by Kit Tunstall
That didn’t mean she wanted to go anywhere, and he certainly wasn’t going to leave her behind—not that he had shown any indication of doing so. She followed him down their designated hallway, keeping her voice low when she said, “I guess Malcolm’s never seen a horror movie. Don’t split up.”
A ghost of a smile touched Devon’s lips, though his eyes showed no hint of real amusement. “It’s necessary sometimes.”
She bit her lip. “I still don’t like it. You’re practically alone here.”
He paused just long enough to frown down at her. “You might not have the training of the others, but I trust you to have my back. Just don’t put yourself at risk. If there’s any fighting required, I’ll handle it.”
She didn’t know whether to be cheered up by his words that he trusted her to watch his back, or to be annoyed that he had insisted on being the one to handle the fighting. She would decide that for herself if the situation came about, because there was no way she was going to run off and leave him, or stand idly by while he was being harmed if there was anything she could do to prevent it.
The hallway held a system of doors, and each one had a window, which was convenient. They were able to glimpse what was happening in the rooms, at least those that had lights on. She soon realized they were in a super soldier manufacturing unit. The rooms seemed to hold multiple soldiers in various states of alteration. They were all sedated and hooked up to a system of tubes and machines that must be providing nourishment, and probably imparted the artificial intelligence somehow as well.
They had reached the end of their hallway and turned around, heading back toward the antechamber without incident, when Malcolm’s voice crackled over the ear piece. She couldn’t make out the words, since Devon wore it, but she recognized his commander’s voice and the sense of urgency. Devon broke into a run, and she went with him, pushing herself as hard as she could to keep up with his longer legs and greater stamina.
When he entered the antechamber, they went to the hallway Lex and Malcolm had chosen to explore. Devon seemed to know right where they were going, and he stopped three doors down. The door was already opened. Malcolm must have used her program to bypass its security. Devon slipped inside, taking her hand as he pulled her inside. Manually, he eased the door closed carefully, but not fully shut.
Right away, she could tell this room was different from the ones where they were preparing the super soldiers. For one thing, the four subjects tethered to the tables didn’t appear to be in various states between human and animal. They were fully shifted, and the forms were silent—clearly sedated, or worse.
Wyatt and Lex stood beside a wolf, and Malcolm was near it as well, clearly examining the machines connected to the animal. George was moving down the row, checking on the other three animals, which included a black panther and two lions.
“Is that Loris?” She pointed to the wolf surrounded by the teammates.
“Yes,” said Malcolm, still scanning the machines. “I’m trying to decide the best way to disconnect her without injury.”
She looked at the other three animal forms. “Are these part of your team as well?”
“No,” said Wyatt.
“They were different team. I recruited them as well, but not for Project Shift. They were supposed to be an elite group of soldiers,” said George. “They went in and did the jobs no one else could do, but the last one was a clusterfuck. They lost most of their unit, and I had no idea any of them had been dragged into this.” He paused near the black panther, touching its shoulder gently. “I’m sorry, Dana. I’m going to try to get you out of this if I can.”
With a soft sound of satisfaction, Malcolm started flipping switches. He must have figured out the machinery’s function, and the safest way to disengage it. Within moments of it shutting off, Loris’s eyes blinked open, and she started shifting as though it was an unconscious response. One moment, a gray wolf lay there, and the next, there was a naked blonde. Tianna averted her eyes, seeing from her peripheral vision that Lex was offering their friend a sheet.
“Disconnect the rest of them,” said Wallace, his gaze on Malcolm.
Malcolm started to move toward the next form on the table, but they all froze as the door opened, followed by sounds of a solo clap, drawn out between each slap of hands together for a dramatic effect.
Tianna turned to see the source, recognizing Jasper Caswell, flanked by a dozen super soldiers. She swallowed at the daunting sight.
“Congratulations. You got farther than I thought you would.”
Devon growled low in his throat, his body moving the block hers as he faced Caswell. “So it was a trap.”
Caswell surprised her by shaking his head. “No, I’m not sure what you mean. I was shocked to see you on the security system, and I’m still not sure how you found us here, but I wanted to see what you could do. I’ve read the accounts, but I haven’t actually seen most of you live up to your full potential.” As he spoke, his gaze moved to Lex, and his nostrils flared. His eyes darkened, and something about his entire demeanor changed.
There was no visible or audible signal from him to attack, but as one, the super soldiers moved forward, following Caswell as he surged across the room, shifting as he did so.
Like all the others involved in the experiment, he couldn’t fully shift. He was a grotesque sight, trapped somewhere between human and polar bear, with an elongated face and deadly teeth, coupled with the strong arms of a polar bear, tipped with wicked claws.
