Ryleigh continued after some subtle encouragement from Senior. “The Pandora Group deemed my inability to shift a scientific failure. They grew less interested in my case and withdrew from any direct involvement in my upbringing. My Incubators had entered into a contract with the Pandora Group that stipulated among other things that: If the experiment yielded a viable child, the parents (and I use that term loosely) remain responsible for raising and providing for said child. The Pandora Group reserved the right to monitor, test, and perform additional experiments at their discretion, until said child reached the age of 18 years. Their interest diminished to annual reviews. Moreover, there was a non-disclosure clause that prevented the Incubators from revealing that the experiments had ever been done in the first place.” Ryleigh continued. “This did not make the Incubators happy. They wanted their trophy. As far as they were concerned, my value was directly tied to the ability to shift. They had no intention of being saddled with another child so they decided to take matters into their own hands. They hired a team of scientists and doctors to pursue the shifter attribute without the Pandora Group’s knowledge. But despite all their effort, I have never been able to shift.”
“I had blocked or forgotten much of what I am telling you now. My team was involved in a rescue that didn’t make sense several weeks ago. I will provide each of you with a full report, but the jest of it is that we found a young girl strapped to a table in a medical facility. She had been kidnapped and held without ransom or any contact of any kind. While in the facility, one of my operatives decided to gather as much intel as possible by downloading a virus that would ultimately open up any and all information the people in the facility had.”
“This intel contained the history of The Pandora Breeding program as well as another experiment conducted shortly before its conception. Videos of test subjects were including in that data. Those are what sparked my memories and provoked my group to pursue further testing. Many of us had experienced the same things that girl went through. We just hadn’t spoken freely about the events of our past. The memories lead me to question other things I had noticed in my childhood, mainly Senior and several unnatural qualities he has. My DNA was run first along with five of my teams. We discovered a commonality and pursued it. Again, I will give all of you a full report of the process.”
“We now know that I have no less than three shifter strains in my DNA. I ran Senior’s DNA and that is when I was able to determine a familial connection, but also that he was not what he seemed. So, I presented him with my results and he told me that he was a Shifter.”
This time the chaos was not controlled. Every man in the room, with the exception of her Dad, jumped to his feet and started talking at once. Their vehemence and anger directed everywhere. Ryleigh couldn’t speak it was almost like the pressure in her head, neck, and shoulder was preventing the action. She tried to move, but her body wouldn’t cooperate. She could feel her panic, but there was no way to express it.
When Senior roared, “Sit!” it only seemed to exasperate her condition. She needed air, she needed to get out of the room and away from the Alpha’s but she was stuck.
“Everybody needs to calm the fuck down and get your animals under control, or I will make you. Look what you are doing to her, damn it,” said Senior, motioning toward her.
Ryleigh was still stuck, but as the seconds went by the thickness lessened and she was first able to breathe easier. Then slowly she felt the tension leave her shoulders and neck. After that, she finally had control over her limbs. That was scary, and she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to experience it again.
“To end the fucking story,” Senior said, “her team doesn’t have all the details but had enough to pursue further testing.”
Jacks broke the silence. “I’m sorry for everything you went through. Really. But our shifter genes do not combine. Your claim to have three strains doesn’t jive.” His voice was calm and measured, but he was clearly agitated. “Our animals join with us. One man. One animal.”
“Whether you believe it or not, it has happened,” interrupted Ryleigh. “I am proof of that. So is each and every woman in the Holly Group. The Pandora Group had a hand in each of our conceptions. From what we have determined, few females survived to viability, but survivors do exist. Cassie Larson is one of them.”
She continued. “From what we can gather, a former employee of the Pandora Group continued the breeding program after the Group canceled the project. It is our belief that he is responsible for the births of hundreds of genetically engineered children. My group is still trying to determine the extent of his output and whether or not he continues to be active. Cassie’s parents conceived her using IVF. Their fertility specialist was Dr. Albright Franklin, the same doctor that created me. He is the same doctor who went rogue.”
