by Paige Tyler
“What did he find out?” Brooks asked.
“He’s come up with a detailed outline of how Frasheri and the other inmates were able to break out, right down to when their security status was downgraded and which checkpoints they passed through on their way to the laundry area.”
“That has to narrow down the list of possible suspects,” Zane pointed out.
“It has,” Gage agreed. “He’s working through a list of twelve prison guards and five members of the administrative staff at the facility as we speak. The guards work the gates, doors, and checkpoints. The civilians work in either the admin services department or IT. Any of them could have slipped in and changed the security status of the escaped inmates. The crazy thing is that half of those suspects used to work for the Dallas PD.”
Brooks frowned. “That can’t be a coincidence.”
“I don’t think so either. That’s why Becker’s focusing his attention on them first,” Gage said. “With any luck, whoever helped those inmates escape will lead us to the traitor in the DPD who’s working with the hunters.”
The idea of finally coming face-to-face with the asshole in the department who’d sold them out to the hunters sooner rather than later was almost enough to make Brooks forget what a shitty morning he was having.
Cooper picked up his mug and took a swig of coffee. “If that was the less crappy news, what’s the crappy news?”
Gage’s brow furrowed. “About an hour ago, I got a call from the U.S. Marshal in charge of the manhunt. They found two of the prison escapees in a house just south of Waxahachie. Both of them have been dead since yesterday afternoon.”
“Please tell me one of them was Seth Oliver,” Max growled, his blue eyes flashing gold. “I don’t give a crap who the other one is, as long as Oliver is dead.”
Considering Oliver almost killed Max’s bride-to-be, Brooks didn’t blame him. He wasn’t the only one. Zane looked just as interested in the answer. Brooks wouldn’t shed a tear for the man either, that was for damn sure.
Gage shook his head. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t Oliver. It wasn’t Frasheri or Engler either. It was two of the omegas. They’d been shot in the back of the head, execution style.”
“Damn,” Brooks said.
His pack mates seemed just as disturbed by that as he was. A bullet to the head was the fastest way to kill one of their kind. While those omegas had gone to prison for their involvement with Frasheri’s Albanian crime family, that didn’t mean anybody wanted to see them murdered like that. It tended to remind a werewolf of its own mortality.
“What about the third omega?” Zane asked. “There were three of them in the back of the truck that got away. Are the marshals sure there were only two?”
Gage nodded. “They searched the woods around the house. Even used a K9 team. They found a lot of blood and some broken branches in the undergrowth but no body. The marshals think the inmates were arguing over the escape plan and turned on each other.”
“Like hell they did,” Brooks muttered. “Frasheri doesn’t give a damn about werewolves any more than Engler or Oliver do. They included the omegas in the escape in case they needed muscle. Once they were out, there was no reason to keep them around.”
“Likely,” Gage agreed. “But with the executions happening so close to Dallas, the marshals are now concerned Oliver and the others are hanging around to take a shot at one or more of us. They’re assigning some of their people to keep an eye on us, though they wouldn’t be specific about it.” He looked at Max. “They suggested you and Lana put your wedding on hold until the escapees are back in custody. Or,” he added when Max opened his mouth to argue, “that you at least move the ceremony and reception to a more secure venue than the compound.”
Max snorted. “Like where? The frigging prison? Oliver and his new buddies sure aren’t going back there.” He shook his head. “If we aren’t safe on the SWAT compound with more than fifty werewolves around us, where the hell are we safe?”
No one had an answer to that. Was there any place in this city that was safe for any of them at this point?
“Which omega got away?” Cooper asked. “Becker will want to know who it was. He got to know a lot of them when he was undercover in Frasheri’s organization.”
“Caleb Lynch.”
Brooks couldn’t remember which werewolf Caleb was. Not that it mattered. It wasn’t like an escaped convict would come to the Pack looking for protection from the hunters.
