Kin Selection (A Shifter’s Claim Book 1)

by L. B. Gilbert

Without lifting his head, Jack swore. “There’s a guard entering the building. He’s supposed to be two buildings over. Not sure why he deviated routes. We may need to take him out of the picture before he stumbles over us in here.”

  Yogi hopped off the desk. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “You don’t mean in a permanent way, right?” Denise felt compelled to ask. Even though she wasn’t too fond of the people who voluntarily worked in places like this, she understood it was a just paycheck to most of them.

  “Please,” Yogi said dismissively before walking silently from the room, moving quickly against the wall to avoid the hallway cam. In seconds, he had melted away into the darkness.

  “That did not answer my question,” Denise said, aware Jack wasn’t paying her any mind.

  He was still tapping away, commands flying across his screen. “Starting the download now,” he murmured, his eyes fixed forward.

  Denise ran her teeth over her lower lip. Yogi would kill her if she went to check on the chimp…but the lab was literally just a few steps away, in the opposite direction of the encroaching guard.

  I could just take a quick peek. She would be back in less than a minute.

  The sound of the clacking keyboard covered the sounds of her footsteps. She was at the door of the lab a scant thirty second later, the night vision monocular she’d borrowed from Jack in her hand.

  Those fuckers! Now that she was close enough, Denise could see the cage clearly. This one was set on a bench with an oversized lock, not a digital one. Instead, it was a thick commercial-grade padlock.

  That wasn’t the issue. Her bolt cutters could take care of the lock. However, under the magnification of her monocular, she could see a thin wire running along the mechanism, one that had no business being there.

  The damn thing was booby-trapped. If the door was opened, it would trigger something. An alarm probably. But why would they bother to booby trap the cage… Unless they were expecting us to come back.

  Fluorescent light flooded the room as someone flipped the switch on. “Stop right there!”

  Denise pivoted, coming face to face with an armed security guard.

  For a rent-a-cop, the guy pointing a gun at her was massive. This guy rivaled even Yogi in height, which was the only reason for what she did next.

  She dove into a forward tumble, rolling in a little ball—right through the giant’s legs.

  “Hey, you little bi—”

  He didn’t get to finish his sentence. Mid-tumble, she had grasped the first cylinder she could reach on her belt before shooting to her feet. The giant got a mouthful of bear spray before he could aim his gun.

  “Argh!” The man dropped his gun as his hands flew to his neck. Coughing and choking, he bent low enough for her to get him again, this time in the eyes.

  Kicking the gun away, Denise reached into her pocket for the zip ties she had snagged from Yogi’s pack.

  “Sorry about the shot in the mouth. If I had been able to reach with the first try, I would have only gotten your face, but you’re too tall.”

  Darting in and out, she worked quickly to tie his hands together. He tried to kick out at her, but she was too quick for his blindly flailing feet. To be safe, Denise used one of the longer ties to bind his ankles.

  If any of the other guards were near—and she would bet her fortune they were—they would have heard this guard’s shouts and coughs.

  Yogi and Jack were going to kill her if she’d just alerted the cavalry. Standing on her tiptoes, she checked the window built into the door before running back down the way she’d come. Denise skidded to a stop as she rounded the corner.

  In front of her was another hulking security guard and a man in a suit. They were standing in front of the open office door where Jack and Yogi were, their hands held up.

  Denise ducked back around the corner before peeking out again. Of course. Hulk number two was holding a gun on them.

  Fuck-a-doodle-do. If Hulk two didn’t have a gun, she was sure Yogi could take him. His speed and reflexes were supernatural.

  But the guard did have a gun, so what was she supposed to do now? If she charged them, the guy might turn and point the gun at her. The distraction would give Yogi a chance to take him down, but it would almost definitely get her shot in the process.

  “What are you doing in my office?”

  Denise snapped her attention from the Hulk to the man in the suit. He had said that. He was the head scientist!