This conversation was starting to take a toll on Ryleigh. She was a private person. She wasn’t accustomed to talking about herself to her family or close friends let alone with a room full of men she barely knew. Her story wasn’t pretty. She didn’t want their pity. She would have kept all this information to herself and the members of her own group, but they needed help. The men needed the information.
But more than that, the men had a right to know. Most of them were visibly affected by what she had said. All of them looked angry. Dad had warned her that this was a possibility. She had effectively raised the stakes for finding Cassie Larson. Ryleigh knew deep down the girl’s DNA didn’t matter. They would have helped anyways. But it did open up possibilities none of them had ever thought possible before this meeting.
“We obtained some of Cassie’s DNA from her toothbrush. Our expert was able to determine that she has one strand of Shifter DNA; Tiger. We confirmed that Cassie’s parents do not have Shifter DNA. We believe that she was taken to support a breeding program.” Ryleigh knew Kayden Walker would take that information the hardest. He was the only Tiger shifter in the room. She wasn’t surprised when he jumped out of his chair and started pacing. She needed to get the rest out quickly because it wasn’t going to get any easier for any of them.
“As you know, not all Shifters produce Shifter children,” Ryleigh continued. “In fact, most Shifter offspring are non-shifters. But according to our research, a mating between a female with one strand of Shifter DNA and male of that same species increases the chances of producing Shifter children exponentially. So, if Cassie breeds with a Tiger Shifter male, then the odds that she will produce a Tiger shifter child are high. From the bits and pieces of data we have been able to get our hands on from the Pandora Group, we know that they plan on making this happen as naturally as possible to increase the viability of the fetus. This means she will be manipulated, coerced, or forced into having intercourse with a male tiger shifter.”
“No fucking way! None of the men in my clan would ever hurt a child. She is only 17 years old, a baby. There isn’t a single Tiger Shifter in my clan would agree to such a thing.” Kayden hissed.
“They don’t need help from your clan, Kayden. According to our intelligence, Dr. Franklin has successfully produced many children; female and maybe male. We can’t say for sure.” Ryleigh explained. “They have been doing this for at least 30 years now. I am 28 years old. Who is to say that they don’t already have an adult male in captivity. There are so many ‘what if’ scenarios. There may very well be multiple victims to rescue.”
“Yeah, well, if we hadn’t been playing this game of chase our tails we might be further along now,” Kayden interjected. “Senior, why the hell would you set us up like this? Christ, this is fucking unbelievable. I need a minute.” Kayden stormed out of the room slamming into the door cracking the frame before anyone could answer. Milo following behind very shortly after that. The men who remained looked shell-shocked.
“Honey, let’s give the guys a minute for everything to soak in,” Senior said to Ryleigh. “Gentlemen, we will reconvene in a half hour. Please let Kayden and Milo know when they come back.” He continued, “R
yleigh, let’s go to my office for a while.”
Jackson couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Damn, females with shifter DNA. The clans needed to be informed. This changed everything. And what the hell was up with his Bear? Ever since Ryleigh walked into the room his Bear had been restless and scratching to get to her. When Ryleigh walked out of the room he had to resist a strong urge to follow. Even now, after Ryleigh was gone, his beast was raging.
Jacks was still processing everything he had just learned. And, unbelievably, he was having a hard time focusing on that crucial task. Ryleigh was a total distraction. She was beautiful, but she was not the type he usually went for. Nonetheless, he was drawn to her. He didn’t get it. There was something different but special about this woman. His bear paced under the surface, prowling back and forth in Jacks' brain. He wanted this woman. The beast wanted to claim her as a mate. But, hell, how was that going to work? She had been abused as a child. They had yet to make eye contact. Most importantly, she was also Senior’s daughter. No way was his hard-nosed CO going to let Jacks and his adventurous prick anywhere near his daughter. How could he forget that part? Shit, talk about FUBAR. When the hell had he ever noticed highlights in anyone’s hair? What the fuck was wrong with him?