The briefing broke up a little while later. Afterward, Gage, Mike, and Xander went into Gage’s office and closed the door. Most of his pack mates disappeared to other parts of the compound to handle various administrative responsibilities while Cooper, Diego, and Connor went back to the reports they’d been working on. Brooks had some paperwork he should be doing, too, but he couldn’t concentrate. Now that the meeting was over, all he could think about was Selena. Not knowing if she was okay was making him nuts.
Brooks got up from his desk to slip outside so he could try her cell again when Connor’s cat strutted into the bullpen. Tuffie padded along behind her, a completely happy doggy smile on her face.
“Hey there, Kat.” Connor chuckled as the cat jumped gracefully up on his desk and rubbed her head against his hand. When he ran his fingers over her fur, she immediately began to purr. “You and Tuffie having a good morning?”
Brooks stared, not sure what was crazier—the fact that Tuffie and the cat seemed to be BFFs, or the name Connor had given her.
“You named the cat…Cat?” he asked incredulously. “That’s the best you could come up with?”
Connor snorted. “I didn’t name her. She named herself that. And it’s not Cat with a C. It’s Kat with a K.”
Brooks lifted a brow. “You’re saying that furry little critter told you her name?”
“Not exactly.” Connor shrugged. “We were hanging out at my place last night when I realized she didn’t have a name. So we worked through a long list of possible names until we got to the one she liked.”
“You’re shitting me, right?”
Connor shook his head. “No way. Kat’s easy to read. When I suggested a name she didn’t like, she had no problem letting me know.”
“Oh yeah?” Brooks said. “How does she do that?”
“Watch and learn, brother.” Reaching out, Connor gently caressed the cat under her chin. “Is your name Whiskers?”
The cat stopped purring and immediately swatted his hand away with a seriously unhappy look on her face.
Connor sat back. “See? She obviously hates that name. She reacted the same way any time I called her anything other than Kat…with a K.”
The moment he said her name, the cat stepped forward and rubbed her head against his hand again.
Brooks was still trying to come up with something rational to say about how bizarre the whole thing was when Gage opened the door to his office and stuck his head out. “Brooks, we need to talk.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Brooks saw Zane look at him. He ignored his pack mate as he headed for Gage’s office. His boss had obviously noticed something was going on with him this morning and finally decided to find out what it was.
Brooks was so not looking forward to this.
Mike was sitting in one of the chairs in front of Gage’s desk while Xander leaned against the wall. Both squad leaders regarded Brooks thoughtfully as Gage took a seat behind his desk.
“Sit,” Gage ordered.
Brooks dropped into the empty chair beside Mike, bracing himself for the ass chewing that was almost certainly coming his way.
“What the hell is going on with you?” Gage demanded. “You’ve always been one of my most dependable officers, the guy I ask to take over when Xander or Mike are out of pocket. I know you just met the woman who’s probably The One for you, but that doesn’t explain why you stumbled in to work th
ree hours late this morning.”
Mike and Xander looked interested in that answer, too.
Brooks opened his mouth to reply, but Gage cut him off, his dark eyes swirling with gold—a sure sign he was on his way to getting pissed.
“It also doesn’t explain why Zane had to fill us in on the status of your gang task force operation,” Gage continued. “And it sure as hell doesn’t explain the call I got from a friend over in the Northeast Division asking why someone saw one of my officers standing outside his house buck-ass naked this morning.”
Shit. Brooks hadn’t thought about anyone seeing him when he ran after Selena. He hadn’t been thinking about much of anything except her. Even now, his gums and fingertips tingled as his wolf half tried to come out.
“Selena shifted last night and clawed me up pretty good,” he explained as calmly as he could. “When she woke up this morning and saw what she’d done, she completely lost it. I tried to tell her what she is—what I am—and she threw me across the room. Then she grabbed the keys to my truck and took off. I started to follow her but figured I’d only scare her even more.” He shook his head. “I’ve been calling and texting since, but she isn’t answering.”
