Hawke scanned the area and sensed full-bloods following the car which didn’t surprise him. The Alphas were right to be nervous after that small display of power.
“Eight to ten on all fours and two cars behind the bend.”
“We need to get started on tracking down the test wolves,” Angus said looking over his shoulder. “I don’t trust any of those Alphas to go out of their way to help them. Plus I need to make a formal request to speak to the European Council. They may require both of you to stand before them to explain what happened.”
“Angus, I am after answers of missing pups. Will speaking to the Council help me with that?” She asked as their vehicle picked up speed.
“It could. But it would be rude not to appear.” He shook his head. “Not that you care about that one way or the other. We will play it by ear and make decisions as we go along. I am here to help with your mission not hinder.”
“We will leave tonight to track down the nearest test wolf.” She looked at Hawke. “How much time will you need to cross reference the files?”
“Ten to fifteen minutes. I need to build a mobile device to activate the kill chips.”
“Why? Why not break their necks or something?” Angus asked.
“It will be harder to explain. The chip should dissolve at death and it will look like a heart attack not murder,” Hawke said.
Angus nodded. “How long will that take? To build the device?”
“An hour or two, no more.”
“Good,” Angus said.
“We are coming to the curve of the bend, it is the only place for an ambush,” Chacal said in a bland tone.
“Okay,” Angus said straightening in his seat.
On both sides of the road trees crowded the land. Hawke took Asia’s hand and squeezed. She turned from the window to their joined hands. A moment later she met his gaze, some of the shadows were gone but not all. It was his duty to remove each one. They swerved and missed a car in the middle of the road. The Hummer drove along the narrow shoulder bypassing the vehicle.
A hybrid ran forward and slammed into the front of the heavy vehicle. Chacal did not press the brake. He pushed the accelerator. The hybrid raised his hand revealing long claws and jammed them into the hood. They broke in half without penetrating the metal and flew off in the wind. After driving side to side the hybrid lost its fragile grip and fell onto the ground beneath the back rear tire. It screamed as the heavy vehicle cracked its bones leaving it rolling on the ground.
“They never attack alone, there should be one more,” Asia said just before a loud thump hit the top of the hummer. Next a series of pounding on the roof of the vehicle announced the next hybrid had joined the fray.
“Can’t you get rid of him?” Angus said to Chacal. “That noise is annoying.”
Chacal stepped on the brake, hard. Hawke and Asia both wore seat belts. Angus did not and went flying forward just like the hybrid. Unlike the hybrid, Chacal’s arm shot out breaking Angus fall. The hybrid rolled on the ground a few feet down the road and shook his head. Chacal pressed the pedal; the Hummer shot forward and ran over the downed beast crushing its skull in the process.
“Is that good enough for you?” Chacal said, adjusting his rear view mirror.
Angus pulled the straps for his seatbelt and snapped it. “Thanks.” His tone said the opposite.
They continued toward Chacal’s property with the knowledge they were still being followed. Once they crossed over the property line, they drove through the security shield and slowed the vehicle. Chacal parked in the underground area and they went inside.
Chapter 27
Asia changed her persona to another male, neither her mate nor Angus trusted the Alphas to keep their word about the charges being dropped. Earlier, they had reached the first test wolf on their list. The poor beast had whittled down to skin and bones, his skin had a blue tinge which signified he had been a test subject for the blue bird project. That project tied all the mongrel wolves together. Nine lived.
After the wolf attempted to attack Hawke, he pressed the red button, putting it out of its misery. They buried the tormented beast quickly to avoid the full-bloods that followed them from the Alpha meeting earlier. Once they discovered the dead wolf, they would pick up Hawke’s scent and be on their trail.
The next person on their list was Henri, the male of a mated pair. Asia was interested to see if the mating bond diminished the effects of the test experiments. If so they could cross four others from their list and make it back in time to Chacal’s to meet with the Council. Angus informed her that two of the members wished to meet her and Silas wanted her to attend the meeting.
They crept closer to the small wooden hut, deep in the forest not far from Lord Boris’ castle. When Asia and Hawke noticed the location on the electronic map, they were surprised. Why hadn’t the test wolves moved on? At least headed further in the opposite direction? The hand held device Hawke created blinked and showed movement. They knew she and Hawke were there and were on their way to meet them.
“You,” the woman hissed at Hawke. Asia recognized Alise as the same woman who attacked Hawke after their release. She stepped in front of Hawke.
“Yes. But I don’t have time to change your mind about anything, we have a few questions and then we’ll be on our way.”
“Who the hell are you?” the woman snapped, looking at her and halting mid-step.
“I was sent by my Alpha to help Hawke. A lot of the test wolves were infected and are attacking humans. We zeroed it down to those exposed to a specific test. Your mate is infected. Where is he?”
The woman’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “I do not know. He left and I have not seen him.”
“I’m a wolf, bitch. I can smell your lie. Either he comes out here and talks to us or he dies. Your choice.” Asia crossed her arms and waited. She scented the woman’s fear, but they didn’t have time to play nice. Hawke was too damn close to the castle for her peace of mind.
