by Eve Langlais
Copyright © 2018/19, Eve Langlais
Cover Dreams2Media © 2018
Produced in Canada
Published by Eve Langlais ~ www.EveLanglais.com
eBook ISBN: 978 177 384 067 3
Print ISBN: 978 177 384 066 6
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction and the characters, events and dialogue found within the story are of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, either living or deceased, is completely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including but not limited to digital copying, file sharing, audio recording, email, photocopying, and printing without permission in writing from the author.
Contents
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Introduction
What happens when a nurse falls for the wolfman?
The job offer is a dream come true. Three times her usual salary. Free meals and a suite. The only catch? Margaret can’t tell anyone about it.
Hidden in the Rockies, the clinic is well protected and…odd. It doesn’t take her long to realize the doctors and scientists are up to no good. Especially once she meets Luke.
Her patient is an angry man who used to be a soldier. Now, he’s something else. A savage beast with gentle eyes that glow green when he’s agitated.
What has he become?
And will she be next?
Prologue
The ambush came out of nowhere. Enemy soldiers rose from hidden trenches, their guns rapidly firing at the convoy on a mission to deliver goods—clothing and medical equipment to a refugee camp.
Luke’s training took over. He immediately jumped out of the back of the truck and rolled under it for cover. He poked the muzzle of his gun out and began shooting in the general direction of the attackers.
For a while the rapid staccato of gunfire filled the air, along with the sharp yells, screams, and sobs of those injured. He couldn’t tell if they were winning or about to be overrun. In that moment, only survival counted. And Luke was good at surviving against the odds.
A kid bounced around in the foster system because of druggie parents quickly learned how to evade danger. He might not have gotten good grades in school, but he graduated with life skills. With graduation came his ticket out of foster care, but unlike many, he didn’t end up on the streets, turning tricks or doing petty crimes to survive. He joined the army. A steady paycheck, medical benefits, and a chance to serve his country. Smartest thing he ever did.
Problem was all those fancy recruitment posters didn’t mention the part he’d be serving it on foreign soil fighting the very people they’d been tasked with saving.
But it wasn’t up to him to figure out the politics, or even if he fought on the right side. Luke went where he was told. Served like a good soldier. Learned to kill, too, which proved easier than expected.
As the gunfire died, he rolled in the dust and dirt and popped to his feet. Rifle aimed, looking for movement. The air held a haze that stung the eyes and tickled the lungs.
He ignored the moans of his injured comrades as he took slow and measured steps toward the hump of rock and packed dirt that hid one of the shooters. He learned early on to never assume the enemy was dead and done.
As Luke approached, he kept his gaze focused, his gun held upright, finger on the trigger. He prepared to fire as he neared the outcropping, only to ease out a breath when he saw the body on the other side. The third eye rimmed in red meant the man wouldn’t rise again.
Turning, he saw his buddy, Jorge, nudging another corpse—a rather corpulent one—with the toe of his boot. “This one doesn’t have a gun.”
“Maybe he was throwing rocks,” joked Luke. It did seem odd, which should have been the first clue. “How—”
He never did finish his sentence. The voluminous robes suddenly birthed a smaller figure, just a boy. Which meant they both hesitated.
They knew better.
The missing gun was in the child’s hand. Before Jorge or Luke could react, the child was screaming and firing, spraying bullets wildly.
Luke knew he was fucked the moment the bullet shattered his hip. A soldier who couldn’t run wasn’t much good on the battlefield. He almost welcomed the second and third bullets. They took him from searing into darkness, a darkness that spat him back out into painful reality.
He regained consciousness as medics swarmed the area, quickly rolling him onto a stretcher, carrying him to safety.
How am I not dead? A miracle surely. Despite his lower body not responding at all, except to hurt, he held on to a shred of hope. The doctor dashed it with one look.
“His entire pelvis is fucked. His arm is hanging by a tendril of muscle. We can’t fix him. Clean and wrap his wounds then get him prepped for shipment back to the States.” The fate of those no longer suitable for fighting.
Still, they’d made great strides in medicine.
The doctors back home did their best. Stitched his arm back together and kept him from losing it. His thumb and one finger still worked. Swapped out his broken pelvis for an artificial one. But they couldn’t repair the nerve damage. All the rehab in the world didn’t get rid of his pronounced limp, his crippled fingers, the pain.
He began to pop pills. What else did he have to do all day? The military gave him an honorable discharge and not much else.
Fuck you very much.
He wished he’d died in the fight like Jorge had. His friend never made it out of the hospital, and there were days Luke thought him the lucky one. What did he have to live for? The nightmares of that day played over and over again. The faces of those he’d killed haunting him, fingers pointing, saying, ”You deserve this.”