In the chaos, she lost track of Caswell. Devon handed her an AK-47 from a duffel bag Wyatt had carried. She had some familiarity with the weapon, thanks to her crash course in it just three days before. Had it really only been three days since she had found Twitch—Benjamin—and these hybrids had found her? It seemed impossible that she’d only spent three days with Devon, because in many ways it felt like a lifetime. They fit together so well, and it was just right.
Her aim still sucked, but she was able to hold off a few of the soldiers and managed head shots on two of them. It was no easier taking a life now than it had been three days ago, but when viewed through Devon’s suggested perspective—that she was freeing them rather than injuring them—it made it possible for her to continue functioning.
Everywhere she looked, fighting took place around her. Hybrids outnumbered the shifters, but they were basically machines run by their handlers, while the shifters had something more important to fight for besides basic programming. They were fighting for each other and the ability to escape.
She was gratified to see they were winning, and the super soldiers’ numbers were dwindling as most of them lay dead on the floor. They had to be dead, because they didn’t stop until they were completely incapacitated, at least from her experience.
Inexorably, they pressed closer to the door, her group winning. Caswell was behind them, and only two super soldiers blocked their path. Wyatt and Devon dealt with them quickly, and they were squeezing past the bodies blocking the exit when she heard Lex cry out.
Tianna looked over her shoulder in time to see Lex pinned to the floor with Caswell on top of her, his teeth sinking into the back of her neck. She shifted from human to coyote, clearly a move he hadn’t expected, and wiggled away from him. Before he could pursue her, Malcolm and George had picked up the lieutenant colonel and tossed him across the room into a bank of machines that didn’t appear to be connected to the remaining shifters they hadn’t been able to liberate.
Malcolm moved toward them, but Wyatt’s sharp tone drew him up short.
“There’s no time. We have more flooding the corridor, and we have to go now.”
Wallace cursed long and low, casting a regretful glance at the three forms still lying on the table. “We’re coming back for them.”
Malcolm nodded. “We’re bringing this whole operation down. We just need to figure out how. We need to go now, George, but we won’t abandon them.”
The super soldiers were all coming from one end of
the corridor, so they turned in the other direction, which happened to be toward the exit. Tianna ran as fast as she could, actually able to keep up with the group because they were slowed slightly by Malcolm, since he was carrying Loris.
She was clearly incapable of running in her current state, appearing disoriented and moderately confused. They reached the room with the trucks and piled into one, though Lex made a detour to grab the keys. She took all six sets hanging on the rack, which Tianna thought was smart. Only one would work in the truck they were stealing, but a lack of keys would delay the super soldiers from pursuing them.
Wyatt was behind the wheel, and he found the correct key on his second try. The truck rumbled to life, its engine a pleasing roar in her ears. They were so close to freedom, and she was half-convinced something would intercede to keep them from escaping, but she grew more confident as Wyatt managed to crash through the fence in the spot where they had cut through. Part of the fence was still live, but the truck absorbed the voltage without any of them feeling it. There were some sparks, but that was the only sign they’d encountered live electricity as they broke through.
She clung to Devon, seated on his lap in the back of the truck, near where Loris lay. Malcolm had her head on his lap, and he was running his fingers through her hair in a tender gesture that spoke volumes. Over the whir of the engine and the occasional jostle as the truck made its own road through the wilderness, she asked him, “Is she your mate?”
Malcolm hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “We have a history together, but she’s not my mate.” It was obvious he still cared, regardless of their history, or the status of their relationship.
“What now?” asked Lex as she rubbed her neck.
“We’ll stop at a safe house, and then we’ll take transportation back to Sanctuary, pausing to change frequently. It’ll take a couple of days to get there, because we don’t want to take the most direct route.”
“I hope it doesn’t take that long,” said Wyatt. “I’m already going to catch hell from Gillian for leaving her behind.”
George snorted from the passenger seat. “She’s almost six months pregnant. Only a fool would have brought her along on a mission like this.”
Wyatt nodded, his gaze not moving from the road. “I know that, and when she’s completely rational, she knows that too. Unfortunately, with hormones involved, she’s not her most rational these days. She understood the necessity of going, but she was still angry that I was leaving her behind.”
“And worried,” said Lex, flinching as her hand ran across her neck again. “She was afraid you wouldn’t come back, which is totally understandable. She doesn’t want to have your cubs alone.”
“Cubs?” asked Tianna, feeling mildly alarmed at the idea of a human woman birthing bear cubs. She had seen Wyatt shift during the battle with the super soldiers, so she knew his form.
“We’re having twins,” said Wyatt.
“Is Gillian a bear-shifter too?”
“No, she’s human.”
She cleared her throat, trying to hide her anxiety when she asked, “Will they be born as…cubs?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Shifting happens at puberty.” Wyatt’s full attention seemed return to the road then, and his thoughts were obviously on his mate and their children.
She snuggled against Devon, feeling some of the tension fade from her muscles. “What’s next for me?” she asked softly, hoping to have a semi-private conversation with him.
