Page 20 of Noah

He kept going and going until eventually he thought he must have imagined the metallic groaning creak.

He redoubled his efforts when he heard Ren’s weaker moan.

There was a rattling sound as the hinges buckled around the door. A huge crack came from the door just as it finally collapsed. The metal groaning sounded like angels singing to him.

He could hardly believe it as he stepped back and looked at the crumpled door. It took effort to get it open. With angry joy ripping through him, he stepped through the entrance that had the imprint of his shoulder on it.

His grin was filled with savage delight when he felt freedom within reach. His eyes were drawn to the normally straight steel bar across the door that now lay in a mangled bent mess beside the crumpled door and his chest filled with anger. Beyond him, he saw a cold steel hall.

Passing his cage door, he raised his lips and spat on it.

Although Noah could have escaped, he turned towards her small cry. He couldn’t leave her now…not now. The beast would never happily leave her vulnerable to those psychos, he knew that.

Driven by an innate sense of protection, he was willing to risk his safety to ensure Ren’s and felt a connection he couldn’t explain. He knew he had to stay and protect her from danger.

He didn’t understand the connection. He still felt prickly about Ren, half sure about her and half not. He couldn’t abandon Ren here, not to suffer the pain they would inflict.

In the hallway, he twisted left. The long steel box stretched out before him like a cavernous chamber. He sniffed the air and detected a lingering fear scent coming from his female. The scent rolled over his tongue as he followed its trail.

He found the door and keeping his claws ready and his senses open, he used his claws to push the door open. Nudging it with his foot, he heard chatter on the other side.

A dividing wall made it impossible for them to see him.

There was a strong smell of blood in the air, and he heard his female whimper.

His lips lifted again, and he suppressed the growl in his throat. He edged closer. He needed to figure out how many people were in that room and how to get her out safely.

“How much has she had?” asked the male captor. Noah had no idea who these people were, but he recognised their voices.

“She has high blood pressure, and I don’t like it,” another male said. “Don’t forget she was hypothermic. It might be too much strain on her body.”

“There’s no doubt that he’s taken an interest in her. We don’t want to kill her before the animal mounts and breeds her,” a female voice said.

He made a face. What kind of female speaks so easily about another being used in that way? Not to mention the males. While they thought he was a creature, he was not the one breeding out his species while keeping an arrogant attitude.

When the chuckles came and he only heard three distinct voices, he smiled and edged around the corner.

He was unprepared for what he saw. Ren looked pale, perhaps even paler than when she was ill. There were IV lines in her arm. One of the lines was dripping blood.

It was as if Ren’s life was draining away drip by drip. Two bags of fluid stood beside each other, one clear and one cloudy.

Ren’s eyes rolled into her head.

He longed to see her beautiful eyes looking at him so that he could reassure himself that she was okay.

Seeing her limp body on the table reminded him of when they drugged him. He grimaced at how awful and heavy she must be feeling.

In the brief time she had been in his cage, Ren had been through a lot.

To her tormentors, Ren was nothing more than an object that could be moulded as they saw fit.

The female was standing near an instrument tray. She looked ready to pick up an instrument with a sharp blade. He couldn’t let the female get near Ren with it because if she threatened Ren with it, Noah would halt, and this would be for nothing.

Before they could blink, he entered the room and grabbed the blade. His claws were fast enough to deal with the first male.

The male looked surprised as blood ran down his t-shirt like a shower of red. Grasping his throat in alarm, he grunted and gurgled, bleeding from his throat.

He wouldn’t last long, and Noah had no regrets about what he’d done. The male had no purpose in the world. He was a monster, and the world would be better off without him.

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