Maybe he did. Maybe living was his punishment.
About a year after his return, the knock on his shitty apartment door barely roused him from his drunken stupor.
When the pounding continued, he managed a slurred, “Fuck off and go away.”
Instead, the door was kicked open and a beast of a guy in a suit two sizes too small, wearing shades and a scowl, entered.
“What the fuck?” Luke exclaimed.
“Are you Luke Harris?”
“So what if I am? You ain’t got the right to come busting in here.” Especially since the guy didn’t have a badge.
The fellow stepped aside so that another man in a suit could enter.
Luke immediately disliked him, with his perfectly cut hair and smooth-shaven jaw. “Hello, Private Harris.”
“Don’t ‘hello’ me. What the hell you thinking, busting into my place?” he snarled.
“Excuse my employee’s enthusiasm. Bruno can be a little impatient.”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what Bruno is. You can both get the fuck out.”
“Don’t be too hasty, Private Harris.”
“How do you know my name? You work for the government? Come to evaluate me and see how much more of my disability you can cut?”
“I’m not a state or federal empl
oyee. My name is Doctor Chimera.”
A doctor? Here? Why? Luke’s gaze narrowed. “You going to fake a report saying I’m not crippled so the military cuts me off?” It wouldn’t surprise him. He had a hard enough time getting the benefits he was entitled to. Agencies kept trying to claw them back.
“Again, I don’t work for the government, or the military. I am here because I read your file. I think we can help each other.”
Luke snorted. “Now I know you’re full of shit. What do you want?”
“To offer you a second chance.”
“Chance for what? If you read my file, then you know I’m a cripple.” He slapped his thigh and barely felt it. Some days, he could barely drag himself across his apartment to grab another beer.
“What if I said we could fix your injuries? Make you better than before.”
“I’d say you’re full of shit.”
The man in the suit smiled. “Five years ago, I was in a wheelchair with even less mobility than you.” He turned and did a two-step. “That changed after my treatment.”
“You got robot legs under there?” Luke asked, his interest piqued. A cyborg body wasn’t his first choice, but he wouldn’t say no either.
“Flesh and blood,” the doctor assured. “We don’t replace the damage; we actually fix it. And our treatment can fix you, too.”
Suspicion was part of his nature, hence why Luke frowned and said, “What’s the catch?”
“No catch and no cost to you. We require suitable subjects who wouldn’t mind experimental treatment.”
“Not FDA approved, eh?” He snorted. “Neither is half the shit I snort. So what do you need from me?”
“Permission. Sign these forms authorizing us to handle your medical care.”
Luke eyed the several-page document Bruno handed him. “For how long?”
“As long as it takes to make you whole again.”
“Does it hurt?”
The doctor shrugged. “Yes. But no worse than you’ve suffered. And really, with these kinds of result…” The guy glanced down at his legs.
To be able to walk again and not drag. To taste freedom rather than the cloying closeness of these four walls.
“Can I have time to think about it and look this over?” He waved the thick sheaf of paper.
“No. This is a one-time offer, my friend. If you don’t want it, then there are plenty of others who will.”
“Why me?” Luke wasn’t a person whom luck shone upon. In his experience, things usually went from bad to worse.
“You are a healthy male of prime age.”
“I’ll grant you the age part, but I don’t know about healthy.” No point in lying about his vices. It would suck to say yes and then get kicked out of the program for the drugs in his blood.
“The narcotics and alcohol in your system can be flushed. You haven’t been doing them long enough to do serious damage to your organs.”
“Do I have to stay in a hospital?”
“A clinic, yes. In the mountains. You’ll have your own room. Three meals a day plus snacks.”
“Hot nurses?”
Dr. Chimera’s lips quirked. “Some are attractive, yes.”
“I don’t know.” It sounded all too good to be true. “If I go, what about my apartment, my stuff?”
“Your things can be put in storage. And you’re making excuses. Do you want to walk again?”
“Yes.” With every fiber of his being.
“Then accept my offer now or stay here.” The curled lip as the man looked around filled Luke with anger—and shame. He knew what Chimera saw. Filth. Squalor. The apartment of a guy who’d given up.
“What if it doesn’t work?”
Again, the small tight smile. “It will work. Do we have a deal, Private Harris?”
Given the choice, a chance to return to the man he was or drink himself to death, he chose hope.
Luke held out his hand. “Let’s do this.”
It was the worst decision he ever made.
Chapter One
I hope I made the right decision. Today Margaret started a new job, one that would take her away from the city she knew. Away from everything, including civilization.
A helicopter was required to reach the remote clinic she’d been hired to work for. How situating an establishment out of reach by normal means made sense, she couldn’t have said. Usually clinics were places of healing, accessible to all who might need them.
