Connor and I were lying on our mound of blankets, holding each other close, listening intently, wondering what was going on when the lights above us came on for the first time—washing us in stunning brightness.
We both scrambled to our feet as the door opened. I expected to see Lucas coming to our rescue. Instead it was Mason striding in with an excitement in his step like a kid who’d just discovered that he had indeed gotten what he wanted for Christmas. In addition to his usual entourage, he had his father with him. Ethan was balancing a long case, using both hands, the way I imagined knights presented their swords to their liege lords. The whole procession was eerie—Mason was putting on a play and we were his audience.
I could feel the tension radiating from Connor. He was ready for a fight.
The entourage moved quickly to our cage. Wilson went to the side. There was a sizzling sound. Connor released a grunt and flopped without his usual grace to the floor. Only then did I see the stun gun Wilson had thrust between the bars.
“What did you do that for?” I demanded as I crouched beside Connor. I could see the shock and confusion in his eyes, him fighting to regain control of his body and mind.
“He’ll be fine in a couple of minutes,” Mason said. “Come on. I need you out now.”
“All you did last time was threaten him, and he let you open the door. You didn’t have to do this.” I was furious.
“I was letting you back in then, not taking you out. You should see the video of how he reacted before—when he realized you were gone. The power he exhibited was amazing. I never grow tired of watching it. Now hurry. We have the formula ready to go and I want it tested tonight.”
Leaning down, I pressed a kiss to Connor’s cheek. I didn’t even know if he’d be able to feel it. “I’m so sorry. Please try to understand why I have to do this.”
Then I crawled out through the door. Mason pressed the remote to quickly close it. Almost immediately I wished I was back on the other side with Connor. What was I doing? Mason’s serum might kill me.
Mason snapped his fingers. Ethan stepped forward and opened the case to reveal two large syringes with a golden liquid filling them. Their actions were like a performance in a bad movie. I wondered if Mason had scripted their movements before they came in here. Probably. He seemed to take his role as the villain seriously.
I stared at those syringes. They looked so big.
“How do you know the dosage is right?” I asked.
“Educated guess.”
I glared at him.
“I know more than your puny brain can imagine,” he said impatiently.
“How do you know it’s ready for human testing?”
“In addition to the ferrets, we’ve tested it out on a couple of other species with limited success. It’s the consciousness factor that we talked about. And my father’s here to handle any medical complications.”
I looked over at Dr. Keane. He was smiling as though the experiment was already a triumph.
I glanced back at the cage. Connor was struggling to push himself to a standing position. With jerky movements he reached the front of the cage and wrapped his hands around the bars, probably to hold himself up more than anything. “What. You. Doing?”
He shook his head, no doubt trying to clear it.
“She didn’t tell you?” Mason asked. “She is a keeper of secrets, isn’t she? In exchange for me bringing her back to your little prison, she agreed to take the first injection.”
Disbelief sharpened Connor’s gaze. He shook his head.
“Oh, yes, my friend,” Mason taunted. “I know it’s difficult for you to understand but we humans will pay any price to possess your abilities.”
With dramatic movements Mason removed the syringe from the case and arched a brow at me. “Taking it in your hip or thigh would probably be less painful.”
I nodded. My mouth was dry but my palms were damp.
“Don’t…do this, Brittany.”
I jerked my head around. Connor had apparently shaken off the effects of the stun gun. I hesitated. “I’ll be able to shift into a wolf. We’ll be able to be together.”
He shook his head, his eyes imploring me. “Don’t let him change you into something I can’t love.”
I looked back at the syringe. I wanted so desperately what Mason was offering.
“If you love me, you won’t do this,” Connor said.
I slammed my eyes closed. Not fair. So not fair. When I opened my eyes, I could see that Mason was losing his patience. Suddenly everything in my world tilted. I could have what I’d always dreamed of being, but only if I was willing to give up what I’d always dreamed of holding.
I backed up until I hit the cage. Through the bars, Connor’s arms came around me with strength and purpose.
“I changed my mind, Mason,” I said.
“Too bad. Wilson, hold her.”
Wilson started toward me.
