Ariel

by Donna McDonald

  “Come on, Reed. Compliments of my scientific education, that mix is going to have this room in flames in about five minutes. Then the whole building is going to go up when everything else in this lab explodes.”

  On the way out, she grabbed the largest microscope she could carry and tucked it under her arm. With Crane’s laptop and a strong microscope, maybe she could start to unravel what had been done to them. Not that she believed she could ever reverse it. What she had said to Heidi still reverberated as truth. Nanos couldn’t be removed once injected into you. They could be killed by extreme radiation, but never removed.

  And Reed’s blood was part of their molecular structure now. She wasn’t sure how she knew that was a fact, but it felt like the same kind of truth as the nanos. Transpecies mutations weren’t anything she’d learned in any genetics class. Knowledge of her blood connection to the black wolf who patiently waited for her came from sources she hadn’t identified yet.

  She picked up the silver chain still attached to Reed’s collar, forgetting to wrap the cloth around it first. It burned like fire and stuck to her fingers, but there was no time left to think about the pain. Right now, they needed to vacate the premises before they went up in flames with it. By the time she and Reed got to the front door of the building, her hand was stinging like she’d rammed it into a hornet’s nest. She was regretting her haste in leaving the fabric swatch behind.

  When Brandi swerved in with the jeep two seconds later, Ariel and Reed both limped over to it. He made a running jump and nearly missed. Ariel caught his backside to push him up the rest of the way into the seat. He immediately curled up into a ball in the passenger’s seat and shuddered. The effort to leave had obviously cost Reed the last of his energy. It made Ariel angry all over again. She turned a glare on the male who yelled at her.

  “Why did you bust the wolf loose, Dr. Jones? You didn’t seem the type. Are you one of those freaking animal lovers?” Feldspars’ surly guard demanded.

  Ariel glared briefly and then dismissed the speaker. The man and his attitude weren’t important. Getting away was. “Yes, Frank. In this case, I am an animal lover. I’m setting the wolf free.”

  “Well, I hope you got everything you wanted when you got out, because you can’t go back now anyway. You know this whole place is about to be blown all to hell, right?”

  “Yes, I know, and good riddance,” Ariel declared as she climbed into the backseat, plopping down beside Heidi. “Let’s get out of here, Brandi.”

  Brandi shook her head, climbed out of the driver’s side, and walked to the guard.

  Before Ariel could figure out her intentions, Brandi grabbed and twisted the guard’s head until she broke his neck. The man fell soundlessly to the ground. She watched Brandi drag him by one leg and throw him back into the building, closing the front door behind him. The lab techs were nowhere in sight. Ariel decided not knowing where they were was probably the best thing. She imagined they’d suffered the same fate as the irritating guard.

  Fire engines were turning into the quarter mile long drive from the main road to the secluded facility as Brandi jogged back to the driver’s seat. “The techs we talked to on the way are already headed home. I let them go because they were grieving your alleged death, but the guard recognized you, Dr. Jones. He was a loose end and would have given people way too much to talk about later if he had lived.”

  “Did you have to kill him? What if the man had a family?” Ariel demanded, biting her lip as Brandi swerved and drove down a side road she said would take them out a rarely used entrance.

  “I don’t think Frank had a family. He was too good a customer at the place where I worked,” Heidi declared.

  Ariel rolled her eyes. Seconds later a loud explosion rocked the air behind them. Black smoke filled the sky above a blazing Feldspar Research building.

  Brandi kept driving calmly forward like buildings exploding around her happened every day. Ariel suddenly decided she wanted to know why—and why killing the guard hadn’t caused her any remorse.

  “You both know I worked for Crane, and I think we have a pretty good idea what Heidi did for a living. What’s your story, Brandi?”

  Brandi shrugged. “I was a federal agent who was investigating Feldspar’s unauthorized use of Alaskan wolves for experiments they refused to explain to the National Wildlife Foundation. Before that I was special forces in the military. This NWF investigation was supposed to be a break from this kind of traumatic shit for me.”

  Ariel nodded. “Reed—the black wolf up there—talks to me in my head. He’s the one they used to turn us into werewolves. Head to Wasilla, which is just a short distance from Anchorage. Reed said to look for someone named Matt. We need to get him to some sort of veterinarian too before he gets any sicker.”

  Look for Matthew Gray Wolf. His pack healer will be able to help me—if it’s not already too late.

  Ariel nodded, even though Heidi looked at her strangely. “Reed says we’re looking for a Matthew Gray Wolf. A werewolf named Wolf. Gee, who’s not going to figure that one out? This is some crazy shit ‘B’ movie we woke up in.”

  Brandi chuckled. “Whatever they put in your shots must have been better stuff than what I got. You’re a lot sassier than the stoic scientist who kept asking all those serious questions yesterday. If I hadn’t been strapped down, I’d have stuffed something into your mouth to shut you up. I really didn’t want to hear what was happening to us. I wanted my death and I wanted it done quickly. They took me down with a tranquilizer gun when they caught me. I’m still too pissed to talk about it.”

