He stared at her with that blank expression, his arms crossed over his wide chest. His bored look told her nothing of what he thought, though she had the distinct impression he was shocked by the fact she didn’t try.
“Why?” She shrugged. “I figured there was no use in even trying. I wouldn’t get far. You’d just chase me down and capture me again. Besides,” she added waving her arm in a wide arc. “Where would I go?”
“Right. Where would you go? Keep that in mind that there are no cops out here to save you. There isn’t some miraculous superhero who’s going to show up and rescue you. There is just you, me, the doc and his scientists. If you can remember that, you might just live long enough to see another birthday.”
Somehow, Kendra doubted she would get that chance. Men like these didn’t release people who could identify them. She could identify both of these men and they knew it.
“Grab the girl and let’s go, Martin. I want her at the compound to tape her first shift.”
“Shift?” she asked as she walked past Martin. The fight in her was gone. They had taken her out into the middle of the desert. Even if she did manage to escape, where would she go? It was dark and there was nothing but sand and tumbleweeds as far as the eye could see.
It wasn’t until she was strapped into the backseat of the vehicle that Kendra realized it was nearly one in the morning. It was dark and she had been able to see down the lonely stretch of desert road as though it was daylight.
Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes with a smile. A dream. This was all a dream. She let out a relieved sigh. She needed to stop reading those scary stories. They always gave her nightmares. She decided to go back to sleep and when she woke up for real, she’d be home again.
Frowning, she covered her stomach with her hand. It was a good thing it was Saturday. She definitely wasn’t feeling well.
Sometime later, Kendra woke to the high-pitched squealing sound of brakes as the SUV came to an abrupt stop.
Her throat ached and she swallowed. It was only then that she realized the annoying droning sound she heard came from her. Had she really been moaning in her sleep? Sure, she didn’t feel well, and her body felt as though it was on fire. To her knowledge, she had never made that kind of noise before.
Pain sliced through her as she unbuckled her safety belt and got out of the SUV. Glancing around, she noticed they were still in the middle of the desert. A tall fence surrounded a compound that looked more like some sort of government complex than anything private. A series of similarly sized brick buildings dotted the landscape within the perimeter of the fence.
She sighed and shifted her gaze to her feet. What now? There would be no chance of escape from this place. She would die of thirst or heat stroke before she ever reached civilization.
Her stomach cramped, doubling her over. Maybe she had the flu. If she did, Kendra hoped she gave it to her captors. It would serve the jerks right.
“Grab the woman and get her into a cell, Martin. I don’t want the cameras to miss one tiny detail of her transformation.”
Transformation? What transformation? Kendra didn’t have long to think about the lunatic’s choice of words. Another wave of pain hit her and drove her to her knees.
Martin, as big and mean as he appeared, hefted her up and carried her into the building with what appeared to be an odd mixture of irritation and gentleness. “Don’t fight it. It won’t do you any good and it only makes it hurt more.”
Fight what? Being sick? How did one fight being sick?
He must have seen her confusion because he elaborated. “Try not to fight the pain. Reach for it. Breathe through it. It won’t hurt as much if you try to relax and reach for it instead.”
“Why should you give a damn?” She sucked in a breath on a sob. “You and that lunatic who bosses you around did this to me.” Kendra panted as she reached up to swipe the perspiration from her face. “You’re nothing more than a hired thug.”
“Maybe,” he said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “But I’ve been through this already. I’m only trying to keep you from making the same painful mistakes I did.”
“Like I’d trust you,” she scoffed. “I think I’d rather swallow razor blades.”
“You just keep on fighting it, girlie, and it’s going to feel as though you have.”
Chapter Four
It was three-thirty in the morning and Galen had no idea where in the hell they were. The GPS lost connection with the satellite—the piece of shit—and none of them had a maps program on their phones.
If they didn’t haul ass, they’d have to wait twenty-four hours or so before they could storm the compound. No one liked a daylight incursion. They knew they had the advantage at night. Even if that lunatic staffed his entire guard with shifters, they would still have the advantage. They had had years to perfect their night vision. The newly changed shifters wouldn’t have that advantage.
With a sigh, he picked up his phone and called the boss.
“Sinclair here,” Bastien answered the phone with a bark. “Make it snappy. My wife wants ice cream.”
Galen shook his head. “Wow. Did you really just say that to me when you know I’m practically sitting on Richard Thornton’s doorstep?”
“Don’t give me any shit, Tolbert. If you were sitting on that lunatic’s doorstep, you’d be directing an operation. Since you aren’t, I can only assume that you have some sort of SNAFU.”
“Yeah, well the damned piece of shit GPS fucked up again.” He glared at the unit mounted to the windshield. “I’m just about ready to shift and sniff that bastard out.”
“Do it and call me when you find him. Don’t go in until it’s dark again.” Bastien sighed. “We both know you won’t find them until it’s light, now and he’ll have changed her by then.”
“He’s changed her already. They stopped on the side of the road for a bit. Her scent was there, but it wasn’t the same as it was at her home. She’s changing, if she hasn’t done so already.”
