Chapter 136

Mira

I was a wolf again.

And I knew I was dreaming, so I could control it.

I ran and ran, uninhibited and untethered to anything or anyone. I could feel my independence, that there was no purpose to my existence except to enjoy my life in the wilderness.

Perhaps that was my true calling. Not to live in a Pack and rely on others, but to live a solitary life surrounded by trees and plants that nourish and heal.

“Mira!”

A voice behind me, almost recognizable, but far enough away to be distorted.

I didn’t care. I kept running.

Running as fast as my legs could take me, testing my own limits and feeling my body heave and respond and propel me ever forward. Nothing matter but this movement, this journey ever forward.

“Don’t! Stop!”

The voice again, taking shape more in my ears. Who was it?

“Mira, please, look out!”

Dominic.

I turned my head slightly to look behind me, and then suddenly the ground was underneath me. I had been snared and caught in a net.

No, not a net. A web.

The sticky strands were tightening and tightening like a cocoon around my body, sucking the air out of my lungs. I felt it crawling up my neck, in my hair, over my eyes. Just as the threads weaved their way over my nose and mouth, I woke up.

— — —

The bedsheet was wrapped around my face and I fought to free myself and gulp in the fresh air. I stared out the windows are the trees, knowing I would need to take myself on a run to get these feelings out.

It was still early, but I knew I wouldn’t go back to sleep. The trees were quiet as I ran between them, only a few birds starting to tweet out their morning calls.

Malachi called a meeting for the staff in the lab first thing, and I had a feeling I knew what it would be about. It had been two days since Julian had disappeared into the wilderness and the search team was no closer to finding any trace of him.

I had to pretend to be disappointed that they hadn’t found him.

“Obviously,” Malachi was saying, “it is difficult to lose anyone among our team, our community. We will continue to look for him, and only hope that he is unharmed.”

There were some shifty glances among the Betas in the room, and it seemed like something more was going to happen here.

“For now, we continue on with our work,” the doctor continued, “and I will keep you updated as needed moving forward.”

He seemed to be wrapping up the gathering, but was stopped by a voice across the room.

“Are we not going to address the person responsible?”

Everyone in the room held their breath for a second.

“Excuse me?”

Malachi turned to find the person who had spoken, and a Beta named Tobias took a step forward to own up to it. He was proud of his opinions.

“Her,” he said, pointing at me. “She was the reason he went missing. Don’t you think she had something to do with it?”

Malachi looked at him, then at me, then again settled his eyes on Tobias.

“No.”

His voice was stern but not angry.

“No?” Tobias would not believe it. “Are you kidding me? You think she escaped here once just to come back and play mad scientist with you?”

“I’m not play—“

“Mira, you don’t have to respond to that,” Malachi said, holding up a hand. “Beta Tobias, you are out of line. If you are questioning my decisions, you may address your concerns to me. But we do not hurl accusations at one another like schoolchildren. It is unsightly.”

Malachi spoke to Tobias like he was a schoolchild, and I found myself thinking that Tobias probably was a child not many years ago. The hair on my arms stood on end, but I wasn’t quite sure why.

“Now,” Malachi said, “apologize to Doctor Grey.”

The name caught me off guard. I had never been referred to with the name of my husband and his Pack. It was like someone had thrown cold water into my face. I missed Dominic so much that it seared across my chest, like being struck with a whip.

“I will not apologize to someone undeserving,” he said defiantly, chin raised in the air. “An insincere apology is worse than none at all.”

Malachi’s face was smooth as he stared at the insubordinate young man in front of him.

“Detention,” he said calmly.

A short laugh escaped my lips, not because it was funny. I had been thinking of schoolchildren, and now Malachi was holding him after school? I guessed it had to mean something else than what I knew from my high school.

Then I looked at Tobias’ face, and my heart dropped. You could see that he was still a boy as he tried not to freak out and cry after what he’d been told. But all he did was nod once, then turn like a soldier and walk out of the room.

I would have to find out what ‘detention’ really was.

“If no one else has anything they’d like to add to our agenda…”

The majority of the people in the room were looking down or away, not wanting to fall next under Malachi’s judgment and sentencing.

“Back to work, everybody.”

People shuffled about, heading off to their stations or back to their respective corners of the compound. I caught Malachi as he was walking out.

“Thank you,” I said quickly, “for standing up for me.”

“It has nothing to do with you, personally,” he said curtly. “There are facts and I am relaying them.”

And yet he went out of his way to stop the inquisition against me. I wondered if more people doubted me, and if I should be watching my back.

“Either way, I appreciate your support. In all of this.”

He stopped walking and looked at me, and placed his hand on my shoulder. His thumb rubbed slowly up and down my collar bone. I tried not to move.

“Anything I can do to help you,” he said, “I will do. You are invaluable to me, to the work.”

He gazed at my lips, then smiled and took his hand away.

“There is one thing, actually,” I said, keeping in there. “I was wondering if I could meet with some of the chil— the subjects.”

Malachi turned his head slightly.

“I wanted to see how they are responding to my stabilizing tincture,” I explained, “and I need first hand accounts. There’s only so much I can glean from a piece of paper.”

“I understand,” said Malachi, “I’m afraid I can’t take you down myself, but I’ll let them know you’re coming.”

“Thank you.”

“I will warn you though,” he added, “it may not be a pleasant experience for you.”

I thought I knew what he meant, but I was not prepared.

As soon as I entered the hallway five faces appeared in the windows of the doors. One disappeared quickly.

“I’m Doctor Mira Grey,” I said gently, enjoying the sound of the words together. “I’m the one making herbal remedies. I’d like to speak with you, only if you’d like to.”

Another face disappeared.

“I just want to talk,” I said, stepping a bit further into the hallway. “I want to hear how you’re doing, if you’re feeling anything after taking the new herbs. There’s a mushroom in there that’s good for you brain.”

“I hate mushrooms.”

I looked to my left, to a girl probably fifteen years old.

“Well, this one is special, and it’s broken down so much that you don’t even know it’s a mushroom. You just get all the good stuff inside the mushroom.”

She squinted at me, thinking me completely uncool.

“Why not just inject it right into our blood, into our brains,” she said, tilting her head in a sassy way. “That’s what they all do anyway.”

“That’s an exaggeration,” I said, hoping I wasn’t wrong, “and I am here to help you recover from any of the more…intense treatments you have to undergo.”

She said nothing. I looked behind me to the two faces still at their windows. They were watching, listening.

“I want to make sure you all live long, healthy lives, inside and out of here.”

The girl laughed then. A mocking and angry laugh, darkening her eyes. She quieted down and stared at me.

“No one gets out of here alive.”