“Don’t worry about him anymore, Kat. He’s in the past. You did everything you could to help him. And whatever happened between you two, it wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have helped it. Or him. Don’t beat yourself up.”
Kat nodded wearily. All of Toby’s words were true: she’d done everything she could have done to help Jay. And he had wanted none of it. And when all was said and done, it wasn’t her fault what had happened between them.
But that wasn’t what worried her. Jay hadn’t been possessive at first. Over the years, though, he had changed. He’d started out sweet, friendly, and the best partner a woman could ask for – but when he changed, that all went out the window. He became abusive, rude, and downright mean to her. Dangerous.
And when she had broken up with him, he hadn’t taken it kindly. He’d threatened to kill her and she knew, deep in her heart, that he had meant every word he had said. She’d filed a restraining order, and for a time, it had been enough. But over the past three months, she kept catching glances of his car at the weirdest times.
On the far side of the parking lot outside of Animus.
Two rows over from her at the supermarket.
Now, across the street at 3 in the morning.
Of course, it might not be him. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but she was getting worried. There was only so much that could be chocked up to coincidence.
Right now, there was no way she could tell Toby what was going on. She was afraid if she told him that Jay might, and that was a big might, be stalking her, that Toby would go off the handle and hunt him down. She was worried he’d make a rash decision to protect her in his own way, and he would do something they would both come to regret later.
She knew Toby would, and she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if that happened.
“I think it’s about time I retired to my couch,” he said, getting up and bringing her out of her thoughts.
“My couch,” she corrected. “It’s just on loan to you, for as long as you need it.”
“My couch,” Toby repeated, laughing. “I can’t believe I’m going to get to sleep in a real bed. Or on a real couch, I mean.”
“For as long as you need,” Kat said, getting up and embracing Toby in a hug.
“Thanks,” he said, hugging her back. When their embrace ended, he glanced at the window. Kat could hear the wind howling against it. The temperature was nearly freezing now. She shuddered thinking about Toby spending a night out there. “Man, I gotta say, I’m glad I’m not spending the night outside tonight. It’ll get worse, for sure, but still… that wind is never fun.”
“I’m glad, too, Toby. Goodnight,” she said, flipping the kitchen light off. Toby grabbed a thick blanket and fell onto the couch.
“Hopefully those at the meeting who are out on the street have a warm place tonight,” Toby said, as much to himself as to her. “Especially Briggs. He’s tough, and being a Shifter is gonna help him out a lot this winter, but I don’t envy him.”
Shifter?
“He’s a Shifter?” Kat asked. Now, she knew who Toby had been talking to. Briggs Dawson, the first – and only – Shifter to be recruited for the football league. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten about him. He was practically famous. “That’s who you were talking to tonight?”
“Yeah, you didn’t make the connection?”
Kat shook her head. Shifter?
“Huh. Goodnight, Kat.”
“Goodnight.”
Kat made her way to the bathroom and started to get ready for bed. She flossed, brushed her teeth, and washed the makeup off of her face. She took her time doing it, thinking. She changed into her sleeping clothes and made her way to her bedroom in the dark, turning on the lamp when she crawled into bed.
Shifter.
For some reason, the thought wouldn’t leave her mind.
*
Halfway through the night, between bad dreams, the solution came to her.
*
“Are you out of your mind?” Cartwright yelled. Kat felt herself almost visibly recoiling from him. She’d known Cartwright for years, and she couldn’t remember a time when he had actually been mad like this. No, mad wasn’t the right word. Furious.
Sure, he was always a bit… rough around the edges in the early morning. There was an unspoken rule around Animus that was only broken by interns and new hires: you never bothered Cartwright before his third cup of coffee.
Of course, he hadn’t even touched his first this morning. It sat in front of him, steaming.
Kat was breaking another rule, but it couldn’t wait. The deadline was approaching faster than she’d like to admit. She couldn’t wait any longer. Couldn’t dance around the issue.
“I know, it sounds crazy, Mr. Cartwright,” she explained. His eyes bristled, but he said nothing. “The FDA forbids human trials. Therefore, we can’t use the Aegis on humans. But it doesn’t prevent Shifter trials. The wording is clear.”
“You’re just interpreting the rules and regulations how you think they should be. You know the reason they don’t forbid this kind of stuff on Shifters? Because the damn beasts will never agree to it! They’re hardly more than wild animals, Kat. They’re dangerous, and I won’t have this lab tainted by their presence.”
