We were getting closer to Allison, at least I thought we were getting closer. I'd been working through the directions in my head. They'd been vague to say the least, but I was pretty sure I was on the right track. 

We hadn't seen anyone on our way and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or bad. I tried to convince myself that I wasn't seeing them because they were with the other guys. They were all held up at the fight with the rest of our men. 

We made another turn and we were in a hallway with bright fluorescent lights. I had to squint at first. 

Allison had to be close. 

I turned again, Jason following close behind and that's when we saw them. Two men were standing outside a door and I knew we had to have found her. There was no way they would have two guards standing outside of an empty room. No, they were guarding someone, I was just hoping to the gods it was Allison. 

Jason's foot kicked something on the ground and we heard the echo as it moved across the floor. I cursed under my breath and watched as the guards turned toward the sound. Toward us. I hid behind the corner and listened for the sound of footsteps. 

I heard one set on the concrete floor. There was really no point in hiding. They were going to come over here toward the sound and they would see us. We could back track, hide behind the other wall, but the fact of the matter was we would have to go up against them eventually. There was no way they would leave their post. If they were indeed guarding someone, they wouldn't just walk away. 

"We're going to have to fight. Now," I whispered to Jason before stepping around the corner. 

I'd misjudged the sound of his steps and I was face to face with the man. I didn't think, I just moved. My arm went back before swinging forward again, my fist getting him in the jaw. I heard a crack from the impact and as he went down I saw the other person running toward us. 

Jason went around going toward him. 

The man at my feet stood back up and I backed away, putting a little space between us. I called on the Alpha power within me. The one that gave me more control over my wolf that most had. I felt my hands shift into claws. This wasn't a full shift, and it wasn't the partial shift. It was just the shift of my hands. The long talons came from my fingers. Lethal weapons. 

Tonight was a full moon, I didn't even have to use lethal force with my claws. A simple scratch would turn them. 

I quickly moved forward again and grabbed a fist full of the man's shirt. 

"Is she in there?" I growled. 

The man didn't look like he was going to talk. I lifted him off the ground and backed him against the wall. 

"I asked if she was in there!" My patience was nonexistent. 

I hissed and dropped the man, moving back quickly. I looked at his hand, a small dagger there, shining with blood. I looked down at myself. Blood was starting to spread against my t-shirt. He'd stabbed me in the side. 

What worried me was that it had been with silver. The wasn't going to heal quickly, and while I was sure that he hadn't hit anything vital, I wasn't sure that I wouldn't bleed out before we got out of here. 

I felt the growl vibrate through my chest and I saw the man's eyes go wide. He'd never faced a werewolf before. I was his first. If I wasn't as pissed as I was now, I may have felt sorry for him. His first werewolf and he was going up against an Alpha. 

I used my speed and rushed forward. One clawed hand wrapped around his throat as I stared into his eyes. In the horror I saw there I knew my eyes were shifting back and forth with my rage. 

"You made the wrong decision going up against me. I'm an Alpha who will always protect my people. Anything under my protection is off limits." It came out low, not even a growl, and I think that scared him more. "Now, you will pay the price."

My hand around his throat tightened and the four fingers on one side raked across, digging through deep until they met my thumb. I'd sliced through nearly half of his throat. The warm blood ran across my hand, gleaming in the bright light. The look of horror stuck on his dead face. The last thing he felt before he died. 

I dropped him to the ground, his body flopping limply, the deep gashes showing the inside of his throat as the head lolled to the side. 

I turned toward Jason and the other man and started walking slowly while I saw them fighting. Neither one had the upper hand in the fight and I just wanted to get in that room. I reached behind with my bloody hand and pulled out the gun. I aimed it forward and pulled the trigger. 

I heard the bullet sail through the air and I watched as it entered the man's forehead. The hole went right between the eyes and he fell back. He didn't move again. 

Jason turned around, looking at me with wide eyes, taking in my state. 

"Stand watch. I'm going in there."

He nodded and did exactly as I'd said. 

I tried turning the knob, but when it didn't move, I jerked hard. It broke free from the door and it swung open slowly. 

The room was pitch black except where the light from the other room filtered in. In a corner I could see a foot just at the edge of the light. My eyes adjusted, allowing me to see in the dark and I could see it was Allison cowering in the corner. 

She probably had no idea it was me, the light coming from behind would completely obsure all features. 

I crossed the distance quickly and I heard a sound of panic from her. 

"Hey, hey. It's okay, it's just me." I whispered the words lightly as I crouched down to get on her level. I knew she hadn't been afraid of me, she'd been afraid that she didn't know who it was. But still it had hurt seeing her shy away from me. 

"Alarik?" Her voice was small, hesitant. I'd gotten hints of that when she'd finally made it through to communicate with me. 

Her body shook and I realized it had been a sob. She was crying. All of a sudden her body lurched forward and her arms wrapped around my neck. 

I felt my heart swell with the touch, that same spark flying through me with the contact. I felt my heart break at how broken she was. I hadn't been able to see much in the dim lighting, but it had been enough. She was in bad shape. 

"I knew you would come for me. I-I never doubted it," she whispered. 

I could tell it was a lie, and I think that broke me even more. I'd felt hopeless before, and while I was out there losing hope in myself, Allison was in here, losing hope in me. 

My arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer to me, careful to keep her away from the wound. I could feel the bones in her back through the shirt she had on. Her thin arms wrapped around me. I could feel her ribs as her body was pressed against mine. 

I felt my anger flaring up with each passing second. The war going on within me. I was happy, I had Allison in my arms and I wanted to just get her out of here and go right this second. But I was also pissed beyond belief. I could see the way they'd treated her and I wanted to rip them all apart. 

"Are you ready to go?" I asked her. 

"Beyond ready."

Allison stood up on shaky legs and gripped my hand tightly. I could tell she was weak. She wouldn't be able to do what we could, she wouldn't be able to fight. I didn't say anything about it. I just nodded and we walked out. 

I felt Allison shrink away from the bright lights. She must have been kept in the dark for quite some time. 

When she saw Jason she rand over to him, wrapping her arms around her torso. I could hear her words, how she couldn't believe that he came as well. Him telling her there was no way he would let anything happen to her, that he would have searched the whole world for her. 

I knew his feelings were true, and I knew that Allison was attached to him on some level as well. That was just something I was going to have to deal with later. I couldn't let Alpha jealousy cause me to kill an ally when we needed all the help we could get. 

In the light I was able to see Allison better and it just made my rage rise even more. Not only was she skin and bones but it looked like she hadn't been taken care of at all. Her hair was a tangled mess, she was dressed in only a tattered shirt that went nearly to her knees, and there was dried blood all over her arm and leg. 

"Come on, we have to go," I growled. 

Jason moved quickly, mistaking my anger, thinking it was directed at him for their little exchange. While could have been true, there was something else bigger than that. As we made our way, I tried to keep the blood that was still soaking into my shirt from their line of sight. The last thing I needed was for one of them to see it and freak out. 

"Jason, take her out of here. I'm going to find the others and take care of this place."

"I'm not leaving you," Allison said sounding scared and desperate. 

I felt my heart break again. "Allison, he's going to get you out of here and safe."

"I'm not leaving unless it's with you." Her words were stronger this time. Determined. I looked past her broken exterior and into her eyes. There was no way she was going to listen to me. 

I nodded once and I could see the disapproval in Jason's eyes. If he wanted her to leave, then he could try to convince her. Allison had made up her mind and there was no changing that. 

I turned down another hall and started making my way back to where we had split off from the others. When we got close, we could hear the fighting still going on. I couldn't believe that it was still going on as long as it had taken us to get Allison and get back here. 

"There are others too," Allison said. 

"What do you mean?" I asked turning back to look at her. 

"They came in to watch- to watch the experiments. I don't think they were counted in the initial numbers for guards, but I'm pretty sure they can fight."

I could see bits and pieces, flashes of images in my head. I knew they were coming from Allison, that with both of our emotions running wild we had little control over what was coming or going through the bond. I took a deep breath and had to fight myself. I didn't want to do this again, the last time I had, it led to Allison's capture but right now I needed to be able to focus. I threw a wall up, blocking Allison from me so pieces wouldn't leak in anymore. 

It wasn't that I didn't want to see any of it. I wanted to know exactly what happened. I just couldn't do it right now. Every time something came through it distracted me from what I was seeing in front of me. And none of the images that I'd seen had been good. Nothing that I'd felt from her had been good and it only served to make me even angrier. 

I felt Allison shift beside me as she felt the wall go up and she looked at me knowingly. She squeezed my hand tightly and I squeezed back before continuing on. 

The fight was going on just around the corner. I wanted to tell Allison to wait right here, to let me go around alone but I had a feeling that she wouldn't listen to me. I needed to try anyway. 

"I need you to wait for me. I'll be back but I want you to stay right here. Can you please do that?"

To much my surprise, she nodded a yes. I put both hands on the side of her face and brought my lips to hers. The kiss was intense, filled with the unsaid thoughts between us. It was like we were trying to drink each other in. I tried to memorize the way her lips felt against mine, the way she felt pressed against me. 

I hoped she would do what I said, that she would stay right there. 

I pulled back, both of us out of breath. I looked deep into her brown eyes, the only indication of how broken and yet how incredibly strong she was. 

I wanted to kiss her again, I wanted to just walk out of here with her because I was starting to think that was the only way we were going to get out of this together. With each second, I was doubting that I would be leaving. 

But I couldn't walk away. Those men in there were in my care. I had to get them out of here as much as I had to get Allison out. I couldn't abandon them, not when they came all the way out here with me, for me. 

I had felt the dizziness coming on from the blood loss. I turned away from Allison and looked down at the spot where the blood was. Silver, the most inconvenient thing. It would have stopped bleeding by now if it hadn't been for that stupid metal. 

I gritted my teeth and stepped around. Jason followed beside me and when we were far enough away I turned to him. 

"If anything happens I need you to get her out of here. I don't care if you have to drag her out kicking and screaming, you get her out."

Jason's head tipped down in a nod and then his eyes went down to the large dark patch on my blue shirt. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but he didn't say anything and for that I was grateful. 

"Now let's go."

********************

Allison has been saved. Well... she's been broken out of her room at least. We'll have to see if she stays put and we'll have to see what happens with Alarik, Jason, and everyone else. Coming up in the next chapters. 

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