by Dena Christy
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’ll show you.” Dennis drew Nick over to his computer and he pulled up the security log. As Dennis scrolled through the list, Nick couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, until Dennis came to the last entry, at one in the morning. It showed Nick’s name.
“See what I mean. The computer says you were in here last night.”
“I was at home in bed at one this morning. I keep my access card in my desk. It wouldn’t take much for someone to take it and use it. Fuck. Why would someone want to take Samara’s blood?”
“I have a theory about her blood and maybe they figured it out too.” Dennis sat down at his desk and shuffled some papers around. “Samara survived the change, which we both know is rare for a female. I think the answer to why she did may be in her blood. Perhaps there are some antibodies in it that helped her make the transition. Anyone who could create a formula that has rabies in it but won’t make a wolf die, could probably figure out how to isolate the antibodies and make a vaccine of sorts. It could then be used to inoculate women who’ve been attacked by wolves, and used to keep them alive through the change.”
Nick sat down in the chair across from Dennis, the air whooshing out of his lungs. What Dennis said made perfect sense.
“Wait a minute. Horn is dead and he’s the one who created the formula. He wouldn’t be available to them to isolate the antibodies in Samara’s blood.”
“The process wouldn’t be as hard as creating the Dark Wolf formula. I’m sure they have other talented people at their disposal, otherwise they would never have stolen it.”
“We need to call Cadric,” Nick said as he reached for the phone. Cadric answered on the second ring, sounding pissed off and harassed. Nick didn’t think he would be any happier once he shared the latest update with him. He requested his boss meet him down at the lab, but didn’t say why he needed him there.
After a few minutes, Cadric banged into the lab. “I hope this isn’t more bad news, because I’ve just about had it for one day.”
“I’m afraid you’re going to be doomed to disappointment. I took blood samples from Samara when she was here for her check up and they’ve been stolen from the lab.”
“What! Do we know who did it?” The scowl on Cadric’s face looked almost painful, and for a brief moment Nick almost felt sorry for the culprit. When they found him, Cadric was going to tear him a new one.
“Well according to the logs from last night, I did,” Nick said as he turned the computer monitor toward Cadric and showed him the log from the night before.
“That’s funny, because according to the log in the holding area, you let the wolf out last night too.”
Nick stared at Cadric in disbelief. “Well whoever did it must have put my pass back after they finished, because I have it right here.” Nick reached into his pocket and showed it to Cadric.
“Do we know why they would want to steal Samara’s blood.”
“Dennis has a theory. He thinks that they want to extract the antibodies from the blood and make a vaccine to help women attacked by werewolves through the change.”
A look of comprehension crossed Cadric’s face. “Of course. That’s why the women are missing. They’re using them to create more female werewolves. That’s why they injected the werewolves with the Dark Wolf. It would make them attack women without question, and once they got them they would want to help them complete the change. They must have been working on something like this too, otherwise it would be pretty stupid of them to attack these women, knowing that the odds are most would die during the change. I have a feeling that getting their hands on Samara’s blood just got them one step closer to their goal.”
“Jesus.” Nick couldn’t believe what Cadric was saying, but it made sense. Samara had said that Alex had babbled something about breeding an army of wolves, but Nick hadn’t made the connection to the missing women until Cadric pointed it out. They would need women to breed with and the offspring would have a better chance of surviving if they were a result of a wolf to wolf mating, rather than a wolf to human one.
“Would the amount of blood they took from here be enough to do what they want?” Cadric turned his attention to Dennis, who’d sat silent up to this point.
“It might be, although if it was me, I’d want more.”
Cadric and Nick looked at each other, as it dawned on them the implication of Dennis’ words.
“You better let Eric know what’s going on, and make sure he keeps Samara safe. If they have the balls to come in here, steal her blood and let that wolf go, then they’ll try to take her too.”
“I’ll go by their place tonight and fill him in.”
