by Lynn Red
“It doesn’t matter who hangs out at his bar. I may need to talk to him.”
A black town car sat parked in her neighbor’s driveway. She frowned. There should be no one there. Most of her block was away on vacation.
She turned back to Mandy, who was still studying her with alarm. “Do you mind dropping me off at my mom’s house tonight? I know it’s empty, but I always feel safer surrounded by their stuff.”
“Anything to make you feel better. And I don’t want you talking about Ryder Storm anymore. He’s dangerous.” One sharp U-turn and they were driving away from her house.
Things were different now. Her vision was clearer. Focused. Different scents drifted into the car and lingered during their drive. Some were pleasant, others not so much.
Her parents’ white and yellow Victorian came into view. The car slowed until they were sitting in the driveway. She turned to her friend. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”
Mandy sighed. She released the wheel from her tight grip. Frowning, she turned to Raine. “I’m not sure what’s wrong, but I don’t know if you should be left alone. You look so...lost.”
Raine gulped. It was exactly how she felt. But it wasn’t fair to Mandy for her to push her problem on her. “I’m fine. I promise.”
Instinct propelled her to hug her friend. Mandy clutched her tight. “Oh, honey. I’m here for whatever you need. You’re not alone.”
Her throat closed up. Mandy had always been the type of friend who cared more about others than herself. Raine wouldn’t share her worries with her and stress her. “Thank you. I know.” The door creaked as she stepped out of the car. “Be careful going home.”
“You’re sure you don’t need me to stay?” Mandy’s features were filled with doubt.
She shook her head, marching toward the other side of the old car. Thank god she kept an extra key under the flowerpot in the shape of a yellow and white spotted frog. There would be no need to break a window or call a locksmith to get inside.
At Mandy’s insistence, she scurried inside and shut the door.
Fear and anger battled inside her. Her mind struggled to piece together the events of what had happened after she’d fallen asleep at the center. Cold dread filled her, turning her entire body numb with shock. Nothing, absolutely nothing, she’d ever experienced came remotely close to what she was feeling.
She bypassed the living room, where she’d spent countless hours reading to her parents or connecting them via video to some of their friends overseas, straight to the bathroom. Air struggled into her lungs. Why couldn’t she remember?
For one entire week of her life, she’d been gone, and not a single memory of that time popped up. Fury unleashed inside her. She glared at the woman in the mirror. Her eyes were bright gold, no longer plain brown. She curled her lips, showing off elongated canines.
“Oh, god!”
Even her voice sounded like she was suffering from a sore throat—raspy and deep. She shut her eyes and gripped the sink, choking on the anger and fear burning down her veins.
A quick image of hazy people in lab coats flashed through her mind. They had needles.
The more she strained to remember, the more her fury grew.
What sounded like nails raking glass made her jerk her eyes open. Her fingers were no longer fingers. It was happening again. She uncurled her hands from the sink and lifted them to her face. Long, sharp claws had replaced her nails. Nausea rolled up her throat. She hammered down the sick sensation back to the pit of her stomach. A light coating of fur covered her arms. She glanced at the mirror.
Oh dear god!
Her jaw fell open in shock. Her facial structure had altered. It was getting hard to breathe. Spots danced before her eyes. Panic took hold. Dread slashed down her spine. She was losing the control she had over her body. Fur appeared on its own. Her eyes glowed and her face elongated. No way. It couldn’t be. Never a fan of horror movies due to finding them unrealistic, right now she was living in her very own flick.
She was a monster.
Her breaths hammered hard in her ears. She needed to do something before the anger inside her consumed her. What if she hurt an innocent person? She’d never be able to live with herself.
Never had she considered the possibility of taking her life, but this...whatever was wrong with her, it was bad, it was terrible. She needed to stop things now, before whatever evil monster inside of her decided to get out. She wouldn’t be able to fight the powerful aggression growing by the second.
