Genetically Altered Complete Box Set

by Sarah Noffke

  He cleared his throat. “What happened last night?” he said and then slapped his forehead. “Oh, that’s right. I totally forgot, which means you’re forgettable.”

  Rox leaned her neck to the side, cracking it loudly, an amused look on her face. “That’s funny because those noises you made didn’t sound like you’d easily forget what I did to you.”

  “Sorry I keep giving you the wrong impression,” Zephyr said, leaning forward when he really only wanted to lean away. He was calculated. Balanced. That’s why he’d been a captain in the Special Forces. He knew how to control himself and make decisions when in intense situations. However, right then he didn’t feel at all like himself. The leather of Rox’s boot was cool under his palm. When had he done that? Put his hand on her boot? Looking up at Rox standing tall made him feel suddenly put into submission. And the satisfied look on her face just sealed that feeling.

  “Please tell me that you’re thinking of being a shoe salesman and are practicing your skills on Rox,” a girl’s voice coated in a British accent said at Zephyr’s back. He spun around, taking his hand off Rox’s boot to find Adelaide. Again he’d let down his guard.

  “I was helping her sheathe her knives.” Instantly Zephyr felt dumb. What the fuck was going on? He was lying and it made no sense and yet he’d gotten himself into this situation.

  “Or you were putting the moves on Rox and she’s now fired,” Adelaide said, looking delighted.

  A loud laugh popped out of Rox’s mouth as she slid her foot off the chair and to the floor. “You think I want rabies? I’m only teasing the dumb dog, so don’t you worry, Freckles,” she said.

  Adelaide gave Rox a long discerning look that said “I don’t believe you, hooker.” Or maybe Zephyr just embellished the last part. Probably.

  “Speaking of rabid dogs,” Adelaide said, thumping a file down on the conference room table, keeping a few folders still cradled in her arms. “There’s been another attack in Los Angeles. Another mutilated lady and this time an eyewitness saw a werewolf attack the lady from a third-story window.”

  “When was this?” Zephyr said, pulling the folder open.

  “A week ago, the night that you all changed,” Adelaide said, turning to watch the rest of the team enter. Rio and Kaleb took seats, but Connor stood beside Adelaide, giving her a strange look, a question written on his face.

  “What?” she said, pursing her lips at him.

  “Third story is kind of a distance to view anything with accuracy. And if it was the night we changed then it would have been dark in the street,” he said.

  “When did you become a fucking detective?” she said to him, not looking impressed.

  Zephyr skimmed the room. It was getting fuller, now with four werewolves. He couldn’t imagine how it would look in a few weeks. What would it feel like to have all the werewolves around the table? A gentle pressure clamped over his chest. A feeling of security took residence inside of him. And then it depleted a bit. Except for Orion. The pack would always be short one. Orion was gone, of that he was sure. It’s like he’d felt his spirit blotted out when Wolf X picked him up and broke his neck. Zephyr hadn’t even realized he was connected to the stranger, but now he knew it. He was connected to all of the werewolves. Maybe for that reason he should be worried since he’d recently felt another jolt in his system, like a new werewolf had been hurt, or maybe blotted out. Zephyr shuddered at the thought.

  “I think Connor is just trying not to jump to conclusions. It’s hard to consider that someone from the pack mutilated a woman,” Zephyr said, leafing through the file. This was one of many attacks in Los Angeles. The dates matched up with the nights they changed. Every seven days there had been a woman attacked, usually brutally. And in a number of the cases, a werewolf was seen or reported to be involved. The authorities were dismissing this to different factors like lighting, disguises, or gang activity.

  “Yeah, well, you may not want to believe that a man from your litter would do something, but I’m going to need you to consider the facts,” Adelaide said. “The truth is that most people are bad and couple that with new angry genetics and super skills, they might be employing this for selfish gains.”

  Connor lowered his chin and regarded Adelaide with a raised eyebrow. “Your cynicism is really enchanting,” he said.

