Nature of the B*E*A*S*T*

by Rebecca Goings

  Wade's slow grin brought a smile to her own face. She could feel her cheeks heating under his intense gaze, but she did not look away.

  "Then what the heck are we waiting for?” he asked her in a sultry voice.

  "Here,” Noah said, handing Wade the keys to the Lexus. “Take our car. We'll take Lucian's Buick and drive somewhere on the edge of town and see if we can meet up with Mac and the gang. We'll give you a call. Do you still have your phone?"

  "Uh, that would be a no."

  Noah dug into his pocket and tossed Wade his cell. “Here's mine. And try not to take all day long. You never know what Covington's going to do."

  "Right. We won't be long."

  Keira took the keys from Wade's hand and opened the passenger door for him. “Get in."

  "But—"

  "Look, you seem to think that as the man, you always get to drive,” she said, rounding the front of the car. “Well, mister, you're injured, and unless you know where you're going, you can just sit the hell down and shut the hell up."

  Rogan laughed and it echoed in the Circle K parking lot. “Oh, cougar, I like her. She's a keeper."

  Wade shook his head and crawled into the Lexus a moment before Keira strapped herself into the driver's seat. “Ready?” she asked him.

  He tossed her a glance that made her stomach flop. “More than you'll ever know."

  "Then hang on to your hat, Mr. Cameron. You're about to become a multi-millionaire."

  * * * *

  Wade shivered as he gazed up at the imposing building before him. Encased in glass, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas was intimidating, and he swallowed hard in an effort to dislodge the lump in his throat. Keira's hand took his as they walked toward it, squeezing tightly.

  "Don't worry,” she said, her soothing voice calming him somewhat. “You'll do just fine. Think like a wealthy business man."

  "How do they think?” He chuckled nervously.

  "I don't know. You used to be one, you know. I'm sure it won't be that hard to make something up."

  "I hope so. What if your father has already locked this money up?"

  "Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

  Wade stopped walking and turned to look down at the fiery-haired beauty by his side. She gazed at him with nothing but trust in her eyes. Bringing her hand to his mouth, he kissed the back of it, then brought her close for a swift hug.

  "Thank you, Keira,” he whispered in her ear.

  "For what?” Her hand stroked the back of his neck, making him shiver from head to toe.

  "For believing in me. For not deserting me when I gave you the opportunity time and time again."

  She cupped his cheek and gave him a sweet, chaste kiss. His world tilted on its axis. Wade wanted to hold on to this moment and never let it go. He still hadn't asked Keira to be his mate, and despite her obvious affection toward him, he wasn't sure if it was love she felt. Would she laugh in his face if he offered her his heart? She seemed more than willing to jump in the sack with him, but was that all there was? He couldn't be sure.

  Leaning back, he gave her a tender smile and tucked her hair behind her ears. “No matter what's waiting for me behind those doors, I want you to know that I'm still going to be the same man."

  "I know,” she answered without hesitation.

  "I'm sorry for ever getting you involved in any of this."

  Keira placed her finger on his lips. He couldn't resist kissing it lightly. “Don't talk like that,” she said. “I'm glad you kidnapped me away from my father, from the life I knew. He's already mind-wiped me once. That I know about. I'm happy to finally be free of him—happy to be here. With you."

  Wade's eyes burned when she said the last. Pulling her into a rough embrace, he said, “I'm glad you're here, too."

  For a few blessed moments, they stood holding each other on the sidewalk as people rushed past. When Wade pulled away, he noticed the moisture in Keira's own eyes. He grabbed her hand once more and began walking toward the double doors leading into the bank. Nervous butterflies fluttered in his stomach, but he put on a stoic front and opened the door.

  Once Keira was inside, he followed her, amazed to find marble floors and towering ceilings before him. Huge, round columns stretched upward, making him crane his neck just to see the top of them. Their footsteps echoed as they walked, but before they had taken twenty steps, a man in a sharp blue suit walked up to them with a large smile on his face.

  "Mr. Cameron! What a pleasure to see you again. I trust you rested well on your trip overseas?"

  Wade arched a brow at the man's question, but took his hand in greeting regardless. “Yes, I did. However, I'm here on an urgent matter."

