Genetically Altered Complete Box Set

by Sarah Noffke

  “No, I wouldn’t make a mess like that,” he said, grunting as the springs to the couch cried.

  Adelaide knew then who had made the mess on the mirror. That was totally Ren’s style.

  She eyed the words that would show up every time someone took a shower, mucking up the mirror. She always liked a good mess. The girl turned, feeling that there was no better set of words than the ones written on the mirror: I’m always here for you.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  “While dream traveling, the body in the physical realm goes completely slack. This is the tell-tale sign of dream travel, since the consciousness is absent and not creating tension in the body. It’s one of the reasons our race lives longer—our bodies aren’t damaged as much by the berating tension of our consciousness and subconsciousness.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  Adelaide opened her eyes when her feet hit the ground. She’d never been on a date before. And she’d never been to Portland. The city looked clean, with the way the green grass shone from the sunlight kissing it.

  “It’s rare to have a sunny day like this in Portland,” Connor said, stepping up next to Adelaide’s side. He’d just arrived to the location where they’d agreed to meet via dream travel. It had been his idea.

  “About like London, I’d guess,” Adelaide said.

  “Do you know what Portland’s motto is?” Connor asked, offering his arm to Adelaide. She took it, strolling down the street, a large theater on their right. The lit sign read Baghdad. They were in the Hawthorne district, an area infested with hipsters.

  “Tell me,” she said, allowing him to lead her down the street.

  “Keep Portland Weird,” Connor said.

  “How disgraceful. Londoners would never pride themselves on such a thing. Seems about right that you’re from this place,” Adelaide said.

  Connor smiled, pulling her in tighter. She could hear his thoughts but they just seemed like normal conversation in her head.

  “So what will you do now?” she asked, the nervous hum in her chest stronger than it was when she’d landed in this location.

  “I applied with the Institute to work with the maintenance crew,” Connor said, pausing and coming around to stand in front of Adelaide.

  “Good call. That’s right in line with your interests. Cleaning toilets and serving Dream Travelers mashed potatoes,” Adelaide said.

  “Yes, but not without washing my hands between jobs,” Connor said, his grin speaking of the excitement he was hiding.

  “I commend you on being a dog but not always acting like one,” she said.

  “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I didn’t get the job,” he said.

  “Oh, well, I guess you’d be better off donating yourself for science. Is this your way of telling me you’re going in for a lobotomy?”

  “This is my way of telling you that I’m starting agent training,” Connor said, unfurling the smile he’d been hiding. “Trent thinks Kaleb and I would make a good team.”

  “Trent has horrible judgment. He assigned Rox as my partner,” Adelaide said. Her father hadn’t assigned agents partners, thinking that working solo was better. It just showed that her father didn’t know everything. Having someone to rely on was a good idea. It made people stronger, utilizing the different talents of each person for the best strategy. Trent might not fuck up everything after all, as Ren had feared.

  “Will you mind having me at the Institute full time?” Connor asked, and there it was. The fear. The fear of rejection. The fear that she’d say yes. That she’d push him away. The old Adelaide would have. She would have stormed away right then and told him that he was worthless and he was undeserving of such an honorable position. But that wouldn’t be true. That would have been Adelaide being afraid that she didn’t deserve Connor. She wasn’t that person anymore, and she did want him and she felt they deserved each other.

  Cupping his face, feeling his reddish stubble in her hands, Adelaide encouraged Connor lower. “I don’t mind. As long as you don’t get on my fucking nerves,” she said, with an unabashed smile.

  “Promise,” he said, and sunk his mouth down on hers. She heard the question in his thoughts as he kissed her, his lips gently caressing hers. The question presented itself over and over again. Do you really want me? Do you? Do you?