She gawked at the growing hair on her arms. She gulped. It had to go. She started scratching and pulling at the hair, but her long talons only sliced her wrists open. It didn’t matter that she was bleeding like a stuck pig; she continued to pull. Adding more pressure and speed, she ignored the bleeding down both arms. Her sole focus was to stop the hair that continued to grow with each pull and cut. She created multiple scrapes and slashes over her arms.
It took a few minutes before realizing she’d slashed her wrists and arms really deep. So deep that blood soaked the clothes she had on and created a puddle on the floor. The thought of getting help rushed through her mind, but she nixed it. It was for the best. If she was a monster, then she needed to die.
Staring at her bleeding wrists only added to her misery. The blood rushing down her arms slowly diminished. Skin met skin, closing the deep wounds and leaving no mark that she’d ever had a cut. Hair retreated. Smooth unblemished brown skin was all that remained.
“No!”
Gut-wrenching fear enveloped her. She’d need to get Storm to help her. If what Mandy had said in one of their past conversations was true, for the right amount of money, he’d take care of any problem. And right now her problem was being alive.
* * *
Bright sunlight made her wince as she stared at the bar Mandy had mentioned. The wind rustled. Cool air slid over her heated flesh in a soft caress. It did nothing to calm her nerves. She waited outside for what felt like an eternity before poking her head in. A woman set up at the bar area, with a man sitting there chatting with her.
She scented something in the man. There was more to him than met the eye.
“Can I help you, ma’am?” His lips curved up in a smile.
“I’m looking for Ryder Storm.”
The smile disappeared to be replaced by a clenching of his jaw. “What’s this about?”
“A private matter.”
“Sorry miss, but he’s not here right now.”
She didn’t know how, but she knew the man was telling the truth. Something else she’d have to add to this new and strange ability she had of knowing lies from truth. A mental institution was probably what she needed at this point.
* * *
Franks watched his patient sleep. The drug had repaired a lot of the damage he’d sustained while trying to escape. A small grin split his lips. How many people could say they survived an explosion and their bodies returned to perfection? None that anyone knew. Except for his test subjects.
“Doctor?”
He turned to the assistant he’d been given. A mousy little woman who did whatever he said. “What is it?”
“What will we do about PE #1?”
Private Experiment #1 aka Raine. His creation. She’d been the first of his test subjects to survive not only the transformation from human to shifter, but also take on the new dominant strain of alpha genes he’d created. His prized possession had escaped.
Remembering how the line of guards he’d had at her door had left a single man to watch her, made him want to kill them all over again. Not that he was a violent man by nature, no. He had people for that. He was a man looking to create the ultimate alpha, a combination of human and shifter.
Stronger than anything out there, able to fight multiple people at once and still come out of it standing; the project was his baby. But Raine had left before he’d finished his last few rounds of drugs, the strongest of the bunch. She wasn’t at full potential. And he knew that soon
the mating heat was going to hit. He needed her back before then. For his next project. A pure born super alpha.
“Don’t worry about her. I’m getting her back. Soon.”
“But.” The woman cleared her throat. “She was going to be the one used for our demonstration at the investor’s meeting, Sir.”
Dammit. He’d have to take PE #2. The one he’d used to create Raine. He was still highly unstable. It was probably due to the painful and mind-altering transition of going from a regular shifter to being turned into an alpha through massive amounts of drugs. The subject was fighting the drugs that made him stronger. Oh well, there wouldn’t be any going around it.
“We’ll focus on PE #2, and do a full fledge series of the AS-201 dosage.”
“Sir, but...”
He turned to the woman then. Ignoring the comatose shifter, he grabbed her by her arm. “Is there a problem here?”
“No, it’s just that AS-201 has made our other PEs highly aggressive, sir.” Her voice shook as she spoke. And she called herself innovative? What a poor excuse for an assistant he’d been sent.
“And?”
“If we... If we use AS-201 on PE #2, then we risk him going fully feral.”
