I had to remind myself that she’d agreed to this to lower her prison sentence, and that in the end, this entire research study was for the protection of the country.

Loud bangs of flesh against metal and growls drowned out the woman’s sobs. Both Dr. Urwin and Dr. Axell sat up straighter.

“Showtime,” Dr. Axell mumbled just as the steel door burst open and the furious alpha’s growl vibrated off the glass separating us from the two test subjects.

I recognized him the second my eyes landed on him. 351. The man, the alpha, I hadn’t been able to get off my mind all weekend. Three burly guards wearing padded armor and masks to cover their noses shoved him into the room with metal poles attached to steel collars around his neck and arms. Once they’d shoved the naked alpha far enough into the room, they detached the poles with practiced expertise and slammed the door shut behind him.

The feral alpha turned around at the door faster than I’d thought humanly possible, but it was too late. His fist impacted with the door instead of the man who’d been pushing him in via the collar around his neck.

Snarling in fury, he drew his nails down the door as if they were claws. The sound cut through my brain and made me grit my teeth.

“Is it good to have him this agitated before the… the mating?” I gave the poor woman on the bench a pitying glance. If I’d been locked in a room with an alpha of 351’s size and current fury level, I’d have wet myself from fear. I didn’t know what she’d done to land herself in prison, but part of me hoped it had been truly terrible. The thought of someone having to go through what was in store for her due to too many parking tickets made my insides twist—even if she seemed to want it pretty badly.

“It helps—anger is such a primal response, it makes the transition to mating easier. Don’t worry, once he catches a whiff of the female, he’ll funnel all that aggression into something far more useful,” Dr. Axell said. “351 has done this many times before. He knows the routine.”

I don’t know why that statement made my discomfort at the scene unfolding in front of us even greater, but it did. I frowned at the feral alpha as he paced in front of the door, the sound of his angry growl unwavering.

Despite Dr. Axell’s reassurance, for the longest time 351 didn’t seem to even notice the woman moaning pitiful pleas for him to mount her. He only paced and growled without taking his eyes off the door, like a tormented animal in a cage, for the better part of ten minutes.

“Well, this is unusual,” Dr. Urwin finally said. “She’s definitely giving off the right scent—we nearly had an incident with one of the guards on the way here.”

“Maybe we just need to catch his attention by other means,” Dr. Axell murmured. He leaned forward and pressed a button on the panel in front of his chair. A loud beep blared through the room, making me jump nearly a foot out of my chair.

On the other side of the glass, 351 whipped around, all his corded muscles tensing. But it had the desired effect—he finally seemed to notice the tied-up woman on the bench. His growl lessened a little, though it still remained a constant rumble as he circled her with a cautious look. When he walked around the other side of her so his front faced the windows, it was quite obvious his body was beginning to respond to her scent.

I paled at the sheer size of him, too gobsmacked to do the decent thing and avert my gaze. The intimidating pole of flesh between his thighs looked as thick around as a Pringles can, with maybe half the length. Wincing in sympathy with the trapped woman, I instinctively crossed my legs.

She, however, didn’t seem to have any hesitations. Realizing she’d finally gained the alpha’s attention, she lifted up her backside as much as her restraints would allow and emitted a keening sound that made Dr. Axell shift uncomfortably next to me. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and noticed the notepad covering his lap. Apparently even esteemed men of science weren’t entirely above the laws of biology—at least not this close to a woman in heat.

But on the other side of the glass, 351 seemed to be hesitating. After circling the breeding stand twice, he pulled away and returned to the door to resume his pacing.

“What the—?” Dr. Axell pressed the button again, sending another blaring beep through the room. The feral alpha swung around and snarled at the window separating us from the room—and then froze, eyes locked on me.

“C-can he see us?” I asked, unable to take my eyes off the alpha on the other side of the glass as he slowly walked across the room, shoulders hunched in a defensive posture and that icy gaze not moving from mine. For some reason, a wave of guilt gnawed at my gut.

“Yes, they can see through the glass, but not hear us,” Dr. Urwin said.

I don’t know why I reached forward and put my hand on the glass—maybe it was an apology, though I didn’t know why I felt so guilty. Maybe it was just to support myself from the woozy feeling rolling through my body from 351’s unwavering stare.

The feral alpha came all the way up to the window—and placed his hand on the glass opposite mine.

“What on Earth is he doing?” Dr. Axell growled, irritation clear in his voice. He reached forward and hit the button again, sending a blaring beep into the air.

I jumped again at the unexpected sound—and 351 snapped.

I could see it in his eyes, the second that sound echoed through the room. They went pitch-black like a predator’s, anything remotely human on his otherwise so handsome features disappearing in the blink of an eye. Fury so intense it made the blood freeze in my veins radiated off the huge alpha as he turned his attention toward Dr. Axell. And then he attacked.

The window vibrated as the wild alpha pounded on the glass with both fists, the strength in his coiled muscles unleashing blow after blow on the only barrier separating us from the feral beast.

The first crack in what I was sure was meant to be unbreakable glass made me shriek, and even Dr. Urwin began to look pretty worried.

“Dr. Axell, maybe we should…”

Dr. Axell nodded, irritation still clear on his features as he glared at the attacking alpha. The scent of alpha aggression rolled off him in waves, which didn’t exactly help calm down my wildly beating heart. He leaned forward and pressed another button—a microphone. “We need the heaviest dose of tranquilizer. And bring stun guns, just in case.”

Only a few seconds later, the door behind 351 burst open. He turned around, ready to launch himself through the opening, but the newcomers were prepared. Two darts pierced his flesh before he could take a step toward them, one in his chest and one in his thigh. He wobbled, growling furiously as he fought against the tranquilizer, but it was no use. With a small whine he turned halfway, catching my eyes once more. In his gaze I saw fear and a sorrow so deep it made my heart clench.

Then his sea-colored eyes closed and he slid to the floor with a thud. Out cold.

I shook as I watched the armed men drag his unconscious body out of the room, fighting against the tears stinging my eyes.

As frightening as I’d found his fury, that look haunted me long after the heavy steel door closed, leaving only the sobbing woman tied to the breeding post behind.

OceanofPDF.com

5

“Here, I think we could all use a cup of coffee right about now.”

I gave Dr. Urwin a grateful smile as he offered me a steaming mug. “Thank you.”

The low sobbing from the woman still tied up on the other side of the windows made me look back at him and Dr. Axell. “Shouldn’t she be untied?”

“That would be cruel.” Dr. Axell clicked a couple of buttons on the control panel, but what they were supposed to do I couldn’t tell—as far as I could see, nothing happened. “Her heat won’t break before she’s taken a knot, not at this stage. We will have to use another alpha subject to complete the test. A pity—we were hoping to have 351 pair-bonded by the end of the day.”