The Wolf Within

by Cynthia Eden

  The backup lights were fainter as the power ran low, but Holly was so happy to be able to see again that she wasn’t about to complain. Her legs pumped faster as she ran.

  The door to Containment Area Five had been busted down, courtesy of Duncan. He was inside that room now. She could hear his snarls and also hear—

  “Stop!”

  That voice—Elias?

  She hurried into the room. Saw that Connor was still in his cell, but he was on the floor, lying facedown. He didn’t even seem to be breathing.

  Duncan was on the other side of the area, and he had knocked Elias off his feet. As she stared in horror, Holly saw Duncan’s hands—his claws—go for Elias’s throat.

  “Stop!” Elias yelled. “Dammit, Duncan, it’s me! Don’t!”

  But those claws were inches away from the agent’s throat. Holly leapt across the room and tried to wrench him away from Elias. “Don’t attack him!”

  Too late. His claws slashed across Elias’s neck even as Holly and Shane yanked Duncan back.

  The scent of the blood flooded through Holly’s nostrils.

  “Kill…” Duncan growled and he fought against her and Shane. Duncan slung Shane across the room, and the vampire rammed into the side of Connor’s cell.

  Then Duncan’s hands wrapped around Holly’s shoulders. Her eyes widened as she stared up at him. His gaze glowed so brightly that the sight of it stole her breath.

  “Duncan?” Holly whispered. “That’s Elias you’re attacking. He’s on our side.” Elias wasn’t armed. Didn’t have any weapon at all that she could see.

  He wasn’t trying to fight back. He just huddled on the floor, with his hand over his throat. His eyes were on Duncan, and, there was no mistaking the horror in his gaze.

  “Kill…” Duncan snarled again, and he tried to toss her aside.

  She wasn’t in the mood to be tossed. So she stared right back into his too-bright eyes. Stared as hard as she could and said, “Stop.” She was using her vampire control, the power that she’d never wanted to exert over him, but she couldn’t let him kill another agent. This wasn’t Duncan.

  This was the beast.

  The glow of his eyes burned even brighter as he stiffened. But he didn’t move. Didn’t try to rush toward Elias.

  “Wh-what’s happening?” Elias demanded.

  The claws hadn’t sliced him too deeply or he wouldn’t be speaking then. Good. They were lucky. If she and Shane hadn’t both been pulling Duncan back, he could have slashed the agent’s throat wide open.

  “Someone took over the controls on the collars.” Someone got into our computer system. Disabled the power, generator, and monitors. And that someone tried to kill the wolves.

  Duncan’s hands were still wrapped around her wrists. She could feel the edge of his claws. “Is your control back?” Holly asked him carefully.

  He just stared at her. Glared at her.

  “I’ll take that as a no.” Crap. An alarm started to sound then, a high-pitched wail. But the wolves didn’t start howling again.

  Connor wasn’t moving at all, but above the scent of Elias’s blood, Holly could smell the acrid odor of…burned flesh.

  “Stay here,” Holly whispered to Duncan, pushing with her compulsion, then she eased away from him. Shane was at her side instantly, shadowing her.

  She pointed toward Elias. “Can you help him?” Without taking a bite?

  His lips tightened. “Newborn,” he whispered for her ears alone, “I know how to stay in control.”

  She hoped so.

  Holly made short work of opening Connor’s cell. She glanced over at Duncan. He watched her with his wild gaze, but he didn’t move.

  Couldn’t move?

  The power of compulsion was a dangerous thing. It would be so easy to misuse. She knew plenty of vampires had misused their power to torture and kill, that was why many of them were housed in Purgatory.

  “Wh-why isn’t Duncan attacking?” Elias asked. Holly glanced over and saw him pushing to his feet.

  “Because she’s not letting him,” Shane said without looking away from Duncan. Ah, he knew exactly where the threat was. Like her, he must wonder just how long that control would last over Duncan.

  She crept into the cell.

  “That’s a bad idea,” Shane called out. “Don’t get too close to the beast!”