  "Oh?” the man asked, glancing at Keira. “How can I help you?"

  Wade began walking once again and instantly, the man fell in step beside him. “It seems I have lost my wallet. Thankfully, I had my driver's license and my credit cards on me, when I went out to breakfast with Miss Covington here, but I must have left my wallet on the table. When I went back for it, it was gone."

  "How horrible!” the man said, aghast. “We can definitely take care of you, Mr. Cameron.” Extending his hand, the man took Keira's and shook it with all sincerity. “Mr. John Barton, ma'am, at your service."

  "Mr. Barton,” she said, inclining her head.

  "Are you perhaps the daughter of Senator Clive Covington?"

  "Indeed I am.” Keira grinned and Wade couldn't help but think she was adorable when she acted sweet and innocent.

  "Well if your father ever wants to bank with us, you give him my card. We'd be honored to have him with us at the Federal Reserve.” Mr. Barton pulled a business card from the inside pocket of his blazer and handed it to her. She took it with a gracious smile.

  "Thank you, sir. I'll give this to him next time I see him."

  The banker grinned before turning back to Wade. “Let's get you situated then, Mr. Cameron,” he said. “Sounds like you might need to transfer your funds to a new account before someone goes wild with your money."

  Wade shook his head and chuckled. “You have no idea."

  "My desk is right over here."

  Twenty Five

  Lucian was a dead man. If Covington ever laid his eyes on the bastard again, B*E*A*S*T*'s top scientist wouldn't live to tell the tale. He'd betrayed him, stolen not only Clive's daughter but the heir to the Cameron fortune from his own lab beneath the mansion. As if that weren't bad enough, Covington was sure the crafty son of a bitch also screwed him by stealing Cameron's bank account information from his safe.

  Clive's fingers gripped the steering wheel of his pristine white Cadillac with a vengeance. Just the memory of seeing his safe wide open in his library was enough to make him cuss a blue streak and pound the wheel as he drove like a maniac. He'd seen this coming, ever since Lucian had returned from Oregon. Rogan and Noah had captured him in the Rockies and kept him prisoner until he'd found a way to escape. But how had Lucian managed that, exactly?

  The details of Lucian's escape were still sketchy to Clive, and he hadn't quite believed the story that he'd knocked them unconscious. Shifters of the agency were able to tell your moods by smell alone, and Lucian immediately became suspect by explaining that he'd sneaked up behind them.

  However, the man had seemed sincere, and had even produced Rogan Wolfe's cell phone once he returned to Dallas. Even though Clive had ordered a locator beacon placed on Lucian's car, he didn't really believe Lucian would betray him. Not like this.

  But how had everyone disappeared from his office? That's what Clive wanted to know. One minute, he had his gun trained on Brett, the next, he was shaking himself out of a fog, his gun missing from his hand. Even Brett himself had gone, and Clive had no idea whether or not the cheetah had betrayed him as well.

  With Clive's shitty luck, probably.

  But that still didn't explain how they'd disappeared from under his nose. The more Clive thought about it, the more his head hurt. He had no id
ea how they'd been able to somehow hypnotize him.

  Right now, however, he needed to secure Cameron's money before Wade got it in his head to claim it himself. For all Clive knew, Wade was already at the bank. He pressed the accelerator harder, and the car lurched forward. He could be at the bank within the next five minutes if he broke the speed limit. Taking this opportunity to shift into his alter ego, Clive concentrated on changing his features and build. The familiar rippling tickled his skin, molding his face into that of Brandon Cameron III. Thankfully Wade was about as tall as Covington himself. His clothing didn't fit perfectly in his shifted state, but they'd have to do. The senator hadn't thought of bringing any spare clothing when he'd jumped into his car to race to the bank.

  He did, however, have the foresight to bring his Heckler and Koch automatic knife, a gift from Cameron Jr., Wade's own father, a few years ago. The elder Cameron had mentioned in jest it might come in handy. The man would never know how prophetic his words had now become. The knife popped open with the push of a button and with its jagged edge, could do enormous damage, even if its blade was only three and a half inches long. Clive had never used it, and it was mostly for decoration than anything else. But he'd swiped it out of its glass box from above the fireplace in the library just in case he needed to skewer a certain shifter. If that cougar managed to steal the Cameron fortune out from under him, then it was over. All of it. Covington wasn't about to go down without a fight.

