“Lock it,” he snarled.
“What’s happening? Are you—”
“Lock it, or I’ll be on you.” He couldn’t get any more clear than that. Or maybe, he could. I’ll be in you.
Her eyes widened. She yanked a keycard out of her pocket and swiped it over the electronic lock. The lock engaged and bolted.
She stared at him. The bars of Cell A were thick, reinforced, and supposedly designed to keep even the strongest of paranormals inside.
There was a cot to the left of Duncan. A toilet. A sink.
She wrapped her hands on the bars. “Duncan, I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
He stiffened. “I don’t need your pity.” Was the woman missing the whole bit where he was close to ripping her clothes off? “You need to get away from me. Stay away. Get another doctor to—”
“There is no other doctor here. Just me. You know that.”
But she usually had an assistant who came in. At least during the days. The man who actually took the blood from the other werewolves.
Wait, before, Pate had said…“It’s the reason I wanted you away from the other wolves.”
What was the reason?
But the heat inside of his body started to build even more. It felt like he was being ripped apart by that fire.
Like…like the wolf was coming out.
“Get away.”
She let go of the bars, and her fingers skimmed over the remote on her belt. “Maybe I should adjust the silver intensity.”
“It’s not the fucking silver! It’s you!” And, in an instant, he lost control. He leapt across the cell. Freaking leapt and was in front of her in less than a second’s time. “I can smell you. I can taste you. And I want to fuck you.” As if she’d missed that part before when he’d been driving his tongue into her mouth. “So you need to walk away. Walk away now. Run away. I don’t know how strong this thing is inside of me, and if something should happen, if I got out of this cell…”
Don’t want to hurt her. Don’t ever want to hurt her.
“You need to be away from me,” he finished.
Her gaze held his. Then she gave a slow nod and backed away from the cell.
He sucked in a deep breath. Dammit, he still tasted her.
Holly turned away. Her dark hair brushed over her white lab coat. She took two steps, then paused. “I wasn’t saying no.”
He didn’t know what in the hell she was talking about.
Holly glanced over her shoulder. “I was kissing you back. And I bet I left more marks on you than you left on me.”
His jaw wanted to drop.
“You told me what you wanted.”
I want to fuck you.
“Maybe next time, you’ll ask what I want.” One dark brow climbed and she smiled. Wait, smiled? “Could be that it’s the same thing you want.”
It felt like she’d just punched him in the chest.
“Get some rest,” she told him with a small nod. “The change is going to keep pumping through your body. It’ll drain your energy. So just…rest, okay?”
Then she was heading down the hallway.
Leaving him alone in the cell—in the cage.
Leaving him with her scent still around him.
And leaving him with a wolf howling within him.
***
It was the snarls that woke her. Holly jumped when the sounds pierced her consciousness. Her eyes flew open, and she realized that she was half-sprawled over her desk. She’d been waiting for the results of the screen on Duncan’s blood, and she’d fallen asleep.
The snarls came again.
She leapt to her feet.
The clock on the desk said it was nearing 6 a.m. A fast glance toward her blinds didn’t reveal the trickling light from dawn, not yet, but the fact that she’d fallen asleep told her that sunrise must be getting close.
Holly hurried toward the swinging doors of the med unit. With every step that she took, she heard—
Snarls and growls.
The sounds were getting louder. And she could hear yells. Screams? The cries weren’t coming from Duncan’s cell, but from the containment area on the opposite side of the base. She grabbed for her master remote, one that she kept as a precaution in case any of the wolves ever got loose.
I do believe in having a Plan B.
She ran toward those growls and screams.
When she shoved open the doors that led to the main containment area, the scent of blood hit her. Blood and—beast. Because wolves were there, wolves not in any cells. These weren’t wolves that they had captured. She knew because there were no silver collars on the giant, snarling beasts. She counted four fully shifted wolves running near the cells, wolves that were attacking the guards who’d been stationed at the main containment area.
