Balance (18 page)

                I
lowered my voice to barely a whisper, I was pretty sure the camera had a
microphone but it couldn’t be that good, all the way up in the air vent. “I
won’t force you, but I’d be honored if you would join our pack so we can get
the hell out of here.”

                Her
eyes flared yellow and then she winced, letting out a little yelp as I assumed
she went rogue from her pack. She panted and then rolled over to show me her
belly. I took that as a yes.

                Reaching
out, I swiped her lightly, disguising it as a belly rub and brought her into
the pack. The second her energy merged with mine, I jumped back in shock at
what I felt, what she was showing me.

                ‘You’re
changed. Your gift, it’s incredible.’

                She
looked at me with big yellow wolf eyes.
‘It’s horrible,’
her small,
submissive voice said.

                ‘How
does it work?’
I asked.

                ‘When
I touch someone while I’m in human form, I wipe all of their memories. It only works
when I’m in human form, so I stay a wolf all of the time.’

                My
mouth hung open in shock. I could feel her deep loneliness, her longing for a
mate a best friend, anyone who could touch her. Her madness at staying wolf all
the time; she felt like a dog. I wanted to hug her. That must be a hard life, I
rested my hand on her wolf and patted her fur.

                ‘Can
you target certain memories?’
I
asked her. The abilities she possessed were incredible. She could make a drug
addict forget they were addicted, a murderer forget their past, a victim of
abuse forget the abuse.

                She
shook her head.
‘No, everything goes. They know how to eat and talk and all
of that. They know what an apple is and basic information but their personality
is gone, personal memories, families are forgotten, desires, fears. All gone. A
blank slate.’

                Jesus!
I frowned. That would be a hard gift to live with but it made a damn good
weapon. What if I could have her take Layla’s memory? Could I trust that Layla
wouldn’t turn evil again? That she wouldn’t remember her dark motives. I pushed
those thoughts to the back of my mind for later. I was Alpha now, my pack
needed me. We were a small, all female pack who barely knew each other, but I
was Alpha and this was my new family. Mine to protect.
Mine.
I could
talk to any of them without words. I could control them, ease their fears. I
felt all nine of them, all strong females and I wished I had Tara in the pack,
so that I could communicate with her too.

                I
turned around and met each woman’s gaze, slowly walking to each one and asking them
the same question.

                ‘Changed
or born?’
I asked them.

                ‘Changed,’
one with brown curly hair said.

                ‘Gift?’
I prompted.

                She
smiled.
‘I don’t feel pain.’

                My
eyes widened in shock as I nodded, making a mental note. She would be next to
go into the torture chamber.

                After
going around to each girl, I found out in the end that there were only four
changed females including myself.  The memory taker whose name was Karissa, the
girl who didn’t feel pain was Kylee and then Amanda who could heat her hands to
400 degrees. I had the makings of a fine escape plan.

                I
felt empty without Kai’s voice here to guide me. His energy was frantic, I
could feel his desperation, but I couldn’t communicate with him, no matter how
hard I tried. So, I took a deep breath and tried to focus on getting us out of
here.

                I
glanced over at Sadie.
‘Okay, now tell me how this place works.’

                She
met my eyes.
‘Every couple of days they come grab one of us to torture. They
will open the cage and take out Tara and then shove the new one in. There will
be about six vampires that do the switch. Tara will be too weak to fight.’

                Shit.
They really had this planned out. They were playing on our humanity, our pack
mentality and togetherness. An idea struck me and I grinned. Sadie gave me a
look that said she thought I was crazy.

                I
looked at the blonde dominant one that was carrying Layla’s baby. Her name was
Chelsea. If they wanted to hurt one of ours, I would hurt one of theirs.

                Just
then, the door opened quickly and five vampires with silver bullet guns walked
in and surrounded me.

                “Your
room is ready,” one of them said to me, sneering.

                Chelsea
and Sadie stood and snarled at the vampires.

                I
couldn’t fight or they would hurt Tara. Being in this position, having to act
weak and let them take me was one of the hardest things I had ever done.