“He’s not well. He cannot come outside.”
Asia exhaled. “You are his mate, you can speak to his body, demand the poison to leave.”
The woman’s eyes lit with hope. “Truly? Been so long since we used mating benefits for anything other than remaining sane or stopping pain, I have forgotten much.” She stared at Asia and then closed her eyes. The three of them remained frozen in position far longer than Asia wanted, but one look at Hawke’s determined gaze to right a wrong kept her silent.
The female opened her eyes on a gasp and smiled. She turned and looked toward the hut. The door opened slowly and the male who had cursed Hawke stepped out the shack. His movements gained strength with each step he took. By the time he reached them, he stood upright and wore a small smile. He grabbed his mate and kissed her hard.
Hawke nodded, and they turned to leave.
“Wait,” the man called. “Thank you. We will be leaving this place now that I can protect my mate. There are bad things happening in the woods. Be careful.”
That piqued Asia’s interest. She turned. “What kind of things?”
He looked at his mate and then Hawke. “People are still disappearing. You’re not in the lab anymore and somebody’s still taking full-bloods. My mate overheard some people talking about it in town the other day. We’re leaving, heading south as soon as I’m at full strength, heard there’s an Alpha down there accepting new members.”
Asia wondered if he referred to Andrei but didn’t ask. They needed to keep moving, and she knew which town the female visited. “Thank you, we will be careful. My advice to you is to leave now. Take whatever you have and go. The Alpha of this area may change his mind about allowing you to live.”
The female’s eyes widened, and she ran to the hut. The man nodded and followed at a slower pace. Before he reached the door, the female was out the door carrying a bundle. Asia looked over her shoulder at them one last time before she and Hawke took off running to the next wolf on their list.
Chapter 28<
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Greggor paced back and forth in front of the monitor, waiting. Hawke rejected him. He couldn’t believe it, but he had no choice. Everyone heard him. How could he have been so wrong? They had spent hundreds of evening discussing new research, and possible implementations. He had listened to Hawke rave over that bitch’s surgeries and the new technology to the point he had wanted to scream. But he hadn’t. Because friends listened even when they didn’t give a damn.
He ground his teeth in aggravation. All those years thinking there was something... how could he have gotten it all wrong? He shook his head as water filled his eyes when he remembered the look in Hawke’s eyes yesterday. Hatred, anger, even pity he could deal with, but indifference? That ripped his heart out and left it pumping on the ground. Indifference left him with nothing to build on, or tear down. Nothing he could do mattered.
Heart sore he sat in the chair and placed his head on the desk. What could he do now? For years his days revolved around watching Hawke work and visiting him in the lab. All of his fantasies were of the large, handsome full-blood. Many of his dreams centered around Hawke returning his affections and them living happy together in the castle.
“What are you doing?” His uncle said.
Greggor didn’t bother to respond. It didn’t matter anyway, he had failed… again. His uncle would punish him… again. It was a never ending cycle, a horrible way to live but it was all he had.
“I asked you a question,” the older man snapped.
“I’m sitting down.” He couldn’t drum up the energy to be afraid or respectful.
“I see that, what I want to know is why?”
Greggor sat back in the chair and assumed the position. He closed his eyes to hide his pain while waiting for the metal cuffs to strap him in.
“Something is different, what happened?”
“I went to the meeting as you required, said what you told me to say and …”
“And?”
“He left with the team from La Patron as you suspected. I couldn’t get close enough to Hawke to complete a scan. But there was no sign of his chip being active.”
“So they have discovered a way to deactivate the computer chips. How did he seem to you? Alert? Sluggish? Any overt affects from the removal of the chip?”
Greggor snorted. “He was very alert. Too damn alert.”
“Did I miss something?”
Greggor looked at the monitor for the first time and met his uncle’s gaze. “Hawke refused to return. I sent the two hybrids after him. One is completely destroyed the other has a crushed leg and is out of commission. I failed. Completely. Utterly. I’m a failure.”
After a long silence his uncle spoke. “He played with your affections and left you behind, is that why you are upset?”
Greggor’s gaze slid to the side of the monitor. “What do you mean? We…uh, we never did anything.”
“That makes it worse, doesn’t it?”
Greggor closed his eyes and leaned back against the chair.
“You think he didn’t know how you felt about him?”
Greggor’s eyes snapped open. “I never said… never mentioned anything.”
His uncle waved his hand, cutting him off. “You may not have said anything verbally, but he knew just like I knew. Like everyone knew the two of you had something special.”
Frowning, Greggor sat forward. “Special?” Hope rekindled in his heart.
“Yes. Everybody thought the two of you were a couple. In fact I’m sure Hawke mentioned you to me a few times over the years.”
Greggor gasped. “He did? When? What did he say?”
The older man shrugged. “I cannot remember such inconsequential things. But it did make me think your feelings for him were being returned.”
“Really?” Greggor frowned trying to pinpoint when that may have happened. “He never seemed interested. Never spoke of anything other than work.”