Not just attacking them…The guards were dead. Their screams had stopped.
How had the wolves gotten inside? How had they even found the base? The place was supposed to be secure, with guards on the exterior of the perimeter and—
The wolves were closing in on her.
Holly froze.
The remote wasn’t going to do her any good. The three collared werewolves were still in their cages. They weren’t moving at all. Just watching the carnage, still in human form.
Silver didn’t bind the beasts coming toward her.
“Don’t try to run,” this came from the man in the first cell. His light green eyes locked on her. “They like it when prey runs.”
So she was just supposed to stand there and let them eat her? Hell, no. She stumbled back a few steps—then slammed her hand on the alarm. The guards hadn’t been given the chance to ring that alarm. Backup hadn’t come for them.
Please, let that backup come in time for me.
The sound was high and shrill and designed to have the extra benefit of including multiple frequencies when it was activated. The techs had created the alarm after they’d studied canines for months. Humans couldn’t hear the part of the alarm that would send a werewolf to his knees.
The Para Unit had wanted to be able to fight back against the beasts.
The wolves started to howl and snarl. One ran blindly forward and shoved his head into the wall.
They were distracted. Hurting. The alarm was driving them crazy—just as it was supposed to do.
“Don’t!” The sharp order came from the green-eyed man. Saul. A werewolf who’d ripped the throats out of six homeless men in Seattle. “Don’t run!” Saul said again. His face tightened with pain as he slammed his hands over his ears. Her frantic gaze locked on him. He was sagging to the ground as the alarm echoed through the facility. “They’ll…kill you…”
No, they wouldn’t. Not then. She’d get out. Seal the room up and—
“And…I…want to do that…” Saul’s hands pulled from his ears. His fingers wrapped around the bars. “I want that sw-sweet blood…”
The bastard was saying he wanted to kill her? She yanked out the remote. Found the frequency for his collar and punched in the code to amp up his silver concentration.
He hit the floor, and she started to run.
Only she hadn’t seen the fifth werewolf. The one who was blocking the exit. And coming at her even as he howled in pain.
***
Duncan heard her scream.
The alarm was shrieking, pain throbbed through his head, and Duncan heard Holly scream.
He didn’t even know how he knew the high, desperate cry belonged to Holly, but…
I fucking do.
“Holly!” He yelled as he grabbed at the silver bars. The silver burned his hands, but he didn’t let go. He jerked, yanked. Nothing. The bars didn’t so much as bend. “Holly!”
He only heard the continuing shriek of the alarm. He strained, trying to make out anything else, and…was that a growl? A snarl?
Werewolves.
Where the hell were the other agents?
Holly was in trouble. Holly could be hurt.
His cla
ws were out. His lengthening canines stretching in his mouth. His fingers curled tightly around the bars, and he yanked once more and—
Blood.
He could smell blood, fresh blood.
Her blood.
“Holly!” He roared her name, and the cell bar snapped in his hand. One bar. Another. Another. Then he was breaking out of that cell, ripping away anything in his path. His muscles were stretching, aching, as he ran toward that scent.
But then…something happened to him. The fire that he’d felt in his body ignited into an inferno. Duncan fell to the floor, convulsing. Fur burst along his skin. His bones snapped. His muscles contorted.
He couldn’t speak, not any longer. He could only growl and howl as the transformation swept over him. Brutal, excruciating, but lasting only for a matter of seconds. Then he was on his feet. All four of them. Running toward the blood because the scent was even stronger now.
He wasn’t a man.
He was the beast.
And he was…hungry.
Chapter Three
The big, gray wolf had slashed Holly’s arm. Her blood dripped on the floor as she edged back away from him. She had managed to retrieve a gun from one of the fallen guards—a gun he’d never had the chance to use—and she lifted the weapon now. The bullets would be silver. They’d better be. And she was about to fire a bullet right into that werewolf’s head.