  The man wasn’t what she pictured. A spare figure in a tailored suit, he wasn’t wearing glasses or a lab coat. Barely taller than she was, he stood with his hands on his hips, managing to convey his supercilious disdain despite the fact his back was to her.

  He didn’t seem at all intimidated by the very large men who had broken into his office. Probably because he has his own armed muscle.

  Delaying further would just give Reliance’s henchmen more time to get there. She had to act now, and there was no time to think of something better. She was out of options.

  Sucking in a deep breath, Denise hurried forward, trying to move as silently as possible in her running shoes. She only caught a glimpse of Yogi’s eyes as she approached, but the warning flash they gave her was enough to let her know he did not approve.

  The minute shake of his head—the one telling her to back off—didn’t tip off the Reliance goons until she was almost on top of them. By then, it was too late.

  Denise whipped the cylinder from her belt and jumped as high as she could, leaping to climb up Hulk number two like a tree. She latched onto his shirt with one hand, using the other to jam her lipstick Taser into his thick neck.

  The security guard crashed down like the ton of bricks he resembled. He landed with a meaty thump, one that was accentuated by the staccato pings of metal hitting the floor.

  Yogi dashed from the office. Before she could blink, the guard’s gun was in his hand.

  For a second, she was worried he would shoot the head scientist. Instead, he took out the clip and popped the bullets from the chamber. Once he was done, he advanced on the now-quailing scientist.

  She was right there next to him. “Who are you?” she asked the suit. “I want a name.”

  The man didn’t answer. He turned to run away, but Yogi picked him up by the scruff of his neck. It was far too easy for him. If he wasn’t careful, he could kill the man accidentally.

  “No, put him down!” She stepped up to them, yanking on the man’s collared shirt until Yogi dropped him.

  “What are you planning?” Yogi growled.

  “This,” she replied, drawing her arm back. She punched the suit with all her strength, her fist smashing into his face. The scientist crumpled to the floor next to his guard, unconscious.

  Jack chuckled from inside the office. “Dayum, girl.”

  Yogi frowned. “I could have taken care of that.”

  “If one of you had hit him, you might have killed him,” Denise scoffed, waving a hand over the bodies. “Look at the twerp! He’s my size. Besides, wouldn’t you rather his sins be exposed to the world? It would be a lesson to the others like him.”

  She turned to Jack. “Do you have their data? I’m sure there’s enough dirt there to hang this guy.”

  “The copy is done—finally. There were a few more gigs of video files than we anticipated, so getting it all took a little longer than I calculated. Now we just let my virus scramble their system and Bob’s your uncle.”

  She and Yogi exchanged a loaded glance at the mention of the video files, but Jack didn’t seem to notice their trepidation.

  “Why don’t you go and grab that last monkey? I’ve taken care of the cameras. They’re on a loop now,” Jack said absently.

  “Yes, please!” That was a great idea. Taking Yogi’s hand, she led him to the lab.

  “You took out another one?” He sounded shocked.

  She shrugged. “Never underestimate a determined animal activist,” she said with a frown.

 
; The guard was still making a racket. She looked around. “Let’s stuff some of those paper towels in his mouth,” she suggested.

  “No need.” Yogi knelt, taking out the roll of duct tape he’d stashed in her bag. He applied a strip to the man’s mouth. “You know, I bought this roll to use on you.”

  Denise sniffed. “Lucky for you that you didn’t try.” She gestured to the man lying prone at their feet. “Just look at what happens when you cross me.”

  Yogi chuckled and she forgot about the guard, moving over to the cage.

  Tentatively, she handed the monkey one of her special treats through the bars. The animal eagerly took it. “The cage is wired. It’s rigged to an alarm.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I did some EOD in the army.”

  “EOD?”

  Yogi bent and started fiddling with the wires underneath the table.

  “Explosive Ordinance Disposal,” he said, flashing her a quick but heart-stopping grin. “An alarm on a cage should be cake after that.”

  “Wow,” she said, her head drawing back to admire the view as he bent over.