                The
two vampires nearest me grabbed my upper biceps and Sadie growled again.

                ‘No!’
I told her and let Alpha power ooze from my
command.

                She
looked down at her feet.

                I
looked at my pack; they looked renewed with hope and ready for a fight.
‘You’re
all my pack now. I will take care of you and I will get us out of here. Sadie
is in charge while I’m gone.’

                The
girls nodded. Then the vampires tightened their grip on my arms, completely
unaware that I could communicate to the girls without speaking, and forced me
to walk out of the room. They reeked of heroin. The metallic scent hit the back
of my throat and nearly made me gag. I wanted to let the Devi loose and rage on
these bloodsuckers so bad but I calmed myself. I loved Tara and Max and
everyone else who would be affected if Tara was killed. I had to be patient and
do this the right way.

                They
walked me down the cement hall as I tried to look for any indication of where
we were. It looked like a few signs had been spray painted over. They had been
planning this a while. I sighed. God, I missed Kai. Although I drew strength
from my newly formed pack, it felt wrong not to be in the same pack as your
mate. As we passed a door, a scent pulled at my attention. Tara? I inhaled
deeper. Yes, Tara! Two doors down from where I smelled her, the bloodsuckers stopped
and banged on another steel door.

                It
slowly opened to reveal a tall female vampire who wore a starched white lab
coat. Her hair was jet black and cropped short, and her face held no mercy. She
pinned me with her evil eyes and nodded her head to the vampires holding me. As
I was led inside, I glanced around the huge room and my eyes fell on a medieval-looking
stand-up steel cage with straps that bolted it to the wall. Oh, shit.
Everything in me wanted to shift into my wolf form and run the hell away from
here. Then my eyes flicked to a large medical examination table on the far
wall. Resting on a side table, were some surgical instruments, an ultrasound
machine and the monitor that showed Tara. I knew what this room was. It was
where they implanted Chelsea, I was sure of it. I could smell her all over it.
Oh God. I squinted at the monitor showing Tara. The black and white screen
showed her lying there limply, barely breathing. The feelings I was having were
scaring me. I wanted to murder every single last one of these bastards for what
they had done to her, to all of us. I wanted to burn this entire place to the
ground for the way they were playing us off of each other. I didn’t feel human
in that moment, I felt like a monster. A very powerful, pissed off monster hell-bent
on revenge.

                The
doctor strode across the room and unfastened some buckles, opening the cage.
“Be a good girl,” she told me and gestured that I walk into the cage. I took a
few deep breaths, fighting my instinct, pushing my wolf down, pushing the Devi
down, and crossed the large room walking over to the cage. The two male vampires
strapped me inside of the cage, leaving the door open. One of them grazed my
boob as he strapped me down and then smiled, giving me a lusty look. I let a
growl rumble deep and long in my chest, glaring at him with yellow eyes. The
Devi’s deadly power was bubbling just beneath the surface of my skin, I could
bring this entire building down on us if I chose to. It was a scary thought and
I was feeling less and less in control by the minute.

                The
boob grazer looked at the doctor and gestured to me. “Queen Layla wants to know
if she can be used as an incubator as well?”

                My
food threatened to come up. No. No. No.

                The
doctor seemed to consider it, pressing one red manicured finger to her chin.

                Oh
God. If Gretchen was right, then I was pregnant. If the vampires found out,
they would abort my baby. I tried not to whimper and suddenly felt Kai’s
energy, far away, weak but frantic. I felt him. I needed him.

                The
doctor shook her head. “Too risky. What if getting her pregnant freezes the
fertility powers of her blood? No. Tell Queen Layla to get more female
werewolves.”

                The
breath I had been holding whooshed out of me. I could tell my new pack was
restless worrying about me.

                ‘I’m
fine,’
I sent to them and their
energy settled slowly.

                Then,
the doctor reached into her pocket and produced a thin silver chain, touching
it to my skin, I glared at her.

                She
smiled, flashing her pointed canines.