Cadric nodded and turned and left the lab. Dennis looked at him, his lips squashing together. “Watch your back Nick. Someone used your card for a reason, and I think you dating Hadria has made you the perfect scapegoat.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Everyone knows what happened with Alex, how he betrayed us. I think whoever’s doing this wants to make it look like you’ve betrayed us too.”
Nick nodded and bid Dennis good-bye. He had a feeling that Dennis was right. He was only grateful that Cadric knew he hadn’t betrayed the Order, otherwise he’d be dead.
***
Hadria got in the car with Nick and planted a kiss on his cheek. She pulled back, the corners of her mouth turning down when she noticed the strained look on his face.
“What’s up? Rough day?” she asked as she smoothed the errant lock of hair from his forehead. Nick reached up and grasped her hand, bringing it up to his lips. He pressed a kiss to her palm and let her hand go.
“You could say that. We need to head over to see Eric and Samara.”
Hadria’s heart leapt into her throat. “Why, is something wrong?”
“Yes something is, but we’ll get into it when we get there.”
Hadria sat in silence, wracking her brain trying to think of what could be going on. She knew the wolf that had been captured yesterday had been released, but she couldn’t see what interest Eric and Samara would have in that.
It didn’t take long to get to Rowan’s house and Nick got out of the car, going around to her side to let her out.
“What’s this all about Nick?”
“You’ll find out soon enough. I’m sorry for being so cryptic, but I don’t really have time to go through all this with you. I wanted to get here as soon as possible.”
Hadria followed him up to the front door, and stood patiently beside him when he rang the bell. Samara answered the door, her face lighting up when she saw them.
“This is a surprise. Come in.” She stood aside and let them in through the door. Eric came into the foyer, a look of surprise on his face when he saw Hadria and his brother there. He took one look at the scowl on Nick’s face and stood up straighter. The easy smile on his face faded, and his brows collided over his eyes.
“What’s going on?” His voice came out in a growl, and Hadria watched him pull Samara closer to his side. The worry churning her guts amped up another notch. She reached for Nick’s hand, and he gave her a squeeze before he spoke again.
“Why don’t we go into the other room. I have something to talk to you about.”
Nick walked into the living room, tugging Hadria with him as he walked behind Eric and Samara. Nick refused to sit, and Hadria perched on the edge of the chair, her stomach churning as she clung to Nick’s hand. Something was definitely wrong.
“The blood samples that I took from Samara were stolen from the lab last night.”
Hadria sat up straight in shock. She hadn’t heard about that. Eric and Samara both looked at Nick with puzzled frowns on their faces.
“Why would someone want my blood?” Samara smoothed her hand down her stomach, and Eric reached out and took her hand.
“Our lab tech Dennis has a theory, and Cadric and I are inclined to agree with him. Dennis believes that there are antibodies in your blood that coul
d help people go through the change.”
“But that’s a good thing, isn’t it? If we could isolate those antibodies and replicate them, then any woman brought in after being attacked by a werewolf would have a better chance of surviving.”
“In theory I suppose that would be true. Unfortunately we don’t have possession of your blood. We believe the creators of Dark Wolf do. Cadric thinks the reason the women have been attacked is to create breeding stock. They aren’t much good dead, so with your blood they could be saved and used.”
“That’s not good,” Hadria said quietly, her mind racing. She had a feeling she knew what Nick was going to say next, and the look he gave her confirmed it.
“They wouldn’t have enough blood from the two vials they stole to be able to do much experimentation. It is possible that they could replicate the antibodies from the samples they have, but it wouldn’t leave much margin for error.”
“Samara’s in danger isn’t she?” Eric’s eyes hardened and his lips pulled back in a brief snarl. “They’ll want to get more of her blood, won’t they?”
“That’s what we’re afraid of.”
“They won’t get anywhere near her. I’ll kill anyone who tries.” Eric pulled Samara to him, and Hadria saw the deadly look in his eyes and shivered. She was relieved that her daughter was protected by such a strong mate, and knew that Eric would die protecting Samara.