  Focus, Denise. Her hormones were already getting a workout around him, but throw in a little bomb-disposal skill into the mix and she was about ready to pass out.

  Yogi finished messing with the wires and straightened. “That should do it. Getting this little guy out should be no problem now.”

  “It’s a girl, but that’s okay. Here,” she said, reaching into her bag for her portable bolt cutters.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said, grasping the bars on the door and yanking.

  The thin metal joint in the corner bent. Putting a hand in the opening, he pulled again until the entire door separated from the frame.

  Denise blinked. Then she remembered the Jeep. He’d pulled the car from that ditch without a winch or any tools. She shook her head at the wrecked cage. “I guess I’ll just have to get used to the fact that the man I love is basically the Wolverine.”

  “What did you say?”

  Denise looked at him blankly before her mind replayed her words. She clapped her hands over her mouth.

  Yogi’s grin could have lit up the room.

  Did I just…

  “Yep, you said it out loud,” Yogi said, sounding way too satisfied.

  A throat cleared. “Monkey is escaping,” Jack said from the door. “You know, in case you were interested.”

  Mortified, Denise looked wildly around. The chimp was halfway across the room.

  Yogi leaned forward. “You better get her,” he said in an undertone. “Animals can be a little unpredictable around me.”

  “Oh, of course.” Denise hurried after the chimp, her cheeks flaming.

  She scooped up the monkey, refusing to look at either of the men. She didn’t have to see their faces to know they were amused. Their laughter was a clear indication.

  22

  After what seemed like an eternity, Yogi pulled Jack’s van into the empty driveway of the boarding house on the Wyoming-Colorado border. He had left his Jeep there before they headed to Reliance, intending to use it as a fallback position in case they failed tonight and needed to regroup.

  He’d originally planned to take the Reliance data to the chief immediately, but there was no way that was happening now.

  She loves me.

  For the entire ride, Denise had kept fussing with the chimp. She was still blushing and avoiding his eyes as they unloaded their gear—which was taking entirely too long.

  He felt like pumping his fist in the air in victory. Denise loved him. And as soon as he got rid of Jack and the chimp, he could show her he loved her back.

  He studied the monkey. It looked sleepy enough for him to handle safely. Tossing his and Denise’s packs on the porch, he took the drowsy animal from Denise’s hands and shoved it at Jack.

  “Take this and go,” Yogi said before taking his mate in his arms and bending her back in a Hollywood-style kiss.

  Yogi had always believed the idea of time standing still was a cliché. He knew better now. Pouring his heart and soul into the kiss, he drank deep until Denise’s body was putty in his arms.

  After a very long minute, he finally noticed Jack was hemming and hawing, trying to get their attention.

  “What about this?” Jack asked.

  Reluctantly, Yogi lifted his head to see Jack holding up a thumb drive. Yogi held up a hand, catching the drive when Jack tossed it.

  “Douglas will wire payment, thanks. Go away now,” he said, lifting his dazed mate in a fireman’s hold that should be very familiar to her.

  Yogi headed for the boarding house door. Luckily, he still had the key.

  Jack laughed until he realized Yogi was seriously leaving him with the chimp. “Hey, wait. I can’t take this thing! There’s not even a cage!”

  Denise started calling out instructions and advice from over his shoulder, but Yogi was not about to stop and take the thing back.

  “Figure it out,” he called as he opened the door, slamming it behind them.

  “Yogi, he can’t handle that animal,” she protested as he set her down in the first bedroom suite he found.

  “Don’t worry. Jack’s resourceful. Plus, he knows I’ll kill him if something happens to it.”

  She looked at him doubtfully, but he managed to divert her attention by taking off his shirt. Yogi continued to strip. By the time he was done, he was confident she didn’t remember the monkey at all.

  23

  Jack slid the second USB drive into his waistband and shook his head at the closed door of the boarding house. Yogi had been a little too trusting, not checking to see if he’d kept a duplicate copy of the Reliance data.