  “I’m a doctor.” Holly took another tentative step forward. “I can’t just let someone die in front of me.” She knew that with every passing second, the moon was rising higher in the sky. When the moon reached its zenith, that was when the wolf would be at his strongest.

  Connor didn’t move as she eased toward him. The silver had definitely burned him. She could see the faint tendrils of smoke still rising from the collar. Unlike Duncan, Connor hadn’t been strong enough to break the collar.

  “Who did this?” Holly whispered. Then, louder, “Shane, you need to check the other wolves!”

  “Th-that’s why I came in…” Elias said, voice breaking. “I heard his…howls…”

  She could hear no sounds at all coming from Connor. He didn’t seem to be breathing. Holly’s fingers slipped toward the silver collar, toward his neck—

  And, in an instant, he was on his feet. On his feet, with one arm locked around her and with his claws at her throat. “You should have stayed back.” His body trembled against hers, but his hold was incredibly strong.

  She tried to yank away from him, but his claws cut over her skin. The wet warmth of her blood trickled down her neck.

  “I thought the FBI wasn’t supposed…to be…in for torture…” The arm around her waist tightened. “Guess it doesn’t count…when it’s just against…the animals?”

  She tried to press back against him, attempting to move her neck away from his claws. “I didn’t do this! I’m here to help you!”

  “Bullshit.” He turned her body, positioning them so that they stared through the cell’s bars—and right at a silent Duncan. “You wanted him to be top dog in this town, so you were getting rid of the competition.”

  She tried to shake her head. When she felt the slice of claws on her skin, Holly froze. “I don’t—don’t care about who is alpha…”

  His head bent toward hers. “You should,” he whispered. “Because only the alpha will be able to save you.”

  “Let…her…go…” Duncan’s order. Growled. Barely human.

  “Come make me,” Connor taunted.

  Duncan didn’t move.

  Because she’d told him to stay back? Her stupid compulsion?

  Now Connor was the one to growl. “Vampire. I know what you did.” She felt the angry rumble behind her. “You think he’s your…dog…on a leash?”

  She shook her head. No, she hadn’t thought that. She’d just been trying to stop Duncan from killing Elias.

  Connor spun her around. Yanked her up on her toes. Glared down at her. And that was when she realized that his collar wasn’t glowing anymore. Not at all. Deactivated. There was nothing to hold him back now.

  “You don’t control us,” he snapped at her. “We destroy you.” Then he lifted his hand, and she knew he was going to cut open her throat. Maybe even take her head.

  That would sure teach her to play good Samaritan.

  Since she wasn’t in the mood to lose her head. Holly slammed into him with all of her might. She kicked and punched with her vampire strength. He stumbled back, just a few steps, and she used that opportunity to race for the entrance to his cell.

  “Duncan!” Holly yelled. “Help me!”

  And he was there. Bellowing his fury. Pulling her against

  him, holding her tight. Shane was right behind him, with fangs bared.

  “Mine,” Duncan gritted as he pushed her behind him. “You don’t hurt…mine.”

  A little late for that part. Her throbbing neck told her that, yes, she’d most definitely been hurt.

  But then bones began to snap. Duncan was shifting. Connor was shifting. Their bones popped a
nd bent. Reshaped. Fur exploded along their bodies.

  “We need to get out of here,” Shane said. “Now.” Then he was hauling her out of striking distance. Once she was clear of the cell, Shame slammed the door closed. The wolves were locked inside.

  And they were wolves now. Fully transformed. Fully beasts. Completely pissed off as they faced each other.

  Brothers shouldn’t battle like this. “No,” Holly whispered. “We need to get Duncan out of there.”

  Shane caught her hands. “His wolf needs to prove he’s alpha, or you’re a dead woman.”

  “I’m a vampire, I’m already dead.” Wasn’t that the way the story went? But Duncan wasn’t dead. “He needs—”

  The wolves were attacking each other. Claws were flashing, snarls filled the air, and the scent of blood deepened.

  Duncan was about to kill his own brother, and even if Connor was a psychotic asshole, she couldn’t let Duncan carry this weight on his shoulders. She leapt forward and yanked open the cell door.

