Page 26 of Meeting Her Mate
“Alexis?” I called out.
The floor plan was immense. There was just one large room on this floor, with several glass walls and glass doors serving as barriers. Test tubes, pipettes, beakers, and flasks containing multicolored chemicals were placed along the shelves and tabletops. The air smelled of ammonia and nitrogen. A pungent smell if there ever was one.
I stepped into the fifteenth floor, scouting the surroundings for signs of anyone here. From where I stood, it was hard to scan this maze of tables and shelves and lab equipment. I began moving inwards, pushing doors that swung soundlessly, letting me deeper into the laboratory.
It was only when I saw the syringes lined up neatly that the terrible memory of Edward injecting me with chemicals resurfaced in my mind, paralyzing my senses.
Had it not been for the bond’s electricity coursing through me, I would have cowered there, frozen with fear, but I realized that something bigger than me was at stake here: another person’s life.
“Alexis? Where are you?”
I perked my ears when a faint, muffled sound came from deep within the laboratory. I raced through the lab, slamming open doors, and finally came to a terrifying sight.
On an operation table, with all four of her limbs strapped and her mouth gagged with a cloth, Alexis lay helplessly, her eyes showing absolute fear.
“Ah, I was wondering when you would show up,” a deep voice said from behind me. My impulse took over, and I jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a crushing blow from a gas canister. I shot one look at Alexis to gauge how much she had been tortured. Her nose was caked with dried blood, and her face was bruised purple.
What wretched good-for-nothing had lifted a hand on her? I swiveled around and saw the man who had just tried to hit me.
He bore an uncanny resemblance to my captor. The same hair, jawline, and eyes.
“Before I rip you apart, muscle by muscle, limb by limb, tell me what you have done to her!” I roared. This time, I welcomed the rage that flooded through my body, filling me with manic strength.
“Ah, I did nothing to her except knock her out. This one believed that you wouldn’t come to save her. I told her nonsense! Of course, the great Wilhelm Grimm, the fabled werewolf, would come to save his mate,” the man said and laughed. He set the canister on the floor and walked over to where I stood.
“I believe introductions are in order, although, I must say, I already know everything there is to know about you,” the man said. “I, Wilhelm, am Blair Beckett, son of the man you so violently murdered on his deathbed.”
My eyes began seeing red. My body began quivering uncontrollably. I grabbed ahold of the metal railing of one of the tables and steadied myself. “Free her, and I may grant you the mercy of explaining your actions before I take your life.”
“Ah, so violent. So angry!” Blair laughed. “Why would I free her, Mr. Wilhelm, when I want to kill you in front of her? I hear there’s a special sort of pain reserved for wolves when they see their mates die. A pain so strong that it drives them insane.”
“I am about to introduce you to some pain that’s going to drive you insane,” I said.
“So be it! A battle! Ever since I saw my father’s mutilated corpse in his bed, I have been yearning for the opportunity to take revenge! Fate has been so kind to grant me the opportunity,” he said.
“Do not speak to me of fate!” I yelled and threw myself onto him. I grabbed him by the sides and crashed him into a glass wall.
Immediately, Blair kicked me in the midriff and pushed me off.
“My father was a pacifist. He did not believe in fighting. His was the domain of the mind. I’m not like him. You see, I believe in the ability to defend yourself. You will find that my resolve is equal to yours.”
“You talk too much,” I said, getting up to my feet.
“Ah, ah, tsk, tsk. Would it be a fair fight if you shifted into a wolf? Come on now, let’s not resort to cheap measures. There are enough lethal chemicals at my disposal in this lab that would drop you dead within seconds. If you fight me, you fight me as a human,” Blair said, lifting his hands and coiling them into fists.
“So be it,” I said, rolling my hands into fists of my own.
I finally gave in to the rage that I had been wrestling with. I let it control my fists. I let it possess my body. I dodged each blow that Blair threw my way and advanced upon him with a frenzy coursing through my veins.
My first blow crashed my fist into his chin, and my second blow knocked the air out of his lungs. I wasn’t done. I brought my knee up in a quick arc and hit him in the face, feeling a deep satisfaction as my kneecap connected to his teeth. Then I grasped him by the shoulders and flung him across another glass wall.
For all his talk, he was a meek fighter. He just lay there, writhing, unmoving, moaning.
I turned around and went to Alexis. I undid the four straps that tied her to the table and stripped off the tape from her mouth.
“You came,” she whispered.
“I…”