  Ariel sighed. “My default setting is to gather information. I suppose what they did to me could have affected my personality as well as my molecular structure. Killing those two men didn’t even begin to satisfy the urges I had about doing stuff to them. My entire being is on fire every second now. My wolf is there at the edge of the fire just waiting to be let loose.”

  “I don’t want to fight anyone, but I would definitely like to spend time with two or three men. I woke up incredibly horny, and it’s as bad in human form as it was in the wolf,” Heidi declared.

  “I feel a burning need for sex too,” Ariel said. Her gaze went to their driver. “How about you, Brandi?”

  “I’d jump on anything with two legs and a big Johnson. And I don’t even like sex. This isn’t normal arousal. This shit is going to drive me crazy soon if I don’t get some. I have never had this problem in my entire life.”

  Ariel nodded and sighed. “The urgent need to have sex is probably part of our change. Our hormones must be running high. When Reed comes back around, I’ll ask him about it. In the meantime, it shouldn’t be too hard to get the fire put out where we’re going. Until I do some research though, make sure the guy uses a condom and don’t kiss him. We can’t afford to exchange fluids and give away our nanos. That’s what was in the first shot we got. If you think the change to wolf and back hurts now, I bet it’s nothing compared to trying it without the nanos fixing you each time it happens.”

  Chapter 4

  As they drove through downtown Wasilla, Ariel looked at the names on the buildings. She saw one with a sign reading Gray Wolf Industries. Could their search really end so easily? Without being told, Brandi pulled over into a parking spot directly in front of the building. Being as careful as she could not to jostle Reed in the front seat, Ariel slipped around him and landed barefoot on the ground.

  “Watch out for Reed until I get back,” she ordered.

  She walked into the front office and found two men. One looked at her curiously. The other leered at her lab coat and bare feet. She walked closer to him and a growl erupted from her throat as she met his stare. The calm guy slapped the leering guy’s arm when he started to laugh.

  Ariel switched her attention to the calmer one. “I’m looking for Matthew Gray Wolf.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  Ariel paused before answering. If these men weren’t part of the Gray Wolf pack, then she
didn’t want them to know much about her situation. “His friend Reed sent me with a message for him.”

  “Reed? Reed who?” the man demanded.

  Two questions into it and Ariel had asked enough without getting real answers, so she stepped forward and stared into the man’s gaze.

  “Either tell me where Matthew Gray Wolf is or I’ll search the place for myself. I have a dying wolf in my jeep and no time to play twenty questions with two fools unwilling to use their instincts. That burger you had for lunch was cooked well done. It doesn’t surprise me your wimpy friend here had chicken salad. Don’t make me gut you both for the leftovers.”

  “Hey,” leering guy said.

  Ariel glanced at him, but said nothing else as she looked back to the calm guy. “Fine. I’ll tell Matt you’re here,” calm guy said.

  Ariel nodded and relaxed, only to go mental again when she heard Heidi scream outside. She ripped the front of her coat open and was in full wolf form by the time she got all the way back out of the door. Several males had surrounded the two women. Brandi was pushing on a chest or two as the men teased and intimidated them.

  In one leap, Ariel took down two of the men. Climbing up from that, she leapt at the remaining two. Once all four men were on the ground, she went to the women. Positioning herself between the men and them, she growled as the men shifted into good size wolves. She sent up a howl of challenge that pierced the air with a sound she hadn’t known she had the capacity for making. The males growled threateningly in reply, but she didn’t care. She was bigger than them, madder than they could ever be, and had an urge to kill which hadn’t been sated yet. Truthfully—she’d love nothing better than to have a few more dead bodies to pack around.

  “Enough, fools. Leave the women alone. You don’t want to take on their alpha. She’s full of bloodlust.”

  Ariel turned in the direction of the tall man who’d stepped outside and barked commands. The other two she’d talked to had followed him out. Their eyes widened as they took in the fight that was about to happen.

  “Go home now,” he ordered. “These females are under my protection.”

  Ariel growled as the wolves glared at her before trotting away. She paced in front of Brandi and Heidi. Brandi’s hand came down and patted her shoulder gently. “It’s okay, Dr. Jones. I think you scared them off. You can change back now.”

  Ariel felt her wolf shake all over in rebellion. She didn’t want to lose the wolf again. She was better as the wolf. What needed to be done was very clear in this form. Thinking was so much easier than when she was human.

  Ariel, change and talk to Matt. He is a friend. I’m fading fast and want to know you’re safe before I die.

  Reed. Whimpering in regret for her selfishness, she lay down at Brandi’s feet until she shifted back to human form. Groaning as the nanos scrambled, she took the hand Brandi held out. Back on two feet, she turned to the three males now ogling her completely naked body.

  Uncaring of their opinions, she walked forward.

  “I have a giant wolf named Reed in the jeep. He needs medical help. There are six silver bullets in him and a silver collar around his neck that I wasn’t able to remove. He can’t shift to his human form. From what he’s told me, I think he may be dying.”

