It was just after ten thirty in the morning when the van pulled up outside the wide iron gates at Misty Hills, and Dee breathed a sigh of relief; they’d finally made it home.
After spending the night sleeping in one of the Ukrainian Den’s spare houses, they’d been up at the crack of dawn, making a hasty trek back to the cars. Once at the airport, Feng had produced some forged documents authorising the transport of two ordinary domestic dogs, and with little more than a cursory check of their passports, they’d been on their way. Once they’d landed in Carlisle, they’d bade farewell to Feng and his two assassin bodyguards. Important business meant he was needed back in Italy and he’d shaken both their hands. “Best of luck with the conversion. I wish I could have stayed for it.” He reached out to stroke Luke’s head fondly. “These things can be complicated,” he said hesitantly, stopping just short of saying there was a risk it could go wrong. As Dee well knew, even in the best of circumstances there were no guarantees, and with the pups so young… “So, if you need anything, either today or in the weeks to come,” Feng finished, “please, let me know.”
Now that they were home, Dee felt suddenly nervous. They hadn’t really talked about how to convert the pups. The Den’s conversion machine was designed for adult wrists or paws, not tiny, puppy ones. What if the conversion didn’t take? And if it did, what if the babies crying kept people awake all night? Where were they going to sleep, in dog beds, or baby cots? Either one could be hazardous, depending on what species they decided to be at any given moment. How were they going to toilet train the puppies? And would putting nappies on the babies confuse the issue?
We’re going to have help, Faeydir reminded her firmly. This challenge wasn’t just for Mark and Dee. The entire Den acted as one big, extended family, and the children would be welcomed and cared for by everyone.
The van rolled up the driveway, and it seemed word of their arrival had spread. Half a dozen people waited at the front steps of the manor, in both human and wolf form, and as Andre parked the van in front of the garage, more arrived, until the entire Den was waiting, ready to meet them with eager grins and wagging tails.
The enthusiasm was contagious; enough so that even Dee was able to forget her worries for a moment as they climbed out of the van. Luke perked up as Mark moved, sensing that something interesting was going on, and when he continued wriggling and yowling, Mark decided to just put him down on the ground. He shifted a moment later, then carefully picked Luke up in his mouth and carried him the last few metres, depositing him at Baron’s feet. He sat down, tail wagging, and grinned up at the alpha, every inch the proud new father.
Baron’s reaction was almost comical. He shifted as well, bent down to sniff Luke... and then he wagged not just his tail, but his whole body, a yowl of delight acting as a signal to everyone else. Suddenly there were wolves all around Luke, wags, bounces, barks and yips ensuing as everyone tried to greet him first, while also endeavouring not to crowd him too much. While wolf pups were highly sociable for the first couple of months of their life, meeting this many new wolves at once could still be overwhelming.
Dee was about to put Taya down to join the group when Skip came rushing over to her, enveloping her in a rare hug, though she was mindful not to squash Taya in the process.
“Congratulations!” she squealed, stroking Taya on the head. “She’s so soft! Is she okay? Oh, the poor little thing looks tired!” She probably was, not having enjoyed the car rides and remaining restless and unsettled on the plane, but Dee wasn’t too worried – not about that part, at least. There would be plenty of time for a nap this afternoon before the conversion ceremony.
Kwan and Aaron were the next to arrive, likewise showering her with questions and exclamations of delight, and then a short bark got her attention. Dee turned to see Baron in wolf form, standing over Luke and looking at her expectantly.
“We called him Luke,” Dee said, understanding his unspoken question immediately. An approving growl came back at her, before Baron dropped into a low crouch, allowing the pup to clamber over his paws and nibble at his face. “And this is Taya,” she added, setting the female pup down on the ground. There was an eager rush of wolves to meet her, and though she was already proving herself to be the shyer of the two pups, Taya seemed happy enough to meet her new family, licking their mouths and stumbling about on excited puppy paws.
Once he’d had a chance to meet both new arrivals, Alistair shifted and came to meet Dee. “Congratulations,” he said warmly, opening his arms for a hug. “I’m sure you’ve already worked this out, but these two are going to make Mark extremely happy.” A short distance away and still in wolf form, Mark was watching on with a wagging tail while Caroline and Raniesha met Luke.
Dee chuckled and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “He was trying to teach them to pounce on the plane. They can barely walk yet.”