The door flew open behind the gray wolf and another wolf—this one even bigger, but with thick black fur and some damn huge teeth—came flying into the room.
Her gun swung toward the new threat because…yes, that wolf was focusing on her. Coming right toward her. Her hand tightened on the gun.
I know those eyes.
The black wolf had bright blue eyes. Blue eyes that were streaked with gold. Duncan’s gaze.
She lowered her gun.
The gray wolf leapt at her.
She jumped back, barely avoiding another swipe from those powerful claws.
A howl of fury seemed to shake the room. Duncan’s howl.
Then the black wolf slammed his body into the other beast. The gray wolf went down and Duncan—she turned away just as his teeth sank into the gray wolf’s neck.
“Alpha…” The stark whisper came from Saul.
Her head jerked toward him. He was still clinging to the bars. Smiling, ignoring the shriek of the alarm and the smoke that drifted up from his clinging fingertips. “We can…smell him…others will want to fight…to see if they can take down…an alpha…”
“No one’s taking him down,” Holly snapped, but then she glanced back at Duncan.
The other wolves were up and circling Duncan now. Going in to attack while he was fighting the gray wolf. They thought they’d gang up on Duncan?
Not on her watch.
“Get away from him!” She yelled and fired her gun. One bullet hit a white wolf in the flank. The wolf yelped.
She aimed again.
The doors burst open. Armed agents spilled into the room. About freaking time.
The wolves turned on this new threat. With their fangs bared, they lunged toward the agents. The agents began to fire at them.
To fire at Duncan? They wouldn’t realize that Duncan was in wolf form. They’d think he was an attacker. They’d kill him, too.
“No!” Holly ran to Duncan and wrapped her arms around him. “Don’t shoot! He’s one of ours.”
“Is he?” Came Saul’s mocking voice.
She held Duncan tighter. His fur was soft against her skin and his sharp teeth were way too close to her neck. But she didn’t back away from him. He needed her.
Howls and growls and the thunder of gunfire shook the room. When Duncan’s body tensed, as if he’d spring to join the fight, her arms just held him tighter. “Don’t,” she whispered. “You’ll just get shot, and I won’t let you die like this.” Shot down as a beast. That wasn’t the end that waited for Duncan.
Then the gunfire stopped. The growls died away. She lifted her head and searched the area with a quick gaze.
Saul was laughing. “They’ll…keep coming…”
Pate ran toward her. “Holly? Holly, are you all right?”
She nodded, but she didn’t let go of Duncan.
“They’ll keep coming…for him…already one alpha in this town,” Saul said, voice deepening. “Already one.”
What? Like one werewolf was going to dominate everything? The werewolves in this city needed to realize there was room for two alphas. Because Duncan wasn’t dying.
Pate reached for her arm. Duncan lunged at him, snapping with his fangs.
“Easy.” Pate put his hands up. He could have just shot Duncan, so she appreciated the guy’s restraint. One blond brow rose as Pate darted a glance at Holly. “I’m guessing that’s our guy in there?”
Somewhere in the beast, yes, but she just didn’t know how much of the man remained then. Her fingers slid around his neck. The collar was designed to automatically contract or expand to match a werewolf’s transformation. A rather clever bit of technology that Pate was particularly proud of—since he’d designed it himself.
“Can you control him?” Pate asked.
She didn’t want to use her remote to increase the silver levels hitting him. It just didn’t seem right to hurt him when he’d come racing to her rescue. Holly wasn’t exactly sure how he’d managed that escape from his cell, but she was grateful to him. So, instead of using the remote, her fingers stroked his fur. “Duncan?”
His head turned. His eyes—wild, shining so brightly—met hers.
“Can you shift back?” Holly whispered. “The agents are here. I’m safe now. Can you—can you shift?”
“You’re not safe!” Saul yelled. He was getting on her nerves. The alarm had stopped shrieking, and he had gotten stronger. “That wolf…he’s your biggest threat. You think I’m bad?” He laughed. “Wait until you see what an alpha can do to you.”
