I barely had time to get my bearings before the whole fucking wall blew apart, blasting me with splintered wood and concrete rubble. I instinctively covered my head with my arms and curled up in a ball, only to be grabbed by the back of my shirt and lifted into the air. I opened my eyes, coughing too much from the dust to scream, and found myself staring into the sharp green eyes of a snarling white wolf.
As the dust cleared, its monstrous body came into view, bipedal and roped in muscle, its long tail lashing in agitation. It--no,he,the beast was decidedly male--was what was holding me off the ground. With his free hand, he grabbed Dr. Andrianakis and put him through Dr. Price’s waterfall. When that didn’t kill him, or even phase him, the wolf threw him to the floor and stomped on his chest over and over. I heard bones snapping, but the doctor continued to struggle, his own chalky face contorted in a bestial snarl. He grabbed at the wolf’s furry leg with one hand and drove his pen into it with the other.
All I could do was watch, stunned into silence, as the wolf roared in fury and leapt back, freeing the doctor, who unceremoniously got to his feet and brushed off his clothes. He bent at an unnatural angle and my stomach turned as I heard his busted ribs snapping back into place one at a time.
None of this felt real. It didn’t help that I couldn’t even blink, much less look away.
Could this actually be happening?
When the werewolf threw me over his shoulder and onto his back, making his intentions clear, I knew for sure that he was Dean. I grabbed his white mane instinctively, balling my hands up in his fur so I wouldn’t fall eight feet to the floor. I was fucking terrified, but he didn’t seem like he wanted to hurt me, and the grotesque monster in front of us had a monopoly on fear at the moment. All I could do was stare as he put himself back together like some macabre puzzle.
“You dogs are all the same,” said Dr. Andrianakis, his busted face distorting as his features realigned. “All bark and no bite.”
Dean backed up with a low, rumbling growl. I got the feeling he would’ve attacked him again if I hadn’t been clinging to his back.
That was when the sirens went off and the whole room flashed red as the light in the ceiling activated. Of course someone had heard the commotion and pulled one of the many alarm switches on the walls throughout the Academy.
“Dean, stop,” I whispered urgently. While I wasn’t afraid of him, I was suddenly afraid he was going to end up with a wiped mind and in prison. Why I particularly cared was beyond my understanding. Guess the asshole must’ve grown on me.
Dean's long, pointed ears twitched at the sound of my voice. He glanced back at me briefly, his fearsome gaze seeming almost human for a moment.
Dr. Andrianakis wasted no time taking advantage of the fact that the werewolf had been distracted. He raced past us, apparently more than happy to leave me behind with the monster.
Dean's hint of sapience evaporated immediately. He dropped to all fours with an earth-shaking roar and barreled headlong after the doctor. By some miracle, I managed to hold on, finding myself screaming for him to stop as he caught the doctor by the ankle and smashed him into the wall like a rag doll.
While he was low enough to the ground, I threw myself off Dean's back and rolled to the floor. The doctor’s hand emerged from the human-sized hole that was now in the wall, revealing the solid stone behind it. Memories of the ritual chamber flashed back in my mind and my stomach churned, my thoughts drifting between the past and the present.
I watched as Dean remained crouched, ready to pounce on the creature if he tried to escape again. With his lips curled back in a snarl, his stark white fangs glinting with saliva as if he was hungry for the flesh of his prey, he really did look like the monster everyone feared.
Before I could do anything, I heard footsteps coming down the hall and a second later, both ends were swarming with soldiers in heavy black armor and opaque, reflective shields covering their faces. They were all carrying arms, most of them assault rifles. A few glimmered with the essence of some enchantment, and when the nearest soldier barked for us to get down and put our hands up, I dropped to my knees and prayed Dean would do the same.
My hands were trembling as I held them in the air, my heart pumping a mile a minute from the adrenaline rush, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the doctor even as the soldiers surrounded us and cuffed my hands behind my head. This time, as he staggered out of the wall, he wasn’t putting himself back together. He was too badly broken.
Despite his state, he looked at me, a ghost of a smile on his deathly pale lips.
“Bram says ‘hello,’” he said in his strange, calm voice before he disintegrated into a pile of ash. Two of the soldiers turned their guns on the ash heap in alarm, then looked at each other, bewildered.
Dean finally relaxed when the main threat in his eyes was gone, the bristled fur on his neck and back laying flat as he, too, dropped to his knees and awkwardly put his massive clawed hands up, like it physically hurt him to follow orders. I had to wonder if he was just imitating me. He was still growling as several soldiers who looked like they were about to shit themselves inched up to him and cuffed his arms behind his back.
When I realized he wasn’t going to struggle, I finally let myself breathe, and the terror caught up to me all at once. The nearest guard dragged me to my feet, but before she could lead me even a few steps down the hall, my knees buckled and everything went black.
Chapter 12
Dean
I was barelyaware of my surroundings as I struggled against the stocks my head and hands had been locked into. The steel groaned as I fought to get free, my jaws snapping every time the guard tried to get close to me to whack me with his stun stick, scaring him back.
I didn’t know where the hell I was, only that my pride was badly wounded from letting them catch me. Only that I was being held like some kind of prisoner. I hadn’t done anything wrong. The psych that smelled like a dusty old corpse had been torturing Bells and had deserved every bit of fury I’d unleashed on him.
My human thoughts intermingled with my bestial thoughts, forming a muddied soup. My human side wanted to comply so they didn’t wipe my mind, or worse, ship me off to prison where I’d never see my Bells again. But that side of me was taking the backseat, only able to look on helplessly as my wolf side piloted our body. And my wolf side wanted to tear the guard limb from limb and everyone else who would inevitably come to his aid. He’d already hit me once. Once was enough.
My gaze settled on him, the cowardly sack of meat in the corner, clutching his stun stick like he could actually do damage with it. Saliva dripped from my fangs as my lips curled back, baring my long teeth. I couldn’t speak, but words weren’t necessary to convey my intentions. He knew what would happen to him if he got any closer. At the very least, he’d lose his arm.
I shifted my weight from paw to paw, and that alone was enough to make the steel creak dangerously. I was sure I could bust out if I used all my strength, and my wolf side was considering it. Big time.
There were three quick raps at the door that made the guard look like he was going to jump out of his skin. He turned to pull the door open, and when I saw Alistair standing on the other side, the beast took over fully, unleashing a furious snarl as I thrashed against the restraints.
He didn’t blink, but the guard darted back into the doorway.
