would kill her,” he said, dropping his head to his chest.
Mikal clenched his fists in rage before he was forced to catch Alpha Two around the chest and drag her away from the doctor. Keeping his arms wrapped around her, he tried to ignore the feel of her chest pressed so closely to his own as he pinned her against the wall.
Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply of her scent before he looked down into her beautiful but furious eyes.
“He’s trying to shake you and keep you off balance while he stalls for time. You have to stay calm to get your answers,” he said quietly near her ear, his breath unintentionally caressing her neck.
Alpha Two looked up into his eyes and was lost for a moment. Suddenly realizing how close they were together, she dissolved into air and reappeared behind him, facing the doctor.
Chapter Four
Alpha Two stared angrily at the doctor, trying to erase the images of the guards beating her baby sister to death from her mind. She’d only seen the precious little girl once, but she’d spoken to her every night - until one day when she heard the child’s excitement about asking for a name, to be called Katie by the doctors and guards.
She’d never heard from the child again. She had always assumed that they had somehow killed the child. But to hear that they’d done it so horribly, so cruelly . . . to a baby . . .
With a shriek of pain and rage, Two launched herself at the doctor. Seconds later she was standing outside of the cabin, fighting the dark stranger to get back inside.
“Stop!” Mikal growled, holding her tightly to him as she shook in pain.
Mikal held her head against his chest as her fists punched at his back half-heartedly. He didn’t think she even knew that the tears were pouring down her face as she cried out her grief to the increasing wind around them.
“Shhh . . . calm yourself. You do your sisters no good if you don’t get information from him. For now, you stay strong. Let your anger and your pain give you the strength to do what has to be done to save them,” he said quietly as the wind whipped around them, controlled by her rage.
Alpha Two took a shuddering breath and tried to calm herself. Slowly the wind began to die down around them, and she finally stepped out of his arms, although she wondered at his reluctance to let her go.
“I’m OK now,” she said, assuming he was unsure if she was in control.
Mikal looked at her closely, as if to assure himself that she was telling the truth. He nodded.
“Do not give him power over you like this. His power over you ended the second you left that place. Remember that,” he said gently before he turned and walked back into the cabin.
Alpha Two took another deep breath and followed Mikal inside. She walked up beside of him and stared coldly at the bound doctor before the slap she delivered resonated around the room. Two waited until the doctor looked back at her with startled, pain-filled eyes before she spoke.
“How many more are at the lab? Are there other labs?” she asked, her voice cold and even.
“There are four more at the lab and only two more labs that I’m aware of,” Dr. Mussberger admitted, dropping his head to his chest in defeat.
Alpha Two sucked in a breath and tried to understand what he was telling her.
“There were more than that at the lab! Where did they go?” she asked worriedly.
“Some were deemed defective . . . others killed in training accidents . . . a few we believe committed suicide,” the doctor admitted, resigning himself to the fact that he was going to die. He only hoped he could anger one of them enough to do it quickly.
Mikal could feel her pain and grief rising, and he moved to stand in front of her so he could block her view of the doctor. The Gods knew he wanted to rip the man apart, but they had to get more information so they could get her remaining sisters- his people-out of the hellish labs.
“Turn it to strength,” he said, speaking to her mind.
Alpha Two looked up at him with pain-filled eyes, and he wanted nothing more than to hold her and try to help her, but it was not the time. Now was the time for him to be her strength, and he turned to face the doctor.
“Where are the other labs?” he asked.
“I only know the designations given. We’re the Alpha lab, the others are Delta and Theta, but I have no idea where they are. None of us know where the others are. It’s a security measure they put in place in case one of our labs were discovered by the public,” Dr. Mussberger admitted.
“Do you know what states or countries they’re in?” Mikal asked.
Dr. Mussberger shook his head.
“No. Any time we spoke to one another in order to share data and information, we only referenced the lab designation,” he said.
Mikal tried to hide his frustration so it wouldn’t magnify Alpha Two’s, and he tried ano
ther line of questioning.
“How many are at each of the labs? Are they male or female?” he asked.
