Three white coats fled down Lab 6.
“Hostiles!” one screeched into his comms before my knife hilt cracked his temple. Another two scrambled for panic buttons; Wrecker’s quick trigger ensured they never reached them—the shots shattered glass tanks full of… things. Twisted specimens floated in brine behind me as I ran.
Dane intercepted me at stairwell B.
Ex-team sniper turned traitor grinned beneath night vision goggles he didn’t need anymore—Harrison had gifted him predator eyes that glowed sulfur-yellow now.
“Bronc.” He lunged first.
Adrenaline burned through muscle memory: duck his swipe, elbow to ribs, stab upward. He twisted at impossible speed—my blade skated off tactical gear.
“She’s already dead,” he hissed.
Something primal snarled in my chest.
Gunfire exploded overhead—“Got company!” Menace barked in my earpiece before static drowned him out… then screaming… then metal tearing.
Dane struck again—claws snagged my vest strap just as Arsenal materialized behind him like vengeance incarnate: “Try me instead.”
I didn’t stay to watch their duel—but heard vertebrae crunch seconds later as I vaulted stairs three at a time.
Menace frantically searched the rooms around me.
I glimpsed him kicking open reinforced steel marked HOLDING further down the hall—a girl cowered inside wearing nothing but chains and fresh scars. Another experiment. Her green gaze met mine an instant before Menace snarled, “Cover us!” His bulk shielded her broken frame while smoke grenades choked pursuit.
Juliet was close.
My boots punched through Level 5 security doors into a corridor slick with bullet casings… then silence… then ragged breathing ahead.
The final door hung crooked on its hinges like an open wound.
Harrison stood silhouetted against flickering fluorescents—talons dug into Juliet’s throat as he yanked her flush against him like a trophy.
She was bare except for bruises and his bite mark sullying her shoulder—-still bleeding.
Her sob cracked in half when she saw me: “Bronc—”
Harrison licked her earlobe without breaking eye contact: “Kneel or watch her throat paint this pretty wall.”
Wrongmove.
Her knee jerked upward—too slow—he wrenched her head sideways hard enough to pop joints, but not before she spat crimson phlegm into his grin.
Roaring filled my skull.
Chapter 30
Juliet
Harrison’s claws bit into my throat as he dragged me backward, using me as a shield. Blood from his latest bite slicked my chest; hot and accusing, as he snarled at Bronc across the room. “One step closer,” he hissed, “and I’ll carve her throat like a pig.” His teeth grazed my ear, whiskey-sour breath thickening the air.“Mine.”
Bronc froze in the doorway, muscles coiled like a spring. His eyes met mine—storm-dark rage colliding with my tear-blurred gaze.Don’t,I wanted to scream. But Harrison’s grip tightened, claws drawing fresh blood as he wrenched my head sideways with a sickening pop of tendons. Pain shot through me, white-hot and nauseating. My wolf stirred feebly beneath my ribs, but I felt her even if she was dulled by despair… or maybe shame. It’s the first time I’d felt her since Harrison had destroyed Bronc’s mate mark.
“Pathetic,” Harrison spat at Bronc. “You think shewantedyou? She begged for my mark.” His laugh was jagged glass as he licked a stripe up my bleeding neck. My stomach roiled; my traitorous body shuddered anyway—omega instincts flaring at his touch like a poisoned kiss.
Bronc’s snarl shook the walls. “Let. Her.Go.”
Harrison shifted me just as Bronc lunged, claws slashing air instead of flesh, as I choked on a scream. They circled like wolvesnow: Bronc’s movements lethal precision; Harrison’s brute savagery dragging me with him until my knees buckled under his weight… until I saw it: an opening when his grip slipped on my bloodied skin…