                “Incredible,”
she stated when she saw that I did not react to the silver.

                I
didn’t smell heroin on her but her eyes were black as night and gave me the
creeps.

                “Do
you know why silver harms werewolves?” she asked me as she fiddled with a
plastic IV tube.

                What
the hell, was this class time? I was about to get a lecture on werewolves and
silver? Jesus. I shook my head. I was pretty sure pissing this woman off was a
bad idea so I would play along.

                “In
human studies, microscopic amounts of liquid silver are beneficial in killing
viruses. So when used on a werewolf, it begins to kill the lycanthrope virus.
Since the lycanthrope virus has already killed the human, once you kill the
virus, there is nothing left. Dead as a doornail,” she said, cheerily.

                I
glared. “Is that why silver stakes also kill vampires?”

                She
grabbed my arm hard, letting her nails cut into my skin and secured a
bloodletting cuff over my upper arm. “Enough chit chat.” She pulled the top of
the cage over me, folding me inside like an iron sandwich.

                Gracefully
walking over to the medical table she tapped the monitor that showed Tara. “I
heard you already know what this is, so no funny business.” Her voice held the
heavy sound of a threat.

                The
vampires crossed the room and opened the door as she followed them out, leaving
the room and closing the door behind her.

                AHHH!
I was so screwed. Pulling against the buckles, I looked down to assess the
situation. My left hand was free but my right arm was strapped down and inside
this blood cuff. Both of my legs were strapped down as well, and the space in
the cage was so tight, it brushed the tip of my nose. I felt like Hannibal Lecter
stuck in this thing!

                Okay,
breathe. Think. Any witch spells involving opening a cage? Before I could
finish that thought, the big metal door opened again and Layla and a male and
female vampire couple strode in. They were all dressed like they were going to
the opera.

                What
the hell did she want?

                “This
is her. Our little money maker.”

                Layla
introduced me with a delighted tone in her voice. I wanted to strangle that
happy sound right out of her throat and I couldn’t stop the growl escaping my
chest.

                The
male vampire was freakishly tall as he walked closer and appraised me. “After
Sarah drinks the blood, do I have to?” he asked Layla.

                Layla
gave a sly grin. “No need. You just take a little drink from Sarah, like you would
during your love making. That’s enough to do the trick.”

                Gross!
I gagged and Layla cut me a look that gave me chills. Crossing the room, she
went to the monitor and pushed a button. NO! Tara’s bloody murder scream filled
the room. Shit. This was going to kill her if they didn’t switch her out soon.
Too much silver. I needed to be on my best behavior so they didn’t hurt her
anymore.

                “No,
stop! I’m sorry,” I told Layla. It killed me to be begging her but I would do
anything for Tara or any of my other wolves.

                Sarah
didn’t seem fazed by Tara’s screams. She looked at me. “How many incubators do
you have?”

                Layla
strode across to the cage I was held in and began to open a small six-inch, cut-out
access panel in the door. I hadn’t noticed it before. Reaching in, she grabbed
the blood bag that hung from the cuff in my arm, detaching it and pinching my
IV shut with a clip. Then she clicked on a new bag and opened the IV tubing.
How much blood could I afford to lose? I needed to distract her so she would
leave the small door open. Sorry, Tara. One more time.

                “We
have about ten, with more on the way,” Layla told them.

                Before
she could close the access panel and turn away from me, I used the close
proximity to spit in her face, making her mouth drop open in shock. Anger lit
up her features and she looked like a demon, eyes red, hell-bent on murder. Her
fist snaked out and she punched the cage hard, denting it near my face. Then she
reached up and wiped her face clean of my spit and walked over to the monitor.
The vampire couple looked at me with alarm.

                “Make
her hurt,” Layla said into the monitor. Oh God. I wished I could plug my ears.

                Tara’s
wails cut right into my heart but it had worked, she left the small access door
to the cage open. After a minute or so of Tara screaming, she passed out, going
limp on the screen. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I kept
saying to myself, to Tara.

