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look in the mirror…” Her voice cracked and he thought about the scars that marred her body. “I’m not sure I ever want to know the whole truth.”
    “There might come a day you do. When that time comes, let me know, and I’ll do my best to help you. You might never know everything that happened there, and maybe that’s a good thing.”
    “There are others who are suffering the same fate, and yet we sit here doing nothing.”
    He sank down on the sofa next to her and took her hand into his. “We can’t run off half-crazed every time we get a lead. We need to put together a plan and go there with our best chances. Otherwise, we could end up captured or killed.”
    “You think this scientist will be willing to help?”
    “I hope I’ll be able to get to her. She’ll help. We’ll close down this lab, too.” He squeezed her hand in reassurance. “Austin can be a little too threatening at first, but if you want me to stay here with you, I can send him to find her instead.”
    “Stay with me, why?” She tipped her head to look at him.
    “The thought of another lab might make the nightmares harder.”
    “I can handle them.” With a deep sigh, she leaned back against the sofa. “Okay, so I haven’t been doing a very good job of it, but don’t let that stop you. You need to go and find this woman. I hate to think of the captives suffering one more day there. We’ve got to stop it.”
    He turned enough to be able to see her and still keep his hand over hers. “We’re going to, I promise.”
    “Then you have to go. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”
    “I always worry about you and the rest of the family, but as long as you stay here I know you’ll be safe. I don’t want you venturing too far from the castle while I’m away. Got that?”
    She nodded, but it did little to quell the fear within him. Since he had become Alpha of their outlaw band, he had a deep connection to each of them that wasn’t only family but was what a true Alpha would have. He could sense them, their emotions, and if they were in trouble.
    When she was a prisoner in the lab, they’d kept her so drugged that it minimized their connection. He could have mistaken her for dead if there hadn’t been a slight tug between them. He couldn’t determine where she was, but every once in a while he’d feel the terror within her. When his guard was down he could feel the pain they inflicted on her, just as if they were doing it to him. It tore at him, making his lion testy, but he held it together for his pride. As any good Alpha would, he tried to send his strength to her, to let her know they were coming for her. Maybe that’s what got her through it and kept her fighting.
    Subject has more fight within her than previously studied subjects. Unable to determine the cause. Use extreme caution when handling the subject. Those statements were repeated over and over in the files he had found on her. While she’d always refused to take anyone’s shit, she was naturally more outspoken than physically combative. According to the files, her attitude had become more pronounced when she was captured. Now it seemed as though it had all but dissipated. Even her outspokenness had gone. She was more reserved than she had ever been before.
    Oh Jade, somehow we’re going to help you find the person you were. I miss my baby sister—the woman she was.
    Sometimes he felt as though he was still trying to rescue her. More than ever, he was determined to get her back.

Chapter Four
     
    The sun was sinking into the horizon as Clarissa eased open the back door to the old cabin. Childhood memories came rushing back. This was the only place her family gathered, and had time together, without her father rushing off to deal with some emergency at work or her mother juggling her social schedule to the point that she forgot to be a parent. For the one week they’d spent there every summer, they were a real family again.
    The cabin was completely