Page 4 of Claimed

Acry escapes me as I yank against the cuff around my wrist.

“Please don’t!” I yell, even though I know it will do no good.

Dr. J turns toward me, a smug grin on his stupid face and a syringe in his hand. “Come now, zero zero three. This won’t hurt, just a little pinch.”

“I’m not worried about the needle,” I say in anger as I claw uselessly at the metal cuff around my wrist. “I’m worried about what comes after.”

“Don’t you care that you’re helping advance science by being here?”

“No!”

“You know, you’re being an ungrateful little brat,” he says, his smugness dropping only to be replaced by annoyance. “Do you know how many people would give their left arm just for a chance to help with what we’re doing here?”

“Then why don’t you strap one of them to the bench?” I yell at him.

“They aren’t special like you.”

“I told you, I’m not special,” I say for what feels like the hundredth time.

“And I’ve told you that simply isn’t true. I’ve been searching for you for a long time. And thanks to you, we’re going to change the world.” He surprises me by backhanding me across the face, sending my head flying to the side, and uses that moment to jam the needle into my neck, then quickly steps back before I can recover.

“There,” he says with a pleased nod. “Let’s give that a few minutes to start working, then we’ll get to work.”

Panic claws its way up my throat as I scratch uselessly at the cuff, my nails breaking and leaving small traces of blood from my fingertips. But that’s nothing compared to what’s coming. As soon as the stuff he injected me with takes effect, paralyzing me, that’s when the real pain begins.

My body grows heavy, and I lie on the bench, not wanting to bash my head on it like I did last time when I lost the ability to stay sitting upright.

Each of my limbs starts to grow numb until I’m left lying there, unable to move.

Dr. J steps up to my side and smiles down at me as he holds up a large, empty syringe. Silently, he sticks it in my side, giving me a pinch of pain as he starts to take my blood. He doesn’t stop at one vial, though; he takes six large vials, leaving me dizzy and seeing spots.

Tears leak down my cheeks. I just wish this would end, but I know I’m not that lucky. He never just takes blood. That’s only the beginning.

He sets the vials aside before coming back to look down at me. “That blood is going to help us more than you know.” He takes a second to assess my body, then reaches over and grabs something off the nearby table.

“Now that’s out of the way, it’s time for a new experiment.” The grin he gives me is pure evil, telling me this is going to be beyond bad. “I want to see how long you last without your heart.” He lifts a large scalpel, and I try to scream, but it comes out as a howl.

“Shit! What’s wrong?”

“What’s happening?”

“Cherry! Wake up!”

My eyes fly open and my howl cuts off. I bolt upright and look around with wide eyes, panting heavily in my wolf form as I try to figure out where I am.

“Calm down, sweetheart. You’re okay.” I feel a small bite of alpha energy come with that, making it more of a command, and I have to blink my eyes a couple of times before I realize Maddox's face is in front of me, and he’s holding mine in his hands. “There you are,” he whispers, letting out a deep breath.

Someone strokes my back, and I turn to find Hunter sitting beside me on the couch. “Did you have a nightmare?” I think for a moment, then nod. But I’m unsure if that was a memory or a dream. I don’t remember Dr. J telling me that my blood was being used to help others before. I think I was around fifteen in that nightmare. That was nine years ago, and it’s hard to know what’s real or imagined at this point.

It takes me a minute to reorient myself to the present and what happened. Did I die again?

“Here, drink this,” Gage says, distracting my thoughts as he holds a bowl of water in front of me. I greedily drink half of it before lifting my head, dipping my chin in thanks.

“Cherry?” Hearing my name in Bain’s deep voice has me shuddering as I turn to find him sitting at my other side. “Eat,” he orders me, holding up a small cube of cooked steak. I take it, unsure if it’s because I’m starving or because I’d probably do anything he asked me to.

He continues to feed me piece after piece until I can’t take anymore, then they all take me into the backyard to relieve myself. It’s a sunny day out, and I wonder how long I’ve been unconscious this time.

I think I remember Maddox telling me Kane is dead, and⁠—