“Touch her and you’re dead,” Connor said, and even though he was trapped in a cage, the threat in his tone made Wilson halt.
“Mason, it won’t do any good to force me,” I stated calmly, even though my heart was racing. “I won’t will myself to change so you won’t know if it works or not.”
His expression took on that mulish look I’d seen before. “Ethan!” he barked.
Ethan stepped back. “No way, man. I thought we were doing this for medical research. I don’t want to go furry.”
“Coward,” Mason spat. “Fine, I wanted to go first anyway.”
The call of the wild—a long, deep pitched howl—echoed around us.
Mason arched a brow at me. “Sounds like you didn’t tell me everything, Brittany. But I should have expected it. You werewolves own the nearby forest, don’t you? It doesn’t matter. I can use this opportunity to test my fighting instincts.”
“Wilson, Johnson, get out there! Stop them from getting inside,” Dr. Keane ordered.
When they were gone, Dr. Keane said, “Son, you should think about this.”
“I have, Dad. It’s all I’ve thought about since I learned their kind existed.” Before anyone could react, Mason lifted his shirt and jabbed the syringe into his hip, pressing down on the plunger. I watched that golden liquid disappear.
He tossed the spent syringe on the floor. “So what do I do? Just think wolf.”
“Just think wolf,” Connor scoffed.
I figured he offered the advice because he didn’t think the serum was going to work, so where was the harm in cooperating now? Besides, we were about to be rescued.
Mason tore off his shirt. He was reaching for his shoes when he suddenly released a high-pitched scream, doubled over, and dropped to the floor. “God, it hurts!”
“Did Devlin forget to mention that when he told you about us?” Connor asked. “The first shift for a male is excruciating. Let me out of here and I’ll help you through it.”
Mason rolled over and pushed himself to all fours. He glared at Connor. “I don’t need your help.”
Part of me felt sorry for him.
“You don’t know what you’re unleashing,” Connor told him, and I felt the tension radiating from him.
And then Mason did start to shift, but nothing about it was beautiful. Everything about him began to get distorted and furry. He wasn’t turning into a wolf, he was remaining a man—one with odd-looking limbs, facial features, and fur.
Ethan and Tyler raced for the door.
Dr. Keane cursed as he opened his bag and pulled out another syringe. “I’m going to put you under.”
“No!” Mason yelled, but it was more growl than human voice. There was a wildness in his eyes, but it wasn’t that of a true wolf.
I frantically searched around for a weapon, for something to free Connor. I spotted the remote to the door on the floor. I’d been so absorbed watching Mason that I hadn’t even realized he’d dropped it. I snatched it up and pointed it toward the cage door. Before it was completely open, Connor had shifted and was coming out, snarling at Mason. But Mason was no threat to him. He couldn’t control his grotesque limbs.
I looked at Dr. Keane. “He’s not going to survive.”
“He’ll survive. I’ll make sure of it.”
I looked at the pitiful, howling thing rolling in agony on the floor.
“You need to get your people out of here.” I grabbed Mason’s discarded shirt and took the keycard out of the pocket. Then I was running for the door, Connor loping along beside me. I swiped the card through the reader and pushed the door open.
Then Connor and I were racing toward freedom.
It was chaos with people trying to escape and Shifters in wolf form chasing them out. Although it didn’t appear that they were intent on harming them. It was more like they were herding them toward the exits. I guessed the guardians had decided on no collateral damage unless necessary. I wasn’t surprised. Even in wolf form, they retained their humanity.
I spotted a sign for the lab and veered off down the hallway. Connor stayed with me, and I knew he’d shifted into wolf form to serve as my guardian. He had no weapon other than his powerful bite and his strength, but it would be enough.
The lab was empty except for two monkeys. I wondered where the other animals were that they’d been testing. Had they set them free in the forest? Or had they died?
I released the monkeys from their cages and ushered them into the hallway where their survival instincts took over. I heard glass breaking. When I looked back, Connor was leaping up on tables and knocking off equipment. I returned to help him. If they imploded the building, it would all get crushed anyway, but better to destroy it before anyone decided to take a dangerous souvenir.