“Is that all that’s going on?” Hadria asked wondering what else Nick could be holding back. She sensed he was hiding something, and it made her feel uneasy.
“The wolf who attacked the woman in the park was let out last night. He didn’t test positive for Dark Wolf, and we think it was a deliberate trap for Hadria. Eric, if I can’t be with her, I need you to look out for her too.”
“I don’t think that’s really necessary Nick. We talked about this. Eric will have enough on his plate, especially now that there is a possibility of Samara being in danger. It’s more important that he devote his energy to protecting her.” Hadria frowned at Nick, since she’d already gotten him to agree that she didn’t need a babysitter. Eric didn’t need the added burden of looking out for her.
“I know we talked about it. I don’t want you to be at risk, so just let me do this.” Nick’s voice came out in a harsh growl, and Hadria drew back in shock. Nick had never spoken to her in that way before. He must have realized that he was out of line, because he moderated his tone. “I’m just worried about you, and I would feel better to know someone was watching out for you when I can’t be with you.”
“I’ll watch out for her.” They all turned to see Rowan standing in the doorway of the living room. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear, what with Nick yelling and all. Eric will need to focus on looking out for Samara, so I’ll keep an eye out for Hadria when you can’t be around.”
“Thanks Rowan.”
Hadria decided not to debate this anymore. The men were all nodding their heads in a show of masculine camaraderie over the prospect of protecting the women, and Samara looked at her over Eric’s head, rolling her eyes.
“Do you all want to stay for dinner?” Samara stood and rubbed her lower back Hadria could see her daughter looked a little tired, and she didn’t want her burdened with feeding them.
“I think Nick and I’ll head out now. We just wanted to come over and give you a heads up on what’s going on.”
Nick and Hadria took their leave, and they were headed back to Nick’s place when Hadria took a deep breath. She had a feeling there was something Nick wasn’t telling her. She’d waited until they were in the car, since she thought this was something they should discuss privately.
“Is that all that’s going on Nick? There’s nothing else you need to tell me?”
Hadria looked at Nick carefully and noticed the almost imperceptible tightening of his hands on the steering wheel. He was silent for almost too long before he shook his head. “No, there’s nothing else.”
Hadria remained silent for the rest of the ride home. Nick was hiding something from her, she was positive. First the phone call last night, and now something to do with the theft of Samara’s blood. She didn’t want to read too much into it, but Alex had been the same way when they were seeing each other. It started out small, hiding little things that were of no consequence, until the day he’d betrayed them all. She looked over at Nick, not wanting to believe that he was already sliding down that slippery slope.
Chapter Eleven
Hadria came into work the following day, feeling much better than she had last night. In the harsh light of day, her fears seemed ridiculous. Nick had been wonderful last night, making love to her for hours. When Alex had started hiding things, then sex got skimpy. Nick was nothing like him.
She wanted to get to the bottom of who could have let the wolf loose and who had stolen Samara’s blood. She walked down to the security office, and went to talk to Roger, the security guard on the cell block for the day shift.
“Hey Hadria, what can I do for you?” Roger said as he started to smile but appeared to change his mind when he averted his eyes.
“I wanted to see the surveillance footage from the night the wolf was let out.” Hadria leaned her hip against Roger’s desk, and he still wouldn’t look at her. Usually he had a smile and a friendly word for her when their paths crossed, but right now he looked distinctly uncomfortable.
“Can’t show you anything,” he said as he shuffled through the papers on the desk. “Someone messed with the tape, so there’s nothing to see.”
“You need a security pass to get in here, right? Accessing the cells is recorded in the computer, isn’t it? I’d like to see the log please.”
“Cadric’s already seen it. If you want to know about it, you’ll have to ask him.” A dull flush crept up Roger’s cheeks, and Hadria felt a prickle of unease at the back of her neck. Why is he acting so weird?