“Jacks what do you think about all this?” Liam asked.
Jacks only grunted. He wasn’t ready to acknowledge his thoughts to himself let alone to everyone in the room.
Liam continued. “The Elders tell us there are no shifter females. Now some chick who just happens to be Senior’s daughter says otherwise. Who the fuck do we believe? Then to add the proverbial cherry on top, these women are being produced by some mad scientist who wants to start a breeding program.” Liam looked repulsed.
Jacks wanted to laugh at Liam’s Reader’s Digest version of the events Ryleigh had just explained. But this was no laughing matter. “Shit, do you think that this opens up the possibility of fated mates?” Jacks questioned. “We have all heard the legends. I always thought it was a bunch of bullshit aimed at teenage girls. But if anything, we have heard today is true, it opens up some intriguing possibilities for our race. I don’t want to put a woman through what most of our mothers went through. Our animals make it almost impossible for us to be faithful. These women could be the answer, but where is the fucking proof?”
“Shit, man, you need to slow the hell down. We don’t even know if mating with these females is possible,” Carter spoke up for the first time.
Under his breath, Jacks said, “Yeah, man, I think it is very possible.” Things were starting to click into place for Jacks, but he had to admit much like Liam he wasn’t ready to accept any of it just yet. Carter and Liam didn’t indicate that they had heard him, but Jacks was pretty sure they had.
Chapter 10
Senior was looking at Ryleigh attentively. He had expected most of what went down in the meeting and tried to prepare her as much as possible beforehand, but now he was wondering if he did enough. She was flushed and fidgety. Not her normal sedate; chewing her thumbnail to calm restlessness. It was almost like she had been electrocuted and all her circuits were firing at once. Her face was red, her posture was tight, and she couldn’t stand still. In all their time, together he had never seen her this way. Ryleigh was contemplative; nothing really flustered her. Sure, she got mad, sad, and all the other emotions, but this was different.
“What is going on, honey?” he inquired, worryingly. “I haven’t seen you this tense in a long time, maybe ever. I know that those guys didn’t intimidate you, even with the Alpha vibes that were flying around. So, what is it?”
Dang. Ryleigh was never good at hiding things from her Dad. But ‘the truth’ was not her friend today. She could hardly confide in her dad that Jackson Thorp did something to her on an intimate level. Or that she had become thoroughly aroused for the first time in her life. Yeah, not topics you typically discuss with your dad. What could she really say anyways? ‘Well, Dad, I really had this strong urge to climb that Solider Badass Dude like a tree or maybe just sit in his lap for a while. I can’t really decide which would be better. I also had the unseemly strong urge to lick his strong thick neck and other places maybe even take a bit or two.’ Yeah, not going to happen.
She thought back to the time he had tried to have the birds and the bees talk with her. He explained the mechanics. She asked a question. He told her not to worry about it because she was never to do it. End of conversation. Yeah. No. He would not respond reasonably if she told him what was on her mind. She needed a diversion.
She wished she had asked more questions about the guys. Unfortunately, her Dad had only provided vague descriptions in their pre-meeting. Some of them were unique which made it easy in some cases to peg a face to a name: like an eye color and build. For instance, her Dad had mentioned that Kayden had purple eyes and an affinity for body art.
He mentioned that Jackson was the biggest but he never once said he was also the hottest with thick, lush, dark hair and vivid, panty melting green eyes. Or that he wore his t-shirt so tight she could see the definition of his pecs and abs which in turn would make her check her chin for drool more than once. He also didn’t mention that the man’s ass was so tight in his fatigues that she was pretty sure she could bounce a coin off of the luscious globes. No, he didn’t mention any of those things. Just that he was the biggest.