When we were finished, we headed back out. Now more wolves than people were scattering through the building. Every now and then a wolf would stop to stare—I knew it was looking at me, wondering why I hadn’t shifted.
And the speculations were spreading.
Then I saw a wolf with a familiar brownish red coat stop and look at me with sorrow reflected in its eyes. I ruffled my mom’s fur as I raced by.
Eventually Connor directed me—with gentle nudges—outside. I didn’t know exactly what the plan was, but I knew he did, that he was communicating with the others. I also knew that he wanted to be in the thick of things, but I was a deterrent. No matter how much I wanted it, I’d never be the best mate for him. I’d always be holding him back.
Once outside, I saw many of the wolves near the trees. They began disappearing in pairs, and when they returned they were in human form and dressed. I looked down at Connor. “I didn’t think to bring your clothes.”
He licked my hand and sat. I dropped down beside him and wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his fur.
“You both okay?” a deep voice asked.
I looked up at Lucas. Kayla stood beside him. I forced myself to smile. “Yeah. What’s the plan?”
“All of the humans are out of the building. A couple of tough-looking dudes put up a fight, but they’re the only casualties. The rest seemed happy to just leave. Now we’ve got guys in there preparing it so we can bring it down.”
“The people who left. They might have proof of our existence. They had video of Connor shifting,” I told him.
“Yeah, we know. Connor told us, but I think we confiscated all the evidence.”
I nodded. “Right. This morning.” When he was in wolf form. “I guess he told you…everything.”
“He had to. The pack comes first.”
I tightened my fingers on Connor’s fur. “I know. But even without evidence people are going to talk.”
“Sure they will. But no one will believe them.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“If I’m not, we’ll deal with it. We’ve really done all we can for tonight. Connor, I have some extra clothes if you want to shift back,” Lucas said.
Connor lay down and put his head in my lap. I ruffled his fur, leaned over, and kissed the bridge of his nose. “I’ll be okay.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Kayla said.
He rolled his eyes to look at me.
“Seriously, I’m okay,” I said.
He licked my chin and I smiled. “Go shift. I’d rather have a real kiss.”
He headed off with Lucas, and Kayla sat beside me. She put her arm around my shoulders. “I’m so sorry. When I heard you weren’t a Shifter—my heart just broke for you. You always worked so hard to prepare for it.”
I shrugged. “I wanted it so badly, Kayla. I was going to take the serum, but in the end I just couldn’t do it.”
“Connor said Mason’s dead.”
“Yeah, he couldn’t have survived what he was going through. It was horrible. It’s like he was caught within the transformation. Not quite man, not quite beast.”
“We didn’t find him,” Kayla said.
“His father probably took him out. He said he was going to try to save him, but I don’t think there’s any way that he could have.”
“Didn’t see Dr. Keane either.”
“There were a lot of people in there—and a lot of chaos. Do you think you may have missed them?”
“I guess it’s possible.”
“When Connor gets back, we can see if he wants to go looking for him. I think Mason is a smell he’ll never forget.”
“Lucas and I could probably find him. We should go looking for him. Just to be sure.”
We sat in silence for several minutes. I stared at the building, not wanting to look into the eyes of anyone else. I didn’t want to see pity or sympathy or disgust.
“Baby?”
I turned my head to the side. “Mom—”
“I know you’re not a baby,” she said, as she knelt beside me. “But you’ll always be my baby. I’m so sorry I never told you the truth.”
“It’s okay, Mom.”
I didn’t know who reached for whom first but suddenly we were hugging each other tightly and I could barely breathe. Mostly because I was crying. Mom was crying, too, and the more she cried, the harder she squeezed me. I guessed when I really needed her, she was there for me.
Finally, I drew back and inhaled deeply. “I’m having too many girly moments.”
Mom smiled and tucked my hair behind my ear. “You always thought you had to be tough.”
“So what was he like—my father?”
“Listen, I’m going to leave you two alone,” Kayla said.
Mom brushed her hand in the air. “Oh, you can stay. You should hear this. You, too, Lindsey. You can stop hovering back there.”
“You smelled her,” I said.
