Frank hid a smile. The SAU liked to pretend that they were a powerful force in the government, but the truth was, there were many members of the Congress and a few judges on the Supreme Court who thought they were going too far in containing the shifters. And there had been more than one attempt to close them down.
If they knew what truly happened behind the fences…
Well, it would be a sad day for Markham and his cronies.
“Fine,” Frank said. “Then we need to encourage one of the Alphas to willingly participate in our experiments.”
Markham widened his eyes before he released a sharp laugh. “Yeah, right. And why don’t you teach him how to shit gold while you’re at it?”
Frank wasn’t amused. “It’s all a matter of leverage.”
“Leverage?”
“They have something we want, so we must discover something they want.”
The older man continued to study him with barely concealed disdain. “There’s nothing that would force them to teach us how they create shifters.”
Leaning to the side, Frank grabbed a file off his desk, holding it toward his companion.
“She would.”
Taking the folder, Markham flipped it open, his heavy brow wrinkled as he studied the picture inside.
“Why does she look so familiar?”
“Cora Wilder,” Frank said in smooth tones. “From all reports, the Alpha of the Golden Pack adores his only daughter. Which means he would do anything to protect her.” He deliberately paused. “Anything.”
The Director jerked his head up, clearly caught off guard by Frank’s daring plot.
“Exactly what are you suggesting?”
Frank didn’t hesitate. “It’s simple. You need to kidnap-”
“The SAU doesn’t kidnap,” Markham corrected in stern tones. “We detain hostiles.”
“Very well.” Frank forced himself not to react to the idiotic interruption. “You need to detain Cora and bring her to me.”
Markham once again studied the picture, clearly considering the various implications of capturing the pretty young shifter.
“It would cause a rebellion among the Felines,” he at last pronounced with blatant regret.
“Not if you managed to extract her from the den before anyone knew that she was missing,” Frank said, inwardly wondering how the stupid fool had ever risen to the role of Director. Certainly it wasn’t because of his limited brains. “Once she is here, you could use her continued good health to ensure the cats’ good behavior.”
“It might work,” Markham slowly admitted.
“Then you’ll retrieve her for me?”
Without warning, the older man stepped forward, poking his finger into the center of Frank’s chest.
“No. I’ll retrieve her for the SAU.” Another poke that was certain to leave a bruise. “Perhaps you need to be reminded that despite your new office, you are a mere tool for our greater purpose, Talbot.”
Frank clenched his teeth, briefly considered the pleasure of reaching for the syringe he kept hidden in his pocket. It was loaded with a potent poison that would kill Markham in less than thirty seconds.
Then, with effort, he restrained his homicidal fury. For now, he needed the stupid bastard and the SAU.
Soon…
“Of course.” He pasted a stiff smile on his lips. “I am here to serve.”
“Hmm.” Markham looked as if he wanted to say more, but perhaps realizing that Frank was his best researcher, the Director pulled a phone from his pocket and pressed it to his ear. “Paulson, I need you to choose six of your best soldiers. I have a mission that demands the utmost discretion,” he barked into the speaker as he turned and headed out of the office.
Frank waited for the door to close before he gave a roll of his eyes. Pompous prick. Did the fool truly imagine that having an Alpha bite one human at a time would do any good? They had no idea the survival rate of humans undergoing the transformation. It might be one in a million. And they didn’t even know how often the Alpha could use his bite to create a shifter. Nightly? Weekly? Yearly?
Frank, however, had far loftier goals.
He smiled with anticipation.
Once he understood how the actual process worked, he intended to create a virus that would infect thousands of humans at the same time.
Let the SAU think small, he was meant for far bigger things.
****
Soren shuddered as he shifted from wolf to human, the agonizing pleasure wrenching a groan from his throat.
He’d intended to head straight to the shower before seeking his bed after a night of running in his animal form, but he’d caught the smell of his Alpha before he ever made it to his small cabin.
With a resigned sigh, he reached for the pair of jeans he kept stashed in a small cubby at the edge of the woods. All shifters learned to stockpile clothing in various locations in case they needed a quick change.
Scrubbing his hands over his face that was in dire need of a shave, he headed around the edge of the cabin to discover Holden leaning against the front door.
The lean male with brown hair and blue eyes watched his approach with an intensity that made his wolf give a low growl. His Alpha would always be dominant, but as the Beta of the Pack, Soren refused to take any shit.
“Trouble sleeping?” Holden demanded, glancing toward the crisp blue sky.
“These are difficult times.”
“No crap.” The fierce gaze never wavered. “But I suspect your restless night had more to do with a beautiful cat.”
Dammit. He’d known his absence would be noticed, but he’d hoped that Holden wouldn’t so easily suspect that it was Cora’s arrival that had lured him away from his duties.
“You’re my Alpha,” he growled. “Not my father.”
“Thank God.”
Soren rolled his eyes. “How did the ceremony go?”