  Matt took the shredded white coat from his gawking beta’s hand and held it out to her. He was not going to be able to talk to the female until she was at least partially covered. Her perfect body was far too distracting. He’d not had that problem in quite a while, and having it now made him want to hear what they had to say.

  “Thank you,” Ariel said, slipping on the shredded coat. “I heard Heidi scream and didn’t take time to save my clothes.”

  “Because you’re an alpha,” Matt declared, feeling a little twitch of excitement. Normally, he got antsy around other alphas. He didn’t feel that way with her.

  “That’s what Reed calls me. I have no idea what it entails yet, but if it means I go ape-shit crazy now and again, I guess the shoe fits.”

  Matt smiled. “Are the women your pack?” He motioned to the two women watching their conversation.

  Ariel nodded. “Reed said they were. He’s the wolf that…” She drifted off and shook her head over not wanting to discuss it yet. “I guess you could say Reed is my creator. I consider him mine to protect too. Right now, he’s the one who needs help.”

  Matt’s eyebrows rose. “I see. Well, he guided you right. I consider him a friend. So Reed bit all three of you?”

  Ariel shook her head. “No. He didn’t bite us. It’s a long story and I can’t tell it to you until I know you better. Right now, I just want to save the big, black wolf. He said you had a healer.”

  Matt nodded, curious as hell about them. “We do, but Eva can’t work miracles. How long ago was Reed shot?”

  Ariel sighed. “I don’t know. He was already captured when I arrived at Feldspar. It was several weeks ago.”

  “Five weeks,” Brandi said tersely.

  Ariel looked at her and then nodded. “Brandi would know. She was trying to stop Feldspar from what they were doing to the wolves.”

  “Five weeks may be too long to fix anything.” Matt said, but turned to his second. “Ride with the pack to take Reed to Eva. The alpha and I will follow shortly. I’m going to find her some new clothes. Her nudity would only attract attention we don’t want until we get this figured out. See if Eva has some additional clothing for the others.”

  Ariel heard the calm man agreeing, but she followed his gaze, which had gone to Brandi and remained the whole time. She told herself the agent, or whatever Brandi was, could obviously take care of herself when necessary. It was Heidi she still worried about. The female seemed to attract trouble just by breathing.

  Matt stepped back and opened the door. “Come inside. Your feet must be freezing.”

  Ariel looked down at her toes. “I don’t even feel them anymore. I’ve been naked and cold for two days.”

  She followed Matt back into the warmth of his office. She noticed he pushed the second guy—the leering one—back out into the street before closing and locking the door.

  “We don’t get a lot of visitors, especially not from other werewolf packs.”

  Ariel went to stand near a stove. “We only became wolves two days ago. We don’t know how it works yet. I think Reed intends to teach us, but we had to survive first.”

  “Two days ago?” Matt said in surprise, digging through a large tub in the corner of the room. It was a clothing exchange his beta had started. He found a pair of heavy wool socks and a set of coveralls he thought might fit her. “From your smell, I assume you were full human before then. How are you handling the change so far?”

  Ariel shrugged. “Good—except for needing sex something fierce. You wouldn’t be single and interested in a quickie, would you? The fire between my legs is burning non-stop. I really need to douse it as soon as I can. I don’t think a vibrator would do the trick.”

  The coveralls nearly fell out his hands. “You’re asking me to try and mate with you? Here? Now?”

  “What does mate mean? I just want you to—you know—have sex with me until I scream and get off. I need you to put out the fire completely—if that’s possible.”

  He walked forward. “Not the most romantic offer I’ve ever had from a strange, beautiful female, but it has been awhile for me. I could probably accommodate you—as one alpha helping another. Come into my office, Dr. Jones. We need more privacy to discuss your needs.”

  Ariel had leaned against the wall to put on the wool socks, which helped her cold toes a lot. Now she looked at the coveralls and frowned. They were the ugliest article of clothing she’d ever seen. She almost preferred her shredded lab coat to the awful looking garment, but not wearing it would be rude when the man was trying to help her.

  She followed him back to a room similar in size to the front one. This one had a nice desk whose top was nearly clear. She imagined herself on it with him on top of her. Oh yes
, that would do nicely…and so would he.

  “Can we do it on your desk?” Ariel asked. “You need to wear a condom and promise not to kiss me. Those are the only two rules I have about it.”

  Matt shook his head and snorted at her audacity. “Come closer. I need to smell you and see if my wolf is interested. If he’s not, there’s no use in either of us getting our hopes up. He gets pickier as I age, so I’ve learned to do a sniff test before I allow myself or the female to get too excited.”

  Nervous about his revelation, Ariel still did as he asked and walked closer. She instinctively liked the man, even though she also feared him a little. It was an arousing combination. Her wolf squirmed restlessly. Ariel decided her wolf had no reservations about having sex with Matthew Gray Wolf at all.