“Does Cadric not want anyone to know what’s on the log?”
Roger sighed as he finally looked up at her. “Hadria, I don’t want to have to be the one to tell you.”
“Tell me what?” Hadria asked, her voice soft as her heart thumped in her chest and her body went cold.
“It’s Nick. His card was used to get in here when the wolf was let out.”
“And you think he did it?” Hadria asked in disbelief. That made no sense. Why would Nick let out the wolf who’d killed the hiker? The wolf who’d been set up to hurt her?
“I don’t know what to think. I do know about your history with Alex, and the evidence is pretty hard to refute.”
The ugliness with Alex was rearing it’s head again, and a quick flash of anger burned through her. She took a deep breath to calm herself. She couldn’t blame Roger for thinking that her relationship with Nick was a repeat of her relationship with Alex. Especially when he saw what he thought was hard evidence of Nick’s betrayal.
“I was with Nick the night this happened so it couldn’t have been him,” she said quietly as she straightened and stood beside the desk. Her tone was firm and left no doubt of her belief in Nick’s innocence.
“Well, then you have your answer,” Roger said as he sagged back in his chair.
Hadria turned away and walked out of the room. She’d lied to Roger. She had been with Nick for most of the night, but not the middle of it when she’d woken up alone and had gone downstairs to discover Nick on the phone. A phone call he refused to tell her about. She couldn’t say for sure how long he’d been out of bed before she discovered him gone.
Blocking the suspicions from her mind as ridiculous, she walked up the stairs until she found herself standing outside Nick’s office. She hesitated for a moment before she knocked on the door.
She walked in after Nick bade her to enter, and stood looking at him.
“Hey baby, what’s up?” Nick’s face broke out into a grin, and Hadria’s breath caught in her throat. God he was so beautiful, and she wanted to trust him. She was in love with him, even after cautioning h
erself to go slow. Did this mean that the betrayal has already started
“Baby what’s wrong?” Nick stood up and walked over to her. He pushed the door shut and then clasped both her hands, bringing them to his lips. “Are you okay?”
Hadria couldn’t force a smile to her lips, couldn’t pretend nothing was wrong. She dropped her head forward onto his chest, and prayed the curse wasn’t working on him too.
“Hadria, what’s going on? Talk to me.” She could hear the worry in Nick’s voice, and as much as she wanted to respond to it, to tell him that everything was fine, she couldn’t.
She slipped her hands around his back, pressing up against him. “Just hold me Nick.”
She closed her eyes when his arms banded tightly around her. Her cheek lay against his chest and she could hear the steady beat of his heart. Her doubts about him melted away, and she felt foolish for having them. This was Nick, her best friend. He had always been there when she needed him, and he’d never given her any reason to believe he would do anything to hurt her. She had to believe her curse had no effect on him. She pulled back from him and ran her hand down his cheek. “Thank you. I needed that.”
“Do you want to tell me why?” Concern drew his eyebrows together and she smoothed her finger over it, easing it.
“There’s been a lot of stuff happening lately and I just got overwhelmed for a moment. I’m feeling much better now.”
“Are you sure that’s all it is?” He peered into her eyes as if he was trying to discern all her secrets.
“Yes.” Hadria felt better and lighter than she had for a few days. She knew now that Nick could not have been the one who let the wolf go.
***
Nick needed to get out of the house. He looked over at Hadria laying in the bed beside him, the light of the moon caressing the curve of her cheek. Something had troubled her when she came to his office earlier, and he could guess what it was. He was sure that she’d heard by now that his ID had been used when the wolf had been let out. As soon as he’d seen her standing in his office, with that doubting expression in her eyes, he knew. Disappointment had slashed through him like a razor blade when he realized she wasn’t going to ask him about it. There was still a wall there inside her, and he couldn’t think of what to do to break through it. Perhaps she still feared he would betray her. He told himself to be patient but it was getting harder the more she pushed her fears down and didn’t share them with him.