Entangled

++ Chapter Two ++

Entangled

Chapter two

(Harmony’s POV)

Rayne took me to an area deep in the city outskirts and far from the residential streets.

Desolate red-brick factory buildings towered over me. Their tall windows were made of rectangular panes that were either smashed or coated by an impenetrable layer of grime. Winter wind whistled through them, a haunting symphony. The moon drained their color. There was sadness about this place that left me feeling more lonely and cold than the cemetery had done. I walked in silence. My right hand rested on one of my pistols. The feel of it soothed my raw nerves. My steady heart beat a little quicker when Rayne brought me to the end of a small dark alley.  He opened a door.

Ryan was in one of these dead buildings.

I had thought we were only passing through this area into one less bleak.

"We cannot move him again,” Rayne said in a casual tone, as though he was making small talk about the weather rather than his alpha.

A glance into his eyes revealed that there was nothing casual about those words. The pain in their depths spoke to my heart. They silently begged me to give Ryan a reprieve and accept the beast inside me so I could be the one to save him from a fate worse than death. I turned away and forced myself to scan the interior of the old factory. A good hunter knew every entry and exit. If Ryan was close to turning, I might need them.

Sometimes it was better to run than fight.

Rayne led the way. I followed close behind, memorizing the maze of metal walkways above me and the old dust covered machinery. We entered a bright white-washed and distinctly clinical-looking room, leaving the darkness and grime behind. The lights stung my eyes. They had to hurt Rayne's too. My fingers flexed around my gun when I sensed movement.

We weren't alone.

Three huge male werewolves in human form stood before me. In large hands made for killing, each gripped a black rifle that looked like the type used for tranquilizing wild animals. The males stepped forwards, their broad black-clad bodies a dark menacing contrast to the white room.

They didn't bother me.

What they protected did.

The werewolves partially blocked my view, but I could see enough to make me ache with sorrow.

A steel cage stood in the middle of the room. Its bars were as thick as my wrists. Inch deep glass surrounded it on all sides. Nothing but the cage reflected on the far wall of the glass. It was mirrored. They had surrounded him with mirrors and steel.

I glanced at Rayne. He had been right.

Ryan wouldn't see me.

"It is sound-proofed,” Rayne said in a voice at normal volume, as though to prove the fact.

My gaze settled on the cage.

Ryan would never know that I had been here for him, with him. My eyebrows furrowed and I stepped through the group of four werewolves, not paying them any heed. Intense sadness seized my heart.

Ryan paced back and forth across the small width of his prison. Shirtless and shoeless, he wore nothing but black jeans. He looked exactly as I remembered him but I sensed a difference. A longing to free him warred with a desire to flee again. I stood still, frozen to the spot by indecision and a need to witness what I had done to the man that I had once loved.

Still loved.

"It's a necessary precaution,” Rayne said close beside me.

I looked up into his eyes, silently asking him if he honestly believed that and if he was alright with it. He looked away, at Ryan.

“He no longer trusts himself."

My gaze returned to Ryan, drawn by the waves of pain that emanated from him, both physical and emotional.

"Leave us,” Rayne said and heavy boots marched into the distance.

The guards were gone.

I walked forwards, until I was within a meter of the cubicle. My gaze followed Ryan, back and forth, back and forth, relentless in his pacing. Tears trembled on the brink of falling as I remembered all the times that I had spent with him. The handsome smile and twinkling eyes full of love that I recalled were gone.

The set of his face was grim now, eyebrows knitted into a constant frown. His black hair had grown wild, hanging to his jaw in tangled threads. The hard muscles of his broad chest were covered in claw marks.

Had he been tearing at himself? It pained me to see him, to sense him so close but so far away. My hand trembled where it still held my holstered gun. My other rose shakily towards the glass.

"Ryan,” I whispered, quiet enough that Rayne wouldn't hear me.

 Ryan turned and raised his head, but didn't look at me.

My heart broke to see his beautiful dark eyes and bowed lips. There was nothing soft or tender about them now. His eyes held pain. His lips were compressed into a thin line of restraint.

"Are you alright?” Rayne said in a low voice.

It wasn't so Ryan wouldn't hear us. Rayne was worried about me now too.

"I never knew he was in such a state,” I whispered and glanced at Rayne before my eyes darted back to Ryan.

I pressed my hand against the glass, wishing that I could touch him, wishing that I was brave enough to let him know that I was here.

Ryan stopped in the middle of the cage. Suddenly, he arched his back, threw his arms out by his sides, tensed and shaking, and howled at the roof.

My heart jumped and pounded in response to the intense vulnerability in his howl and his pained expression. The call to me was clear, speaking his need for me. Something powerful inside me responded.

Panic filled me, a riot of conflict and fear. I fought my beast as I backed away from the cage. I couldn't bear it anymore. Tears stung my eyes. I ran, shoving Rayne away as he moved into my path. I had been stupid to come. I had known deep in my heart that if I saw Ryan, I would feel the incredible pull to him that I always had.

I bolted from the factory, fleeing him again, and didn't stop running until I had reached my apartment. Flinging the door shut behind me, I went straight to my bathroom and splashed cold water on my face to mask my tears.

After a moment, I raised my head and stared at my dripping wet reflection in the mirror on the cabinet above the sink. The water had erased my tears but had done nothing to remove the feelings colliding inside of me.

"Stupid,” I said to myself, frowning so hard my dark eyebrows almost met.

Redness marred my deep brown eyes, a sign of the tears that I had washed away. When I closed my eyes, the image of Ryan pacing the small cage filled my mind. My heart clenched all over again. He'd howled with so much pain that I had felt it.

Ryan was close to turning.

My gaze fell to my guns.

I didn't have much time to make my decision.

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