Having met both pups by now, Baron shifted and wandered over. “They’re beautiful,” he said, glancing fondly over at where George was now meeting Taya. “Everyone’s been talking about them ever since you left to pick them up. I know this all happened on very short notice, so I hope you don’t mind… We took the liberty of moving yours and Mark’s things into a bedroom on the third floor. There’s an empty room next door you can use as a nursery, and we’ve set up a sleeping pen. It’s a little unconventional,” he added, looking a touch hesitant, “but we wanted them to be safe if they shift in their sleep. It’s effectively a large box with a padded base and cloth-covered walls. The sides are about two feet high, so the pups can’t climb out.”
Overcome with gratitude, Dee felt herself getting teary. “Thank you so much,” she said, hugging Baron without really thinking about it. He stiffened up immediately, and she quickly let him go – aside from the fact that he was the alpha, Baron wasn’t really a hugging sort of person – but he didn’t seem too put out by it.
Luke was still lapping up the attention he was getting from his new pack, but as Dee looked around, Taya wasn’t immediately visible. She wasn’t overly concerned – there were enough people here that she wouldn’t have got far… but then she suddenly froze. Baron noticed the change in her and looked around, and then he, too, was suddenly tense and alert.
John, in wolf form, was slowly approaching Taya as she stumbled about on the lawn. His hackles were raised, his battle scars on full display, and Dee’s voice was suddenly stuck in her throat as she frantically tried to figure out how the hell she was supposed to react. She looked urgently at Baron for advice, not knowing if snatching the pup up into her arms was going to set John off or not. It was entirely possible he just wanted to sniff her, to get to know this newest member of the Den, but then again, where John was concerned, nothing could be taken for granted.
She saw Baron quickly catch Andre’s eye, the former assassin lingering off to the side in wolf form, and while it was clear that Andre had seen what was going on, he didn’t seem alarmed by it. He tilted his head and yawned, a canine signal of unease, though not one that required any immediate action in response.
But after a preliminary sniff, John simply stood back, watching Taya as she sat down, reached a hind leg up to her ear and gave it a good scratch. His hackles never really went down fully… but then again, Dee reminded herself, that was a fairly normal state for John. His wolf was almost never completely relaxed, a half-snarl or bristling fur present even at the best of times. Caroline approached Taya soon after that, the female alpha not yet having met the second new member of her pack, and John slunk away shortly afterwards, apparently having had enough of so many people in one place.
“Shall we take them inside?” Baron suggested finally. Taya had lain down on the grass, and even Luke seemed to be tiring from all the excitement. “We’ll show you your new room, and then we can talk about the conversion.”
“Sounds good,” Dee replied, picking Taya up while Mark shifted and collected Luke. She nuzzled her face against Taya’s fur as they headed up the steps and into the foyer. In a little under twelve hours, she would be looking after not just a wolf pup, but a six-month-old human baby. The thought was exhilarating… and terrifying.
Gianna woke up slowly, feeling like she’d been hit by a bus. Or at least, a very large bottle of vodka. She was groggy, struggling to open her eyes, and her body felt strange, lethargic, and half numb. Had she been drinking? It wasn’t her usual style to drown her sorrows in alcohol, but with the way her job had been going lately, maybe she’d over-indulged the night before?
There was something strange around her right wrist, something cold and metallic, and when she tried to move her arm, it wouldn’t come.
She cracked her eyes open, staring at the handcuff blankly. In her addled state, she couldn’t quite work out what the object was, or why it was attached to her wrist. It wasn’t until she noticed the chain the handcuff was attached to, and the fact that the other end was attached to a thick ring bolted onto the wall, that the pieces fell into place.
Feeling an odd mix of fear and anticipation, she struggled to roll over on the narrow bed. Her body wasn’t quite cooperating yet, but she managed to get halfway there…
And yes, just as she’d suspected, there was a man watching her, sitting just out of reach on a straight-backed chair. He had dark skin, and his hair was tightly curled and cut close to his head. His full lips seemed to frown and smirk at the same time. He looked deceptively casual, one jean-clad leg crossed over the other, his cream-coloured woollen jumper giving him an almost cosy look. But despite the fact that Gianna had hoped, wished, longed to be kidnapped in this very manner, there was something starkly intimidating about the way he was watching her, like a lion watching a deer. He was a shape shifter, that much was certain, and most likely an assassin as well – she had read plenty of reports about the shifters’ brand of trained killer. She had no doubt that if he so chose, he could kill her before she’d even registered that he’d moved.
But then, as her gaze wandered over his face, she felt a sudden rush of relief. She knew those eyes. “It’s you,” she said, wonder and awe thick in her voice. He hadn’t forgotten her after all. Pulling herself together a bit better, she managed to sit up.
