Page 48 of Primal Bonds 1

Back to me, Fred said, “He really was choking and wheezing and like maybe even peeing in his pants, too. He was shaking severely, like very severely, and he was begging and stuff. It was disgusting how he begged. Like he laughed at us for begging, and then it was his turn to beg and he deserved that, you know.”

I couldn’t believe these two saw the real action right before their eyes. Didn’t that mean The Beautiful Monster came to save them?

“He warned them,” Harris said. “That if they ever step foot in his territory or hurt us again,us the beastkin, he’ll hunt them down and kill the lot of them.”

Fred nodded his head furiously. “Yeah. But to be honest, I don’t think many of them would have been left alive after last night. When we got out and were brought here, there were like heaps of men in black suits going in and beating the crap out of those gangs.”

Harris said, “Yeah. Tony is probably dead.”

Fred said, “Or at least half dead. Those men don’t usually let them go that easily.”

“Who are those men?” I asked.

“The mafia,” Fred said. “I mean, yeah, they’re scary, but when you live in their territory, at least they protect you from gangsters like Tony.”

“And they don’t treat you like shit like normal people do,” Harris said. He glanced to the door and continued lowly. “This clinic is run by them, you know. The owner, Dr. Chase, he’s connected to the mafia.”

Fred nodded. “I heard he gets donation from the mafia, and it’s like in the millions.”

Harris said, “That’s why us beastkin can come here to get free treatment. If we go to a normal hospital, we’ll get put into the institute in no time.”

“You want to know why the institute can never step foot in the city and do a big raid?” Fred asked.

I had always wondered about that. There were lots of beastkin living in the backstreets in the city, and the institute knew this, but why had they never done a raid like they had done before, the likes of which I had experienced back at that neighborhood eight years ago?

Fred said, “It’s because of the mafias. It’s their territories. If the institute even stepped foot in, they’d be at war.”

Harris nodded. “And no one wants to go to war with a mafia clan. All the big bosses are alphas.”

I frowned.

That word again. Alphas.

“What’s an alpha?” I asked curiously.

“Huh? You’ve never heard of an alpha?” Fred asked.

I shook my head. I had been locked up in the institute most of my life, so any stories outside were off-limits. Besides, the only thing I ever thought about back then was to keep sane from all the abuse and trauma. Not to mention keeping myself, Kuro, and Aka safe, and planning on our escape.

Harris said, “An alpha is a hybrid beastkin. They look like a human but can shift into either an alpha or primal form.”

Fred took over. “In their alpha form, they have ahuman body but animal ears, tails, fangs, and they glow because they have this cool supernatural ability.”

Harris nodded. “In their primal form, they’re fully in their beast mode, like if they’re a wolf, it’s a fully formed wolf, as in like a werewolf, you know.”

I widened my eyes. Human form with animal ears, tail, fangs, and their body glowing. Wasn’t that like the image of that man in my head? But had I really met an alpha before? When? I just couldn’t remember.

And he looked like Adam. Or at least had Adam’s face. But could Adam be an alpha? According to Fred and Harris, an alpha did have a normal human form, unlike us beastkin.

“What are you boys talking about?” Janet’s voice came from the door.

I jolted and Fred and Harris gasped. Fred stammered, “Nothing.”

Janet chuckled. “Chatting about the alphas, are we? It isn’t just an urban legend?”

Harris said, “It’s not just an urban legend, Janet. The alphas are real.”

“Okay,” Janet said. “No more chitchatting please. Time for bed. You boys need to get some good sleep to heal.” She switched off the main light, leaving only a small one on in the corner of the room. “And remember, if you need anything, just—”