CHAPTER 5

The nurse held out a syringe and said cheerfully, “Doctor Vivian will be thrilled to hear the experiment was a success.”

What experiment? Benita thought. She winced as the syringe pierced her arm.

“There we go,” the nurse murmured as she pushed the plunger down. Benita felt the liquid seep into her bloodstream, cool at first, then warm, spreading fast. A strange numbness followed. Not just in her arms, but in her chest, her throat, her thoughts. What is this?

The nurse leaned down, whispering, “I’ll be back in an hour. By then, you should be awake, and the test should have worked,” she said, and left.

Benita opened her eyes right away and touched her arm where the needle had gone in. She sat up and, surprisingly, she did it with ease. A moment ago, she could barely move.

What had the nurse given her?

She walked to the door, but as soon as her hand touched the knob, she dropped to the floor. Her head pounded. Her heartbeat was too fast. She couldn’t feel her wolf.

Benita opened her eyes, looking around in fear. She could hear voices from kilometers away.

She screamed silently, clutching her head as the voices overwhelmed her. She tried to stand, staggered, and leaned against the door, breathing hard.

She shook her head again and again. Eventually, the pain dulled just enough for her to open the door and step outside. She was still wearing a hospital gown, but this place didn’t look like any hospital.

Armed guards filled the hallways.

Benita managed to slip through quietly, but just as she neared the exit, one of the guards spotted her.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to be out here,” he said.

Benita turned slowly, trying to look clueless. “The nurse told me to step out for some fresh air,” she said with a smile.

The man narrowed his eyes. “We don’t let test subjects out. That’s a lie.”

Realizing it didn’t work, Benita bolted toward the exit. The man shouted for backup and ran after her.

One of the guards pointed a gun at her. “Stop right there!”

Benita raised her arms and did as he said, but when another guard came closer to grab her, instinct took over. She grabbed him and snapped his neck like it was nothing. Even she was stunned.

The other man fired, but Benita held the dead one in front of her as a shield. More guards closed in, and she hurled the body at them before making her escape.

She ran out of the building. But surprisingly, there were no roads. No cars. Just endless woods.

She sprinted through the trees, her head pounding again as the voices returned, louder than ever.

Benita screamed, holding her head. The pain made her stop. It eased briefly, just enough for her to start running again.

She didn’t know how long she’d been running, but the guards were still behind her.

She heard other voices far ahead apart from the men chasing her. Her ears were sharper than ever and those voices made her groan.

Benita ran in the direction of the voices and she finally saw people.

They stepped back in fright because she was covered in blood. Her hospital gown was torn and dirty from the woods.

Benita stood by the roadside, the guards closing in fast behind her. She didn’t care about the cars passing and ran straight into the road.

Drivers honked, swerving to avoid her. Her headache spiked again. She screamed, her hands on her head, standing in the middle of the road, overwhelmed.

She didn’t hear the car coming. By the time she turned, everything went black.

"Do you think she's the one?" His inner wolf, Darius, asked.

He was silent for a while.

"Blonde yellow hair. She's just as you described," Darius said again.

"Oh, oh, she's waking up," Darius added excitedly.

Benita stirred in her sleep, the voices wouldn’t stop ringing in her ears. She flashed her eyes open suddenly, and he was staring right at her.

"Do you think she feels the mate bond too?" Darius whispered.

“Quiet,” he gritted his teeth.

Benita suddenly screamed, remembering what had happened moments ago, and he jumped.

“Who are you?” she cried.

She moved toward the corner of the room in fright, breathing heavily.

"You scared her," Darius whispered again.

“Will you stay quiet?” he snapped out loud.

Benita glanced at him, then down at her body. There were no bruises, no scratches.

“I... "I thought I got hit,” she muttered, her brows furrowed.

“You panicked and fell in the middle of the road.”

“Why did you bring me here? "You’re one of them, right?”

"I told you, we should have gone earlier," Darius mumbled.

“What did they do to you?” he asked, stepping closer.

Benita leaned backward as if she could sink into the wall. “Don't come closer,” she warned.

“Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Rohan.”

“What do you want from me?” she demanded, glaring at him.

“I mean no harm, I promise. I'm not one of them.”

She hesitated before inching closer to him. The moment she was close enough, she shoved him away and bolted toward the door, then ran out.

She dashed down the stairs toward the exit, his footsteps echoing behind her.

She burst through the front door and into the night.

She didn’t care where she was, she just needed to run. Her feet pounded against the dirt path, her lungs burned, and the wind lashed her face. Behind her, she could hear him.

“Wait, Benita! Please!”

How did he know her name?

She stumbled, but caught herself. No, no, she had to keep going.

Branches clawed at her arms as she pushed deeper into the woods, her heart hammering against her ribs.

They sent him, didn’t they? One of Rina's schemes again.

Her foot caught on a root, and she slammed into the ground with a painful grunt.