* * * * *

710 paced his cell, worried because something different had happened. He wasn’t sure what was going on but it couldn’t be good. He’d been fighting the guards to prevent them from permanently maiming him when everything had just ceased. Different guards had arrived and led him toward the outer building.

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 f**k 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 f**king 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?”