The mention of Rowan has me jerking up in the bed again. The last thing I remember seeing was him being dragged to the floor. What happened to him?
“Rowan is pack,” I answer.
Madden’s head jerks back as if he’s not expecting that answer.
“Pack? Willingly?”
“Yes,” I nod.
“He didn’t take the omega captive? From our reports, he comes from a family that kept feral alphas as fighters. I assume you were one of those fighters?”
His surprise throws me off guard.
“Yes—“
“Yes, he kept her captive?”
“No,” I snarl, struggling to string together words with thefrustration I’m feeling. “Yes, fighter. No captivity. He protected Mirabelle.”
“Wow,” Madden breathes out, running a hand through his hair. “Okay then.”
“Rowan is good,” I push. “What happened to him?”
“He was... taken into custody,” Madden mutters, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a phone. He types something, probably texting someone, before looking back up at me. “We’ve rescued a decent number of feral alphas from their captivity, all with varying levels of communication. How long were you captive for?”
“Long time,” I grunt.
“How long? Do you know?”
I shrug, my jaw working. My eyes close as I force myself to take a deep, steadying breath.
“I’m... frustrated,” I growl. “It’s difficult to talk. I just want to know when I can see her.”
Madden lets out a breath of understanding.
“I get it, man, I really do,” he says, tugging down his t-shirt to show a bond mark of his own. “If I were being kept away from my mate, I’d be fucking pissed too, but we’re just trying to make sure that Mirabelle’s safe. We’ve never seen feral alphas bonded before.”
“Since... since I was a teenager.”
“Damn. So like, ten years?”
“More,” I grunt.
Madden lets out a low whistle before nodding.
“Surprised you’re even able to talk, man, if you’ve been held captive for that long. Were you drugged the entire time?”
“Yes,” I nod. “It was... hard... before her.”
“Hard? Hard how?”
“I couldn’t talk... Couldn’t think... but then she came.”
“So you’re saying she helped you with all that?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, that’s interesting,” Madden mutters. “Not much of ascience guy, but maybe we can try and figure out a biological explanation. Could be helpful for the other feral alphas here.”
