The Wolves and the White Bird

09. The Experiment

Cora awoke with a jolt as the door to the room flung open, banging against the wall in a loud rumble. She opened her sleepy eyes, but she was still drowsy. She couldn't have been asleep for longer than a few hours.

As her eyes opened, her first sight was of a menacing figure standing in the doorway, and as her eyes continued to blur into focus, she recognised it was Alpha Draven. He looked like he was fuming, nostrils flared, breathing heavily as he clasped his hands against the edge of the door frame, casting an eerie shadow over her. The door frame started to crack.

"What are you doing here!?"

"You told me to get some rest," said Cora, rubbing her eyes and sitting up straighter from her slouched position against the wall. Her hand went to her shoulder, rubbing away the ache.

"I told you to get some rest in your room. I've been looking for you for the past hour."

The alpha growled, reaching forward and grabbing hold of Cora's wrist, pulling her up from the ground. It wasn't a harsh grip like she expected. It was firm enough to drag her along behind him as he pulled her out of the room, but not harsh enough to hurt her in any way. She assumed he didn't want to damage her until her job was done. Her only job was to heal his brother, and then she would probably be dropped back in a cell to rot, regardless of him agreeing to her freedom she somehow found it hard to believe. Maybe it was just a ploy to get her to go along with him more easily.

He dragged her along the corridor, opened the door to the first room she went in before, the one with the plush king-sized bed and cloud like fluffy blankets. There was no way this was her room. To be fair she did strike a deal to have a bed but this would be too good to be true. And she didn't actually think Draven would hold up his end of the bargain.

"This is your room. And this is where I expect to find you." He shoved her in, closing the door behind him, and she heard a faint click of a lock from the other side. The alpha had locked her inside but she could still hear his heavy breathing from the other side of the door.

Cora exhaled a deep breath, looking at the door which had just been closed shut on her. It took a while, but she didn't allow herself to move until she finally heard the sound of footsteps heading back down the corridor. She turned, directing her gaze around the room. Once again, she took in the giant king-sized plush bed and tentatively moved towards it. She ran her hand across the fluffy white bed sheets, then face planted into the bed and let out a giggle.

She almost couldn't believe her luck and with a child-like smile on her lips, she rummaged under the thick cosy blankets, immediately falling to sleep.

The sunlight hit her eyes through the gap in the curtain the following morning and she groaned, pulling the blanket over her head. As much as she wanted to sleep all day, a heavy knock on the door had her scrambling out of the bed, just in case she wasn't actually allowed to sleep in there.

"Get up." The alpha's voice boomed through the room. "Have a shower and be down in thirty minutes. There are some clothes in the wardrobe for you and for god sakes put some shoes on this time."

She groaned, flicking back her hair from her shoulder. Then the word 'shower' popped into her head and she looked around the room. She didn't pay much attention to it late last night apart from the size of the bed, but her eyes scanned the area and landed on a door at the far right of the room.

Cora made her way to the door, opening to reveal a glorious bathroom, almost more luxurious than the room she was currently in. A freestanding bathtub was the centre of attention of the room, which stood against the large window on the opposite side. The floors and walls lined with natural stone and textures of opulent marble countertop flickered in the warm ambiance of the morning sun.