True, but all in the name of science. “We have other test subjects at the ready, don’t we?”
The woman gulped. Her eyes bulged in a too small face. “You got it, Doc.”
“Do it.”
Cell phone in hand, he left the woman behind. “Did you find her yet, Roman?”
The mercenary had come with his contract. If he got his investors one promising test subject, he would be set—all the money he needed to create a new breed of Alphas. With some mental stimulation, he’d be able to get them to do whatever his investors wanted.
“No, Doc.”
“I thought you knew where to find her?” He shouted.
“She’s not been here yet.”
“Fine. Keep waiting. Find her.” He slammed his hand on his cluttered desk. “I don’t need to remind you that your people were the ones to let her escape. She’s invaluable. I want her. Alive.”
“Got it.”
“I mean it, Roman. Don’t kill her.”
“Protocol dictates–”
“Screw protocol! This is my project. You got me. I want her back.”
“I’ve been ordered to eliminate, Doc.”
“No. She’s the best I’ve gotten so far.” Sweat gathered in his palms. “She’s not full mode yet. You can take her down and bring her in.”
“If the chance presents itself, I will. Otherwise, I am eliminating the test subject.”
Franks swore. He stared at the photo on his desk. Raine. They couldn’t eliminate her. Not yet. Not until he got his pure born super alpha. After that, he didn’t care.
Chapter Two
Ryder’s gaze swung around the crowded bar. Blood Hounds was the home away from home for him and his pack. Shifters currently in the bar were much more worked up than usual. Their rowdy voices made him smile. The calling of the full moon had started. They would need to run and handle the mating heat soon. Very soon. His own animal paced inside his skin cage, wanting to be let out.
A tall, sweaty glass of beer was slapped on the counter before him. “Here you go, boss. Drink up.”
Marlena.
He met her smile with a nod. She’d been hinting quite obviously of being free for him to use during the heat. But he knew she wasn’t the one for him. Besides, he couldn’t just take someone without his animal in full agreement. He’d tear the woman to shreds during sex if she didn’t have that particular scent to make him want to mate her.
“Ryder...” She winked. A sensuous move meant to entice. Bold red lips tipped up at the corners when she smiled at him. She leaned over the counter, her breasts in full display in the low cut red top. “My offer is still available.”
“Thanks, Lena, but I’ve already told you I’m not interested.”
Cold seeped into her sapphire eyes. Her lips pressed into a thin line.
“You’re better off taking up Chris on his offer and spending some time getting to know him. He’ll be good to you.”
She snapped her teeth with a soft growl. The next instant, he saw her ramrod straight back moving to the other end of the bar. Women. He’d never understand them. Picking up the beer, he took a swig of the cold brew and sighed into the glass.
“You’re lucky I’m not going to be citing you for drinking and driving.”
He shifted in his stool until he was facing Theo’s checkered shirt. His second was a bit of a know-it-all. To add insult to injury, he was also the sheriff in town and his good friend.
Theo scanned the bar before locking on him.
“Any word on Quinn?”
Quinn was acting like a kid who’d had his toy taken away. Ryder wished he knew what the hell was going on with his cousin. After breaking up with the neighboring Alpha’s daughter, he’d left town without a word. No one could get in touch with him.
Theo grimaced, shaking his head. “Sorry, boss. The thing is he just took off without telling anyone anything.”
Ryder’s face tightened. The wolf wanted out. Frustrated, he scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. His cousin was young, stupid, and had let his inability to deal with the woman’s wishes to break things off incapacitate his thinking.
Theo leaned on the bar, grabbed a bowl of pretzels, and started popping them in his mouth. “We’ll keep trying the other packs in the area. He had friends in the Pennsylvania pack. Maybe he took refuge there.”
“Possibly.”
“Have you found out who the woman is yet?”
“No.”
