The first few rooms were being used for storage. Upon inspection, the spaces were surprisingly well organized, with metal shelves storing various useful items. The industrious Dr. Bowman had been busy since they’d nearly caught him last time. One room was full of cleaning supplies, another labeled with medications of all kinds. Jax took an interest in these.

“Before we torch the place, we need to gather this stuff. Maybe it will give our own doctors some helpful research into what these fuckers have been using.” He fingered a labeled bottle. “And some free meds, too, if there are some good drugs here.”

“Good point,” Ryon said.

The next room held shelves of clothing. There were the drab green scrubs that were meant for their doctors and other staff. Some others were plain, consisting of rough tan pants and pullover shirts. Kalen wondered if these were for their unwilling residents, which didn’t make sense. Malik’s lackeys had never seen fit to clothe their test subjects before. They didn’t care about them that much.

“Maybe they got tired of their experiments dying,” Jax observed, studying the clothing. “Won’t matter after today what those assholes wanted, though.”

They filed back into the hallway, watchful. At a junction where their corridor was met by another on the left, an armed human guard stood leaning against the wall with his back to them. His stance was relaxed, bored. That would be his last mistake.

Jax quickly sneaked up behind him, grabbed his hair, and jerked him backward. A cry of surprise was silenced as Jax used a sharp claw to slice the man’s throat and allowed him to slump to the floor. The guard gurgled, reaching to his neck, but the light in his eyes faded. He was dead in moments.

Kalen’s bloodlust rose, hot and shameful. He needed to kill. The next one was his, and he’d enjoy every second.

Good, my son. Feed your need. It matters not what your Pack believes they’ve accomplished today. What matters is that you use this as your training. Give in to your desires and we’ll rebuild together. No one will stop us then.

Dammit, the Unseelie had broken through. The hypnotic words tightened their grip on his soul. He could take out the guards, all the staff here, and that was acceptable. He could channel this need without risking his friends. Right?

A bead of sweat rolled down his face. Control was hard. He wanted to give in to the seductive darkness. Needed to.

As expected, the actual labs and holding areas for the captives were located in the middle of the building. They knew they were upon them when sounds of activity reached their ears. There was a voice here and there. The roll of a cart’s wheels along the tiled floor. Beeping from a monitor. An assistant inquiring as to which subject would be brought to the OR next.

And Dr. Gene Bowman, answering, “Bring the wolf to OR-4. I want to try and splice his DNA with human subject 356 again. I’m on the verge of a breakthrough. I can feel it.”

Did you hear that, Nicky? Ryon asked. Then he nodded to Kalen and the others. “His group has taken out the guards in the front and they’re approaching from the other side of this central area. We’ve got them boxed in.”

To everyone, Ryon said, Let’s wait and see where they retrieve this captive from and who he is.

They didn’t have to wait for long. Dr. Bowman disappeared, presumably into OR-4, and the assistant buzzed into a cell by punching a silver button on the wall across the hall. It seemed this setup allowed their captives to be conveniently located right next to their torture chamber. The bars slid open and the assistant went inside.

When the lackey came out, he was dragging a tall man with long, filthy golden hair that hung to his waist. He jerked his captive and for a moment his body faced them before both men vanished into the OR.

“Goddamn,” Jax hissed, fists clenching. “That was Nix!”

“Those sorry bastards,” Ryon said, his voice low and deadly. “Let’s go get him and bring him home.”

They’ve got Phoenix! We’re on the move.

They closed in fast, and Kalen could see Nick round the corner at the other end of the hallway, the rest of the team behind him. Kalen glanced into the cell the lackey had retrieved Phoenix from and spotted three more figures huddled together in misery. For now they’d be safer where they were.

Ryon led the first strike as they burst into the OR. Bowman looked up, shock blooming on his face. The man grabbed a nearby scalpel and brandished it over Nix’s inert body, but the weapon was scant defense against a roomful of enraged Pack brothers out for his blood.

“I’m gonna tear out your fucking heart,” Jax snarled. Then he pounced, taking Bowman to the floor. The man’s scream as Jax ripped him apart echoed eerily in the enclosed space. The asshole had it coming. He’d hurt and killed so many in the search of world domination, and now it was over.

Kalen turned toward the assistant, who had managed to pull a gun from his lab coat. Throwing out a ball of energy, he zapped the weapon out of the man’s hand, and Ryon took him down, ending him in the same manner as the doctor.

Hammer glanced around uneasily. “Is that it? That was too easy, man.”

And then the world exploded into chaos. Literally. All around them, the very walls of the research facility detonated, blowing them off their feet. Kalen’s back hit a counter hard, and then he was thrown to the floor. Pain radiated through his vertebrae, and he sucked in a sharp breath only to get a lungful of debris.

He coughed as dust and dirt rained down. Chunks fell from the damaged ceiling, which threatened to cave as well. Where the hell was everyone?

Wiping the grit from his eyes, he saw his group struggling to rise. The scent of blood hit his nostrils and this time it wasn’t rancid. The aroma was sweet and delicious, and he instantly recoiled. The blood belonged to his Pack brothers. He wouldn’t betray them.

Kill. It’s what you do best.

“No.”

He pushed to his feet, and his heart sank as more Sluagh emerged from the shadows. Malik had sent them here. This was another test. Kalen wouldn’t fail. But for which side?

Sounds of battle came from somewhere beyond them. Nick’s group. There was no longer a corridor or distinguishable rooms. Just a mess of ruined walls and rubble.

His friends threw themselves into battle with fervor, dispatching Sluagh right and left. More took their place. Using his claws, Kalen slashed, stabbed the beasts’ hearts. He used rapid-fire balls of energy to take some down before they could overwhelm his brothers.

But somewhere in the fight, the line began to blur. The craving for the next kill, and the next, mounted with each life he took. It was all too easy and satisfying. Watch the light die; take the next one. Death and more death. So good.

The darkness took him and he was powerless against it. Without a sliver of the light to guide him, the need to deliver death knew no bounds. He turned, searching for his next victim, to find himself staring into wide, light blue eyes, the face surrounded by layered blond hair.

Ryon.

“Kalen! Don’t—”

The Sorcerer’s hand whipped out almost of its own accord, and he gathered a massive ball of energy. This one would burn right through his opponent’s heart, leave nothing but scorched flesh in its wake. And death. Bittersweet and delicious.

But before he could release the fire, a body slammed into him, knocking him to the dirty floor. He roared, trying to dislodge his enemy, to no avail. He fought to gain purchase. Barely understood the words shouted near him.

“Christ, he’s gone feral! Hold him!”

Nick?

He struggled harder, but more bodies held him down. He hated being pinned. When men did this, it was for one reason only.

And then he went wild. It was all they could do to subdue him.