Awakening (2 book series)
Awakening – Rejected Mate Chapter 95

This is when my panic sets in and nerves get the better of me as I realize our escape is probably going to go down in the history of worst ever attempts. Its louder than hell; crunching, and groaning, and echoing around us like crazy, and probably scaring off all the wildlife above ground in a three-mile radius. I hope to god he was right about knocking those guards out, because otherwise they are definitely going to know we are running away. I cover my ears, cringing, and recoiling into my seat, and have to resist the urge to shut my eyes in the hopes this is a bad dream. "Once we get up there and out into the open, the building no longer has any bind over you. The walls work on some sort of ingrained frequency that's impossible for us to hear, but out there it doesn't work. It has to surround you, you see." The doctor yells over the noise, telling me facts about something I currently couldn't care less about, but it hits a nerve and I sit up, blinking as my attention peeks.

"A frequency?" I turn to him, startled, some memory from before, tingling at my brain and I don't know why that's important, but I feel like it should be. My moment of fear dissipating when suspicion starts hiking up inside of me.

"Yes, years of research has shown that certain frequencies alone are some of the biggest weapons against your kind's gifts. Truly fascinating. We stumbled upon it when looking at some's ability to emit ultra-sonic sounds as a weapon."

That's it... the weapon. The one the vampires used to attack the home and it was frequency based too. I blink at him, not sure if I am piecing it together right or if I'm way off. The doctor is off on a nervous tangent, babbling away like a runaway cart as a reaction to stress I guess, and I have to b**t in on the meticulous details of frequency being used to detain and disable my species.

"Did Juan ever use this facility to make any sort of portable isolation tank, that throws out the frequency instead of putting it in the walls?" Clutching at thin air as I try to fit together puzzle pieces I don't know belong together. I don't know how that would fit, given they almost killed me too and in turn would have killed Colton, but it seems a little too coincidental that this is how an isolation tank is made.

"No, my dear, but he did sell the research a few years ago, claiming it was a profitable, but overall harmless, discovery." The doctor casts me a confused look and I can tell he has no idea what I'm talking about.

"Harmless? The vampires attacked our mountain using a frequency to disable us all from turning. I almost died because of that stupid black box, and if Colton hadn't...." I shudder at the memories, warmed slightly by the notion that Colton is where I'm heading once more, and even though it's stupid and I should hate him, there's a tiny ray of hope inside of me, an aching to go back to him. My own stupid weakness kicking in and finally after weeks of being heavy and hurt, it's raising a tiny little beam of sunshine in my dark days.

"It was turned into a weapon... by vampires? I thought their kind were long driven underground and no longer a threat. Forgive me, my dear, we don't get any kind of news here." The doctor's clueless, and the shock evident on his face, eyes wide, mouth gaping slightly as he takes that in and looks out of the window in front of us as he wraps his head around it, resting his hands on the wheel of the truck and shaking his head so very slightly.

"A month back, take or give, maybe longer now, I don't know, I lost track. They attacked out of the blue and sent the mountain into chaos. A war is coming, and the wolves are all being dragged back to the mountain for Juan to control." I sink back in my seat and watch as we climb the last few feet. Climbing the darkness while surrounded by eerie tones of groaning and grinding and I try not to think too much about how high we are on this rickety sounding platform. The roof begins to open up and the dull grey of an ending day peeks through the cracks and makes me aware I'm about to taste fresh air once more. The urge to leap out and feel it on my skin distracts me and I turn to face the now silent doctor instead.

"Using a device, not too dissimilar to what we created? And they attacked Juan's mountain and his people...." He mumbles more to himself than me and I can tell he really did not know. I can almost taste the suspicion in his tone, as he too comes to a conclusion I thought about but realize it's stupid, and I'm letting paranoia and hate cloud my judgement.

"Yeah, but if you're thinking Juan had something to do with it then, one, we hate vampires so no. Unlikely he would coerce with them, and two, Colton saved me when I was almost toast. If I died then Juan would have lost his son and heir, and no, that's just no. I don't care what kind of monster he is, he puts Colton on a pedestal and always talks about his ruling one day. He wouldn't let his own son die. No matter what, I do believe his legacy is the most important thing next to being king of all he sees. He only has one son." "But hear me out...... If Colton died, then Juan would have had reason to tie up his people in his control and use the attack to rally the wolves to unite as a pack. If he fabricated a war, or even gave them the means to start one, then it all plays into what he wants to be.... the prophecy. Uniting the packs against a war and thus forcing his position to fill what the prophecy wanted. A wolf to reign the people. He's still so obsessed that it should be him!"

My blood runs cold and as crazy as it sounds it starts to fall into place. The doctor has a point and yes, Colton dying would push those loyal to Colton to rally with Juan in avenging his death. A common enemy is a great way to instill fear and make the people look to a leader to save them. Something doesn't sit right with it though, and I'm trying to decipher it.