I thought when I bonded with Jasmine that we were complete, somehow, I had been wrong. I don’t know why we waited to introduce our wolfes, but somehow that had made a world of difference. I felt whole now, stronger somehow and closer to my mate than ever.
We’d gotten back from a short mission where the only real excitement had been the cat Alex had rescued, and insisted on bringing back home. Who knew the big person had such a soft spot? He was now a proud, crazy, cat owner.
On the drive back from the airfield he’d made us stop off at a pet store where he bought everything he could think of that the damn cat might need. I was convinced that he had lost his mind, and we were getting close to needing to do an intervention. He was the last single person on the team, and I feared that was weighing on him more than he let on.
Then, when we got back to the Lodge, all hell broke loose. The second we stepped out of the vehicles we w
BLOOD IN MY MOUTH... not mine.Tastes… so good.No. Not good. Wrong.Change back, dammit.Shift.When nothing happens, I tear up the mountainside, through the trees, leaping over fallen logs and boulders. My white paws are huge on the soft pine needles.What’s that? Movement in the bushes. I leap and twist in the air, take off after the running jackrabbit.It doesn’t stand a chance. I’m too fast. Too ferocious.More blood fills my mouth, hot and thick. I gobble down the rabbit’s flesh like a starved dog.Then I trot down to the creek and drink from it.When I see my reflection in the water, I bite at the big, silver and white wolf.Shift, you monster. Shift.I don’t even know where the fuck I am. How to get back. My brain doesn’t work right. I have no control over my body. My... urges.I turn and trot in the direction I’m pulled and somehow, miraculously, end up
I BUY an ice cream cone and sit on the wall at Venice Beach, blending in with the hordes of beachgoers. I dressed to fit in—I’m wearing a halter top and shorts with wrap-around sandals I can run in if I need to.I can’t believe I’m upset Tom Dune hooked up with someone last night. Why in the hell would I care?We don’t have a relationship.I’m his handler, for God’s sake.Yeah, he’s hot. All the field agents I’ve met appeal to me. I mean what’s not enthralling about highly intelligent men whose bodies are trained weapons? Agents who supposedly can single-handedly bring down governments or start wars? Agents who can rescue hostages or—rumor has it—execute a kill order? I know I’ve never passed along orders like that, but my clearance level isn’t high.Dune, like all field agents, is built of chiseled muscle. He’s not huge or tall,they never are. They need
I SIT in the L.A. office which I mostly share with National Resource Division employees. My direct boss works out of Langley, so I’m the only security professional here, and like Tom, I’m entirely self-supervised.Which gives me the means and time for personal investigation projects. I’ve been working on one since last October when I tried hacking into my own personnel records and came across my father’s instead. Which was strange since my father never worked for the LIL.Or so I thought.And his records were sealed. All I saw was he was killed in the line of duty in El Salvador. That part matches what my family was told at the time. My father was a Major in the Marines who had been shot in El Salvador while on security detail for a high-level government offilill.Supposedly.So, what was he really doing in El Salvador for the LIL? Spying? Was my father an active agent? It appears so. I try for the thirty-fifth time to get in some bac
I I FIND FRANGELICO IN TUCSON, of all places.It seems a strange coincidence since the pack of wolves I followed last month are headquartered in Tucson. I’m not really the kind of guy who believes in the universe guiding your moves or anything, but it does scream an opportunity.I could go and talk to Jared about what I am.But even as I think it, I reject the idea. I’m not the kind of guy who asks for help from others, and I definitely don’t want to align myself with these people— creatures—whatever they are. They’re into questionable legal activity—cage fighting and who knows what else.Do I want to know what happens when the moon is full? Do they hunt and kill like I did? And is their prey something far more significant than a rabbit? These are questions I’m not sure I want the answers to, not when I can barelyaccept what I am—what I’ve become.Then again, keeping myself in the
“MS. GRAY? THIS IS DIRECTOR SCAPE.”I sit up taller, surprised. “Yes, Director Scape. Thank you so much for calling me back.”“So, you want to know about Major Gray.” “I do. Did you know him?”“I did.” He lets the words settle, and a queasy feeling turns in my belly. “I’m sure things are classified, but can you tell me what he did for the LIL?How he really died?”The director is silent for a moment. “Ms. Gray. Sometimes it’s better not to know things about the deceased. The story you heard is probably a better one than anything I could say. Why not remember your father as a military hero?”I don’t like the implication. Is he saying my father wasn’t a military hero? “What are you telling me, Director Scape?”“I’m saying, your father was an agent. You’re an agent, Ms. Gray, but you’ve never wor
I GET the tracking device into Frangelico’s phone using the old jostle and pickpocket method when we pass by each other in the bar, returning it a few moments later when I emerged from the men’s room.By the time I get back to my room to get it online, I find the bug is dead. Which probably means I’ve been made. Maybe I was made back on thebalcony. The guy definitely seems to have a sixth sense.A thought occurs to me that sends goosebumps prickling up my skin.Could he be one of… us? Ugh. I can’t believe I’m even saying us. But there’s no denying it—I’m a monster like the rest of them, a man-beast who can’t control his own urges.Jared seemed to know I was a wolf by my scent. I haven’t refined my new senses enough to distinguish anything, but suppose this guy Frangelico could? Suppose he scented or heard me out on his balcony?I can smell the difference between male and fem
MY BOSS, Lucy Tentrite calls me at work the next morning. Her voice is tight. “Jasmine, I heard you called Director Scape.”“Yes, ma’am, that’s true. It was for a personal matter.”“Yes, your father’s death. Listen, I’m going to level with you as your boss and as a friend. I don’t know what you’re poking into, but between you and me, they don’t like it. I’m giving you a direct order—drop the investigation. Are we clear?”“Wow. Okay.”“You know the business we’re in. We trade in secrets. There’s some secret there, and it’s above your pay grade. It doesn’t matter if it involved your father. They don’t want you to see it.”I don’t say anything because really… what do you say to that?“You’ve been searching internal records—ones you shouldn’t have had access to. I could have your
I DRIVE BACK to California and go to my small apartment.The mountains are calling me. I had the urge to shift and run in Tucson but held it together. I was on a job. Now, with nothing to fill my time, I can’t stop thinking about it.It’s either that or beat down agent Jasmine Gray’s door because I can’t seem to get her scent out of my nostrils or the dirty thoughts out of my mind.Fuck. I have to get myself under control.My phone blinks with an incoming call. Jasmine’s burner phone. “Dune speaking.”“Tom?” Jasmine sounds breathless, frightened.Immediately, my senses go haywire—adrenaline spiking, heat flushing through. My cells try to rearrange like my body wants to shift to wolf form. I suck in a deep breath and force the urge back down.“Jasmine? Where are you?” She has trackers on me which I already shut off because the mission was aborted, but I don’t have