Feral | ✓

FERAL: chapter thirty-two

"Gray!" I call out, but it's no use.

His attention is completely focused on Cloud. I shake him roughly, but he pays me no attention.

"Gray!" I try again.

An unfamiliar scent drifts into my nostrils and my eyes quickly scan the room.

Someone's here.

The scent is strong but I can't pinpoint where it's coming from. I move to walk around and scan the room for any hidden hiding areas when a snarl grabs my attention. Turning back around, I see a huge wolf lunging at Gray who's paying no attention whatsoever.

"Gray!" I yell out.

Gray doesn't turn around. I try to move closer to him, but I won't make it in time. Before the wolf can connect with Gray, another jumps in the path. I recognize the wolf to he Everest and he hits the floor with a thump.

Gray still isn't paying attention. Letting out a frustrated growl, I raise my hand and slap him. Gray's head snaps to me and he blinks twice in confusion.

"We need to go!" I tell him again.

This time he actually listens. The wolf begins to rise off the floor and he moves to attack Everest. Gray quickly shifts and tackles it to the ground with a growl.

As the two fight, another wolf enters the lab and I tense up. I realize the wolf isn't an enemy when it moves closer and I catch its scent- it's Novak.

Novak nudges Everest slightly before he helps him up and out of the lab. Some of the warriors begin to move Gaius towards a van and I start to follow when a scent hits my nose. Snapping my head towards one of the doors, I open it and move inside. Nobody's there, but I can feel someone's presence.

I walk around the room while keeping an eye on the door. My senses had definitely become stronger now that I've shifted again. My eyes search for anything that seems out of the ordinary and nothing stands out at first. I almost walk out of the room when something catches my attention- a vent.

None of the other rooms have vents.

I move towards it and through the slits, I can see Dexter's eyes. A growl escapes me and I move to open it. He tries to move away, but once it's open there's nowhere for him to go.

"Ony-" he starts to say, but he doesn't get to finish when I yank him out.

As I stare at him, anger fills me. This is the man that kidnapped me, that stole years of my life, that aided in harming my mate.

I want to kill him.

I want to watch him die- his body fall limp and lifeless. Despite my feelings, I decide to knock him out instead, knowing the council would probably want to take him.

When I leave the room, I see the wolf laying on the floor as Gray and the warriors manage to force him to shift back. Once he's in human form, I notice it's Michael. Gray and the warriors are able to drag him out of the lab. One of them moves to take Dexter from me and Gray reenters once Michael is secured.

Gray moves and picks up Cloud up, with the help of Moses, before we walk out. As we leave, I can't help but repeatedly glance over at Gray and Cloud.

What was the relationship between the two of them?

I had a bunch of questions but decided it would be best to keep them to myself.

The three of us walked to a van and I immediately smelt Gaius' scent. Moving inside, I took a seat beside his slumped over body. Gray begrudgingly placed Cloud in the van beside me with a frown.

"You know you can ride in the van, right?"

Gray stared at me for a minute before shaking his head. He backed out and closed the door. Outside of the window I saw him regrouping with the warriors who had ran rather than rode in a van. The only change was that Foster was now with them. He looked tired and a little beat up, but otherwise alright.

After a few minutes, Gray's howl echos and we take off back towards the pack. My eyes fall to Gaius and I hesitantly push his hair out of his face as if he would break the moment I touched him. His scent was the same, he looked the same, but I wasn't sure if he truly was my Gaius.

My mind flashed back to the dark red eyes he had earlier and I frowned.

Was my mate okay?

Stop it, Onyx.

Shaking my head, I pulled him closer to me and sighed. Even if he wasn't the same person he was before, I'd still be there for him. At the end of the day, he was still my mate. He was there for me when I was stuck in feral form and now it was my turn to repay the favor. I'd be by his side through thick and thin- even after he got better.

As we drove, I managed to catch sight of some of the other vans and frowned at the thought of all the people that had been suffering at the hands of Michael and Dexter.

We had managed to capture them both and I was sure the council would handle them, but it didn't feel like a win.

It felt like even though we won the battle, the hard part was still to come and in this case, the hard part would be rehabilitation for all the traumatized captives.

Staring over at Cloud, I felt more determined. We would manage to help them even if it took time. Hopefully some of them would be reunited with their families in the future too.

We wouldn't give up; I was sure of that.

We would help them.