“God damn it all!” Bastien sighed again. “We have to stop that bastard before he changes someone important enough to draw attention to this situation.”
Galen didn’t add that sooner or later the idiot was going to change someone who would manage to escape, make it into some public place and shifted shape in front of a crowd—or even worse, a camera.
“How do you want this to go down?” Galen needed to know whether or not his superiors wanted prisoners. He knew that Bastien would want them to bring anyone in a cage back with them. What he really wanted to know was what to do with the guards and those responsible for turning innocent humans into werewolves against their will.
“With extreme prejudice.” Bastien hung up the phone, preventing him from asking the man anything else.
“So?” Jackson asked as he and Anderson approached from the northwest. “What did he say? How does he expect us to proceed?”
“We’re to shift, trail them by scent, then wait until dark. We take the compound with extreme prejudice and take any of their prisoners into custody.”
“For their safety or ours?” Jackson asked dryly.
“Both.”
Galen moved his vehicle off the road, parking it in the desert sand. Quickly he unbuttoned his shirt and removed it. The less clothing he lost on this trip the happier he’d be. If he could shift and leave his clothes here in the truck, all the better. He’d lock the keys inside and use the combination to get back in when he returned. That was at least one good thing about the keypad entry. He just hoped the battery didn’t go dead. If it did, he was screwed.
“If we split up, we’ll cover more ground. The faster we find this place, the faster we can stop that lunatic from injecting more people with that serum.” And the faster he could find that woman that had his balls aching since the moment he saw her kick a man in the head and knock his ass out.
Generally he didn’t go for women who got their jollies man hating. However, he didn’t think this woman ha
ted all men, only those who attempted to kidnap her. He couldn’t blame her. Besides, she had a killer set of legs and he was definitely a leg man.
“I’ll take the north. The rest of you split up any way you see fit. Contact telepathically, stating that you’re giving up for the day and heading back to the rendezvous point if you find it. No cute covert messages like, the package is found, or anything like that. They’ll figure out we mean them and run. I want this bastard this time.” Galen stared at the younger men for a moment. “Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir. We understand,” Jackson replied. “I don’t think any of us want that crazy asshole turning any more people. Being a were-being shouldn’t be something that you get just because you have the serum to inject into someone. It should be in our control because not every human has the character to be a good shifter.”
“You’re learning, Jackson,” Galen said with a smile.
“Hey. What happened to your glasses?” one of the MacDonald twins asked.
“I took them off. I don’t need them. Besides,” he said with a grin. “Why would I want to emulate a dick like that fucking doctor? He wears glasses and he’s a first class asshole.”
Galen shook his head. “That doesn’t mean that all men who wear glasses are assholes.”
“I know that.” He looked away and pressed his lips together with a chuckle. “But who wants to take the chance?”
Four hours later, Galen was alone, tired, thirsty and still hadn’t found anything. He felt like giving up and going back for a working GPS. However, just as he climbed a craggy hill covered with cactus, he spotted a compound in the distance. Lifting his nose into the air, he took a long sniff and…nothing.
Damn it. He was going to have to get closer and he was already thirsty as hell. There was no stream in sight and he didn’t think he would get a drink from anyone at the compound. They wouldn’t mistake him for a dog, the way most humans would. They would assume he was a shifter and shoot first and maybe, if he was still alive, ask questions later.
Slowly, he made his way down the other side of the hill and loped toward the fence. After another painful mile, he found himself on the inside of the fence. Two men stood guard outside one of the buildings, talking. Slowly, he circled around the back of the building and dashed toward another in the distance. On the other side, he saw a spigot and licked his dry lips. He had to risk it. Otherwise, he might not make it back to where they left the vehicles parked.
He reached out on their telepathic link, making sure he sounded weak. I—I can’t take this anymore. I haven’t found a thing. I’m heading back to the rendezvous point. If I’m not there by sundown, assume I’ve perished in the desert sun.
None of the others answered. It was a good thing. The less their enemy knew about their numbers, the better. All they knew now was that there were shifters near, and they were looking for something, but hadn’t found it.
Quickly, he shifted into his human form, cracked open the spigot and took a long drink. Turning the water off, he glanced around, changed back into his wolf and loped off toward the fence. Now that he knew where they were, Galen would bring his team back after dark and rescue the woman. It was just too bad that they weren’t able to get to her before they changed her life. That should have been her decision, not that of a madman.
Chapter Five
Kendra held her hands over her stomach as she stared at her cell. It appeared rather large, but the clear glass walls surrounding it on three sides added to the illusion of space. Perspiration beaded upon her brow as she sat down on the queen-sized bed. She leaned her head against the cinderblock wall painted a light cream.
Nausea threatened to make her retch. Pain filled her, burning from the inside out. Wrapping her arms around her middle, she watched her captors leave the room, closing the thick clear door behind them. A lock snicked into place and she closed her eyes. No matter what they wanted from her, she was determined they wouldn’t get it.