Dr. Mussberger sighed, hoping Alpha Two wouldn’t kill him when he answered.
“There are only two at Beta and Theta. After the failure of Alpha One, we never allowed another male to survive. We only allowed females specimens to be produced after that,” he explained.
“He didn’t fail!” Two exclaimed, and Mikal turned around to stop her from going near the doctor.
Two stared up into his eyes and immediately began to match her breathing and heart rate to his own until she was calm again.
Mikal smiled her, enjoying the feel of their hearts and breaths in synchronicity before he turned back to the doctor.
“How did the male fail?” he asked.
The doctor cleared his throat and peered nervously around Mikal to look at Alpha Two before he looked up at Mikal with pleading eyes.
“She’s going to . . .” he said.
Mikal leaned down and sneered at him.
“I’m going to . . . if you don’t answer the question,” Mikal growled.
Dr. Mussberger took a shaky breath and looked up at Mikal.
“He refused to kill the targets he was given. He demanded that he and the other specimens be freed, and he had to be kept drugged because he would use his abilities against us every chance he got,” the doctor admitted.
Mikal shivered at the heartbroken sound of Alpha Two’s voice behind him, and he clenched his fists in rage at her whispered words.
“They forced us to watch his dissection, while he was alive, to teach us a lesson,” she whispered quietly as silent tears slipped down her cheeks.
Dr. Mussberger saw and felt the fury overtaking the strange man in front of him and cringed back into the chair as much as his bonds would allow.
“It wasn’t my decision!” he said, trying to defend what had happened.
“But you didn’t stop it either. In fact, you were the one who wielded the blade while the guards forced us to watch, under threat that we would be next if we didn’t. It was the only time I saw how many of us were being held there,” Two whispered as she stepped from behind Mikal to stare at the monster who’d so brutally killed the man she thought of as her father.
Mikal couldn’t take any more of her pain and his own at what he feared she’d gone through. He dissolved into air and carried her back out of the cabin into the small clearing in front.
He continued to hold her as the tears slipped down her face, and he wasn’t sure which surprised him more-the fact that she let him or that she had her arms wrapped around him and was holding him close. Either way, he was going to remain as he was until she no longer needed his strength and pulled herself together again.
Mikal held her close a few more minutes until she finally pulled away. He kept his eyes trained on the trees behind her as she wiped the tears from her face and drew a shuddering breath, not wanting her to feel awkward about him seeing her like this.
“Thank you,” Two said quietly, saying the words for the first time in her life.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t a grateful person. She’d just never had anyone give her a reason to thank them.
Mikal nodded his head and motioned towards the cabin.
“We need to find out as much as we can,” he said, giving her a chance to finish calming herself.
“I’m OK,” she said as she went back inside.
Mikal followed and stood by her side as she faced the doctor again.
“Do you know who he is or what lab he came from?” Two asked, surprising both men.
Dr. Mussberger stared at Mikal—he wanted to know where the dark creature came from as well. The doctor shook his head slowly, his eyes never leaving Mikal.
“I have no idea where he came from. But if you take me back to my home, I have equipment—” he said before Mikal’s hearty chuckle cut him off.
Mikal stared hard at the doctor.
“You’re not going home, and you’re never touching me,” Mikal said, his voice leaving no doubt that the doctor would die first.
Alpha Two looked between the doctor and the stranger as she sifted their energy, looking for any sign that they knew one another or knew of each other. She had no doubt that Mikal could hide the truth from her, but Two knew the doctor couldn’t, and the excitement and curiosity in his energy when he looked at Mikal was genuine.
As curious as she was about where Mikal had come from, Two knew she didn’t have the time to find out. She had to know what they were planning for her when she went in to free her sisters.
“What trap do they have planned for me?” she asked.
Dr. Mussberger shook his head.
“I really don’t know. Security handles that—” he began.
Mikal interrupted him again.
“You’re lying. You know something about what they’re planning. You can remain alive and useful, or you can be dead, and we’ll find someone else to talk,” he said as he clenched his fists by his sides.
