Locke heaved in a breath, more foam forming around his mouth. He was half-shifting, hair growing around his body. Soon he would shift and never return to his human form.
I shook my head, pulling at my scalp.
“We need your help to hold him down,” Hawke said reverently. “Grim’s going to hold him and give him something to calm him down.”
I shook my head and gritted my teeth.
Above the bar, my mate was sitting with my brother’s women. They were eating, laughing. The rest of the club did not know what was going on below them. Their president was dying.
“You aren’t killing him, are you?” I asked.
Bones let out a breath. “No, not yet. We are… experimenting. It’s just that we need more hands to hold him down.”
Sizzle came to stand beside me. “We are just going to tell people, for as long as we can, that he’s sick. That he isn’t taking any visitors,” Sizzle said, gripping his rifle. “It’s the best we can do.”
“If he shifts, he could break out of here,” Beretta added. “We are trying our best. Come on, let’s get in there and give him that thing.” Beretta nodded to Grim, pulling out a massive syringe.
I scoffed and paced up and down the hallway. This could not be happening. Locke couldn’t be going rabid. Not yet.
This was worse than I could ever have imagined. I thought he was just fucked up in the head, a few misguided steps, but maybe I really was lost in my world with Nadia right now.
I stepped closer to the cell. The silver bars did nothing to my skin when I grazed against them. Locke growled, saliva sliding down his cheek.
It was absolutely heart-wrenching to witness his current state. His wrists, raw and bruised from the tight chains, were a painful sight. His body bears deep cuts, with sores and infections festering on his vulnerable skin. With a mix of determination and desperation, I firmly gripped his trembling arms, engaging in a fierce struggle, and brought him forcefully down to the unforgiving ground.
Locke struggled, and he was strong. Hell, he was as strong as a bonded alpha, and it took me time to get him situated with his face on the ground and my knee on his back. I nodded for the others to come in. Hawke pulled down the right side of his pants to expose his ass cheek. Bones gave orders on where to place the needle, and Grim slid it into his skin.
Locke howled. The needle went in deep, and we all winced at the pain he suffered.
Once it was in, everyone backed away, and I let go. He stayed on the floor. I didn’t leave the cell like everyone wanted me to. I knelt beside him, my hand on his back until his heart rate slowed and Locke’s eyes opened again.
“Shit.” he breathed out a sigh of relief.
The tension left the hallway where everyone stood behind the bars, and I helped my alpha up and got him sitting on a comfortable couch that someone had brought in. I wanted to uncuff him. I rattled the cuffs, but Locke shook his head.
Locke shifted his body away from me. “Best keep them on. Who knows how long the shit is gonna last this time.”
This time?
“Bram doubled the dosage. We are hoping for a couple days,” Bones said. “We don’t really know. We can take them off for now, put them back on tomorrow, give you a break with them.”
Bones handed me the keys. My hands shook as I fiddled with the locks. It felt damn wrong putting my president, the alpha of the club, in and out of cuffs like this.
Locke put his hand on my shoulder. “It’s for the best. Wolf’s gone ape shit. Anyone got my cigs?”
Grim pulled a pack out of his cut and tossed them through the bars. Locke reached into his pocket, took out a lighter, and lit one immediately, taking in a deep breath.
“Thank fuck, that feels better.” He blew out a breath. “Now, just so we are clear. Grim is taking over after I’m gone. Hawke is second in command after. Bear is now a part of the inner circle, has he agreed?” Locke raised a brow.
I rubbed my hand down my face and nodded.
“Good, now, what about Idris? Have you updated Bear on that shit with the mansion?”
Sizzle cleared his throat and tossed his gun over his shoulder. “Switch checked all the cameras again, making sure we didn’t miss anything. The duke wasn’t in the mansion at the time you took Nadia. However, he came back and was pretty pissed that she was taken.”
“How do you know that?” I clenched my fist, remembering how my mate was on death’s door that night.
“Because he killed half the house that night in charge of protecting the mansion. The other half are being experimented on. The duke brought in his own men. Witches, shifters, fae, all of his followers that work for him.” Sizzle leaned up against the wall and traced one of his tattoos on his forearm.