  Shane shoved it closed again in an instant.

  She shoved him. “Okay, you’re older than me, stronger, but you will not stop me from helping Duncan! He needs me!” She pointed toward the door. “You’re an agent—where are all the humans? Why are the wolves so quiet? Go help them.” Her chin lifted. “And leave Duncan to me.”

  A muscle flexed in his jaw. But he knew something was wrong in the facility, just as she did.

  “Are you going to let them all die?” Holly pushed.

  The answer was on his face. No, he wasn’t. “Don’t get yourself killed,” he ordered, then he ran from the room.

  “I can’t make that promise,” she whispered.

  Elias scrambled out after Shane.

  And she opened the cell door and prepared to walk between two werewolves.

  ***

  Leaving a woman on her own with two snarling werewolves wasn’t exactly the way Shane would normally operate.

  But the situation wasn’t normal.

  Pate should have come to find them by now. The guy hadn’t showed, and there was only one reason why Pate wouldn’t be searching for his little sister.

  Because he’s dead.

  Shane inhaled deeply. He caught the scent of blood and ran faster.

  Or close to dead.

  He’d heard a gunshot before. Two blasts. The wolves in that place would be fighting with fangs and claws, but any humans there—like Pate—would be using guns.

  Shane whirled around a corner. He’d headed back toward Holly’s lab. He took another turn and—

  Saw Pate’s body slumped in the hallway. A thick pool of blood was around him. Hell, no.

  He sank to his knees beside Pate. The director’s breath rasped out, weak, and Pate groaned when Shane touched him.

  Too much blood.

  Humans weren’t equipped to survive this kind of attack.

  It was a good thing that Pate wasn’t exactly human. Shane bit his wrist and forced his blood into Pate’s mouth. Pate’s eyelids flickered, but he took the blood. The guy knew better than to fight in a situation like this.

  He’d give him a little more blood, get Pate to tell him what the hell had happened and—

  He heard the faint rustle of a footstep behind him. “I knew you weren’t human.”

  Fuck.

  He lunged up and whirled to face the threat.

  But a wooden bullet sank into his chest.

  Chapter Ten

  “Stop fighting!” Holly yelled.

  And Holly’s blood…the scent was around him. Driving him insane. The bastard before him had dared to use his claws against her skin. He’d cut her. Would have killed her.

  Duncan swiped his claws over the back of the other wolf.

  A wolf that was big, muscled, with dark black fur. A wolf that looked just like his own altered form, except for his eyes.

  Connor leapt back.

  Duncan’s muscles tightened as he prepared to lunge for the wolf again.

  Only Holly jumped between them. “Stop!” Fury hardened her voice. “Don’t you realize that someone is hunting us all? Connor, you weren’t the only one attacked tonight. Duncan was, too.”

  Attacked. Locked in the dark. Locked in a prison too like the one that haunted his past.

  And then the silver had started to burn him.

  The silver collar still circled Connor’s neck, but the silver didn’t glow. Connor paced near the back of the cell, never taking his eyes off Duncan.

  Duncan stalked forward. His body bumped into Holly. Move back.

  He didn’t want her to watch this battle. She already saw him as enough of an animal, but he couldn’t let the threat to her continue.

  Then he heard the crack of thunder. No, not thunder, a shot. He saw the jerk of Connor’s head and knew that his brother had heard the sound, too.

  I came in here to save him. He’d heard Connor’s cries, and his instinct had been to protect. But then Connor had turned on Holly. On him.

  As he always would. Holly had been right. Connor was psychotic.

  Am I?

  “Someone else is hunting,” Holly said. Her fingers sank into the fur on Duncan’s back. “Please, we have to go help the others. We can’t stay here.” Her breath rushed out. “And I can’t let you kill your own brother.”

  Why not? His brother had made it clear that Duncan was on his hit list.

  “Duncan? Are you in there?” Then she dropped to her knees. Brought herself too close to his fangs. That scent—her blood—had him snarling. “Control your wolf. Help me.”