  “Oh shut it. I’ve got other bloody business to disclose to you all,” Adelaide said, shuffling the folders in her hand. However, the pages started to leak out of one and when another began to slip to the side, Adelaide’s hand darted for it, allowing the other file to fall toward the floor. Connor reached down in a blur, catching the folder before it touched the ground. As he rose his face took on new shapes. The lightness was replaced with a flare of anger. His eyes narrowed and Zephyr was on his feet at once.

  “What is it?” he said at Connor’s side. Connor was now staring at the file with contempt.

  Slowly he turned and looked at Zephyr. “Wolf X has struck again…” He then closed his eyes, probably gathering intel from the folder in his hand using his psychometry. When he opened his eyes, they were glowing green. “He murdered Hugo, a werewolf who was described as one of the most gentle among us.”

  “No,” Zephyr said in hush, looking toward Adelaide. She merely nodded. “Why is he murdering the pack? Doesn’t Olento Research want us back?”

  “I’m guessing that he’s lost control, based on what the agents found,” Adelaide said. “I had a news report from Roya and it has just come to pass. There wasn’t enough time to stop it. I sent agents out to retrieve the body and they say it looked like an act of pure aggression.”

  Zephyr nodded. That made sense. Missions were done cleanly. When passion and emotions entered into situations, they turned ugly and violent. “We need to go after him,” Zephyr said, looking to Connor and then Rio and Kaleb.

  “I agree, but I can’t have you just running off,” Adelaide said. “Kaleb has another case for the strategic department, so you can’t take him. Connor, you haven’t been cleared by the doctor yet. So you three,” she pointed at Zephyr, Rio, and Rox, “will go after him, but not yet. We have a window of time when we know where he’ll be, on his return to Olento Research.” Adelaide turned to Connor, who still looked to be simmering with quiet anger. That wasn’t going to serve him. Zephyr would have to help him control his emotions. Adelaide snapped at him, angling toward the folder. “Give me,” she said.

  He started to hand her the folder and then turned and stalked out of the room, with the report.

  Zephyr turned to go after Connor at once.

  “Don’t,” Adelaide said. “Let him go. He’s just angry. He’ll get over it.”

  “But the location,” Zephyr said. His shoulders were higher now, no doubt due to the stress of the moment.

  “And I have an incredible memory and don’t need the file. The location is the DFW airport in two hours,” Adelaide said. She wasn’t exaggerating about her excellent recall, because she’d inherited her father’s photographic memory. However, that didn’t help her with remembering all the details from his book, since she hadn’t studied all the pages and the ones she had were so cluttered with words. Grief coated her stomach with unease. She had to find that book. Somehow she had to figure out how it had disappeared. Not having that small object was cutting off her spirit little by little.

  “Wolf X flies commercial?” Kaleb said with a laugh. He was looking more confident after his last case. Actually he’d been successful with disarming the bomb and made the whole case go along much more smoothly than if the strategic department had to rely on other methods. He might be the best thing to happen to the department since Adelaide came along.

  “Probably flying out on a private jet,” Adelaide said.

  “Okay, you two ready?” Zephyr said to Rio and Rox.

  “Whoa, problem is, you dogs are due to change tonight. As much as I want to go after Wolf X we can’t do it tonight. Instead, I’m sending agents to track him. This might give us a way to f
ind out where Olento Research is located. If we can find the location then we can take Mika Lenna down,” Adelaide said. It was a good plan and Trent had approved it at once. She felt like she was working from the end, like Ren would have done.

  Zephyr stuck his hand into his gelled up hair. “Yeah, fine. That makes sense,” he said, but he didn’t sound convinced.

  “Once we have a location then you can totally go and bring Mika to justice. You can punish Wolf X,” Adelaide said. “But for tonight, I want you dogs in the safe room.”

  “Okay,” Zephyr said. “I’ll go round up Connor. You two meet me there,” he said to his pack before walking for the exit.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “Wolf X was reported to have larger claws and canines than those in the original pack. It is therefore concluded that more than one werewolf will be necessary to take him down.”