Mikal didn’t feel the least bit guilty about blatantly frightening the man into speaking. From what he’d heard so far, the man had spent untold years torturing Mikal’s people— including the female—and he felt no remorse about doing whatever it took to free the others.
Dr. Mussberger trembled as he looked at Mikal. He no longer had any doubts that the creature had spoken the truth when he’d said that he was free born. He had no idea how that was possible, but he wanted to find out more than anything else in the world.
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Just please, tell me where you came from. Did you come from another planet? Are there more of you among us? How did your skin become that color? Does your body—the doctor asked, studying Mikal curiously before Two grabbed him by the throat and shook him.
When Two knew she had the doctor’s attention, she stopped shaking him and stared at him with cold eyes—the same way he’d always looked at her while he humiliated her with his exams and tests.
“I will begin dissecting you the same way you did my father, if you don’t start talking now,” she growled in his face.
“He wasn’t your father . . . At least, we don’t believe he was. More like a brother . . . maybe. We used different DNA sources for you and him. After his failure, we no longer used that particular strand again,” Dr. Mussberger said.
“He didn’t fail!” Two roared at him as she throttled him again.
Mikal sighed and gently pulled her away from the doctor.
“Do not give him the satisfaction,” Mikal whispered in her ear as he stood in front of her, facing the doctor, so she could pull herself together.
When Mikal could feel her calming down, he stepped around her and faced the doctor.
“I believe I’m done with you intentionally stalling and pushing her buttons. One more time and it won’t be her strangling you. Now what is this trap being set for her?” Mikal asked, trying to get back on topic.
Mikal didn’t believe they had much time to get to her sisters before the females were transferred or killed. The problem was that the doctor had spent many years controlling and torturing Alpha Two, and she was so emotional that she wasn’t concentrating on the urgency of the task. Mikal had no doubt that the doctor was doing it on purpose, hoping for a rescue.
When long seconds passed and the doctor still stared mutely at Mikal, he’d had enough. In a flash of movement he grabbed a small throwing knife and buried it to the hilt in the doctor’s thigh, making sure to avoid any major blood arteries.
Dr. Mussberger screamed and jerked against his bonds as he trembled from the shock and pain. Alpha Two watched in surprise as the stranger knelt in front of the writhing doctor with a satisfied smirk on his face.
“Yeah, that hurts like a bitch,” Mikal said as he flipped a second knife around the fingers of his other hand.
Dr. Mussberger ignored the tears flowing down his face and shook his head.
“Please! No! They’r
e going to be waiting for her with the dart guns and live rounds. They’re under orders to try and take her alive, but if they can’t they’re to kill her,” Dr. Mussberger admitted as he drew in a shuddering breath.
Mikal grinned as he continued to flip the knife around in his hand.
“Where will they put her sisters?” Mikal asked.
Harold looked worriedly at Alpha Two until he felt the tip of the blade on his other thigh and he immediately looked back at Mikal.
“They will put them in the main medical examination area,” he admitted.
Alpha Two gasped.
“Why is that important?” Mikal asked.
Harold looked up at Mikal and drew another shuddering breath.
“Because they will either watch her die, or she will watch them die. It’s enclosed in glass so that the examinations can be thoroughly documented and witnessed, but it’s also secure. If she tries to get inside, they will gas the others. Otherwise, they will terminate her in front of the other specimens,” he admitted, dropping his head to his chest, and waiting for death.
Alpha Two yelled in rage, and Mikal turned and caught her before she could kill the doctor. Now, more than anything, he wanted and needed the man alive and contained. This was now much more than he could handle on his own, and he kept the female calm while he contacted his brother through the Shengari’.
“Chris . . . I need help. Really quick,” he said.
Mikal sighed in relief as his brother immediately replied.
“Where do you need me?” Chris demanded.
“I’m going to send you the coordinates. I need you to be as calm and cool as you can brother, this situation is very . . . tenuous,” Mikal warned.
“What is going on?” Chris’s voice softened.
Mikal sighed and smiled down at Alpha Two as he responded to his brother.
“I have found my people. A female. She escaped a military controlled lab where she was created. She has sisters still inside . . .” Mikal began before Chris cut him off.