At that, the black wolf pulled away from Holly. Rushed toward Saul’s cage.
And growled.
Saul growled back.
Then Saul’s eyelids flickered and he…lowered his head? Holly sucked in a gasp of surprise as Saul dropped to his knees in front of Duncan.
Wolf dynamics. They were scaring the crap out of her.
She glanced around the room once more. Saw the bodies. The dead werewolves were shifting back to human form. One woman. Four men.
Pate eased closer to Holly as the other agents went to check on the guards. Checking would do no good. They were dead. “You’re bleeding.” Pate’s voice was tight. He didn’t touch her. Probably because he was afraid of Duncan’s reaction. She was a little afraid of it, too. “Did you get bitten?”
Holly shook her head. “It’s just a scratch.” From some very big claws. Her head turned. She met his gaze. “They attacked just after dawn.” If they’d come sooner, she would have been able to fight back more.
He nodded, immediately understanding what she couldn’t say with so many others close by.
“How did they get in?” Holly whispered. The facility should have been secure. “The guards outside—”
“Are dead.” Flat, but emotion blazed in his eyes. “Slaughtered. These wolves came here because…fuck, I think they tracked him.” The him in question…well, Pate was staring at Duncan.
Duncan’s head turned toward them. She knew he’d heard what Pate had just said. With his enhanced werewolf hearing, the guy could probably hear a pin dropping to the floor.
But why would the werewolves come for Duncan? Why—
Saul was still smiling.
Her eyes narrowed on him. She marched toward him, aware of throbbing in her arm from the werewolf attack. “Tell us what’s happening here,” she demanded. Because the guards inside were dead. The ones outside were dead. And the whole mess was nothing more than a bloodbath.
Saul kept grinning. She felt like giving the jerk something to grin about. If it wasn’t dawn…
And then…Duncan
let out a low howl. He tossed his head back and started to shift. The sound of the transformation was horrible. Muscles seemed to rip and tear. Bones broke. Snapped back together. His body contorted, and she had to lock down every muscle in her body so that she wouldn’t run to him and try to help.
Because there was no help that she could give, and if she got too close during the shift, Holly knew he might attack her. Wolves lost control of their bodies during the shift. Their arms flew out, their legs kicked. She didn’t want to chance another swipe from a werewolf’s claws.
Then he was on the floor. Naked. Sprawled facedown. The muscles of his broad back were so strong, but trembling, and his ass—
Wow.
Great ass, and it was a very bad time for her to be noticing it.
Duncan pushed up to his feet. Pate tossed him a pair of sweats that he’d just pulled from a nearby storage locker. Duncan caught them, yanked them on, and had to put a hand on the cell’s bar to steady himself.
When his fingers began to smoke, he lifted that hand away.
She couldn’t stay back any longer. Holly took a step toward him.
But Duncan shook his head. “Don’t.”
The one, clipped word felt like a slap in the face.
Then Duncan moved in a lightning-fast lunge. His hand shot through the side of the cage, sliding right between the bars. His fingers wrapped around Saul’s neck, and he jerked the guy forward. Saul’s head slammed into the bars. Smoke rose.
“She wants to know…” Duncan said, voice so rough and deep, “what the hell is happening here. Why did those wolves attack?”
Saul couldn’t speak, mostly because Duncan seemed to be choking him. Saul’s face had turned a dark shade of purple.
“Uh, you need to ease that grip,” Pate muttered as he came closer to Duncan. “You know the dead can’t talk.”
That wasn’t entirely true. Sometimes they can.
Holly fisted her hands and refused to reach out again to Duncan. He’d already shot her down once in front of Pate and the others.
Duncan’s grip on the werewolf eased. Saul sucked in a deep breath. Another.
Then he started talking. “They can…smell you.”
A faint furrow appeared between Duncan’s brows.
“Alpha scent,” Holly whispered, understanding.
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