The man tilted his head in a distinctively canine manner. “How do you know it’s me?” he asked, his voice soft, a silky rasp against frayed nerves. “I was wearing a mask the last time we met.”
“Your eyes,” she said honestly. “Some things stay with you, I guess.” She shrugged, feeling no fear now that the initial shock had passed. This man had had two opportunities to kill her now, and if he hadn’t done so, then she had to assume he had some other use for her. “I didn’t think you were going to come back.”
“We needed to consider the risks versus the benefits,” he said, uncrossing his legs and standing up. He didn’t make any attempt to explain who ‘we’ were, and despite not being overly concerned about being kidnapped by this man, Gianna didn’t feel quite confident enough to ask. “The benefits are currently a rather unknown quantity, of course,” he pointed out, “so let me ask you a question: now that you’ve ostensibly escaped from your employers, what are you expecting to happen next?”
Gianna blinked at him. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
Thando watched the woman in front of him carefully. In his investigations into both her work and home life, he’d discovered that she was forty-two years old, and all things considered, she was a rather unremarkable woman to look at. Her hair fell just past her shoulders, and was a dull, uniform colour that could only really be called ‘brown’. Her eyes were hazel and her face was rather round. She displayed neither elegance nor any kind of refined beauty… and yet there was something about her that caught his attention and made him look twice.
Despite the reversal agent he’d given her, the drugs were still having an effect on her thinking, so he briefly considered whether it would be a better idea to simply shelve this conversation until she’d woken up a bit more.
But on the other hand, the Council had been very clear in their directives and were reluctant to face any delays. They had been dubious about allowing Thando to rescue – or rather kidnap – Gianna Evans in the first place, but if she wished to turn informant and help them in their efforts against the Noturatii, then she was to be considered an acceptable security risk. But if she had nothing to offer them, or if she gave the slightest hint that she had changed her mind about wanting to leave the Noturatii, she was to be swiftly put out of her misery.
But, of course, Thando couldn’t simply come out and tell her that. He’d never get an honest answer out of her if she knew she’d be shot, should she not want to play ball.
“We didn’t get much opportunity to chat last time we met,” Thando said amiably. Indeed, most of their conversation had consisted of Evans begging him to shoot her – a fact which eased the niggling part of his conscience that objected to the Council’s orders that he do just that. Evans had been quite clear that death was preferable to staying with her current employer. “So I’m not sure what sort of future you might have imagined for yourself. Perhaps you wish to run away to Australia and forget all about this. Perhaps you wish to assist us with our efforts to defeat the Noturatii. Or, at the extreme end of the scale, perhaps you’ve imagined what it might be like to become a shifter yourself? If you could enlighten me as to your intended path from here on, it would help a great deal.”
“I don’t… I hadn’t… I hadn’t really thought about it. For what it’s worth, you don’t have to worry about me trying to escape,” she told him, holding up her chained arm. Then she gave him a sorrowful smile. “It’s a pretty sad indication of where things stand that I think being chained to a wall is a step up from working in that lab. But I know people – quite a lot of people – within the Noturatii who feel the same way I do. They fell into this work by accident, and they want nothing more than a quiet back door to get out of it again. So… maybe if I give you a list of names and locations, you might be able to pull a few more of them out?”
Thando turned and strolled idly across the room, letting the idea play over in his mind. It wasn’t quite an open declaration to assist them, but at least she was thinking beyond her own situation. It was a manageable start.
“You’ve worked with the Noturatii for long enough to know they have a rather grim view of defectors,” he said, watching her reaction carefully. “If they discover that large numbers of people are jumping ship, the first thing they would do is send a squad of Satva Khuli after you all. So for all the apparent ease of your own kidnapping, please don’t underestimate the difficulty of pulling people out of there. You cannot simply give me a wish list and expect me to run off and fulfil it.” Though the words spoke a harsh truth, his tone was gentle, and he waited while Evans thought that through.
“I get it,” she said finally. “You need a significant benefit on your side of the equation for the effort it would take. Okay, so I’ll give you everything I know on the Noturatii. Staff lists, management structures, details on their science experiments... I don’t know much about the military side of their operations, but I know the administration and science departments inside out. Is that payment enough? I assumed you’d expect me to play informant anyway.”
Thando felt himself relax and just about managed to keep the smile off his face. “That would do nicely.” He picked up a pad of paper and a pen off a side table and handed it to her. “Pick the first person you’d like us to pull out and write down everything you know about them. And then start detailing everything you know about the British science lab.”