                “Before
we arrange payment, can we see the successful result?” Sarah asked Layla.

                Layla
flicked her eyes to me, still blazing with anger then she pulled out a walkie
talkie. “Bring in my doggy,” she said, shooting me a death glare.

                I
suppressed a growl at the use of her word
doggy
.

                ‘Sadie,
they are coming for Chelsea. I am strapped inside an iron cage but I distracted
Layla and she left a small access panel open.’

                ‘How
did you distract her?’
Sadie asked
me.

                ‘I
spit in her face,’
I admitted.

                ‘I
like you more and more each day. They’re here,’
Sadie commented.

                I
searched for Chelsea’s pack bond, flowing strong within me and focused on
communicating with her. As an Alpha, I could communicate with anyone in the
pack, even in human form. It was a new sensation.
‘Let them take you. Don’t
fight. Tara can’t take any more silver,’
I told her. God, I wished Tara was
pack and I could talk to her and tell her she wasn’t alone. She had Kai, he was
still her Alpha, at least one of us had Kai. I tried not to dwell on the bad
shit.

                Footsteps
in the hallway outside got closer, and I watched Layla across the room as she pulled
out the sonogram machine. Oh my God. I was going to see it. The … thing. I
couldn’t call it a baby. I couldn’t.

                The
door opened and the doctor brought Chelsea in. Her hair hung limply around her
pale face. She looked up at me and her eyes widened in fear when she saw me in
the cage.

                ‘I’m
here for you. You’re not alone and I’m getting us out,’
I told her firmly.

                She
nodded slightly and lay down on the small examination table. She stared at the
ceiling, teeth gritting as the doctor pulled up her white scrub top and
squirted jelly on her stomach. Now that her shirt was up, I saw that her belly
was quite large for only being a month or so pregnant. How long ago had she
been captured?

                “How
far along is she?” Sarah asked eyeing the baby bump with longing.

                “She
was inseminated about four weeks ago but the fetus is four months along. The
baby seems to grow faster than human babies do. We think it’s because they are
housed inside of the werewolves. They really are perfect hosts. The humans we
originally tried all died. Too weak.”

                Jesus
Christ. I pulled against my bindings. If this thing was sucking our blood,
would it be some kind of werewolf-vampire hybrid? It took everything in me not
to vomit. Hosts? Like a parasite. Humans had died over this. My head was
reeling.

                The
doctor pressed the wand to Chelsea’s large belly and I held my breath. I didn’t
know what to think, what to prepare for. The profile of a baby came into view
but I could immediately see something was wrong. The head was misshapen, more
coned at the top and the nose was nearly missing. My eyes widened in horror as
the doctor scanned the chest and I saw that no heart flickered. It was dead.
Then, suddenly, it moved, jerky and animalistic.

                “Like
us, they do not breathe or have heart beats. But the fetus is growing in size, and
we think the head and nose will normalize during the final month. It’s a
success!” Layla clasped her hands and the couple seemed delighted.

                The
head and nose will normalize? Bullshit. Seriously? You were excited about a
non-breathing, no-heart-beating thing with no nose and a cone head?

                I
could feel Chelsea’s depression settle over the pack. She was desperate to get
out of this situation. She didn’t know Tara and although she cared for another
female werewolf, she wanted the hell out of here no matter the cost. She wanted
this thing out of her. She was a loose cannon and I understood why. She felt
like a piece of meat. Carrying this unnatural thing inside of her was making
her crazy. Being Alpha, I was privy to all of her thoughts.

                ‘It’s
going to be okay, I will get you out of here. I will fix this, I have a damn
good plan.’
I sent waves of
calm through my Alpha bond to her. Okay, damn good plan may have been over
selling it a bit, but it was the only plan I had.

                Her
eyes met mine and I saw a fierceness in them that told me that if I didn’t get
us out of here soon, she was going to lose it and put all of us in jeopardy.
She was even strongly considering suicide. Anything to get her out of this
situation.

