THE ALPHA I BURIED

THE GIRL IN THE CELLSTELLA'S POV

Darkness hovered around me, dense and impenetrable. I floated in it—soundless, lightless, powerless. Then, like a ripple on quiet water, pain intruded. A headache exploded behind my eyes. My body, even as it was restrained, throbbed with a strange heat.

I opened my eyes.

The world welcomed me with antiseptic white light and the beeping of machinery. Chilly air brushed against me. Silver chains wrapping around my wrists and ankles glowed softly, chafing my skin with each breath.

Panic took over. I tugged hard on the restraints, and was repaid with searing pain. Silver. It sapped my strength instantly, pulled out my reserves like a drain. My heart sank in my ears.

Where in the devil was I?

Before me was a concrete glass wall, and behind it—darkness. Watchers. I jumped. It was cold, detached.

Subject 9?

No. I was Stella. Stella.

But the rest of my name, my past, was a blur. I remembered the warehouse. The Raju Pack. Blood. Shrieks. And then nothing.

Then agony.

There was an explosion of fire in my chest. My heart was racing. My veins were on fire. I twitched, struggling for breath. My nails lengthened for a second before dropping off. My eyes burned—yellow for a second before their color returned to normal.

A scream from the observer room rang out.

"The gas is working faster than expected," a tight voice replied. "She's building up a tolerance."

I was not building up a tolerance.

I was supposed to be weak.

But they had no concept of what I could do.

INSPECTOR ROSE'S POV

"Double the dose," I ordered. My voice echoed through the room.

The scientists hesitated. "But, ma'am, increased levels of exposure can prove lethal to her."

"Do it," I growled. "We need her conscious but submissive. Not wild."

The gas hissed again into the room.

I stood there as Stella—if that was even her name—collapsed back on the bed, eyes fluctuating. The silver held her, but only barely. This girl. she wasn't any rogue. She had the reflexes of a killer and the agility of a high-blood wolf.

Something wasn't adding up.

"Begin the interrogation sequence," I told the techs.

One of them, Dr. Leyden, stepped forward. "You mean mental probe?"

"Yes. Let's see what she's hiding from us.”

The door groaned open.

Rose stood there, gun c****d.

"Move away from her, now."

"Too late," said the man.

He pressed a button on his watch. Explosions shook the compound.

Sirens shrieked.

Smoke filled the corridors.

The man grabbed my arm. "We run. Now."

I didn't waste any time.

TO BE CONTINUED.