“But we’ll skirt around all of the red tape! We won’t have to bring the Aegis back down below specs. Even the investors will see the promise of it, once we’ve done trials! With a reaction time like that… they just can’t ignore it.”
“But we’ll never work with Shifters. I’ll never work with Shifters. I don’t want everyone to remember that the last thing Animus Engineering did was let animals in here to run the show. Kat, listen to me. They’re not humans. They’re not a type of human. They’re monsters, plain and simple.”
Kat planted her feet and crossed her arms. Luckily, when she’d woken up, she’d spent the morning wracking her brain, preparing for this conversation. One of her parts of her code: never walk into a situation unprepared. And she certainly didn’t walk into this one unprepared. She was determined to make Cartwright see things her way.
She couldn’t entirely blame him, though. The older generations had a lot of preconceived notions about Shifters. Every fairy tale told throughout history painted them as bloodthirsty monsters that preyed on humans as they saw fit. Kat figured there was a kernel of truth to those tales, but she suspected they were overblown. At least, she hoped so.
“I thought that was going to be your reaction, Mr. Cartwright. I’ve done enough research to know that it’s completely legal. Your only opposition… is your attitude about Shifters. Your prejudice.”
“Let me repeat myself, Kat, just in case you didn’t hear. They. Are. Monsters.”
“I never would have believed this, Mr. Cartwright. The smartest man I know is a racist that will let his prejudices cloud his judgment and impede the advancement of technology. That’s something I never thought I would see,” Kat said, turning around and moving towards the door. It was a calculated attack: give him praise about his work, then bring him down before leaving the room. She hoped it would work.
As her hand reached the door, she heard from behind her, “Wait, Kat.”
She turned back towards him, relieved that her plan had worked. He sighed, almost deflating in front of her, and collapsed against his chair. She could see the conflicting emotions warring for control of his face. She had definitely struck a nerve with him. Above all else, Cartwright valued his engineering and his inventions. She hoped he valued it more than some old prejudice against someone he didn’t even know.
He took a sip of coffee, letting it work through his system before opening his mouth to speak. “Let’s say, hypothetically, we find the perfect candidates for the Aegis. Hypothetically, the Aegis prototypes work on these… Shifters. Even if, say, still hypothetically, the legal department does sign off on this. Gives us the go ahead. Given all that, why the hell would I trust my prototypes to these werewolves?”
&n
bsp; “Werebears.”
“What?” There was a new layer of ice in Cartwright’s voice.
“They’re werebears, sir. Not werewolves.”
Cartwright let out a hard chuckle, throwing up his hands. “Well, excuse me, Kat.”
There was silence in the room for a few moments as Cartwright took another sip of coffee and started playing with a pen. She followed it with her eyes.
“These guys I’ve picked are trustworthy.”
“They’re beasts,” he said, and paused. “Kat, you’ve really let me down. I put a lot of trust in you these past few years. I gave you the Aegis, hoping you could solve it –”
“And I did!”
“Not the way I wanted, Kat. And you know it. You used that trust I gave you, and you used it against me, to do what you thought was right. You should have just came to me, Kat. You should have asked.”
“And what would you have said?”
Cartwright didn’t answer. What could he say? That he would have said yes, knowing it was breaking FDA regulations? Or no? Then they would both know that he wasn’t ready to risk it all for one of the best inventions the world had ever seen, FDA regulations be damned.
“I’ve done some research on our potential candidates,” Kat said, sliding a folder across his desk. Cartwright took it hesitantly, flipping it open and scanning it. “They’re combat veterans, Mr. Cartwright. The man who lost his leg is an Army Ranger. The man who lost his arm – he’s a Marine.”
Cartwright raised an eyebrow at that. “A Marine? What rank?”
“E-Five, Mr. Cartwright.”
“Huh, I’ll be damned,” he said, leaning back in his chair and gazing longingly out the window. “A sergeant? That was my rank. I guess times really have changed. I’ll run this by the legal department and see if we can get clearance for these trials. Between you and me, and I hate to admit this, I think you might be right. I don’t want you waiting for clearance, though. I want you out there, getting these men ready and prepped. We don’t have a lot of time before the shareholders come down on me.”
“I’ll talk to them tonight. I’ll get the NDAs and the prototypes to them as soon as possible. I know how time critical this is,” Kat said. “Thank you for trusting me.”