Gage exchanged doubtful looks with Mike and Xander.
“You’re telling us a woman who can’t be more than 115 pounds soaking wet threw you across a room?” Mike looked at him in disbelief. “I’m having a hard time buying that, especially considering she just started turning into a werewolf four days ago.”
Brooks ran his hand over his hair, frustration making his inner wolf even more restless. “I know it sounds crazy, but I’m telling you, she has claws and fangs an inch long and is as strong as one of us.”
“That’s not possible,” Mike insisted.
“No shit.” Brooks shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe the blue eyes have something to do with it.”
Mike did a double take. “Blue eyes?”
“Yeah. When she shifts, her eyes glow blue instead of green.”
Gage cursed. “Xander, find Carter and tell him to get in here.”
Brooks frowned. “What the hell does Carter have to do with this?”
His boss leveled his gaze at him. “He’s an omega.”
There might have been an audible thud as Brooks’s jaw hit the floor. Carter Nelson was an omega?
Omegas were violent and out of control.
Not like Carter.
Besides, what did that have to do with Selena? Unless…
Shit.
Brooks opened his mouth to ask if that was what Gage meant, but Zane leaned in the open doorway. “Ray just called. They have a lead on one of the guys distributing the spiked energy drinks to the clubs. They’re getting ready to arrest him, and Ray wants SWAT there ASAP.”
Gage muttered another curse. “Brooks, take Carter with you and the other guys. Tell him Selena is an omega and that you need him to bring you up to speed on what that means.”
Brooks’s head spun as he raced outside. Selena couldn’t be an omega werewolf. Gage had to be wrong.
Omegas were violent and out of control.
Exactly like Selena.
Double shit.
* * *
Selena knew Becca was home long before she heard the rattle of keys in the door of the apartment. It had been impossible for her to miss the echoing slap of low heels on the concrete stairs at the far end of the complex. How she’d somehow known those footsteps could only belong to her friend was something she didn’t like thinking about. The implications were too scary.
The door burst open, and Becca ran in, slamming it behind her. “Selena? Are you okay?”
Selena didn’t move from the throw she was huddled underneath on the couch in the living room. “I’m here.”
Thankfully, she and Becca had keys to each other’s apartments. If not, Selena wouldn’t have had anywhere to go. Her own apartment was out of the question. Jayden would almost certainly look for her there.
Becca hurried into the living room, dropping her purse on the overstuffed chair as she came around the couch. She stopped and stared, her mouth open.
Selena knew she probably looked like hell. Her eyes were red from crying, her face was streaked with tears, and her hair was a complete train wreck. The funny thing was that she felt even worse than she looked. She couldn’t explain it, especially since she’d felt fantastic when she’d woken up this morning in Jayden’s arms. But from the moment she’d attacked him, she’d felt crappy. Stealing his truck and running away had only made it worse.
If it hadn’t come on so suddenly, she would have thought she had the flu or something. But after what had happened this morning, she knew the horrible sensations twisting up her insides were yet another symptom of the drastic changes taking place. The changes that were slowly turning her into a monster.
“This is even worse than I thought,” Becca said, sitting on the edge of the couch and wrapping Selena in a warm hug. “I knew there was something wrong when you texted and said you needed me in the middle of a school day. I’m just sorry it took me so long to get here. Eva had a hard time getting a sub for my class.” She pulled away. “What’s wrong? Did you and Jayden have a fight or something?”
Selena shrugged, the throw slipping off her shoulder. “I guess you could say that.”
Becca frowned, her eyes locked on Selena’s exposed shoulder. Reaching out, she yanked the throw down, exposing the sleepshirt Selena had nabbed out of her friend’s dresser.
“What the hell did he do to you?” Becca asked, her face going pale at the sight of the half-healed bite marks peeking out from the collar of the shirt. “Oh my God. He bit you.” Cursing, Becca stood and grabbed her purse from the chair. “I’m calling the police.”