  * * * *

  Another image bombarded Brett as he sped down the road. The corvette's engine whined at the power he demanded as Brett pressed down on the accelerator. This memory was more vivid than the others. A woman with red hair was laughing at something he'd said. He could almost make out her face, but there was no doubt in his mind now the woman he remembered was Keira. Her scent, her voice was all too vivid to ignore. In his mind's eye, he bent to kiss her, and she met him with passion. That taste ... How could he forget it?

  Jesus.

  The bastard really did it. He damn well mind-wiped him to keep him away from his daughter. Who knew what kind of happy life Brett could have led with the woman? Now that life was never to be. She was in love with Wade.

  Brett's anger welled inside him. The serum still pumped through his veins, but the pulsing of his heart seemed to bring him closer and closer to the brink of shifting. Glancing at his hands, he noticed the beginnings of fur growing out of his skin, only to recede back, again and again.

  Could he overcome the effects of the serum? He tried again, but failed. “God damn it!” he yelled, beating the steering wheel once.

  With his anger, his fur grew once more, then receded. Brett arched a brow. No effing shit? Was extreme anger the one thing that had the power to overcome the serum?

  Thinking back, Brett remembered how pissed off Sean had been while hunting for Rogan. At the time, the wolf had injected Sean with the serum in mid-shift, and Sean had become some kind of mutant—half bear, half man. And he'd been royally pissed off. But the grizzly's anger was geared toward Rogan and what he'd done to him, not channeled into the act of shifting itself.

  Brett concentrated on shifting, bringing his anger to the fore, keeping one eye on the road, the other on the skin of his arm. Just as before, his fur grew, but longer this time before dwindling. Brett slammed on his brakes and pulled to the side of the road, fishtailing to a stop in a cloud of dust and gravel. He reached across the passenger seat to grab the display for the various GPS locators he'd affixed to every one of Covington's cars in his collection, even the one he'd placed on Lucian's Buick. The man behind B*E*A*S*T* had promised Brett his freedom. The cheetah wasn't about to let Clive wander the countryside without a lock on his whereabouts. Covington shouldn't have fully trusted the man who was his number one body guard.

  The senator was a creature of habit, and if Brett was a betting man, he'd put his money on the white Caddy Clive always drove as his vehicle of choice. Sure enough, the signal of Covington's locator beacon flashed bright and clear as he drove toward downtown—toward the bank.

  Brett glanced in the rearview mirror long enough to see his own eyes flash. He'd had a change of heart. If he could indeed overcome the effects of the serum, then he and Covington had a lot to discuss. Brett's mouth watered and his belly growled. Holy shit, he craved human meat like there was no tomorrow.

  Trying hard to block out the memories of Keira's pleasured sighs, Brett pulled back onto the road and made a u-turn. If the old man wanted to secure his funds at the bank, let him. Brett would be all too happy to help the prick make a withdrawal.

  * * * *

  Wade knew the exact moment when the serum wore off. He was sitting in the chair across from the banker, Mr. Barton, when a weight seemed to lift from his chest. Thinking back to how long it had been since Brett had injected him with that shit, Wade's brows knitted in confusion. It had been longer than four hours. How was that possible? Four hours was the longest the serum had ever worked.

  Perhaps Lucian had created a new formula, one that suppressed the urge to shift for a longer period of time. All Wade cared about was being able to shift once again. He breathed a sigh of relief. Barton handed him his new account information with a toothy grin.

  "Here you go, Mr. Cameron, you're all set. Anything else I can help you with?"

  "Yes, as a matter of fact,” Wade said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “I need to withdraw about a grand in twenties."

  Barton gave him a sharp nod. “Done. Come with me, you'll have to sign a withdrawal slip."

  "No problem."