“Why are you doing this?” Her question came out on a sob as another wave of burning pain blazed through her stomach and seared her intestines.
Of all the things to worry about, all she could think about was her house, her job…her class. Who would give her students the holiday party she had promised them?
“For lack of a better way to put it, you are yet another of my test subjects—a guinea pig, if you will.”
“Test subject? What kind of test?” She stared at the Englishman. The wild gleam in his eyes grew brighter when she groaned. The sound startled her. She sounded more like an animal than her normal self.
She pinched her arm—hard. Why couldn’t she wake up from this nightmare? Any other time, she managed to will herself awake once she realized her situation wasn’t real. “Wake up, wake up!” She chanted the words over and over. “You’re having a nightmare, Kendra. Wake up!”
Another wave of pain hit her and she screamed. Lying down, she brought her legs up and curled into a ball. Tears streamed down her face as the pain spiked yet again. “It hurts. God, it hurts so bad. Help me, please!”
Even her hair hurt. The fine hairs on her arms and legs felt alive. It moved. It felt as though something crawled beneath her skin, searching for an escape.
The two men stood outside the door. The old man nearly danced with glee while Martin watched silently, his face devoid of emotion.
Wave after wave of pain wracked her, coming at ever-shortening intervals as they grew more and more intense. Each wave sucked the energy out of her. Each wave stole her will to fight.
For one short, blessed moment the pain subsided. Kendra knew it was a short reprieve. Soon the agony would start all over again. She turned her attention to her captors. It no longer mattered that this was nothing more than a dream. All that mattered was that she know what was happening to her and why.
“What have you done to me?”
“We have made you better, dear girl,” the old man said. “You’ll thank me soon enough.” He grinned, the action making him look crazier than ever. “You’ll see in just a few moments.”
He grew more excited when another wave of pain hit her hard. Her face ached. It felt as though her jaw had just split apart.
“Do you see that, Martin?” The man pointed at her, excited. “Her jaw is lengthening. Do you see it?”
“Yes, Doctor,” Martin said dryly. “Did you expect something else? It’s not as though she is your first…test subject.”
“You’ll see, Kendra Mortensen. You’ll soon see. I’ve made you better. Just look at yourself in the mirrors. You’re turning into a wolf!”
Now she knew the so-called doctor was a lunatic. “People don’t turn into animals, you nut.”
Though she knew what the man said was totally bizarre, his statement made her feel better. No one was that crazy. It only proved that no matter how painful this was, it was just another of her strange, post-Halloween nightmares.
Really, Kendra. You just have to stop watching those damned horror flicks around Halloween.
Another wave of pain struck, then another and another. One after the other, the waves hit, giving no relief. Her bones ached, her fingernails narrowed and turned dark. Thick, black hair grew on her arms and legs.
It’s a good darned thing this is just a dream. Otherwise, I’d be pretty cheesed off about getting that Brazilian wax Wednesday.
Had she known that she would be suffering like this in a dream, she would have forgone the bikini wax. It wasn’t as though anyone would have seen it anyway.
Why can’t I wake up?
Kendra heaved a sigh as she stared up at the cameras mounted on the walls. The blinking red lights told her they were on and recording. She’d worry about just what they were recording if she didn’t know this was a dream.
Looking down at herself, she noticed the fur-covered legs and paws. Her clothes hung off her like too-large rags when she stood. It didn’t really surprise her when she tripped as she took a few steps.
Shaking her body, she disl
odged the hold her clothing had on her. She had to hand it to herself. She obviously had a great imagination. She actually felt as though she had four legs.
A noise from her left caught her attention and she growled at the two men who still stared at her.
That crazy old man who called himself a doctor beamed as though she had just made his year.
Kendra lay down on the bed, panting. She stared at the two men and wondered where she’d seen them before. She must have seen them somewhere because she just didn’t credit herself with enough imagination to come up with that sexy voice and totally scary old man picture with which this nightmare had saddled her. She shivered and laid her head on her front legs. At least this was a dream. If this had been real, she would have been out of her mind by now.
No way was any of this possible by any stretch of the imagination. Knowing that was the only thing that kept her from going into a meltdown.
Closing her eyes, she decided to ignore the creeps staring at her. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could fall asleep within her dream again and when she woke, she would be back at home in her warm bed. She opened her eyes again, just in case things changed. Nope. Everything was the same. She was still here on this bed and she was still locked in this glass partitioned cell. She sighed and closed her eyes again. It was probably a good thing. She could use a nap.
Chapter Six
Galen and his men crept stealthily up to the nearest building. They’d seen several men enter and several exit the small structure. In fact the structure was too small to hold that many people comfortably and there was no visible air conditioner. It looked like a storage shed.
Randy MacDonald crept toward him. He attempted to wave the man off. Either the human didn’t see him or he ignored him. Either way the other man continued his approach.
Damn it! The idiot is going to try to storm the place before I give the order. Galen scowled. His brother, Kalen, had said the two were order takers. It didn’t look that way to him as Randy MacDonald continued his approach.
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