Selena shoved off the throw she’d been huddled under for the past few hours and jumped to her feet. “You can’t!”
Becca didn’t look at her as she dug through her monstrous purse, coming out with her phone. “Why? Because he’s a cop? I don’t care. He can’t treat you like that. I won’t let him.”
Selena reached out and gently took the phone from Becca’s hand, surprised at how easy it was. Then again, she seemed to be a lot stronger than she used to be. “You can’t call the cops, but it’s not because Jayden is in SWAT.”
“Then why?” her friend demanded angrily.
“Because if the cops got involved, they’d see that the bite marks I put on Jayden are ten times worse than the ones he put on me. The claw marks alone would probably land me in prison for assault.”
Becca stared at her in confusion. “What are you talking about? You’re too tame to even give a guy a hickey. There’s no way you could ever scratch a man up that bad.”
Selena sighed. Dropping Becca’s phone in her purse, she moved over to the couch and sat down. “Before this week, I would have agreed with you. But since last night, everything is different. I don’t really know what I’m capable of anymore. All I know is that I’m dangerous now.”
“I don’t understand.” Becca sat beside her. “What happened last night to make you think you’re dangerous?”
“I don’t really know. It’s kind of hard to explain,” she admitted. “But it’s why I called and asked you to come home. If I don’t talk about this with someone, I think I might go insane.”
Becca regarded her silently. “Okay, you needed me to come home to talk, so talk. But start from the beginning, because right now I’m confused as hell.”
Selena opened her mouth to start, then closed it again, not exactly sure where the beginning of this story really was. She was as confused as Becca. Finally, she took a deep breath and began at the place that seemed to make the most sense.
“Jayden and I got a little carried away the night he came over to my apartment for dinner,” she said softly. “While we were making out, I…well…I bit him. Hard en
ough to make him bleed.”
Becca looked at her like she was waiting for a punch line. “Look, I have to ask this now so we can get it out of the way. But this whole thing isn’t going to turn out to be some weird, kinky sex game, is it? If so, I don’t think I’m the person you should be talking to about it. I’m as vanilla as a Starbucks Frappuccino. I don’t do kinky.”
Selena laughed despite herself. Part of the reason she’d come to Becca was because her friend always knew how to get her to calm down. “No. As much as I wished this was some kind of sex game gone wrong, it isn’t.”
Becca nodded. “Okay. Well, if it wasn’t some kind of sex kink, why’d you bite your hunky boy toy hard enough to make him bleed?”
“It’s not like I planned it,” Selena said. “I was on his lap, kissing his neck, and the next thing I knew, I had blood in my mouth and four fangs in his neck. He didn’t seem concerned by it, but I freaked.”
Becca held up a hand. “Wait a minute. Did you say fangs?”
“Yeah. Four long, really sharp fangs. Though I didn’t realize what they were at the time.”
“You’re joking, right? Please tell me you’re joking.”
Selena’s stomach twisted at the horrified look in her friend’s eyes. “I know it sounds bizarre. But there’s more.”
“Go on,” Becca said hesitantly.
“Yesterday, I found Ruben hanging out with a bunch of Locos on that empty lot on Ferguson.” Selena had replayed the entire scene through her head over and over again in light of what had happened that morning with Jayden. What she’d been able to do to those gangbangers made a lot more sense now. “When I told Ruben I wanted him to leave with me, three of the Locos attacked me.”
Becca gasped, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. “Were you hurt?”
Selena shook her head. “It was the reverse. I beat the crap out of them.”
Becca looked even more stunned at that, but Selena couldn’t stop now. She could already feel the tips of her fingers tingling and knew she needed to get the rest of this story out before it got worse.
“Last night, Jayden and I made love,” she said. “It was amazing, powerful, and overwhelming. I came so many times that some parts of the evening are little more than a blur. But I vaguely remember biting and scratching Jayden. I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me, but when I woke up this morning, I knew it wasn’t.”
