Finding Course

11

Katherine.

I stood in the snow with the wind rushing past so loud it hurt my ears. "Why do you have to be so stubborn? This blood bond is hard for me too. Listen, I get that you're an Alpha. Im sure it's intensified for you, but it affects me too. You don't think my wolf has a pull to you when you're around? Or that it hurts when we go a week without contact? Because it does, Zane!" I was breathing heavy with emotion, and being cold out in the freezing snow. He looked at me with a curious gaze, as if he was debating saying something.

"Kat-" his voice was cutoff and his eyes widened. His hand reached forward like he was straining to say something. "Run," he whispered and I only barely heard it over the wind.

"What?" He fell over into the snow in front of me. His large form collapsing at my feet. Immediately, I bent down to check if he was okay, what was wrong, why he collapsed but I lost my muscle control. A sharp prick stung my back, causing my muscles to lock up. It was painful, but not unbearable. What was happening to me? I tried desperately to reach Zane, to link someone else in the pack.

'Sophia?' I called, before everything went black.

As I woke, everything hurt. My muscles, head...my joints were stiff. I groggily opened my eyes and realized I was secured to a chair. As I started to wriggle around I felt my wrists and ankles restrained. Thick metal rings held them in place against the chair. I saw Zane across from me, awake and in the same position as me. He was still dressed in jeans and a dark navy t-shirt from when he came to my house. Looking down, I saw I was still in my pajamas. Whoever took us didn't decide to bring my bathrobe with. Our bare feet rested on the white carpet. The whole room was white, it was sickening. "Where-" I began to ask but was interrupted by a voice on an intercom.

"Thanks for joining us, Katherine." The man's voice had an odd accent to it. I couldn't place it, but it definitely wasn't from around here. My gaze turned to Zane who was avoiding my eyes. His dark brown hair was ruffled, and his brooding eyes appeared to blankly stare at the floor.

'Where are we?' I asked through our link.

'Not sure. I have a pretty good idea, though.' At least he would talk to me through the link. My eyes widened as I tried to link Sophia again, hoping she and the others could help us, but nothing went through. It was like there was a block on any other pack member.

"If you're trying to reach your pack, you're out of luck, I'm afraid. A specially designed frequency has cut you off from them. It's just us here." There was the voice again. He sounded Austrian, or something similar. I still couldn't tell.

"Who are you? Where are we?" I asked, my voice wavering. Zane still avoided my eyes and focused on the floor.

"Welcome to SATEP. Or, Supernatural Animal Testing for Environmental Protection. We are pleased to have you join us for our research." I saw the one sided mirror and automatically assumed the voice was watching us from behind there.

'Zane, please tell me someone is coming.' He finally met my eyes and gave the ever so slightest shake of his head.

'I don't know.'

"We are grateful for your participation in these studies. To speed things up and assist with our milestones in science, we have some enhancements."

"Enhancements? What does that mean? Why are we here? Let us go!" I screamed. I didn't understand why Zane wasn't trying or moving more. I looked at him incredulously.

"Calm down, there's no need for a panic. If you need some calming serum like we administered Zane, I would be happy to oblige." They drugged him. I stopped struggling and asking questions and stared at him in concern. A second later, part of the white wall opened up. Through the door, a man walked over to them. He held two syringes on a metal tray, with various vials. The vials contained different color liquids, and I knew what their intent was. He wore charcoal gray scrubs and had dark skin. From first impression he appeared to be a medical worker of some sort. My pulse quickened as he set the tray down next to us.