Boris ground his teeth in frustration. The incompetent sod could not be of his blood. He refused to believe anyone could be so stupid. “Well if that’s the way you remember it, okay. Why are you so down?”
Boris tapped his fingers against the metal collar and glanced at the pitiful boy through the monitor. Hawke had never been interested in anyone other than his thirst for knowledge. That gleam in his eyes had sparked Boris’ initial interest. Even without the computer chip, Hawke’s mental perception had been off the charts, the full-blood was indeed a genius.
His nephew never realized Hawke cared only for knowledge, and as long as the crush did not interfere with Hawke’s production, Boris didn’t care. Now he needed to re-channel that dismal emotion into something useful.
“Pity he used you that way. Got your hopes up, had all of us believing the two of you had a future.” He waited for the boy to leave reality behind and step into the land of fantasy.
“You thought we had a future?”
“Of course, that’s why I allowed you to spend so much time with him. I just assumed… well you know.”
“If we did, it’s over now. He doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore.”
“That pisses me off that he would treat you that way. It’s not right. He should have broken things off first, given you an explanation. That’s the least he could have done after all the years the two of you spent together.”
Greggor straightened and stared. Boris could see the tiny wheels turning. It wouldn’t be long now. He picked up the shiny collar fresh from the factory and smiled.
“You’re right uncle. He should’ve done that. He dismissed me without a backward glance. As if I were nothing, not even an ant.”
“How did you feel when he did that?”
“I hated him. In that moment I hated him and wanted to hurt him.” Greggor’s voice had risen to an irritating high pitch but the emotion was what Boris needed to see. It would not matter if the boy changed his mind later, the neck band would not allow the mission to change.
“I sent you a box, do you have it?” Boris saw the box sitting on the desk but preferred to have Greggor engaged in each part of the set-up.
“Yes, it’s here.” Greggor picked it up and returned it to the desk.
“Open it.” He waited until the box was opened and then booted up the program to activate the neck band.
Greggor frowned. “A necklace?”
“Neck band. Rub your fingertips up and down the metal.” Boris waited until the neck band came online and received Greggor’s fingerprints. When the last print was stored into the database, Boris unlocked the device.
Greggor looked at him and then at the neckband. Boris remained silent and waited for the boy’s curiosity to kick in.
“What does this do?”
“It will give you the strength and cunning you need to make Hawke talk to you, and maybe apologize. That way you can break it off and have closure.” He shook his head at the gullibility of the boy who snapped the neck brace on without asking any other questions.
“That is what you want, right? To make Hawke pay for the way he treated you?” He typed in a few keys.
Greggor’s eyes went from sad and pathetic to angry hunter. “Yes. He needs to pay for that.”
Boris clicked a few more keys. “What if he won’t talk to you? What will you do?”
“I will hunt him down and make him talk. He won’t have a choice.”
Boris nodded and added the final keystrokes.
“You may have to hurt him, can you do that?”
Greggor’s eyes bulged and darkened. “I will kill him if he resists. He will never treat anyone else the same as he treated me.”
Boris sat back in his chair with his hands clasped across his stomach. “Finally I have emotions from you I can use.” He pressed the final button to begin the change in Greggor’s mind and body. “Welcome to the Liege.”
Chapter 29
The sliver of moon crested the mountain providing minimal light in the inky black night. After three days, Hawke and Asia completed the first par
t of their mission. According to a message they received from Angus, there had been no recent killings, this part of the problem was solved. Bone weary, they decided to stop at the next hotel, sleep and start fresh in the morning. The vehicle Chacal loaned them had been a godsend but her eyes blurred and she had zig-zagged across the road too many times.
“There should be a hotel ten miles up the road,” Hawke said yawning. The last test wolf didn’t fight, he ran into a crowd of people. It took two hours of following the wily beast before he wandered into a place where few would notice him falling to the ground. After Hawke pushed the red button, the wolf screamed drawing attention as he dropped dead. Instead of burying him as they did the other six, they left him for the authorities.
Tomorrow afternoon they were scheduled to meet with the council. Asia wasn’t sure why, but La Patron required she attend, and she would.
“I see a light ahead.” Hawke pointed.
“I wonder if our tail will spend the night or go ahead.” She glanced at him. The past few days they had been shadowed by no less than four full-bloods. They never approached but she sensed them every time they searched out a test wolf.
“Probably. Wouldn’t be surprised if they took a rest as well, they’ve got to be just as tired.”
She turned into the well-lit parking lot, pleased there were not a lot of cars and popped their trunk. Hawke stepped out, grabbed their bags and met her in the front of the car. She locked the car with the remote and they entered the lobby together. When they reached the counter, it was empty. “No one’s here?” She looked at Hawke who looked around the large space.
“No. Let’s go.”
She frowned at how quick he wanted to leave. It might be a while before they found the next hotel. “Go? You don’t want to look around, ring a bell for service?”
“Scan.”
She scanned the area and sensed movement in the direction of the hotel. It wouldn’t be empty for long. She shook her head and met his gaze. “Can’t we have one night in peace? I just want a shower and you.”
Sword of Inquest (La Patron's Sword Book 1) Page 16