The Wolf Within (22 page)

“I’m sorry,” he whispered again.

Her hand dropped. “I just…I couldn’t let you die.”

“And I’m not going to let my brother die.” Because Connor would die. With the battle coming to this prison, all of the inmates were at risk. Some would escape, some would die.

“He’s a killer, Duncan. He deserves to be here, but you don’t.”

He could still taste her. Duncan turned away from Holly. Straightened his clothes. His fangs hadn’t gone away yet. Why not? “He was taken away by whoever the hell it was that killed my family. I remember him screaming for me, but I was locked in that closet, and I couldn’t get to him.”

There was silence behind him.

“I’ll get to him this time.” A vow. “He’ll tell me what happened to them. To me.”

“And then what? You take him out, and you two walk into the sunset together?” Her laugh was bitter. “You’re a vampire now, and he’s a werewolf. He’s also out for your blood.”

He glanced back at her. “I’m not leaving him.” That was all he knew for the moment. He’d find Connor, and then…well, he didn’t know what would happen after that. “According to your brother, this prison is set to erupt in a matter of hours.”

Her eyes widened.

“Elias was a plant. Someone wants the Para Units to fail, and that same someone wants Purgatory to fail.”

“But if the prisoners get out of Purgatory—”

“Then Pate thinks a war will come. He says the vamps have been starved. That the werewolves are too close to losing their control. They’ll get out and go wild.” Because they had the baddest, most dangerous prisoners there. “He didn’t bring me here as punishment. He brought me here to stop that hell from coming true.”

Her lips parted in surprise even as she took a step forward. “I’ll help you.”

“No.” Absolutely fucking not. “You’ll use your power over the guard, and you’ll get him to take you out of here.
Now
.”

“So you can fight them all on your own? You can’t do that. You’re just—”

“According to Pate, I’m the only vampire and werewolf hybrid in existence. All of the strengths of both creatures, none of the weaknesses.”

A furrow appeared between her brows. “Alpha…”

So he’d been told. He just hadn’t realized what that meant at the time. He was betting that Pate had known though, all along. Tricky bastard.

“That jerk,” Holly whispered. “He set this all up.”

Duncan suspected he had.

“So what? You’re supposed to take on all the prisoners here by yourself? That’s insane!”

“Not all of ‘em…just the asshole who thinks he’s in charge.” Because there would be one leading the pack. There always was. Once he took him down, the others would follow.

Or at least, he hoped so.

“I can
help
you.”

He shook his head. “No, you’ll make me weak.”

Her indrawn breath was painful, and dammit, he hadn’t meant the words that way, but they were the truth. Physically, he was strong. Amped up paranormal, yeah, he had that whole bit going on. But Pate was wrong when he’d said that Duncan didn’t have a weakness.

He was staring at his weakness. “If one of them gets to you, I’ll lose it.” The painful truth.

“Duncan…”

“You matter to me.” Mattered so much that he was
glad
she’d transformed him. Because the transformation meant that he had a chance to be with her. Not just for a few years, but maybe forever. “If I thought you were in danger, I don’t think I’d ever be able to hold onto my control.” He huffed out a hard breath. “So don’t stay, understand? Use the guard and get the hell off this rock before the battle comes.” Then he went back to her. Because he had to. One more time. “I’ll find you. We’ll both be more than just monsters.” A man. A woman. Maybe with a future?

The wound on her neck had already healed. He could feel her, though, inside of him now. “Get out and stay alive.”
For me.

She nodded.

His shoulders wanted to sag in relief. Instead, he kissed her once more. Had to do it. Then he headed for the door.

“Don’t you want to know why?”

He’d unbolted the door. Duncan didn’t glance back at her.

“Aren’t you a little curious…” Holly pressed. “About why I couldn’t let you die?”

“No.” Because he already knew. Duncan shoved open the door. “You love me.”

And he…well, he was insane for her. Obsessed. Consumed.

To him, she was everything.

That was why he had to leave her. If anyone at that prison realized how important she was, he’d be lost.

Not an alpha. Not the warped hero who was supposed to swoop in and save the unsuspecting humans out there.

