Page 95 of Tethered to the World
If she was wrong, they were all dead.
Acid churned in her gut as she pulled on the darkness around the wolf. To her surprise, the beast began to dissolve, the particles scattering throughout his body, the blast of it kicking her out of him. She stumbled back, watching as Giles roared, his fangs descending, his eyes turning feral, his claws slicing through the tips of his fingers.
His hair thickened and grew, the wounds shrinking, his skin healing over.
Then he dropped to his hands and knees, panting as he struggled to control his shift. “Giles?”
He slowly lifted his head, his arms shaking almost too hard to hold himself off the floor. When he peered up at her, his beast hovered just beneath the surface, but he was holding steady. “Are you okay?”
He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing, but he nodded. “What did you do?”
Annora shrugged, because she sure as hell didn’t know.
“Holy shit.” Vicki whispered in awe.
A few of Tyson’s goons stood protectively at Annora’s side, and she stared at everyone in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
Everyone gaped at her.
“Only the strongest of alphas can do partial shifts,” Vicki whispered reverently. “You—you—”
“She did shit.” Tyson roared, glaring at Annora with pure loathing. “Fall back in line.”
When no one moved to obey, a snarl curled his lips. “If you aren’t with us, you’re against us. They can always use more lab rats.”
Before anyone could move, he lunged out the door, slamming it behind him, the locks engaging just as three of his wolves crashed against the metal barrier. Then everyone turned toward her as if she had all the answers. “Does anyone have the code for the door?”
“Yes, but only for the doors inside the labs. The outer doors have fingerprint scanners.” Tyson’s lieutenants stepped forward, pressing in the code, and the door clicked open. When a few of the other wolves glanced at him, he shrugged. “I saw him punch it in the keypad.”
Annora nodded, grabbing the door, but paused before she headed into the hall. “They aren’t going to let me go without a fight.” She turned toward the lieutenant, hoping she could trust him. “Can you take the others and hide them?”
“Where are you going?” He narrowed his eyes, looking ready to protest.
“I’m going to see if I can get us out of here.” There was no way she could leave without destroying every piece of information they had on file about her, and a pang of self-loathing threatened to gut her at putting her needs ahead of their lives.
But she couldn’t allow her secret to get out or they would never stop hunting for her, never stop killing others to gain power. She tried to convince herself she was doing the right thing, and silently vowed to do whatever it took to get them out of here alive. “You need to be ready to move. Tyson seems to be enough of an asshole to go tattling to the bosses. Is there anywhere you can keep them safe until I can get the doors open?”
“I know a place, but you’ll need to work fast.” The lieutenant ran his fingers through his wild hair. “It won’t take them long to find us.”
“I can run maintenance on the cameras and knock them out for about an hour.” A young kid piped up.
Another one stepped forward. “A few of the others are just looking for an excuse to leave. I can spread the word to them, and they’ll look the other way.”
They were willing to risk their lives to help her.
“Are you sure? If you’re caught—”
“They won’t get caught.” The lieutenant interrupted, and the two kids nodded, determination hardening their expressions.
“Thank you.” Gratitude welled up in her. As if taking her words as approval, the others headed toward the door. The lieutenant held back, waiting until they were alone.
“There are a lot of us who want out, but we’re trapped. We have to obey our alpha.”
“Why is now different? Why rebel to help save us?”
He gave her a frank look. “You’re an alpha, maybe one of the few strong enough to beat him. If you defeat him, we would be honored to join your pack.”
But Annora was already shaking her head. “I’m not a shifter. I can help you get free of this place, but the ones you want to follow are either Giles or Lionel. They’re the alphas who will keep everyone out of trouble. They’re tough, but fair.”