But never once had he said what teams they belong to. Damn, she hoped the guy that she was lusting after wasn’t on the Alpha team. That would be a disaster since she was going to be working with them closely for the foreseeable future. Ryleigh had no idea how to act around a man she was so very attracted to. The one thing she was fairly sure of is that she would be awful at it. Christ on a cracker. She couldn’t even keep eye contact with the man. His green eyes flashed brilliantly when he spoke, and damn, his eyelashes framed them perfectly. They had to be the longest eyelashes she had ever seen on a man. She had been compelled to divert her eyes. Ryleigh didn’t understand her reaction. She was pretty sure she would see his image in her dreams for a very long time.
Solider Badass was simply gorgeous in a rough and rugged way. He was definitely doing something for her. His raw magnetism intimated her and made her wet at the same time. The man was a contradiction; everything she could possibly want and everything she didn’t need. At least that was what her mind was telling her, but her soul was called to him, wanted him close, wanted everything.
“Honey, what the hell is going on?” Senior grumbled.
Ryleigh snapped herself out of it, “Sorry Dad. I was thinking about the case. I’m a little jet-lagged today. Mexico to New York is a bit much for one day. It has been a long three weeks.” Ryleigh attempted to regain her composure. Yeah, she had just lied to her Dad, but what else was she supposed to do? “I wish we could have briefed the men differently.”
Senior conceded and even looked a little sheepish, “Sorry honey. I know you have been working your ass off. You just seem different, maybe a little off. I can’t put a finger on it.”
“Dad, what are we going to do? We haven’t even shared the most damning information yet.” Ryleigh lowered her voice, looking around to make sure their private conversation would remain that way. This was her Dad’s domain. She had always felt safe here before, but this information was so volatile that she couldn’t resist the urge to visually make sure that one of the Alpha’s wasn’t lurking.
“How are they going to react to the fact that they could have female relatives and don’t even know it? These men are Alpha through and through. They are going to want to protect their female family members, and you know the ladies in my group are not going to respond kindly to that.” Ryleigh looked concerned. “Shoot, we only had one match besides me, and she isolates herself even more than I do. Considering what was done to her, I cannot imagine her ever trying to bond with a male.”
Ryleigh’s emotions were all over the place. Solider badass put her in a tailspin, and the rest of this cluster fuck was just icing o
n the cake. She could feel the sting of tears in her eyes but tried valiantly not to let them fall, but just thinking about Zoey’s reaction to the DNA match was enough to throw her over the edge.
“I know honey, but they need to know and they will have to deal with the consequences of all this. We worked it out. The others will too,” Senior said in an attempt to console his daughter.
Ryleigh rubbed the bridge of her nose and knew the headache that had started would be a full-blown migraine by the time this meeting was over. Wiping some tears from her eyes, Ryleigh said, “I hope you are right, Dad, but there is a big difference between the two. I had already accepted you as my Dad, and you took me as your Daughter. I have known you most of my life, and I am grateful that I never experienced the abuse that she did. You have had my trust since I was 11 years old. The operative in question barely trusts me. If it weren't for today’s technology, then she would never contact anyone or come off the mountain she hides on and I don’t blame her one bit.”
Bringing Ryleigh in close and hugging her tight Senior pointed out, “Like I said, they will have to deal with this just like anything else in life. The situation is bigger than all of us and we need to put a stop to the atrocities this group is responsible for. The sooner, the better.”
Ryleigh liked the comfort her Dads arms always provided. She knew that he was letting her hold on longer than what was necessary, but she needed it, just a couple more minutes.
Rubbing her back and then leaning away he looked her in the eyes. “You ready to drop the next bomb?”
She knew this situation was wearing on her Dad just as much, if not more than it was wearing on her, but he would never let it show. Declan Quinn never outwardly expressed his weakness to anyone, but Ryleigh knew how much these men and the members of their teams meant to her Dad. He wasn’t fooling her. She hoped the hug helped him as much as it had her. She also knew he would do everything in his power to right the wrong that had been committed against all of them. It was just the type of man he was.
Jackson: NAC & The Holly Group (Alpha Team Book 1) Page 7