  He couldn’t pull back. There was no changing into a man now. The beast was in power, and Duncan didn’t even know how to go back from this point.

  But…but he could still help her. Carefully, he put his body between hers and Connor’s. Then he edged back with her, making sure that he protected her with every step as they headed for the cell door.

  One step.

  Another.

  Connor wasn’t following. He was just watching them, with his head cocked to the side.

  He told me that I would lose her. That I would lose everything.

  Duncan wasn’t in the mood to lose.

  He pushed Holly back through the cell door. Then he followed her. Connor stood inside the cell.

  “Come on,” Holly said. “We have to find Pate.”

  Duncan turned away from the cell as Holly locked the door, caging Connor once again. Then he ran with her toward the exit. For every step that she took, he was by her side.

  Connor howled after him. The call was a challenge.

  Duncan ignored him. Even the wolf that he was knew some things were more important than fighting.

  Holly. She was what mattered.

  So he ran with her. He followed the scents that flooded his nose. She’d gone with him to find his brother—a battle that will come again—and now it was time for him to find Pate.

  It didn’t take long to find the other man. They went back toward the lab, running quickly, and when Holly saw Pate’s prone body sprawled on the floor, a wild cry broke from her.

  Then she was diving down beside him. Both Pate and Shane were on that floor. They weren’t moving, and there was so much blood around them. Too much.

  A trap.

  A trap that Shane had been caught in as he rushed to Pate’s aid.

  Duncan spun around, his strong senses picking up the other presence in that hallway. Then he saw the gun. Aimed at Holly.

  He rushed at the attacker. A bullet plowed into his body when he jumped into the air, but there was no burn so he knew that the bullet wasn’t made of silver. Your mistake. The wound didn’t slow him down. The shooter fired again, and that bullet missed Duncan entirely.

  His claws sank into the shooter’s shoulders, and he took the bastard down, just as he’d taken the man down when he’d found him near Connor’s cell.

  Elias hit the floor with a thud. “I’m doing…what you wanted…helping you!”

  No, the bas
tard was killing.

  His claws drove deeper into Elias’s shoulders.

  “It’s too late,” Elias said. Then the alarm finally stopped. Silence. Perfect. Deep.

  He could hear Holly’s desperate breaths—and the faint hitch that signaled her pain.

  Her pain?

  His head whipped around. Holly had sagged against the wall. The second bullet. Shit. It had slammed into her.

  Her eyes were closed. She slumped to the floor.

  A slow hiss slipped from the ceiling. A new scent filled the air. Acrid. Thick.

  “Pate had a backup security system in place. Did you know that? Gas…to knock out the paranormals, in case they ever overpowered the humans.” The gas was pumping down now. Choking Duncan. He wrenched away from Elias.

  “It’ll…” Elias heaved out a hard breath. “Knock us…all out…when you wake up…they’ll be dead…”

  The fuck, no. He rushed toward Holly.

  “All…dead…” Elias whispered behind him, his own voice slurring. “Then you’ll…be next.”

  No, he wouldn’t be. His gaze was locked on Holly. Not moving. If the bullet was wooden, then she wouldn’t move until he dug it out of her heart—if it had hit her heart.

  “Maybe…you’ll…be now…” Elias rasped.

  Duncan spun back to face him. Saw that Elias had that gun of his up again.

  No more.

  The beast took over totally then. He launched at Elias.

  Ripped. Bit. Clawed.

  And Elias was dead before his head slammed back into the floor.

  ***

  She…hurt.

  Holly tried to open her eyes. She was being pulled—dragged?—by someone, and there was a tight pressure on her shoulder.

  Not just pressure. Pain. Like knives were digging into her. She tried to lift her arm and fight her attacker, but she just touched heavy fur.

  And she smelled an animal.

  Fear had adrenaline pulsing through her. She screamed and sank her fingers into the fur.

  A wolf growled at her.

  Then she saw his eyes. Those glowing eyes that only belonged to Duncan. The knifes in her shoulder had been his teeth. He’d been dragging her.

  They were…outside now. She sucked in fresh air and wondered why her throat burned. Beside her, his body heaved.