  As if I would take that long to copy and corrupt such a basic computer system.

  Shoving down the twinge of guilt, he stared at the monkey in his hands. “You’re headed for the San Diego Zoo, bucko,” he told the chimp.

  He lived in a suburb just minutes away from it. Perhaps if he drove fast enough, he could break in that very night and leave the animal somewhere safe. His course of action decided, Jack hustled to his van.

  He carried out his break-in and deposit a mere hour after hitting town. Chimp-free he drove home. He arrived at his Spanish-style house just before Douglas’ payment hit his Cayman account.

  Jack loaded the drive onto his desktop computer without further delay.

  He knew it was wrong. Despite his closed-lip tendencies, Douglas’ son Connell was one of his best friends. Yogi, too, for that matter. Connell had saved Jack’s life on the battlefield on numerous occasions, and he had returned the favor once. The trust and faith of the Maitland family was something he valued. Douglas had tapped him for this job based on that confidence.

  But now he was knowingly violating their trust. His curiosity about the Maitlands and their odd extended family had reached a tipping point. If what was on this thumb drive shed any light on the questions burning in the back of his brain, then he was going to look—just once—and then he’d destroy the data on the drive forever.

  A few hours later, he was still sitting in front of his computer. Jack hadn’t expected to be shaken by what he’d seen, but his hands were trembling a bit as he picked up his coffee cup. He put it down when he realized there was nothing in it.

  Gotta change that now. He went to his kitchen for the seldom-used bottle of vodka he kept in the freezer. Pouring himself a double, he went back to his computer and replayed the way those scientists had poked and prodded the little wolf cub.

  Mouth tight, Jack fast forwarded and again watched what had happened when the scientists had gone home and turned off the lights, leaving the cub alone in the dark.

  After tossing back the vodka, Jack fingered the rim of the empty glass and debated getting another.

  Okay, this explains a lot. For years, Connell and his ‘cousins’ had fascinated him with their quick reflexes and stunning physicality, on and off the battlefield.

  He should be thinking abo
ut them, and what this revelation meant. But Jack’s racing mind determinedly focused on one thing—probably the last person he should be thinking about.

  Mara.

  Epilogue

  Six months later.

  Yogi cracked an eyelid. Oliver was staring at him with a smug expression on his little face.

  Uh-oh. He knew that look. “You better not have done what I think you did,” he said, his voice like sandpaper.

  The kid stuck his tongue out, not to mock Yogi, but to lick the traces of blood from the corner of his tiny mouth.

  Okay, he definitely had.

  Oliver was almost two and half now. Although he had accepted his cousin as a caretaker, he missed Denise whenever they were gone.

  The little cub had been so distraught that Jessup took the unprecedented step of asking Denise for help, which she had been eager to supply.

  “You can’t fight such strong imprinting,” Jessup had said in an aside to him, shrugging off the momentous occasion. As far as Yogi knew, it was the first and last time an Avery had ever asked an outsider for help with anything.

  At first, Denise was just supposed to visit Lunar Springs on occasion. But once Yogi and Denise were officially mated, they started spending more and more time away from the pack on research and rescue missions. Out of necessity, Oliver had started to visit them. Now he came to sleep over whenever Yogi and Denise weren’t away.

  There was plenty of room since they had bought the boarding house and made it their home.

  When Yogi had first agreed to overnight stays for Oliver, he hadn’t realized he was signing up for weeks at a time. It was okay, though. The little punk had finally accepted that the two of them had to share Denise. The cub had even stopped biting him. Now they were friends…of a sort.

  It was occasionally weird to be a surrogate father, but Yogi was a practical man. He needed the practice for when they had their own cub. Glancing at his sleeping mate, he smiled.

  Speaking of which…

  Oliver tugged on his arm and Yogi got to his feet, hustling the boy out of the room before he woke Denise. He settled him in the living room with a fistful of dry cereal and went out to the garage to count white rabbits. One was gone.