His arm was around her, holding her tightly against him. “It isn’t safe for you to go home. They know who you are, and they’ll find you. You might not be their top priority, but they’ll eventually come for you.”
She let out a long sigh, hating to hear confirmation of what she had already inferred. “I guess my life is over.”
His arms tightened around her, and he growled softly. “Your old life is over, but you’re still going to live. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure of that.” His lips brushed against her temple. “You’re my mate, Tianna. I feel it in my bones, and I’ll do anything to keep you safe. When you’re ready for me to make my claim, I’ll be there waiting to do it.”
She shivered, but it was a jumble of anticipation shooting through her. “Does that mean you’re going to bite me and mark me as yours?”
He nodded, his head brushing against hers with the motion. “I’m going to do that as soon as we’re safely back at Sanctuary, if you’re ready? If not, just tell me when.”
She turned slightly in his arms, regretting having an audience that restricted her from doing what she really wanted, which was to sink against him with their clothes gone and his body fused with hers as his teeth slipped inside the flesh of her neck, marking her as his forever. “I’m ready right now, but since that’s impractical, I guess we’ll have to wait for Sanctuary.”
“I’m sorry about you having to leave everything else behind,” he said gruffly.
She nodded as she laid against him. “Me too, but I have a feeling I found something far more valuable with you than what I had in my old life.” As the truck jostled and sped across the terrain, heading toward the next leg of their journey home, she allowed her eyes to close and dream about the possibilities.
They were still in danger, and that was a reality she would have to adjust to unless or until the people around her found a way to bring down the black ops group hunting them, but she was certain there would be happiness and joy ahead of her too.
Giving up her webzine and a few close friends didn’t seem like too huge of a price to pay for the future stretching before them. There might not be safety, but she was certain there would be love. The first seeds were already starting to grow, and she couldn’t imagine carrying on without Devon. With his arms wrapped tightly around her, his warm, solid presence soothing her, she was certain he felt the same.
******
Preorder Lex’s story now. It releases Dec. 2, 2016.
The final book in the series, “Jaguar Justice,” should be available by early 2017.
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Keep reading for an excerpt of “Running Bear,” the first in the Wounded Warriors series.
Bonus Excerpt
“Were you even going to say goodbye?”
Wyatt stiffened in the process of shoving the last box into the back of his Jeep. The familiar tone of his mate had startled him, indicating his bear was buried deep, as he’d planned. He should have felt guilt at her words, but he didn’t feel much of anything. He steeled himself as he turned to face her, forcing away remorse when he saw her stricken expression. “It’s better this way.”
Gillian put her hands on her curvy hips, glaring at him. “Better for whom? We’re supposed to be getting married, and you’re just going to leave?”
He drew back his shoulders, trying to hide any hint of defensiveness. “The marriage proposal was made after we finished high school. A lot’s changed in eight years.”
Her big green eyes shimmered with tears, but he knew her well enough to know she’d fight letting them fall to the bitter end. Whenever she got angry, she had the urge to cry. He could tell she was furious with him, but also hurt and bewildered. He didn’t need his bear’s sense of smell detecting her pheromones to tell him that. If he concentrated, he could have discerned that information with his bear, but he was trying to suppress his bear instincts, and not call them forth.
“When we were thirteen years old, you told me I was your mate. That hasn’t changed. It doesn’t change for bear-shifters.”
He winced, remembering the moment to which she was referring. It was shortly after his bear had started stirring in his head, and one day he
looked at his classmate—a girl he’d known all his life, since they’d grown up in the same small town—and she had been different. His bear had growled possessively in his head, and he’d known then she belonged with them.
With all the sensitivity and subtlety of a Mack truck driving through a nitroglycerin plant, he had cornered her after school one day and told her about his revelation. At first, she had been skeptical, but then he’d shifted for her, and after that secret was out, she hadn’t doubted his bear’s sense any longer. She’d known from then she was his mate, and they had been together ever since, aside from the years they’d separated after high school while he was in the military, only coming home briefly for leaves.
Even then, she hadn’t shown any sign of doubt. Even as he’d become more withdrawn, she remained resolute. He hadn’t seen her at all for the last three years, when the military suddenly withdrew his team’s permission to leave the base, unless they were on a mission, but when he did finally come home, she’d been waiting.
She’d been wasting her time. He was a new man, and his bear was only a sullen presence in his head occasionally now. He needed it to be that way, and after what had happened that afternoon, he had to leave and get as far away from people as he could, including Gillian.
Realizing he had never answered her, he said, “My bear’s practically nonexistent these days. I’m not going to hold you to an old promise.”
Her glare deepened. “I want to be held to that promise. I’ve been waiting for you. Even when you lost contact and stopped calling or visiting, I knew there had to be a good reason. I haven’t given up on us.”
He forced himself to sound completely unemotional, though there was more than a twinge of regret when he uttered the words he had to say, “I have. I’m leaving.”