                “Will
the baby grow old or stay a baby forever?” Sarah asked, her high-pitched, eager
vampire voice made me want to dropkick her in the teeth.

                I
had a god-awful feeling that the baby hadn’t been able to grow in Layla’s belly
before because vampires don’t age. My theory was that by using werewolves to
incubate and carry them, they were some type of vampire-werewolf hybrid. If
that was even possible.

                The
doctor met my eyes and seemed to consider if she should comment.

                Layla
smiled as the doctor put an arm around Sarah. “We aren’t sure, but we suspect
that if the baby can grow inside of the werewolf carrier then it may continue
to need werewolf blood for feedings to continue to grow.”

                My
stomach dropped. Oh God no. No. This was beyond evil. There was no way they
were feeding off of us! Tears rolled down my cheeks.

                ‘Kai,
I need you. I can’t do this.’
This would never stop; we would be hunted forever. I felt Kai’s pull on my
energy trying to find me, to communicate with me but I couldn’t hear him.

                The
doctor wiped Chelsea’s belly clean and then grabbed her by the arm pits and
hauled her up, dragging her out of the room.

                Layla
strode over to the table and grabbed the blood pouch that she had taken from my
arm and enclosed it in a nice silver case, handing it to Sarah.

                “We
will wire the money.” The woman kissed each side of Layla’s cheek.

                Layla
waved her hand like she didn’t care about the money. “Follow me to the
procedure room. You will need to stay overnight. In the morning, we will
implant the werewolf of your choosing.”

                Oh
God. Not another one. I had to get us out of here now! Layla winked at me
before slamming the door and taking her entourage with her. Oh my God, I was so
tired. It must be two in the morning and I was having trouble keeping my eyes
open.

                Sadie
spoke to me frantically.

                ‘They
are here to take the next girl and switch out for Tara.’

                ‘Make
sure they take Kylee!’
I told her.

                I
searched for Kylee within the pack bonds. She wasn’t afraid. Not feeling pain
had given her a courageous edge. I closed my eyes and grabbed the link that
bound us. I could feel her fighting. She had punched one of the vampires. They
slammed her against the wall and she cried out in fake pain.

                ‘They’re
taking me,’
she told me.

                ‘Good.’
This plan had to work. It had to.

                ‘You
do realize that just because she can’t feel pain, doesn’t mean she won’t die of
silver poisoning, right?’
Sadie told
me.

                I
sighed.
‘I know. I won’t let that happen.’

                There
was silence for a moment.
‘Sadie, they are coming to take another girl for
implantation in the morning. We need to get out tonight. Stay awake.’

                I
felt Sadie’s apprehension at my news.
‘Okay, we’ll be ready.’

                Werewolves
slept at night like normal people. We would be a weak and tired bunch by the
time we got out of here, but it was the only way. Now, I just needed to get out
of this cage. Once I had word that Tara was free of the torture chamber, I
could go to work on getting us out of here.

                ‘Sadie,
tell Tara that Max loves her. He wanted to tell her but didn’t get the chance,’
I added.

                I
felt fear roll through Sadie.
‘You don’t think we will get out of here.’

                ‘No,
I just want her to know. To give her hope.’
Right? I looked down at my arm, which was slowly dripping blood into the
bag. How much blood could I afford to lose? Would it start to weaken my power?
Blood. Blood! A light bulb went off. I was an Alpha now and Alpha blood was the
most powerful for spell casting. I grinned.

                 ‘I
have a crazy idea,’
I told Sadie.

                ‘Good,
I’m down for crazy right now,
’
she replied.

                ‘Take
Chelsea hostage. Make a weapon and threaten to bash her belly in with it. Anything
to create a distraction.’

                ‘Wow,
you really weren’t kidding when you said crazy. What if they hurt Kylee?’
she replied.

                My
inner wolf didn’t like her challenging my order. But an Alpha did what was good
for the whole of a pack, not just one, and Chelsea more than anyone, would
understand. She wouldn’t want any other girls to get pregnant.
‘Then you
hurt Chelsea. Just enough to get their attention.’