  Adelaide slipped back an inch. “I do,” she said, her mouth caressing his as she spoke.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  “To change locations, wake up, use your power of mind control, or manifest a bloody cup of tea, you use your intention. Haven’t you figured that out by now? Everything in this world is centered around intention.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  Rox’s sundress rippled in the wind. She knelt down and plucked a sprig of mint from the earth. She inhaled the scent, rising to a standing position. The Santa Monica Mountains were her backyard and just down the road, the Topanga Canyon watershed guarded her house. She spun around to face the home that wasn’t big and it wasn’t small. It was an A-frame painted in a series of pastels and shaded by three large oak trees.

  Zephyr stood on the porch. She’d offered him the house to live in when he had jobs in the area. He’d jumped at the opportunity at once. He, like her, loved being close to nature. Rox would spend most of her time at the Lucidite Institute and out in the field. But on her off-hours, she had a home. A place to belong. A place to feel free. She had her perfect job and her perfect palace. It appeared that the abduction of twelve men really did have a happy ending for most, even those who hadn’t been abducted.

  “The garden is coming along,” Zephyr said, strolling in her direction. He stopped a few feet past the area enclosed by chicken wire which prevented the birds and squirrels from stealing her harvest.

  “Yes, it should be full next year,” she said, kneeling down, tugging her sundress up from the earth as she ran her fingers over the soil.

  “Never much took you as a gardener type when we met,” Zephyr said.

  “Just goes to prove we had a lot of getting to know each other to do,” she said, eyeing the figure in the distance. “Looks like they are ready for you.” Rox pointed to Connor standing by the tree line, his bare chest too white in the waning sunlight. That boy could use a tan.

  “Yes, right on schedule,” Zephyr said, waving to her as he strode for the trees.

  Zephyr tossed his shirt, belt, and shoes by a nearby tree. He then slipped off his jeans, which just made the whole thing easier not to worry about them. Then he pulled his head up to spy the arch of men who stood before him. Connor was under the canopy, to his right. Beside him making a half circle were Kaleb, Rio, Cole, Clay, and Derek. All the men were bare-chested, wearing a look of hunger that only they understood.

  “Ready to play?” Zephyr asked the pack.

  “Hell yeah,” Rio said, slamming his fist into his palm.

  “Okay, let’s go meet the night,” Zephyr said, throwing a punch into Connor’s shoulder. “You’re it!” He yelled the two words as he set off at a sprint, shifting from man into werewolf and finally into the wolf form. The silver and black wolf leapt over roots and tree stumps, the other seven wolves on his heels. The pack ran far into the Santa Monica Mountains, enjoying the freedom they’d never truly known. None of the men had experienced real freedom until they’d met the wolf. And now they couldn’t imagine their life any other way.

  The new moon slipped over the mountain range as the seven wolves halted in a clearing, their snouts angled toward the starry sky. There they sang their song one howl at a time.

  Epilogue

  The Lucidites had evacuated Olento Research. They’d searched it. Found things that needed to be quarantined indefinitely, but not the alien. And they’d made the decision to bomb the site. The Lucidites probably thought that by destroying the building they’d protect humanity. They were right. There were things in that facility that could only be killed by fire. The operation was done cleanly, with every consideration taken for preservin
g the area around Olento Research.

  Adelaide and Rox supervised the task, ensuring that no one was nearby when the bomb detonated. The warehouse had been disassembled so what rose into the air was the rubble of Olento Research. Mika Lenna’s lifework sprinkled into the air in a series of spiraling ashes. It fell back to the earth as he had, a failure. The team Adelaide sent in checked for any peculiarities, but nothing was found. That was because that which they didn’t find when searching Olento Research for evacuation purposes, wouldn’t be found afterward. When something doesn’t want to be found, it has a way of hiding itself.

  When the sun set in Los Angeles, and the Lucidites had loaded up, something started to stir under the rubble that would be cleared the next day, once it had cooled. A brick pushed to the side, rolling down a pile of debris. Then a rock rolled away, having been moved by something breaking free, under the surface.