  - Lucidite Institute, Werewolf Project File

  “What are you doing out of your hole, dog? You’re about to change,” Adelaide said, hoping the fear wasn’t resonating in her voice. She still had a fear of the werewolves when they were close to changing and that utterly sucked. Ren would have never been fearful of someone he was charged with protecting. But Ren hadn’t been attacked by a diabolical werewolf.

  “It’s Connor,” Zephyr said, striding forward, his forehead creased.

  Of course it’s fucking Connor, Adelaide thought. What had he done now? Torn the Institute apart because he was angry that he couldn’t go on this mission? Told the infirmary staff to all sod off, or whatever dumb Americans say when they’re pissed? Probably something like, “Get out of my way, junk face.” Americans did everything the dumb way, including being offensive.

  “What has Connor done?” Adelaide said, sounding bored as she flipped through the file on the table. Her life was just a series of days where she studied files. She needed to stop procrastinating and put herself out in the field. She needed to be on this case, rather than working it from the comfy chairs of the Institute. But outside the walls of the strategic department her demons had names and faces and could potentially dominate her, making her retreat into old habits. And without her book she felt worthless. Before, the idea of working at Parantaa Research to find clues was intimidating. Now, absent of the comfort of the encrypted answers from her book, she was paralyzed, unable to take the risks that didn’t feel so monumental before.

  Zephyr pulled his bottom lip into his mouth and bit down, his eyes skirting to the side for a moment. “He’s gone,” he finally said.

  “He’s what?” Adelaide said, knowing she’d heard Zephyr clearly, but didn’t want to believe those two words.

  “I went to check his room and he was gone. Rio and Kaleb have searched the Institute. He’s nowhere to be found. I think it’s highly possible that he went after Wolf X, based on the way he stormed out earlier,” Zephyr said, his hands now pinned behind his back and his chin up.

  “And he had the file,” Adelaide said, but knew he didn’t need the file to know where to find Wolf X. His psychometry would have told him the entire contents of the folder without reading it because his gift was that strong.

  Zephyr interrupted his stoic stance to scratch his beard, then his eyebrow. “You’re about to change,” Adelaide stated, watching his pupils dilate. Soon the pores of his skin would widen. Soon he’d be a werewolf. Adelaide’s fingers shook as she turned for the exit. She had to get away from Zephyr or he had to get away from her. Her mind flashed with images of Connor bearing down on her, ready to tear into her. Would Zephyr be able to control himself when he changed, unlike Connor? She didn’t want to find out.

  “Yeah, but I’ve got a few minutes,” Zephyr said, his voice deeper suddenly, his eyes on the carpet, like he was concentrating.

  Connor had left. Again, he’d run away from the Institute, when he promised that he wouldn’t. Why had Adelaide staked any hope in him? He’d proven that he was a deserter, just like her father. But he was going to change into a werewolf too and he was out there, in the world. And the bloody idiot had gone after the most dangerous werewolf. Even changed he didn’t stand a chance.

  “You have to go after him now,” Adelaide said, looking up at Zephyr, who was now breathing so loudly she could hear it.

  He nodded, a heaviness in his gray eyes. “I agree.”

  “Take Rox and Rio. She’s your alpha while changed. Do everything she says,” Adelaide said, not believing she was putting Rox in charge. However, she was the only one prepared to handle the wolves when they changed.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Zephyr said with a sharp nod, turning and striding away at once. There was no time to waste. The three needed to dream travel and generate at a GAD-C immediately. Once the werewolves changed, they’d lose the knowledge and be unable to do anything so complex.

  “And Zephyr,” Adelaide said, as he walked away, making him pause and turn back to her.

  “Yes?” he said.

  “Bring him back alive so I can kill him,” Adelaide said.

  “You got it,” he said with a shaky smile.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  “Reports on werewolf attacks in Los Angeles line up with when the weres should be changing. Based on records it is supposed that the attacks are being done by subject Hunter Smith, who was released from prison one week before being abducted.”

  - Olento Research, Canis Lupus Project File

  The location in the file had been incredibly specific. Once Connor had dream traveled to the GAD-C in Dallas, he’d generated and had no trouble finding the spot where Wolf X would be in a just a few moments.