  Keira stood a moment after Wade, then suddenly gasped. Turning to see what was wrong, Wade followed her gaze as she pointed to the front doors of the bank, only to see ... himself striding up the marble walk. Every hair on Wade's body stood on end. He couldn't help the shudder of astonishment that quaked through him. He was looking at the very possibilities of B*E*A*S*T*, allowing a man to shift into any damn thing he wanted to be. That research needed to be destroyed for the good of mankind. Christ!

  Keira turned to him and whispered, “My father can't do a thing. You've already moved the money into the new account. He doesn't know the account number."

  "He still looks like me, Keira!” Wade hissed in her ear. “They'll give it to him anyway."

  "Not without I.D.,” she reasoned. “You have the license, the credit cards, not him. He'll be lucky to get past security."

  Wade's jaw ticked as he stood there and stared at Covington, who approached the front of the bank warily. He was glancing around the large room, as if searching for them. Within moments, the old man turned his head and spotted them. Covington stopped in mid-stride, a look of shock evident on his face—a face that looked exactly like Wade's.

  "Do you still have that gun, lady?” Wade asked under his breath.

  "Are you crazy? I didn't bring it into the bank! It's back in Noah's Lexus."

  "Shit."

  "What are you going to do?” Her voice waivered.

  "I have no goddamned idea."

  "Mr. Cameron?” Barton's voice said from behind them. “Is everything all right?"

  Wade didn't take his eyes off Covington, who was now sneering at him a few yards away. “Yes, I'm fine,” he said in a pleasant voice. “Can you tell me where your bathrooms are?"

  "Certainly. They are across the foyer behind those potted trees."

  "Excellent. Can I meet you at the front desk for my withdrawal?” Wade's body tensed. The cougar inside of him roared to be set free.

  "Not a problem. Take your time.” Without another word, Barton turned on his heel and walked away. He apparently hadn't seen Wade's carbon copy just over Wade's own shoulder. Thank God.

  "Keira, I want you to follow Barton."

  "But—” Wade gave her an icy stare, interrupting her protest.

  "This is no time to argue. Go."

  Taking his eyes off Covington had been a mistake. The old man began closing the gap between them. Wade smelled him before Covington could catc
h him off guard, however, and Keira went flying as Wade pushed her out of the way before he was tackled by the maddened senator.

  Covington's fists landed again and again as the men wrestled on the floor. Despite being much older than Wade, the bastard's strength was surprising. Perhaps Lucian had given him animal attributes after all.

  A few screams and wails could be heard over the sound of their brawling, but Wade couldn't think about the other patrons of the bank now. He smelled the insanity wafting from Covington, nearly choking him with its intensity. The man wasn't in his right mind. Hell, when had he ever been? One of Covington's punches caught him right under the jaw, making Wade see stars. Good Lord! He'd never expected the man to attack him outright. In public no less.

  "You will never have my money, you hear me, asshole? Never!” Covington screamed.

  Wade heaved upward with his legs, unseating Covington, making him fly through the air. The senator hit the wooden chairs in front of Barton's desk, but bounced back faster than Wade had expected. Just as Wade attempted to stand from his prone position on the floor, Covington dove for him again, grasping his hair and pounding his head into the marble floor.

  Wade had enough. He didn't care whether or not they were in a public bank with witnesses and cameras trained on them. He did the only thing he could do to gain the upper hand. He shifted.

  * * * *

  Keira lay on the floor, stunned. Her father had tackled Wade and within moments, nothing could be seen but a flurry of fists.

  "Wade!” she yelled, trying to stand, if only to get out of their way. Her father crashed into the chairs right next to her and she squealed, finally finding her footing. Once her father dove for Wade again, Wade shifted, his transformation smooth and effortless, taking less time than it had when he'd shifted for her back in their motel room.

  His clothing ripped and hung on him in shreds, but his yowl echoed loudly throughout the bank. He kicked with his powerful hind legs and once again Keira's father was knocked back—this time to the marble floor of the foyer. Screams swirled around her and Keira's heart pounded painfully, as if it were going to rip through her chest at any given moment. She couldn't wrap her mind around what she was seeing. Her father looked exactly like Wade as he tried in vain to punch the lights out of an enormous cougar. What the hell was he thinking? Was he mad?