“Of course,” Mom said as though it was nothing, then embarrassment touched her features as she realized I would never have the ability to distinguish individuals simply by their scent. “Brit—”
“It’s okay, Mom. You can’t stop being who you are, and I need to learn to be and accept who I am.”
“I didn’t want to disturb you,” Lindsey said as she knelt in front of me.
I reached out and hugged her quickly. Long hugs seemed to generate tears. “Thanks for holding my secret.”
“Hey, anytime, although it might be better if people didn’t find out I knew.”
“Right.” She’d made a grave error in judgment putting me before the pack. I’d never forget her for it, though.
I turned back to Mom. “So, my dad?”
She pressed her hand to her heart. “Oh, Brittany. I hardly know where to begin. It was after my full moon. Michael and I had decided we weren’t destined mates. We were simply friends. We went our separate ways, and I was feeling restless, so I went to Europe. Then I met Antonio. He was from Spain. He was the most handsome man. And he had the most delicious accent, the most beautiful eyes. Your eyes. And he was so romantic.” She nudged her shoulder against mine. “We actually met in Brittany, France. Which is why I named you Brittany. We toured Europe together. I’ve always heard that when you meet your mate, it’s like a kick to the gut. How unromantic.”
I smiled, remembering saying something similar to Connor.
“But falling in love,” my mom said dreamily, “is wonderful. It happens over time. He’ll say something or do something and your heart just tightens.”
I thought of Connor and all the times he’d made me smile or laugh or grow warm with desire.
“But he left you. Was it because you were a Shifter?” I asked.
Mom shook her head. “No, I never told him. I didn’t have the courage to tell him.”
I could so relate to that.
“I loved Antonio. Still do. He was the one for me. But I knew he could never accept what I was. Then I realized I was pregnant,” Mom continued. “I wanted you raised among our kind, so I came back here.
“I know you were always disappointed that I wasn’t one of the legendary Dark Guardians, but I was always a mother first. I don’t regret it.” She cradled my cheek. “I don’t want you to regret it.”
“I don’t. I might have understood if you’d told me.”
“And you might not have. It was my burden to carry. I mean, really, when do you tell your child that you were a rebel in your youth? Might give her ideas.”
She made me smile. She’d always been able to make me smile. “I love you, Mom.”
Winking at me, she squeezed my hand and nodded. I figured she thought anything more would result in additional tears. We’d never been big on tears.
I didn’t smell him. I didn’t hear him. But I knew he was there. I twisted around and smiled at Connor. “Hey.”
“Hey.” He sat behind me and put his arms around me. “Hi, Ms. Reed.”
“Hello, Connor.” She patted my arm. “Think it’s time for me to go find some folks closer to my age. I brought the car. It’s parked about ten miles from here. Find me if you want a lift home.”
I figured she was the only Shifter who had arrived in a car, but then she was the only one with a human daughter.
“I’ll see.” I didn’t know yet what my plans were. For all I knew, the elders would have me placed under house arrest for impersonating a Shifter.
“Okay!” Lucas yelled. “No one is left in the building. Everyone stay back. They’re ready to demolish the building.” He raced toward us. Kayla met him halfway.
Lindsey wandered over to where Rafe was waiting for her.
Connor and I stood up to have a better view.
The series of explosions went off in a timed sequence and the building crumbled into a pile of debris and dust. Somehow after all we’d faced, it seemed…anticlimactic.
After the vaporous clouds settled, Lucas walked back over to us. “I’m going to send Guardians out to search for Mason and Dr. Keane. Their underlings I’m not too worried about. But the Keanes, we need to find. We can take them to Wolford, hold them prisoner there until the elders decide what to do with them.”
“I’ll help you search in a minute,” Connor said. “I need to take care of something first.”
Lucas nodded as though he knew what that something was. I was afraid I might, too. That something was me.
My suspicions were confirmed when Connor turned to me. “We need to talk.”
I nodded. Yeah, we did.
Taking my hand, he led me away from the others. We walked along silently. On the horizon, the moon was leaving its quarter phase. They hadn’t waited for the dark of the moon. Our being captured had sped up their plans, but in the end, it seemed to have all worked.