If anything happened to her, he’d just be…lost.

Because the vampire who’d bit him held his heart in her hands.

***

When the doors closed behind Duncan, Holly didn’t move for an instant. Her clothes were back on. Her body was still flushed, and pleasure still pulsed within her.

She couldn’t move.

Duncan was walking away. He knew how she felt, and he was just leaving her.

Because I’m his weakness?
She wasn’t sure how to take that. She’d come there, so desperate and breaking every rule she’d ever known, in order to save him.

Now he’d told her to leave.

The door swung open. Brent stood there. “The guard took Duncan to general population.”

She was supposed to just leave him?

No, she couldn’t do that. She’d stay out of the fight. He could go play alpha, but when the bloodbath was over, he’d still need someone to get him out of that hellhole.

She’d sworn not to leave him behind, and she wouldn’t. No matter what.

Holly cleared her throat. “Go find my brother. Bring Pate to me.” The control was so easy to her now that it was frightening.

Brent nodded and hurriedly left.

She stared at the infirmary around her. She’d need some sort of weapon, just in case. Everyone in this place seemed to have fangs and claws, and her compulsions wouldn’t work on other vampires.

She jerked on a lab coat. If any other guards came by, she wanted to make sure that she blended well. She searched around a moment, and then Holly picked up a scalpel. Silver. She wondered why the doctors had silver scalpels in stock. Actually, now that she looked at the instruments, they were
all
made out of silver. Odd. Silver surgical instruments would just increase the pain for the werewolf patients.

Did someone want them all to hurt? The thought chilled her.

But hadn’t Duncan told her that the vampires were being starved? Pate had billed this place as being a humane place to hold the dangerous non-humans. She clutched the scalpel tightly. Just what was happening in Purgatory?

“I thought I smelled something sweet.”

The dark, low words had her stiffening. She shoved the scalpel into the pocket on the right side of her borrowed lab coat, then spun around.

She’d expected to see a guard. Because prisoners shouldn’t be wandering loose, right? Some asshole, horny guard who thought he’d make time with the new female doctor.

But…a man in a dark gold prison uniform stared back at her. He wasn’t alone. Two others, wearing the same matching prison uniforms, were behind him. The man in the middle was big, about six foot three, maybe four, with dark black hair that had grayed slightly near his sideburns. His face was hard, so rough, and his eyes—

They looked just like Duncan’s.

The same glowing, bright blue that his gaze became when the beast ruled him. She could even see the shining flecks of gold in the center of this man’s eyes.

His eyes were like Duncan’s, but his face was an older version of Connor’s.

She’d been right. Duncan’s father hadn’t died all of those years ago.

Hadn’t died, but he sure might have
killed
.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she said, lifting her chin and trying to brave her way through whatever the hell was happening.

He inhaled. “Vampire.” He said the word the way some men might say…
chocolate
. Like he was about to savor a treat.

Her knees locked. Her fangs burned. “Get out.”

He smiled at her. “Vamp females always have a certain scent but you…you don’t just smell like a vamp.” He stalked toward her. His gaze raked over her. “There’s wolf all over you.”

There was about to be silver
in
him if that jerk didn’t back off. “Guards!” Holly yelled.

He laughed at her. “You don’t know how things work around here, do you?”

Duncan couldn’t be that far away. Had he heard her yell? She hadn’t really yelled for the guards. She’d yelled so her lover with his enhanced hearing could pick up her cry.

“Smells like you’ve been fucking in here.”

Her face seemed to ice.

“Nothin’ like fucking a female vamp…except of course…killing one.” Then he lunged toward her, with his claws up.

She brought up her scalpel and didn’t waste her breath on another yell.

The werewolves were housed in the south section. The vampires were to the north. At least, that was the spiel that the guard had given him.

Where are you, Pate?

The heavy, silver doors slid shut behind Duncan, and he found himself in a big, cavernous room. Dozens of men walked around, but they all froze when they saw him.

Not men. Werewolves.

Every single one of those guys wore a glowing silver collar. Collars all just like his. Pate’s little invention had sure been shopped around.

