Heyy guys. My turn to update! :D This is Ally, just so you know. Anyways, thanks to those who reviewed the last two chapters. Enjoyy 3

Frost's POV

"Experiment 1, you're wanted for testing. Let's go!"

I couldn't help but let out a low hiss at the whitecoat's words. Alex was not a number. And as much as the whitecoats tried to convince their consciences, he wasn't an experiment, either.

Regardless, he got up- though he couldn't stand up straight, due to the size of the cages we were in- and headed to the cage's door. I couldn't help but notice Hailey, Robyn, and Rewen subtly moving to the back of the cage.

I knew they weren't scared, it was simply a habit. If the whitecoats thought one of us was trying to escape, we received an electric shock from the thick metal anklets we all wore.

You could tell how much I hated this place by the fresh burns around mine.

Speaking of which, I crept foreword, too quiet for the whitecoats to hear me. There were only two today- usually they brought three or four when they were picking one of us up, considering our superior reflexes and strength.

Fatal mistake, I thought absent-mindedly.

Alex was at the door now, waiting for the whitecoats to let him out. Neither seemed to have noticed my advances. Alex didn't react, though I knew his hearing was sharp enough to pick up even my footfalls.

Finally, they got the cage door unlocked. The whitecoat stepped back to let Alex out…

And I pounced.

Along with other abilities, our legs were enhanced in a way that made us fantastic jumpers. Not necessarily straight up, but certainly forewords.

Unfortunately, the two whitecoats who were here were either used to my escape attempts or had been warned by someone who was. The taller one- a male with cropped brown hair- reached to the wall behind him and, almost lazily, hit a button.

The pain was instantaneous. It shot up from my ankle to make it seem like I was being burned alive, though only the skin around the anklet would show the marks later. I faltered, still in mid-air, and lost my balance. I came crashing down, landing in a heap.

I wasn't much of a crier. I couldn't remember the last time I'd shed a tear. Mostly I just swore a lot or dug my claws- yes, I did say claws- into my palms, usually drawing blood.

I bit hard on my lip and let my claws dig into my hands. It didn't do much for the pain, but it was a decent distraction.

I heard Alex let out a feral snarl, though I knew he wouldn't attack anyone. It wasn't that he didn't care about me; it was more that he was smarter than I was. He didn't go around begging to be electrocuted, after all.

Robyn and Hailey were at my side almost the moment I hit the ground. Rewen was glaring at them in a way that said 'I dare you to try that a second time.'

If you couldn't tell, we were close. Hurting one member of the Pride was like hurting all of us.

It also meant that if you hurt one of us, then all of us would hurt you.

The whitecoats had locked the cage now, and were escorting Alex out of the room. He glanced back at me. His eyes said 'I'm sorry.'

I knew he would apologize profusely when he got back- for not protecting me, for letting the whitecoats have their way. It wasn't his fault, he was just like that.

"You okay?" Robyn asked once they were gone. "No swearing this time, I noticed." She smiled at me.

"I'm fine, thanks." Despite what I said, it still hurt. A lot. As I usually did after any one of us got hurt, I focused until I could simply blink and switch into what I called 'Aura Vision'.

I could see people's auras, but only when I wanted to. Auras tended to change whenever something was seriously wrong- or even when the person was feeling any emotion very strongly- so I always checked for any permanent damage after tests or electrocutions.

As usual, I gave off a soft purple glow. There were areas of white and lavender- as usual- but nothing out of the ordinary. I sighed with relief before turning back to the other members of the Pride.

"Everything in working order?" Rewen always found it amusing when I checked people's auras, mostly because soon after I'd discovered the power, everyone had thought I was crazy for a little while.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah, thanks so much for your concern."

He smirked. "Anytime, Frost."

-(Page break)-

"Rock, paper, what?" I frowned at Alex, clearly confused.

"Rock, paper, scissors. It's a game that humans play when they have to decide things." The whitecoats, apparently, had played this game when they argued over who had to test Alex's reflexes today. They'd been kicked in the face before.

"Sounds fun! Teach us how?" Hailey asked sweetly.

Alex taught us the rules of the game, and got me to help him demonstrate. I chose rock, while he chose paper.

"See? I win, because paper beats rock." He smiled triumphantly at me.

"Paper beats rock? How does paper beat rock? Does it somehow magically wrap around the rock, rendering it immobile? If that's true, then why doesn't it do the same for scissors? Heck, why doesn't paper rule the world if it has that kind of power?" I ranted like that sometimes. I tended to over-think things… a lot.

"Frost, it's just how the game works." Alex sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

I punched him in the shoulder with the already-made fist that had represented my rock.

"Hey!" He glared at me, looking about ready to punch me back. "What was that for?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought paper would protect you!"

I thought of that scene at the end and just had to include it, haha. I know this is way less angsty than what's going on with James, but that's just how stuff it at the moment.

So, how'd you like it? Me and Sara and the others all have different styles of writing, so it might be a bit weird at first. Well, thanks for reading, don't forget to review!

~Ally

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't realize killed my line break. So, it's fixed now (I hope). Sorry for the confusion!