I wasn’t convinced we’d seen the last of Bio-Chrome but no one else had seemed as obsessed as Mason and Dr. Keane—so maybe we were in the clear. We could always hope, but continue to prepare for the attack. I liked to think that the others were truly in it for the good of mankind, even if their methods were questionable.
We were at the edge of a clearing near an abundance of trees when Connor finally stopped and turned to face me.
“Were you serious about wanting to be Mason’s guinea pig?” he asked.
“He wasn’t going to return me to the cage. So we made a deal. If he returned me, I’d take the first injection.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to be with you. And I wanted to be a Shifter so bad. I wanted to shift. I wanted to be beautiful.”
“You’re already beautiful.”
“Oh, Connor.” His words made me happier than I thought I could ever be. But I needed to explain that it was so much more. “You can’t understand how much I wanted it. It’s hard to let that dream go. To know I’ll never—” I reached up and rubbed his bristly cheek. “It won’t work with us if I can’t shift.”
“We can make it work.”
“Be realistic, Connor. You can shift and be home by dawn.”
“Or I could ride home with your mother.”
I released a strangled laugh. “Yeah, that’ll always be your number one choice.”
“I’m not saying there won’t be difficulties, but we could work them out. Besides, shifting is overrated.”
With a smile, I pressed my face into the center of his chest. His arms came around me. Was I being a silly dreamer to imagine that we might be able to make this work?
Placing his knuckles beneath my chin, he tilted my face up. “I told you not to take the injection if you loved me,” he said. “Does that mean you love me?”
“I’ve loved you for a long time. I wanted to die thinking about you and Lindsey beneath a full moon.”
“You can walk away from those feelings?”
“If I have to. You deserve a mate. I don’t know if I can ever truly be a mate.”
Shaking his head, he gave me a soft grin. “I don’t know if I’ve ever known anyone as strong as you.”
His mouth found mine with unerring accuracy. I wanted to believe that it wasn’t so much because he could see in the darkness, but because of something stronger. A bond between us. My mom had talked about falling in love. I couldn’t deny that I’d fallen in love with Connor. He’d said he loved me.
Why was I so afraid to trust the intensity of his feelings? What if one day he looked across a room and felt that jolt that signaled he’d just found his true mate? How would he feel then if he was stuck with me?
He pulled back. “Do you smell that?”
“Monique? I’m still wearing her clothes.”
“No…it’s”—he inhaled deeply—“Mas—”
A growl echoed through the air and a heavy weight thudded into us, taking us to the ground.
It was Mason. His shape was more man than wolf. He was covered in fur. His face was a caricature of a wolf’s. It was as though when shifting it hadn’t been able to decide exactly what it should be.
His long fingernails cut grooves down my arm. I yelled, kicked, maneuvered out from beneath him. Connor made his escape as well. He was ditching his clothes as quickly as possible, while I began looking for a weapon. I’d felt Mason’s strength. I didn’t think my wrestling moves were going to take him out.
He leaped on my back, crushing me back to the earth. He’d misjudged, though, and overshot his mark because when we landed I was tucked up beneath his chest, which made me beyond reach of his snapping teeth. Growling and snarling, he leveraged himself so he could get to me.
It was all I needed to position myself so I could toss him off. I scrambled away.
I heard another growl, this one more menacing, more controlled. I looked back in time to see Connor diving for Mason. They were both brutal in their attempts to take the other down. But there was a madness to Mason that I wasn’t sure we could defeat.
I found a branch on the ground. It was sturdy but too long. I grabbed both ends, put my foot in the middle and jerked up. It snapped in two, giving me what I wanted: a stick the length of both my hands—a stick with a pointed end.
I hurried over to where Connor and Mason were locked in battle. They were snarling at each other, snapping their teeth. Connor was on top but he couldn’t get close enough to the jugular because Mason’s absurdly long arms kept him beyond reach.
Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I prepared myself. Then I swung my leg around and knocked Connor off. Immediately I went to my knee and plunged the stake through Mason’s heart.
He wasn’t a vampire, but a stake through the heart will kill practically anything.