For a minute, Soren feared his companion would press for details about the reunion. Not that Soren had anything to share. He’d seen Cora. She’d reinforced her opinion that he was a heartless pig. And he’d crawled away with his tail between his legs.
Badda-bing, badda-boom.
“As well as could be expected.” Holden at last allowed himself to be diverted. “In the short-term, we know that we have no choice but to try and share the same territory, and fighting between the Packs only helps the SAU convince the world that we’re dangerous beasts who need to be caged.”
Soren nodded. “And long-term?”
“We have to do whatever it takes to make sure there is no long-term.”
Holden didn’t have to point out the obvious. They all knew that two predatory Packs couldn’t live in the same territory. Not without open warfare.
“Have the tigers made any connections with the officials that might help our cause?” he asked.
“They have a diplomat, but they’re told the same lies that we keep getting shoved down our throats,” Holden said, his voice thick with disgust. “That the humans are still traumatized by the virus. Once they accept our presence, we’ll be free to live wherever we want. Yadda, yadda, yadda.”
Soren folded his arms over his chest. As the Beta, his wolf was deeply connected to his Alpha. He could sense the older male’s emotions, and while he couldn’t actually read his mind, he always knew what he was thinking. Which meant he knew when Holden was holding something back.
“What aren’t you telling me?” he demanded.
Holden’s gaze moved toward the narrow band of trees that was now all that separated the two Packs.
“I didn’t get a straight answer, but I sense the cats have a spy on the inside.”
Soren cocked a brow. “Inside of what?”
Holden paused before returning his attention to Soren. “I’m not entirely sure, you know the cats love to be secretive, annoying bastards. But Jonah Wilder had information that could only come from a source with ties to the human government.”
Soren wasn’t surprised. Ev
ery Alpha would be anxious to create allies among the enemy camp. And if they could find a sympathetic individual willing to act as a spy, then so much the better.
“We have a few of our own sources,” he said, referring to the congressmen who were willing to hear Holden’s grievances and pass along information.
“True, but it would help to know who the cats have as their spy.”
Soren shrugged. “Then ask.”
“I prefer to be a little more...”
“Sneaky?” Soren offered as Holden hesitated.
“Something like that.”
Soren abruptly frowned, planting his hands on his hip. Okay. He recognized that expression on his companion’s face.
It meant that he was about to bully Soren into something he didn’t want to do.
“What do you want from me, Holden?” he bluntly asked.
“There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Figuratively speaking,” Holden informed him. “Your princess is close to her father-”
“No,” he snapped, his beast lunging beneath his skin in fury.
“No?”
It was the first time Soren had ever directly denied a request from his Alpha.
“I’m not playing games with Cora,” Soren warned, knowing his eyes had shifted to wolf. “Not again.”
Holden narrowed he gaze. “Don’t tell me you don’t intend to seduce the female. You’ve been prowling around their compound since they arrived.”
Soren stepped forward, his expression hard with an unspoken threat.
There would be no compromise. No negotiations.
“What happens between us is private.”
Holden allowed his power to thunder through the air between them.
“Even if it could help your Pack?”
Soren refused to back down. Not this time.
“I allowed my duty to hurt Cora before,” he said, regret scouring through him like acid. “I won’t sacrifice her again.”
Holden folded his arms over his chest, studying Soren with blatant curiosity.
“If you feel so strongly about the female, why didn’t you go after her before now?”
Soren felt a chill inch down his spine, even as the morning sunlight brushed over the bare skin of his back and the heat of his wolf warmed him from the inside.
It was always the same.
Any time he was forced to recall his first mating and the female he’d been unable to love.
Her name came out as a croak. “Leah.”
Holden’s brows snapped together. “You can’t mourn forever, Soren. Leah passed two years ago.”
He grimaced. “Leah may have passed, but not my guilt.”
“I don’t understand.”
Of course, the Alpha didn’t understand. No one did. Hell, Soren wasn’t sure he fully grasped the toxic mixture of regret and guilt and sadness that consumed him.
“I...cared for Leah,” he forced himself to try and explain. “And I did my best to make her happy.”
“It wasn’t your fault she couldn’t get pregnant,” Holden assured him.
It was well known that Leah had been desperate to have a child. She’d tried every method available to become pregnant, from human technology to mystical ceremonies that promised fertility.
And, as the final tragedy, she’d been traveling in secret to yet another clinic when the small, private airplane had gone down during a storm.
“No, but it was my fault that she became so obsessed with trying to give me a son,” he said in a strained voice.
“Why?”
“She knew I had someone else in my heart.” Soren pressed a hand to his chest that always felt too tight when he thought of his dead mate. “She thought a child would bind us together.”
Sensing the pain that Soren had kept bottled up for the past two years, Holden reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“It is,” Holden insisted, genuine regret twisting his features. “If I had mated sooner, you wouldn’t have been expected to bond with Leah.”
Soren shook his head. He’d never blamed his Alpha. Never. They both sacrificed for the Pack. It’s what leaders did.