Then again, this was a special place. A place that required her signature on page after page of contracts and legal jargon about non-disclosures, enough writing her hand cramped. The smudge of ink as Chimaeram Clinic’s human resources fingerprinted her and ran a background check told of the seriousness of the job. But all the inconveniences in the world didn’t matter, not when she saw what they offered.
Six figures for six months work, with the possibility of extending the contract if things worked out.
Only an idiot would say no. Nurses didn’t make big bucks in publicly funded hospitals. Not in Canada at least. Depending on the promises the government in power made, nursing hours could be cut. She might find herself scrambling to make ends meet with no notice.
Margaret jumped at the chance of real money, and to embark on a new start. Having recently come out of a nasty relationship where her ex-boyfriend had the nerve to accuse her—rather than the fact he slept with his coworker—of being the problem, Margaret found herself wanting some peace and quiet. Especially since Jeremy wouldn’t leave her alone. Apparently, she wasn’t supposed to dump him. She was being unreasonable. A bitch.
She couldn’t disagree with the latter. She had no time or use for cheaters. But the asshole just wouldn’t go away. So she would.
Given the length of time she’d be gone, Margaret packed up the things she wanted to keep and put them in storage. She sold and gave away the accumulated crap she didn’t care about. The only things she brought with her to the clinic were two large suitcases and a purse. Not a ton of clothes, given she’d packed a warm winter jacket, which took up a lot of space; however, she wouldn’t have to worry about work apparel. Apparently, the clinic provided a uniform—and laundry services. Another perk.
With her on this voyage to the unknown was another woman, Becky—also a nurse—with a much more loquacious personality and the type of bubbly chatter that made Margaret wish for duct tape. A good thing the headsets provided allowed her some relief from the talking.
As the helicopter slipped between two mountain peaks, she was struck anew at the stark beauty of the location. The Rockies were a wild and untamed place for the most part. Sure, there were a few scattered towns, small settlements with limited populations. But they at least had roads and stores to reach them.
The clinic didn’t.
It worried her a little that she wouldn’t be able to leave. There was no calling a cab if things sucked. No ordering in pizza or hitting a movie or even a bar for alcoholic relaxation. The clinic would be her everything for the next little while. It seemed crazy when she thought too long about it. She kept reminding herself it was only for six months.
Despite all the paperwork and questions she’d answered, Margaret still had no idea what to expect. Just an assurance that all her needs would be met. Given the lack of information on the internet about the Chimaeram Clinic, and given the security around it, she assumed it was some kind of government-run, top-secret facility. Which made it rather exciting. Perhaps she’d be witness to a great stride in medical science. Or perhaps it was some kind of rehab center for the rich. She might meet a movie star!
The helicopter swooped into a valley formed by towering peaks, the tops of them white with snow, and yet as they dipped, the frigid temperatures and barren rock changed to lush green with flourishing trees, their tops tall and bushy, with occasional open patches filled with bushes and long grass.
The helicopter swept past the woods into a massive clearing, obviously regularly mown given the scrub on the ground remained l
ow and there wasn’t a single sapling to be seen.
The uneven terrain turned into a field of green that appeared to be grass with a dirt track ringing it. Man-made for sure.
A poke in her arm had her turning to see her companion gesturing, her lips moving.
Margaret frowned. Becky grinned and tapped her window.
Craning to peek via the window opposite her, Margaret noticed the crystal-clear waters of a lake and, within in it, moving shapes. Fish that darted erratically as the shadow of the helicopter darkened their habitat and stirred up waves. On the other side of the lake, a concrete pad with a giant X for landing awaited. Farther beyond, a squat building of only two stories ringed by concrete, a few all-terrain vehicles parked next to it.
The chopper alighted with only a slight jolt, and while her companion immediately unbuckled, Margaret waited for the pilot to speak through their headset. “You may disembark.”
Only then did she remove the earpieces that protected her from the sound of the blades and unclip her harness. The door popped open, and Becky hopped out with no fear or regard for the still spinning blades. The fact they were well overhead didn’t reassure. Margaret kept a wary eye on the moving metal as she emerged more slowly, the tube rails providing steps down to the ground.
Now what? As Margaret stood there, hugging herself, noticing the chilly bite of wind, she felt some trepidation. This place was literally in the middle of nowhere. No roads. No power lines. A single building, surely not large enough to do everything it promised.
What had she gotten herself into?
The pilot emerged on the opposite side of the chopper, and she heard thumping as he removed their baggage. She clutched her purse tight, only partially comforted by the cell phone inside. It wouldn’t have any signal, and yet she couldn’t leave it behind.