  Alexander Drake, who stood in the alleyway across the street, gasped when the hand shot through the rubble and straight into the air, like being born from the wreckage. He covered his mouth, both because the joy was too much and from the disbelief likely to make him cry with excitement. This had always been a possibility, but now it was his reality.

  The hand pushed until its arm was visible and then the subject from Project Vampyyri rose from the ashes of Olento Research. The man who was not a man anymore stood staring at the sight around him, before his hunger took him away from the place where he’d been reborn from the Arcturian race.

  The End

  Hi! It’s Sarah Noffke. Thank you for reading. If you could take a moment and leave a review, that would mean so much to me, the author. Reviews help books to sell so if you want me to keep writing, then please keep reviewing. And thank you for the support. Review the boxed set of Genetically Altered here.

  Acknowledgements

  This is my fifth series to write. When I started my first series, the Lucidites, I didn’t start by writing an outline. I didn’t start with the prologue or even the first chapter. The very first words I ever wrote were the acknowledgements. I knew then, and still know, that it is through gratitude that we go anywhere. And I know that I wouldn’t have the fortune to write books, my life’s dream work, if it wasn’t for so many people. I owe my success to my parents, family, friends, teaches, coaches, authors, and even to the strangers who allow me to study them. Anyway this series is a reminder that I’m grateful to so many.

  My first thank you goes to Jeff. I feel especially grateful that we can bounce ideas off of each other. You pushed me to write this series and our discussions made it better. Thank you for the support and encouragement.

  Thank you to Colleen for always being my first reader and my dear friend. I love the hell out of you. That is all, for now.

  Thank you to all of my awesome friends and supporters. You all inspire me every single day and I really can’t tell you how often you bring a smile to my face.

  Thank you to the readers. I read every email and message and I’m always grateful to hear from you.

  Thank you to my editor, Christine LePorte. You really caught some blunders on this book. Thanks for always making my books better. One day I’m taking you for a cup of coffee.

  Thank you to my cover designer, Andrei Bat. What can I say, you have amazing talent and I’m thoroughly glad you spend it on my projects.

  Thank you to my daughter Lydia. I know I didn’t put the wolf on the cover like you so desired, but you must know I love your ideas and use them often. You’re a creative soul and the most important person in my life. You fuel me with great ideas and the energy to keep writing. Thank you, my beautiful muse. I love you!

  About the Author

  Sarah is the author of the Lucidites, Reverians, Vagabond Circus, Ren and Olento Research, Soul Stone Mage and Ghost Squadron series. She’s been everything from a corporate manager to a hippie. Her taste for adventure has taken her all over the world. If you can’t find her at the gym, then she’s probably at the frozen yogurt shop. If you can’t find her there then she probably doesn’t want to be found. She is a self-proclaimed hermit, with spontaneous urges to socialize during full moons and when Mercury is in retrograde. Sarah lives in Southern California with her family. To learn more about Sarah please visit: http://www.sarahnoffke.com

  Join the mailing list here for freebies, updates and more! http://www.sarahnoffke.com/connect/

  Check out other work by this author here.

  A Dream Traveler Series: The Lucidites Series

  Awoken, #1:

  Around the world humans are hallucinating after sleepless nights.

  In a sterile, underground institute the forecasters keep reporting the same events.

  And in the backwoods of Texas, a sixteen-year-old girl is about to be caught up in a fierce, ethereal battle.

  Meet Roya Stark.

  She drowns every night in her dreams, spends her hours reading classic literature to avoid her family’s ridicule, and is prone to premonitions—which are becoming more frequent.

  Now her dreams are filled with strangers offering to reveal what she has always wanted to know: Who is she? That’s the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out. But will Roya live to regret learning the truth?

  Stunned, #2

  Revived, #3

  A Dream Travelers Series: The Reverians

  Defects, #1:

  The longer we confine ourselves to a place the more it imprisons us.