So this was the general werewolf population. Only he wasn’t seeing Connor in that mix.

His gaze drifted up. The cells were on the second level. Silver cells to imprison them when it was time to lock up the monsters again. Guards walked along that second level, guns gripped tightly in their hands. No doubt, those guns were filled with silver bullets.

Growls reached him then. Snarls of fury. His gaze turned back to the werewolves. The group was closing in on him, and some of those faces were familiar.

I put some of them here.
Shit.

“
You
,” snarled a werewolf on the right. Judd Orton. A werewolf who’d slaughtered five women on the coast. “I dreamed of slicing you open.”

Duncan shrugged. “Better me than the humans you attacked.”

“
You’re dying!”
Judd jumped toward him. His claws were out and the silver was burning his neck.

Duncan punched him, driving his fist right into the werewolf’s face. Blood spurted as Judd’s nose broke, and Judd flopped to the floor, screaming.

The other werewolves stopped advancing.

“
Alpha
…” A low whisper that came from another convict that Duncan recognized. Charles Rist. He’d enjoyed killing children. That twisted freak should
never
see daylight.

Duncan let his gaze sweep over them all. “Who’s next?”

Charles came for him. Running and snarling, even as smoke rose from the burning skin on his neck. He swiped out with his claws, slicing Duncan across the stomach.

And Duncan swiped out with his own claws. He gutted Charles, and the werewolf fell to the ground, screaming.

Duncan expected shots to rain down on him from above, but when he shot a quick look up at the guards, they hadn’t moved.

What the hell?

But he wasn’t about to lose focus then. “Next,” Duncan said, and it was a demand.

Only no one else stepped up. Their gazes were on the moaning Charles, and then, one by one, the men lowered their heads.

“Alpha.” Clear. A growl from them all.

Duncan stood before them, body tense and ready for battle. “Why aren’t the guards attacking?” His voice was low, designed to carry only to the paranormals near him.

One man, a werewolf Duncan had never seen before, glanced up quickly at the guards, then his gaze darted to Duncan. The werewolf looked young, barely over twenty, and his face was so pale. “They like to watch us fight each other.”

What?

“When we kill each other,” the young werewolf continued, “that’s one less prisoner for them.”

The werewolves were backing away from Duncan. Slinking away. No more challenges? This was too fucking easy.

Only the pale werewolf was lingering. “You’re gonna be dead soon,” he said as he swallowed. He licked his lips. “You…you don’t want to challenge for alpha.”

Challenge for it? Hadn’t he just damn well won the title? The competition had been slim.

But the werewolf crept closer even as Charles crawled away. “They weren’t saying you
were
alpha…they were saying…s-saying they’d let the alpha take you out.”

Oh, really? “So where the hell is he?”

“He…he sliced open the last new werewolf and went with the guards to the infirmary. They…they let him do whatever he wants. He said…” The werewolf glanced over his shoulder. “He smelled something sweet in the air and w-wanted a bite.”

The thunder of Duncan’s heartbeat echoed in his ears.

Something sweet.

There was only one sweet thing in Purgatory. And he’d
left
her in the infirmary.

“The last werewolf,” Duncan forced himself to speak. “Did you get his name?”

A fast shake of the guy’s head. “He went down too fast. Alpha…the alpha knew him. Said h-he’d finish him this time.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Duncan spun away and ran back for the silver doors that had sealed behind him. He shoved his fist against those doors. “Let me out!” He had to get back to the infirmary. Back to Holly.

She’d said that she would leave.
Be gone. Please, be gone.

The door began to dent beneath his hammering fists. Guards shouted for him to stop. Oh, now they were getting involved? Screw that.

The escape was supposed to go down at any time. They were cutting it to the wire. The alpha was
gone
. Duncan was betting that his trip out of general population had been perfectly timed so the fellow could work on the escape. Like there’d be an escape without the alpha’s permission.

Don’t be near Holly. Don’t. Be.

And he was in the wrong damn place. If he’d just stayed with her for a few more minutes…

The plan was screwed.