Chapter 264 Lively Little Thing Aren't You
He looked at the heavy steel frame, and then his liquid-mercury eyes swept over the massive pile of compacted dirt, ancient roots, and thick, undisturbed moss they had just spent the last several minutes frantically clawing away.
"He didn't bring her through here," Fennigan snarled, his voice vibrating with absolute, terrifying certainty.
Jax crouched beside him, his golden eyes sweeping the displaced earth. "You're right. This hatch wasn't just hidden or camouflaged—it was completely buried. The earth over it hasn't been disturbed in months, maybe years, until we just tore it up."
Whoever had dragged his unconscious, pregnant mate into the dark didn't stop in the middle of a frantic kidnapping to shovel three feet of frozen mud and roots out of the way, slip her inside, and perfectly repack the forest floor over their heads.
"Which means there is a main entrance. A loading bay. Something they could walk straight into without digging," Fennigan growled, aggressively wiping the freezing mud from his scarred face. "This is just a secondary exit. A failsafe. There's no time to stand here and wait for a hacker to open a door we don't even know leads to her."
Fennigan stood up to his full, terrifying height, his massive frame dominating the small clearing as he turned to his Beta.
"Head to the packhouse and wait on the Weaver; Get him out here to crack this lock just in case we need a back door, but coordinate with the perimeter guards so they don't rip him to shreds."
Jax gave a sharp, decisive nod. "I'm on it." The fiercely tactical Beta spun on his heel and launched himself back into the dark woods, sprinting toward the estate with terrifying speed.
Fennigan didn't even watch him go. He slowly turned his burning, silver gaze back to the impenetrable, unnaturally thick forest stretching out toward the base of the massive mountain.
He was so incredibly close. He could literally feel the low, steady, mechanical hum of the subterranean bunker vibrating right through the soles of his heavy boots. He knew, with sickening, instinctual certainty, that Leela was right beneath him.
So why the fuck couldn't he sense her?
The agonizing, deafening void where his mate's soul should be was driving his wolf completely insane. If he was standing practically on top of her, separated by nothing but dirt and steel, why was the mate bond still a dead, pitch-black void? What the hell kind of heavy metals, lead lining, or dark magic was this bunker built with to so completely block out a destined soul bond?
Or worse... what kind of devastating, lethal chemical had the traitor pumped into her veins to keep her pushed so deep into the dark that she couldn't reach him?
Fennigan's jaw locked so tight his teeth ground together. He absolutely refused to think about the alternative. He refused to let his feral mind even touch the idea that she might be gone.
"Come on," Fennigan rasped to Marcus, his voice dropping into a lethal, demonic gravel as he extended his bloodied claws. "There has to be another entrance. We keep looking."
Marcus silently tightened his grip on his heavy serrated blade, and the Alpha King and his Head Warrior plunged straight back into the razor-sharp briars, violently tearing the forest apart piece by piece to find the true door to the monster's den.
Deep in the Bunker
The sickeningly casual, low whistle echoed off the concrete walls, completely unbothered by the horrific violation taking place on the stainless-steel table.
The man kept his eyes glued to the glowing black-and-white monitor of the ultrasound machine. With terrifying, steady precision, he guided the massive needle deep through Leela’s anesthetized flesh and directly into her uterus. He pulled back on the syringe, slowly drawing a vial of pale amniotic fluid from the protective sac surrounding the unborn Alpha heir.
But he wasn't finished.
With a subtle, calculated shift of his wrist, he guided the needle just a fraction of an inch deeper. On the glowing screen, the tiny, fragile form of the baby violently reacted to the invasive intrusion. Little Zephyr flinched, his tiny limbs scrunching up as he squirmed frantically away from the sharp point of the needle as the man successfully drew a dark, rich sample of the unborn pup's blood.
"Lively little thing, aren't you?" the man murmured casually to the computer screen, completely detached from the absolute nightmare he was inflicting.
Satisfied with his prize, he smoothly withdrew the long needle. He wiped Leela's stomach clean, capping the glass vials of amniotic fluid and Zephyr's blood, and meticulously packed them away in a secure, temperature-controlled metal lockbox on his cart.
His work done for now, he strolled casually over to the IV pole standing next to Leela's head. He reached up and twisted the plastic dial on the line, significantly dialing back the heavy, military-grade sedative that had been keeping the powerful Matriarch trapped in the void.
"Don't want to hurt the little guy," the man said softly.
He leaned over the freezing steel table, his hand reaching out. He gently, almost affectionately, brushed the back of his knuckles against Leela's pale, cold cheek.
"Or you, for that matter," he whispered, a chilling smile touching his lips.
He pulled his hand back, turning away from the helpless Luna without a second glance. The man walked across the sterile linoleum floor to a heavy metal desk tucked into the far corner of the room. He dropped into the rolling leather chair, let out a long, exhausted sigh, and casually kicked his boots up onto the edge of the desk.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he closed his eyes and let the low jazz music wash over him. He was completely unconcerned. The heavy leather restraints were industrial strength, the bunker was buried under tons of solid rock, and the heavy steel door was locked tight. The Blackwood she-wolf wasn't going anywhere. Within minutes, the steady, rhythmic beep... beep... beep... of Leela's heart monitor lulled the kidnapper into a deep sleep.