The Runaway Alpha's Feral Mate

Chapter Four

Liam paced the small confines of his guest quarters, unable to shake the image of Akira's disappointed eyes as he'd backed away from her. He'd spent the entire day buried in her case files, learning everything the facility knew about her—which was depressingly little considering the eight years they'd kept her imprisoned in various locations.

A soft knock interrupted his thoughts.

"It's open," he called, knowing it would be Eleanor. She'd been avoiding him publicly all day, maintaining the professional distance required by the facility's surveillance.

The door cracked open, but instead of Eleanor alone, two people slipped inside—Eleanor and a gangly young man with thick glasses and a security badge that read "Daniels, I.T. Department."

"This is Tommy," Eleanor said by way of introduction. "He's going to help us with our... project."

Tommy's eyes darted nervously around the room, his hands fidgeting with a tablet. "Dr. Voss said you need surveillance loops. I can do that. Totally undetectable. Not that I've done it before. Officially."

Liam raised an eyebrow at Eleanor.

"Tommy's been helping me access restricted files," she explained. "He's the reason I know about Kova."

"And why exactly is he willing to commit treason?" Liam asked bluntly.

Tommy's pale face flushed red as he stole a glance at Eleanor. "Dr. Voss has been really nice to me. Nobody else even remembers my name, but she brings me coffee. The good kind from her personal stash, not the sludge from the cafeteria."

Ah. That explained it. The classic crush-on-the-pretty-scientist scenario. Under different circumstances, Liam might have found it amusing.

"Can we trust him?" he asked Eleanor directly.

"Yes." Her response left no room for doubt. "Tommy knows what's at stake. And he has his own reasons to help."

The young man nodded vigorously. "My cousin was Otherkind. Wolf, like you. They took him three years ago. Family never heard from him again."

Liam stiffened. "I never said I was—"

"Dude, seriously?" Tommy interrupted, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Your heart rate runs ten BPM faster than human normal. Your body temp is a consistent 101.3. And you've got this... I dunno, vibe? Like you're constantly deciding whether to eat everyone in the room."

"Tommy's unusually perceptive," Eleanor said with a small smile. "It's one of the reasons I recruited him."

"Great," Liam muttered. "Anyone else figured out I'm not human?"

"Just us," Tommy assured him. "I disabled the biomonitors in your room. As far as the system knows, you're perfectly human with slightly elevated stress levels from travel."

Liam nodded, reconsidering the young man. Perhaps he wasn't just a lovesick puppy after all.

"We don't have much time," Eleanor said, turning serious. "They've scheduled Akira for comprehensive scans the day after tomorrow. MRI, CT, the works. They need baseline readings before transfer."

"The transfer to the northern facility?"

Eleanor nodded grimly. "A place called Eclipse. It's where they take subjects they want to... weaponize."

"You seem to know a lot about classified government black sites," Liam observed.

Something flashed in Eleanor's eyes—pain, quickly masked. "I have personal experience."

She pushed up the sleeve of her lab coat, revealing a small, intricate pattern on her inner wrist. Not a tattoo, Liam realized, but a birthmark. The kind only seen on—

"You're fae," he said quietly.

"Half," she corrected. "My mother was summer court. Met my dad at a research station in Alaska where he was studying aurora effects. Classic forbidden romance story."

"Half-fae can usually pass as human," Liam noted. "Why risk working here?"

"Because my full-blooded sister couldn't pass." Eleanor's voice had gone flat, emotionless. "Marisol was obviously fae—pointed ears, color-changing eyes, the works. They took her when we were teenagers. Said it was for her protection, that she'd be placed in a special facility with others like her."

"Let me guess," Liam said. "Eclipse?"

Eleanor nodded, dropping her sleeve back down to cover the mark. "By the time I got my credentials and security clearance, it was too late. The official record says she died from 'complications during routine testing.' What was left of her when they shipped the body home told a different story."

The room fell silent. Even Tommy, who seemed pathologically incapable of stillness, went absolutely motionless.

"I'm sorry," Liam said finally, meaning it.

"Me too," Eleanor replied. "That's why I can't let them send Akira there. Or her child. I've been searching for a way to help her since she arrived, but the security is too tight. Then I read your papers on cryptid ethics, saw how you embedded arguments against captivity inside academic language—"

"And figured I might help," Liam finished for her.

"I was hoping. Then I saw how you two looked at each other, and I knew."

Tommy cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, uh, what's the plan? Because security's gonna notice if the big frost lady just walks out the front door."

Liam shot him an irritated look. "The plan is we use the MRI as our window. Tell me exactly what happens during these scans."

Eleanor pulled up a protocol document on her tablet. "Standard procedure is heavy sedation. The collar interferes with imaging, so it's removed during the scan."

"They just... take it off?" Liam couldn't hide his surprise.