A woman had come to see him. From what Theo told him, she seemed intent on talking to him about something. Busy dealing with Marlena’s brothers causing problems with some humans, Ryder had missed her.
“Anyway, I’ll give Quinn another week to contact us before we send someone to haul his ass back home.”
The bar grew instantly still. His heart skipped a beat. Something made the hairs on his arms stand on end. Drawn by the quiet, his gaze jerked to the entrance. His breath caught in his chest while he watched every male in his pack freeze in place. A woman had walked in. Her gaze did a sweep around the room until it stopped on him. He met her stare, watched determination line her features, bringing her straight to him.
Wow. The beast inside him howled in appreciation as he took in her curvy body. Long, chocolate-brown tresses fell down to her elbows and over skin the color of cinnamon. His gaze slid to her full breasts, straining against the cotton of her T-shirt, down to the denim clinging to her hips in a soft caress. Once he’d taken her full body in, all the way to her booted feet, his gaze swung back up to her face. She inhaled. Her breath hitched. The pulse throbbing on her neck increased in speed.
Interesting.
One of his pack members, a young and very stupid wolf, stood and blocked her path.
“Hello, gorgeous—”
If he hadn’t seen it, he wouldn’t have believed it. In the blink of an eye, the woman shoved the young wolf twice her size in the chest, sending him flying across the room. He landed with a thud by Ryder’s feet. She didn’t break a sweat. A predatory look, that of an angry wolf, met his gaze.
Snarls and growls broke out across the bar. Almost all the pack members stood, ready to attack. Her concentration never wavered from Ryder’s face. She continued to make her way to him. Theo was about to step in front of Ryder, but he placed a hand on his shoulder. Let her come to him.
“She the one?” Ryder asked softly.
Theo’s sharp nod was all he needed.
With a handful of steps between them, she stopped. The intense way she stared at him, almost as if she were fighting her instinct, immediately caught his attention. He inhaled. Had to bite his teeth hard to stop from groaning. She was close to the heat. Her body exuded the wild scent of animal, woman, and a musky essence her wolf released to attract her mate. There would be no way
to explain his lack of self-control if he pounced on her.
Lick her.
Taste her.
Own her.
Exactly what his animal wanted. Her scent drew him like the tastiest of treats. It was a little off for a wolf, but she had an animal inside all right. An animal his wolf demanded to take for himself.
“Are you Ryder?”
Her husky voice wrapped around his gut and turned his libido into an aroused mess. His cock jerked in his jeans. For a second his only thought turned into dragging her to his office and finding out what she’d yell when she came.
“I am.”
He watched, entranced, while she slid the tip of her wet pink tongue over her bottom lip.
“I heard you, um, do jobs, for hire.”
He heard it then, the soft hitch in her voice. She might look cool and composed on the outside, but the tiny quiver indicated something else.
“I do.”
She glanced back and forth between him and Theo, her lovely dark brows dipping in a frown. “Is there somewhere I can talk to you?”
He studied her fisted hands and the slight trembling of her lip. But it was her eyes–the way her golden gaze captured his attention–that made his decision. He wanted to know more about her.
“Why don’t we go into my office?” He glanced at Theo and nodded. His second would follow behind. He cupped her arm, and she inhaled sharply. Her face jerked up until their gazes met again. He saw the wolf in her eyes. Wild. Untamed. And it called to him.
She jerked out of his hold. Bright gold held his stare. “I can walk, thanks.”
He pointed ahead of him and couldn’t help but visually caress the luscious curve of her ass with each step she took. His animal growled. She exuded strength. Power. Sex. All things that made the alpha in him want her instantly. This was the type of woman he’d been waiting for. The type he’d been searching for.
When they reached his office, he directed her to a seat and weaved around his desk. He watched as she sat stiffly in the wood chair, her hands folded over her lap.
Theo shut the door behind him. His unabashed grin made an appearance, and he waggled his brows at Ryder. His second had seen his interest in the woman.