  It was unlike Connor to take a risk like this, charging after Wolf X. However, since he’d been rescued from his own attempts at suicide, something had awakened deep inside the lone wolf. He was angry, but not at himself, like usual. He was livid that Olento Research had abducted him and changed him into a werewolf. Before, he’d been slightly complacent to it all, just thinking it was a part of his sick fate, which was always riddled with disasters. Now, though, he looked at the other men in his pack, and saw that none of them deserved this fate. Olento Research and Mika Lenna needed to be stopped.

  Hot fury coursed through his blood when he thought about a mega werewolf murdering members of his pack. He knew this took a more silent hostility inside of Zephyr, but in Connor it was a loud ferocity. And Adelaide’s plan was probably a strategic one, but Connor needed to be the one who went after this monster. If the lone wolf really didn’t care about his life, then why not finally use it for stomping out evil? Before, if he died from drugs then his life would be meaningless, but using it to end a horrible evil actually made him feel like he was worth something.

  Adrenaline surged in Connor’s veins. The telltale sign that he was about to change into the werewolf. It felt like the drug. Better than the drug. It felt like power.

  Mika was going to be angry. Not angry. Murderous. Grant knew he shouldn’t return to Olento Research, but what choice did he have? Mika would find him using the tracking device buried in his wrist. Yes, he could cut it out, but he’d always be haunted. The only thing that felt right was enduring his punishment. It’s what he deserved. Yes, he couldn’t control himself. Yes, he had murdered and failed to do what Mika had asked. He needed Mika to do whatever it was that he thought was right to him. Grant had failed and would endure his chastisement like a man.

  Distracted by the possibilities of what Mika would do to him, Grant nearly slipped on a patch of ice on the runway. Not in werewolf form, he was less graceful. He righted his footing, pulling his coat tighter around him. The jet had been delayed due to an ice storm that had hit Dallas. However, the plane and the runway would soon be de-iced and Grant would be on his way to Mika, his creator and also his warden.

  The thick reddish hairs slipped through Connor’s pores. From behind the airport fueling vehicle, he couldn’t be seen easily. The dark fog also helped to cloak him, but he was aware that the traffic control station could have eyes on him. Soon everyone arou
nd would see him, he thought as his claws pierced through his fingers. That was always the most terrible part of the change, always accompanied by the wolf’s voice, rejoicing that it was finally free.

  A growl, high-pitched and long, tore from Connor’s mouth, slicing through the thick winter air. Grant paused his march to the jet, where a flight attendant stood in the entryway ready to greet him. Connor had recognized Grant immediately from the labs. He was the guard who often took Connor out of his cell, chaperoning him to the treatments. According to the file this was the same man who was Wolf X. However, now he didn’t look quite so menacing in his long black trench coat and sporting a flat top to match. How did this man think he could be intimidating wearing a hairstyle that was popular among ten-year-olds?

  Grant spun around, his nose high as he sniffed the air. The howl had alerted the security guard to Connor’s presence, but now his senses told him the full story. He turned, facing the fueling vehicle, where Connor had a view of Grant between the cab of the truck and the tank. Now was his chance, while Grant was still unclear about the situation and also unchanged.

  Connor stepped out into clear view, his shoulders perched up by his ears and his fangs bared. “Hey, fucker!” he said with a growl.

  Grant’s eyes narrowed on the werewolf. He recognized the features immediately, even though they were partially obscured by reddish hair. Connor. He’d found him. And he’d done it when he was changed. But that wouldn’t really matter now. Connor was no match for Grant. No one was. And the timing on this couldn’t have been any better. If he stayed in control then he could capture Connor and bring him back to Olento Research. Maybe Mika would forgive him for killing Hugo if he had Connor in tow. He was considered one of the more valuable werewolves, although Grant had no idea why. Staring at the werewolf before him, the one that looked perched and ready to pounce, he saw no discernable special attribute to him. However, Mika had a specialty for picking up on talents in people, so if he thought there was something special about Connor then he was right.