"Under controlled conditions," she clarified. "Three armed guards, maximum security restraints, enough tranquilizers to drop a bull elephant."

"But you administer the drugs," Liam said, eyes narrowing as he saw the outline of a plan.

Eleanor nodded. "I could reduce the dosage. Not eliminate it completely—they'd notice—but enough that she might maintain consciousness."

"Would she still have her abilities?"

"Probably diminished, but yes. The collar is the primary suppressor. Without it..." Eleanor trailed off.

"Frost city," Tommy supplied helpfully. "Like Elsa on steroids, from what I've seen in the surveillance footage."

"That gets her out of the scanner," Liam said, "but not out of the facility."

Tommy grinned, holding up his tablet. "That's where I come in. Already mapped the blind spots in the camera network. During shift change, there's a ninety-second window on the east loading dock. Service elevator goes straight there from the medical level."

"The elevators require security authorization," Eleanor added. "But my credentials work. We'd have exactly three minutes between the alarm triggering and full facility lockdown."

"Three minutes to get from medical to the loading dock, steal a vehicle, and break through the perimeter fence?" Liam ran a hand through his hair, calculating distances. "It's tight."

"It's impossible," Tommy corrected, "unless you've got someone creating a distraction. Lucky for you, I'm really good at those."

Liam studied the young technician with newfound respect. "What kind of distraction?"

"The kind that makes everyone look the other way." Tommy's earlier nervousness had vanished, replaced by quiet confidence. "I can trigger emergency protocols in the west wing—fire suppressant systems, containment breaches, the works. Security will have to respond."

"That's still cutting it close," Liam murmured.

"It's the best shot we've got," Eleanor insisted. "But there's one problem we haven't addressed."

"What's that?"

"You'll need to convince Akira to trust you," she said gently. "After you... well..."

"After I walked away from her," Liam finished. The memory of Akira's silver eyes dimming with disappointment sent a sharp pain through his chest.

"She needs to know the plan," Eleanor continued. "Needs to understand that when the collar comes off, she has to be ready—but not too ready, not suspicious-level ready."

"I'll talk to her tonight," Liam decided. "Request a follow-up examination."

Tommy snorted. "Good luck with that. She hasn't let anyone near her since you left. Threw a food tray at Johnson's head when he tried to take blood samples."

Great. Just great.

"I'll handle it," Liam said with more confidence than he felt. "Set up a private examination window for tonight. Two hours, no surveillance."

"I can loop the cameras," Tommy offered, "but audio's separate. They'll hear whatever you say."

"Then we'll need a reason for privacy that they'll accept." Liam thought for a moment. "Tell them I'm conducting a specialized communication assessment. Werewolf to... whatever she is. Primal vocalization patterns that might be disrupted by human observers."

Eleanor nodded approvingly. "Scientific enough to sound legitimate. I'll file the request."

"Which leaves one last question," Tommy said, tilting his head curiously. "What's your exit strategy? Once she's out, where do you go?"

Liam met Eleanor's eyes. "You've been working here two years. You must have connections in the area—people who could help, hide us until we can reach Kova."

"I might know someone," she admitted. "A pilot who runs supply deliveries to remote villages. Doesn't ask questions as long as the money's good."

"Can you contact them? Arrange transport?"

Eleanor hesitated. "Yes, but... you should know I'm coming with you."

"Absolutely not," Liam said immediately. "You've done enough. Stay here, maintain your cover—"

"They'll know I helped," she interrupted. "The reduced sedation will be traced back to me immediately. Besides, you'll need me to find Eclipse. The facility's location is compartmentalized—I'm one of the few people who knows exactly where it is."

Liam cursed under his breath. She was right, of course. "Fine. You come with us. Tommy?"

The technician shook his head rapidly. "No way, man. I'll cover your escape from here, scrub the evidence afterward, but I'm not field material. I get airsick on elevators."

"Fair enough." Liam turned back to Eleanor. "We'll need supplies. Cold weather gear, food, medical kit—"

"Already being assembled," she assured him. "I've been planning this longer than you think."

"Okay then." Liam took a deep breath, mentally shifting from fugitive academic to Alpha. "Tomorrow we gather supplies and finalize the route. Tommy works on the distraction protocols. Day after, during the MRI, we move."

"And tonight?" Eleanor asked.

"Tonight I see if I can convince an angry direwolf that I'm worth trusting after all."

As they left his quarters, Liam wondered which would be harder—breaking out of a high-security government facility, or facing those disappointed silver eyes again.

He had a sinking feeling he knew the answer.

---

The containment area seemed colder when Liam returned that night, frost patterns visible on the observation windows despite the climate control systems working overtime. Inside the cell, Akira was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is she?" he asked the guard on duty.

The man pointed to the space beneath the cot. "Won't come out. Hasn't eaten since yesterday."

