Land of Wolves

Chapter 55

Adam is being kept at the lowest level of the facility.

It's where all captured wolves are taken, but I've never been to that floor. There was never a reason for me to go, and I didn't have clearance.

The guard holds his ID card over the scanner inside the elevator before hitting the button for the bottom floor, and I clasp my hands nervously in my lap as the doors close and we begin our descent. The facility is five floors in total, three of which are underground.

Most of the leadership and council members' offices are on the top floor, and surrounding them are conference rooms. I seldom go up there, excluding the rare occasions like today when I need to defend my innocence and subtly beg for my life.

The floor directly below it isn't nearly as exciting. A large cafeteria and gym make up most of the space, and housing for select HPAW employees makes up the rest. It's where I lived before being sent on my mission, and I know of several other marked females who live there, too.

There's a male wing I've never gone to before, but I assume it's just as full as the female one.

I was lucky enough to have been given a room with a small round window, but I'm sure it's been taken over by another female by now. Those are always the most sought-after rooms.

I nervously tap my fingers against my thigh as the elevator brings us to the underground levels. They've always been the most interesting, where the real HPAW work gets completed.

I used to have access to them all, minus the very bottom floor, but I doubt that'll be the case now.

The first underground floor is where the scientists work. There's a large, high-tech lab I've never been allowed inside, but most of this level is offices.

The scientists insist on having quiet places to be alone and work, and HPAW indulges them.

I used to like most of the scientists, even if they found me annoying more often than not, and I enjoyed peering into the glass walls that separate the hallway from the lab. It was fun to watch the scientists work, their calculated, smooth movements an excellent way to pass the time.

The second underground floor was never one of my favorites. There's a second gym there, one Dan used to drag me to when we needed to do our private, intense training. It was built after a few scientists saw me getting leveled in the above-ground gym and voiced their concerns to leadership.

My true purpose in HPAW was kept relatively quiet from most people, and many didn't realize just how vital, or violent, my training needed to be.

The second underground floor is also where medical is stationed.

My pulse races as the elevator slows to a stop on the third and bottom floor.

While I've never had clearance to travel this far down, I've heard rumors of what's on this level.

Most notably, the wolf quarters.

The guards love to talk about it, especially when there's a wolf inside, and I've heard a lot over the years. Most say the wolves are kept in a large concrete room. There was an incident about fifteen ago with a wolf breaking through the plaster wall and killing six guards in an escape attempt, and they ratcheted up the safety measures afterward.

Along with the wolf quarters is the room where a select few scientists and medical staff come to run tests on the wolves.

I wonder if the room from the video Caleb showed me is from this facility or another.

I'm not sure I want to know.

The elevator doors open, and the guard wheels me into a large hallway. There's a guard stationed on either side of the wall, both wearing full tactical gear, and they glance in my direction before shifting their attention to the guard behind me.