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  He knew what that meant since guards taunted him from time to time with what went on at that location, assuring him it would mean the termination of his life. The march there had abruptly ended, too, when one of the males had flipped open and spoken into his ringing device. They’d returned him to his cell, informing him that he’d be participating in a new drug trial to increase intelligence. Did they just want to frighten me? Make me think I would die? The mind games the humans played pissed him off.

  The cell door beeped, indicating someone would enter. He turned his head to watch the human who controlled the facility step inside his living space. Polanitis was a monster with dead-looking eyes and a mean disposition. The male smiled as he walked closer but came to a halt on the other side of the line marking the safe area beyond the reach of his chains. The male crossed his arms over his chest.

  “I wanted to share something with you, 710. I notice everything, you know. I see the way you stare at Technician Shiver. She’s a hot little thing, isn’t she?”

  710 tensed but kept his emotions hidden. The small brunette always held his attention. Her touch was gentle every time she drew blood and she peered at him intently with big brown eyes, as if he were a real person. She was the only technician who had ever shown him any kindness.

  Polanitis looked smug. “She makes your dick hard, doesn’t she? We’re working on a new formula of the breeding drug to fit our current needs. Once it’s perfected, I’m willing to send her in to you for breeding experiments if you are a good boy.” He smiled. “You’ll get to fuck her.”

  710 stopped breathing, trapping the air inside his lungs. He knew what the breeding drug did to males. It caused excruciating pain and an overriding desire to mount a female. He’d been dosed with it once when he’d been much younger. The nightmares continued to bother him, of the time his mind had fractured under the pain. He didn’t know if he’d hurt anyone while under the influence of the drug since he’d retained no memory of his actions but it was possible he’d harmed a female.

  “Technician Shiver is currently working with Dr. Brask to perfect the formula so it doesn’t create such violent and painful side effects. I know you’d like to mount that hot little body. We feel certain that you wouldn’t hurt her since you’re damn near tame when she’s around.”

  Rage filled 710 as he averted his gaze from Polanitis. His stomach heaved and the food they’d recently fed him threatened to come up when he realized she must have purposely set out to gain his attraction, hoping he wouldn’t harm her under any circumstance. It had worked. A sense of betrayal burned inside his chest, despite knowing it wasn’t a reasonable emotion. She was human after all, his enemy. He should have known better than to think she’d be different.

  “It shouldn’t be too long before they find the right dosage and I’ll personally escort her into your cell. In exchange, you’re going to stop attacking the guards.” Dean Polanitis narrowed his gaze, his tone revealing his anger. “Do you understand what I’m saying? I lost two good men I trusted thanks to your last outburst. It’s not easy to find replacements. You are going to do everything I say.”

  710 met the monster’s stare, wishing his chains allowed him to cross the room and rip out his throat. He’d wanted to kill the male before but now it had become an absolute need. “I won’t mount that female.”

  Polanitis’ expression wasn’t a pleased one anymore. “Sure you would. Here’s the deal. You stop hurting my security teams and I’ll send her in here to you. We’ll loosen those chains enough that you can reach her once you have her alone. Wouldn’t you like that?”

  A growl tore from 710. The breeding drug would drive him insane and an image popped into his head of Technician Shiver as a bloody corpse on the floor of his cell. He’d attack if she was sent to him after he was dosed. As much as he hated what she’d done, she didn’t deserve a brutal death. “I’ll kill her.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  The smugness on the human’s face infuriated 710 enough to bluff. “Send her in. I’m an animal who kills. I can go without eating for a while when you punish me for her death.”

  “You’d really kill her?”

  “Yes. She is one of you and I would enjoy taking revenge against all here.”

  Polanitis swore viciously. “I misjudged you. You’re going to do what I want or die. Stop attacking my men and don’t cause any more injuries when they move you to one of the labs to perform tests in a new trial. You will also answer every one of the questions they ask you. You’re worthless otherwise and that means you serve no purpose. That means I get to kill you.”

  It was 710’s turn to smile. “You’ll eventually do that anyway.”

  The male’s neck and face turned red. “I hate you fucking animals. You’re going to behave like a well-trained dog. Do you understand me? If the doctor in charge of this project asks you anything, you tell him whatever he wants to know. You’re going to stop hurting my guys, too, or I’ll bring one of your women in here and punish her every time you defy me. I’ll bend her over that table in the corner so you have to watch me hurt her and afterward I’ll call in some of the guards to take a turn. Would you care about that?”

  710 growled in anger, understanding the threat. “Don’t hurt the female.”

  The smug expression returned to Polanitis’ face. “Stop breaking my men’s arms, or worse, damn it. We have results we need to send in to my bosses but you’re causing me headaches. It’s a major security risk when I have to hire unknowns to replace them and we have to pay out hush money to their families. I’ll have to kill every damn animal in here if it looks like one of them might get us busted. Am I making myself clear? You’ll be responsible for the deaths of every damn one of your kind. The only reason you’re still breathing is because you’re leverage for something I want.”

  “Yes,” 710 snarled, not sure what “busted” or “leverage” meant but he got the context of the threat.

  “Then we have a deal?”

  It went against everything he believed in to willingly agree to do anything the humans demanded. He had no other options though. The threat wasn’t an empty one. He refused to be responsible for the female being harmed. “Yes.”

  Polanitis stomped to the door. “Good.”

  710 said nothing. The door locked and he walked to his mat on the floor. He sat and closed his eyes. Pain hit. Technician Shiver had found a soft spot in his heart but no longer. He had cared for the female, yet she didn’t deserve anything but his disgust and contempt.

  Chapter One

  South Dakota, the following year

  Cornas Research facility

  Jeanie had been given orders to call in sick to work but hadn’t done it. She jogged to another door, peered up at the small video monitor to see what was on the other side of the thick metal and used the stun gun on the electronic lock. The clicking sound it made was louder than she’d like as volts of electricity hit the reading device. The smell of frying wires was faint and almost instant. She turned off the stun gun and waited a few seconds to make sure the lights on the lock remained off. It didn’t power back up.

  She glanced at her watch, seeing there was only five minutes left. Time was running out. She hurried down the hallway and fried another sensor reader. She was terrified about being caught but she didn’t give a damn what they did to her. She had to protect the men and women locked inside those rooms.

  Her stun gun shorted out the readers to prevent Security from entering the cells. She’d already disabled the building’s main computer. Another employee might punch in codes to send gas throughout the cells but the command wouldn’t make it to the main computer. It was offline for good, thanks to a pot of hot coffee she’d poured inside the tower housing it. Sparks had shot out of it, there were some loud popping noises, and she’d feared it might catch fire. It had shut down and refused to power on again when she’d tried, just to make sure it wasn’t a temporary breakdown. The thing was toast.

  An alarm blared from speake