Great. Exactly what they needed—a weakened direwolf for their escape attempt.

"Open it," Liam instructed, projecting confident authority.

"Sir, after last time—"

"Check your logs. Dr. Voss authorized a private examination. Two hours, no surveillance."

The guard verified the order on his tablet, then reluctantly unlocked the containment door. "Emergency button's by the door if she gets aggressive."

"That won't be necessary."

As the door sealed behind him, Liam stood perfectly still, listening. A soft growl emanated from beneath the cot—low, continuous, warning.

"I know you're angry," he said quietly. "You have every right to be."

The growling intensified.

Liam sighed and did something completely counter to the rational, human persona he'd maintained for eight years. He lowered himself to the floor, lying flat on his back, throat exposed—the ultimate posture of vulnerability for a wolf.

The growling stopped abruptly.

"I'm sorry," he said to the ceiling, not looking toward the cot. "I reacted badly. The mate-bond... it shouldn't be possible. Not twice in one lifetime."

A slight rustling sound indicated movement under the cot.

"My first mate died in my arms," he continued, keeping his voice soft. "Along with our unborn son. I couldn't save them. Couldn't protect them. So I ran. I've been running for eight years."

From the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of silver—eyes gleaming in the shadows as Akira peered out from her hiding place.

"Then I met you, and everything I've been running from caught up all at once." He swallowed hard. "I'm not running anymore."

More movement. Akira emerged partially from under the cot, her gaze fixed on him with predatory intensity. Her silver eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"I'm going to help you escape," he said clearly, knowing the audio surveillance was looped but choosing his words carefully anyway. "Help you find your son."

Her head tilted, nostrils flaring as she scented the air—checking for lies, he realized. Slowly, she crawled out fully from her hiding place, moving on all fours with inhuman grace until she loomed over him.

Frost formed where her hands and knees touched the floor. The silver collar around her neck gleamed under the harsh lighting, the skin beneath raw and irritated. Despite days without food, she radiated power—coiled strength and ancient magic barely contained in human form.

"Why?" she growled, the single word rough and accented.

Liam met her gaze directly. "Because it's the right thing to do. Because no one deserves what they've done to you. Because your son needs you."

She leaned closer, until her face was inches from his, silver eyes searching his for any hint of deception. "Mate," she said, not as a question but a statement, pressing one finger against his chest directly over his heart.

"I don't know what that means yet," he admitted. "But I'm willing to find out."

Something shifted in her expression—not quite trust, but openness. She sat back on her haunches, head tilted. "Plan?"

Liam nodded, relieved she was willing to listen. "The day after tomorrow, they're taking you for tests. Pictures of your insides," he explained, seeing her confusion. "They'll remove the collar because it interferes with the machines. They'll give you medicine to make you sleep, but Eleanor—the female doctor—will make it weaker than normal."

Akira scowled at the mention of sedation. "Hate sleep-poison."

"I know. But you need to pretend it works—until the collar comes off." Liam made a convincing mime of falling unconscious, then suddenly springing alert. "Once it's off, you can use your powers. Just enough to escape the room, not hurt anyone badly, understand? We need them confused, not vengeful."

She nodded, a predatory gleam entering her eyes. "Then what?"

"Then we run. Eleanor will help us reach the loading area where supplies arrive. There's a truck we can take. We'll break through the fence and meet someone who will fly us—" He paused, realizing she might not understand the concept of aviation. "Take us through the sky to where your son is."

To his surprise, Akira didn't question the flying part. Her focus was elsewhere. "Eleanor help? Human female? Why?"

"She's not fully human," Liam explained. "Half-fae. She lost her sister to the same people who took your son. She wants to help."

Akira considered this, frost patterns spreading thoughtfully from her fingertips. Finally, she nodded once, decisively. "Good plan. Need food now. Need strength."

"I'll arrange it," Liam promised, relieved that she'd accepted the plan so readily. "You should rest too. Save your energy."

She tilted her head, studying him with unnerving intensity. Then, without warning, she leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his—a quick, firm contact that left a small frost mark on his skin.

"Not run away again," she growled, equal parts command and question.

Liam's hand moved of its own accord, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "I won't run away again," he promised.

She held his gaze for another long moment, then nodded, apparently satisfied. Abruptly, she crawled back under the cot, clearly considering the conversation finished.

Liam stood, oddly shaken by the brief contact. That simple touch had sent warmth spreading through his chest—the first genuine warmth he'd felt in eight years. His wolf, so long suppressed, was practically purring with satisfaction.

He pressed the intercom button. "Guard? I need a full meal sent in. Double portions, heavy on protein."

As he waited for the food to arrive, Liam gazed at the frost mark on his skin, already fading in the room's warmth. In two days, they'd either be on their way to rescue Akira's son, or they'd all be in cells far worse than this one.

But for the first time in years, Liam felt something dangerously close to hope.