“And you wouldn’t have found Ariel,” he murmured.
Holden remained troubled. “So I found my heart while you-”
“Don’t.” Soren stepped back, dislodging his friend’s hand. There was no way in hell he was going to allow Holden’s relationship with his beautiful mate to be tainted with guilt. “The second I caught Cora’s scent I accepted that the past is behind us. It’s time to move forward.”
There was a long pause before Holden gave a nod of his head, accepting Soren’s request to concentrate on the future.
“The question is...move forward into what?” he asked with a grimace.
Soren’s gaze drifted toward the fence he could see in the distance. A tangible sign of their imprisonment.
“These dark days won’t last forever,” he murmured.
“No, they won’t,” Holden agreed, his expression suddenly grim. “And I swear I’ll do whatever is necessary to make sure we survive to enjoy a life where we can live without fear.”
Soren nodded. “I have full faith.”
They shared a moment of silent determination, both dedicated to seeing the day they would live without fences. Then, Holden narrowed his gaze.
“In the meantime, I need to you to be careful,” the older man said. “If you piss off your cat, it could strike a spark that sets off the powder keg beneath our feet.”
With his warning delivered, Holden headed down the narrow path that led toward the communal area. Soren turned in the opposite direction, his earlier plan of a shower and a few hours of shut-eye forgotten as he was overwhelmed by a sudden need to finish what he’d started.
Jogging through the undergrowth, he made his way to the young aspen tree he’d planted in Leah’s favorite spot next to the lake. Then, dropping to his knees, he bent his head and released the ghost that had haunted him for so long.
“Rest in peace, Leah,” he whispered.
****
Cora stood in the small back garden of her new home and sipped her coffee. After a night of tossing and turning, it felt good to get out, feel the sun against her skin and allow the crisp air to clear the fog from her brain.
She hadn’t expected to sleep. Not after her encounter with Soren. But she’d assumed it would be anger that kept her awake. And perhaps a need to plot the wolf’s slow, painful death.
The last thing she’d expected was the savage hunger that had clenched her muscles until she wanted to scream.
She wanted Soren. No. It was more than that. She ached for Soren.
Memories of having him in her bed with her legs wrapped around his hips as he pounded deep inside of her had tormented her for hours. Even worse were the vivid images of having her head pillowed on his chest as they slept in sated exhaustion, and his lips tickling her ear as he woke her to begin their day together.
At last crawling from her bed, she’d released her cat to go for a long run, hoping to work off her seething frustrations. It’d helped until her animal had caught the scent of Soren near a small lake. Cora had instantly shifted back to human, ignoring her urgent need to be close to her mate.
Instead, she’d returned home and tried to convince herself that she’d become used to having Soren around. That eventually, his mere scent wouldn’t send her cat into a frenzy of longing.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to dwell on the futile effort. She’d barely finished her coffee when a handsome male stepped through the bushes to join her.
Max Leskov was her father’s Beta and current heartthrob of the Golden Pack.
Her lips twitched as she took in the thick blond hair streaked with gold that he wore long enough to brush his broad shoulders and fall across his piercing green eyes. His father was a Siberian tiger, which meant that he was larger than most males in the Pack, with thick musc
les and a strength few could match. But it was his deep dimples and his breathtaking beauty that were his greatest weapons.
And he wielded them without mercy.
“A beautiful morning, kitten,” he murmured, his gaze taking a slow survey of her faded jeans and tight jade sweater. She’d pulled her hair into a high ponytail to keep it tamed in the brisk breeze.
“Max.” She cocked a brow, doing a mutual inspection of his jeans and loose Denver Broncos sweatshirt. Not that she thought of this male as anything other than a surrogate brother. Despite her father’s best attempts, she couldn’t seriously consider Max as a mate. “Isn’t it a little early for you to be out and about?” She tilted her head to the side. “What’s her name?”
He moved to stand at her side, his dimples flashing. “Would you believe me if I said...Cora?”
She rolled her eyes. “No.”
“You never take me seriously.”
“You would flee in horror the second I did.”
His tiger suddenly lurked in the back of his eyes. Quiet, intent, ever patient.
“Try me.”
Cora stiffened. “Max-”
“I could smell the dog when I returned last night,” the male abruptly interrupted. “What did he want?”
Cora’s heart clenched, her hands tightening on her coffee cup.
“Nothing important.”
Max wasn’t fooled. He might play at being man-candy, but beneath the good looks and charm he was a cunning, calculated hunter.
“Do you intend to return him to your bed?”
Cora blinked at the blunt question. “I didn’t realize I had to discuss my lovers with you.”
He continued to study her with his tiger peering from his eyes. “I prefer not to share.”
Cora frowned. Max always flirted. Hell, she was fairly certain his balls would explode if he weren’t trying to charm the pants off of whatever woman was nearby. But until this morning, it’d never been anything more than a game.
“Have you been into the catnip?” she demanded.
Max shrugged. “It’s been expected that we would eventually mate.”