Cartwright was still looking out the window. “Don’t make me regret it again, Kat.”
*
Kat pulled up to her driveway, keeping an eye out for Jay’s car. He was nowhere to be seen. Still, she was quick getting out of her car and crossing the yard to her front porch. She was inside in a flash, slamming the door behind her and leaning against it, panting for breath.
“What’s gotten into you?” Toby asked. He was reclining against the couch, legs kicked up on her coffee table. She saw scuff marks on it from his dirty shoes and almost screamed. She clenched her fists, but kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to run Toby off, and how could he know that she kept this house perfectly clean? It wasn’t his fault, she told herself.
“Nothing,” she said, dropping to the couch and looking at the TV. She wasn’t sure what he was watching, but if it kept him occupied, she was happy. Anything was better than him wanting to use again. Her eyes kept glancing at his dirty boots and clothes. She’d washed them this morning before going into work, but it hadn’t done much good. “How about we head to the mall and get you a new wardrobe?”
His eyes narrowed. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch. You can’t live the rest of your life wearing that same hoodie and that sorry excuse for a pair of jeans.”
“These are my lucky jeans, Kat!”
“Toby, let’s go.”
“Fine, master.”
*
“What do you think about those? Do you like those?”
“I’d get my ass beat out on the street if I wore something like those.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you’re living with me, and not out on the street, huh?”
Toby nodded sullenly, grabbing the pair of jeans off the rack and holding them up. He shrugged. “They’re not that bad. I guess.”
“Go try them on,” Kat suggested. Together, they walked to the back of the store. Toby went inside the changing room, taking the pair of jeans and an already impressive pile of jeans, shirts, and jackets inside with him.
She leaned up against the wall. “So, Toby. Tell me more about your friend from last night.”
“Friend?” his voice asked from inside.
“Briggs Dawson.”
“Oh, yeah. Briggs. I wouldn’t say we’re friends. It’s just in those meetings, when you’re the only two normal dudes in there, you know how it is.”
“Can’t say that I do. What do they look like?”
The door cracked and Toby peeked his head out sheepishly. Kat gave him a look and he swung the door open completely. For once, Toby didn’t look homeless. Once he shaved and got a haircut, which she realized was something they should definitely do today, he’d look like a normal man.
“What do you think?”
“You look good, Toby. You really do.”
He glanced around at the store. “You know, I can put my old pants back on over these and we can walk right out.”
Kat’s stare put him in his place.
“Just kidding, Kat. Jeez.”
The door shut and she heard him trying on the other clothes before peeking back out.
“So what do you want to know about Briggs? Got your eye on another man?”
“No!” Kat said, indignant. He was attractive, from what she could see, and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t attracted to him even more because of his arm. But she wanted to use him. Wanted him to make sure the Aegis worked.
“Then what is it?”
“Work stuff. Remember last night, when I told you about those prototypes we were working on? Well, they’re not approved for human testing. But since Briggs is a Shifter, I think we can work around the regulations.”
“So you want me to get you in good with him,” Toby said, finally coming back out, all of the clothes a jumbled mess in his arms.
“Do you like them?” Kat asked, nodding towards the clothes. When Toby nodded, she said, “Alright, let’s get them rung up.”
“All of them?”
“All of them. But no, I don’t want you to get me in with him. I’m thinking I’ll come to your meeting tonight and keep you company.”
“And talk to him.”
“And talk to him,” Kat conceded. “So, what do you think about a shave and a haircut?”
Toby’s look was of pure incredulity, but Kat’s was stone cold. After only a moment, Toby nodded, knowing that he’d been defeated.
*
“I need you back,” Kat explained into the phone. She was back in her house, sitting at her kitchen table, seemingly hundreds of papers spread out in front of her.
She listened intently to the other line. “He’s not mad, Simon. We’ve found a loophole, in a way. We won’t have to tone down the Aegis. Yeah, I promise. It stays at full power.”
She had been on the phone with Simon for the past five minutes. Understandably, he was hesitant about coming back to work at Animus. She knew he had his new career opening up ahead of him, but there was no way she could handle both the arm and the leg prototypes at the same time. Working with the test subject was going to be a long, slow process, and she didn’t have that much time. It just wasn’t possible.
MARS (BBW Bear Shifter MC Romance) (MC Bear Mates Book 1) Page 22
