Page 22 of Pack Rivals: Part Two
Taking a deep breath, I open the door and we step through. It’s like stepping through into another world. The outside may look like a run-down warehouse but the inside has been kitted out like a clinic. Everything is white and sterile. It’s also dark. It’s after hours and whoever works here has gone for the day.
Not all of them though.
I’m surprised by the lax security. It makes me think whoever is organizing this shitshow, doesn’t know what they’re doing. Or maybe they never thought they’d be intercepted.
“It smells just like the fucking omega clinic,” Axel whispers by my ear. “Minus the freaking floral candles.”
I nod. Through my balaclava I can smell the omega scents as well as cleaning solutions and, what alarms me the most, alpha scents.
I motion Hardy forward. “How about Bea’s scent? Can you pick it up?” There’s a trace of it in the air, but my nose has never been as good as Hardy’s. He’s like a hunting dog.
His nostrils twitch, and his eyes swing back and forth in their sockets. Then he points towards a door.
“That way.”
It’s locked again, but it only takes a minute to fry the electronics and we’re through into a dimly lit corridor, doors lining either side. Through some of the darkened windows we can see what looks like labs, test tubes and flasks collecting dripping chemicals, and various complicated machines resting on the countertops.
It’s creepy as hell and an involuntary shudder shuffles down my spine.
“What the hell is this place?” Angel whispers.
“Fuck knows,” I reply.
Hardy leads us down the corridor where it splits in two directions. He frowns.
“What?” I ask.
“Her scent crisscrosses here. She could have gone in either direction.”
“Then we split up. Axel and Connor you come with me. Nate you go with Hardy and Angel.”
Angel doesn’t look best pleased about having a loose cannon like Nate on his team but at least he’ll have Hardy to back him up. I’ll be alone with just Pack York.
“Remember,” I tell them, “the omega is the priority here. We grab her and we get the hell out. Anything happens, we’re not waiting around for the other group. Grab the girl and go.”
I look at each of them sternly. I don’t think we’ll have any problems. I don’t expect Axel York to act the hero and save my ass. It’s not like we’re a close-knit group of friends here, who’ll have each other’s backs. Not any more anyway.
Axel, Connor and I take the left turn. The others take the right.
Down this corridor the labs give way to what look like hospital rooms. They are all pretty bare, only a bed and various clinical machines in each. We open doors and peer inside anyway, even though we know they are all empty.
“I don’t like this,” Connor whispers. “It’s too quiet, too empty. I think we’re too late.”
My heart sinks. He’s right. It’s after hours, but this place is kitted out for a lot of people to be working. Surely someone would be here after hours.
I’m not giving up, though, not until we’ve searched this place ten times over, top to bottom, back to front. Not until we’ve checked every room, closet and cupboard.
At the end of this corridor is another locked door. I disengage the lock for a third time and we step through into absolute chaos.
An alarm blares, a red light swings around in circles and we can hear people shouting in the distance.
We glance at one another, and then we’re running, all three of us, our feet pounding the ground.
There’s a crowd of three people gathered outside a room. They’re all dressed in white coats, and as we race towards them, they swing their faces our way. Horror and shock painted on each one.
What the hell is going on?
“Hands up,” I yell, my weapon trained their way. “Hands up and up against the wall.”
