Where the hell was she? Maybe more importantly, how had she gotten there?
Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to patch her up and make her comfortable. They’d even gone so far as to clean the blood and dirt from her skin and dress her in a crisp, blue hospital gown.
But who?
The last thing she remembered was nearly being turned into roadkill on the highway outside the Hunter camp. The vehicle had screeched to a stop just feet from her, and she had thrown herself at it, pleading for whoever was inside it to help her.
There had been a man. She couldn’t recall what he’d looked like, whether he’d been human or otherwise, but she did remember the incredible sense of peace and safety she’d felt in his presence. There had been others. They’d asked her questions, but she didn’t know what she’d told them.
That was where her memories ended, and she wasn’t entirely sure if the ones she did have were real or not. By the time she’d reached the highway, she’d been half out of her mind, delirious from pain and fear. Maybe she had dreamed it all. Maybe she’d never actually escaped.
But she had the injuries. She clearly wasn’t in the underground lab. Not only didn’t she recognize her surroundings, but the Hunters would never have given her clean clothes and a warm bed after treating her wounds.
For so long, she’d been on guard, always questioning everything. Despite the evidence that seemed to imply she was safe, she didn’t know if she should believe it.
A wide wooden door opened at the front of the room, and a female dressed in a white lab coat with a stethoscope around her neck stepped across the threshold. One sniff said she was human, and a cursory glance didn’t reveal any weapons.
“Ah, you’re awake.” Her smile was bright and friendly, and it made her tawny eyes crinkle at the corners. “I’m Dr. Adra Lancaster. How are you feeling this morning?”
Politeness dictated she offer her name in return, but Mackenna hesitated.
The female exuded health and vitality, from the plumpness of her cheeks to the radiance of her warm, umber complexion. Even her hair shined in the sunlight, and the dark locks had been styled into artful waves close to her head. There was an artificial pinkness to her lips and added volume to her lashes.
She’d clearly put a lot of time and effort into her appearance. Moreover, she had not only the time but the means to do so. Mackenna didn’t trust it.
“I’m okay,” she said, still watching the doctor warily.
“I somehow doubt that. You had quite the list of injuries when they brought you in.” Her smile didn’t waver as she stepped deeper into the room, closer to Mackenna’s bed. “You’re healing much slower than I would expect for a werewolf, but I think we can attribute that to malnourishment and dehydration. You’ve also lost quite a bit of blood, which doesn’t help, of course.”
It was true that her wounds had begun to heal. The skin on her neck tingled as skin repaired itself. Her hands and feet—the parts of her body that had sustained the worst of the burns—itched like crazy. Yes, the process was much slower than normal, but she was healing. A human wouldn’t know that, though. The doctor couldn’t know that Mackenna was a werewolf.
Unless she was a Hunter.
Moving to the edge of the bed, she swung her legs over the side. “I have to go.”
“I don’t think that’s advisable.” The doctor rushed to her side and tried to push her back onto the mattress. “You need rest.”
Mackenna bared her fangs at the woman. “Get away from me.”
Surprisingly, the move worked, and the doctor reared back with a gasp. “I’m only trying to help you.”
Trying to help her back into a cage maybe. “I don’t need your kind of help.”
She tried to stand, but the needle in her arm prevented her from moving too far away from the IV stand. Curling her upper lip, she gripped the clear tube and yanked. Tape ripped away from her skin, and the needle slid out of her arm with a spray of blood that dotted the white sheets.
“Oh, my god,” the doctor cried. “What are you doing? Please, stop.”
Mackenna didn’t even pause as she ran for the door, wrenched it open, and stumbled out into a stark, barren hallway. She’d known it was too good to be true. She’d known better than to think the nightmare had ended. Damn, she shuddered at how stupid she’d been.
“No,” the doctor yelled as she chased after her. “Please, wait. Come back. Just let me explain.”
Ignoring the calls, Mackenna raced down the empty corridor and past a nurses’ station toward a set of heavy double doors. She was obviously inside a hospital, but she couldn’t be sure if the entire building was a medical facility or just that particular wing. If it was anything like the compound she’d come from, there could be dozens of Hunters waiting for her beyond those doors.
Unfortunately, she didn’t even make it that far before she realized the true extent of her predicament. People started spilling into the hallway from the various rooms she passed. Men and women, some children, all of them wide-eyed and curious as they watched from their doorways.
Two males stepped into her path, both of them large, imposing figures who blocked any avenue of escape. Mackenna ducked the first set of hands that reach for her, but she couldn’t avoid the second male. Arms like iron bands wrapped around her, pinning her own arms to