  All is not what it appears in the seemingly perfect community of Austin Valley.

  A long-kept lie begins to unravel as an unsuspecting teenager named Em Fuller begins to learn the sinister truth of what lies beneath her town's perfect façade.

  Em is a Defect--one of the unfortunate Dream Travelers not gifted with a psychic power.

  Desperate to do whatever it takes to earn her gift, she endures painful daily injections along with commands from her overbearing, loveless father. One of the few bright spots in her life is the return of a friend she had thought dead—but with his return comes the knowledge of a shocking, unforgivable truth.

  The society Em thought was protecting her has actually been betraying her, but she has no idea how to break away from its authority without hurting everyone she loves.

  Rebels, #2

  Warriors, #3

  A Dream Travelers Series: Vagabond Circus

  Suspended, #1:

  A Man On A Mission

  Dr. David Raydon, the Ringmaster, gave up his psychology practice to create Vagabond Circus. He searches for precious Dream Traveler children in orphanages and on the streets, where some live unwanted and forgotten. Vagabond Circus exists to provide the lost and lonely Dream Travelers a place to be illustrious, but it also shows the nonbelievers that there is still magic in the world. If they believe, then they care, and if they care, then they don’t destroy.

  ˃˃˃ Action, Depth And Plot Twists

  When a stranger joins the cast of Vagabond Circus, mysterious events start happening. The once orderly grounds of the circus become riddled with hidden threats. The Ringmaster realizes that not only are his circus and its magic at risk, but also his very life.

  ˃˃˃ Colorful, exciting, with a dash of the promised romance, Suspended will leave you hanging in the end, anxious to read Paralyzed, book two in the series.

  Paralyzed, #2

  Released, #3

  A Dream Traveler Series: Ren

  Ren: The Man Behind the Monster, #1:

  He is the most powerful man to ever live, and therefore doomed to misery.

  Ren Lewis was born with the power to control minds, hypnotize others, and read thoughts. Therefore he is certain of one thing.

  God made a mistake.

  No one should be born with so much power.

  A monster awoke in Ren the same year he received his gifts. At ten years old. A prepubescent boy with the ability to control others might merely abuse this power, but Ren allowed it to corrupt him. And since he can have and do anything he wants, R
en should be happy. However, his journey teaches him that harboring so much power doesn't bring happiness, it steals it. Once this realization sets in, Ren makes up his mind to do the one thing that can bring his tortured soul some peace.

  He must kill the monster.

  Ren is an addictive story of an anti-villain. This spellbinding supernatural fantasy is a must read for anyone looking for the untraditional hero.

  Ren: God’s Little Monster, #2

  Ren: The Monster Inside the Monster, #3

  Ren: The Monster’s Adventure, #3.5

  Ren: The Monster’s Death

  A Dream Traveler Series: Olento Research

  Alpha Wolf, #1:

  Twelve Men Went Missing

  Six months later they awake from drug-induced stupors to find themselves locked in a lab. On the night of a new moon, eleven of those men - possessing new gifts of speed, strength and inhuman powers - break out of their prison and race through the streets of Los Angeles. They disappear one by one into the night.

  ˃˃˃ Werewolves Are On The Loose

  Mika Lenna - a powerful dream traveler and head of Olento Research - wants to control the world. To do that, he must create an army of assassins. Capturing the twelve men was easy, as was experimenting on them while keeping them in drug-induced stupors. But now all hell has broken loose - wolf-like men have been spotted across the nation, leaving fatal attacks in their midst. Mike must tear every city apart until his invaluable werewolves are back under his control.

  ˃˃˃ The Race Is On

  The Lucidite Institute's main mission is to save the world from injustices. Their best agent, Adelaide Lewis, needs to find these mutated men and protect them and society, and fast. Adelaide realizes that she has to find the Alpha Wolf. Only once she's located him can she stop whoever is behind this experiment to create wild beasts out of human beings.