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I grunted in understanding, though at this exact second, money was my last concern. This sense of urgency wasbuilding inside me, like a brewing storm on the horizon, and it was starting to give me a headache.
I was ready to drag Morgan to the car, but when I started for the door, he resisted, pulling back on my hand while he tried to give his landlord all the information he would need. “I really appreciate all your patience with me this year, and all the help with getting us together, even if that meant giving my key to a total stranger—totally illegal, by the way,” he said super fast, trying to get it all out before I could get us out the front door. “I won’t have service on my phone, but I’ll call soon to tell you what to do with all my stuff. But if I’m not back by the end of the month, just sell it or toss it or whatever and—bye!”
The door closed behind us with a dull thud. The wind hit my face like a slap, whipping the blowing snow around us in a flurry. Morgan gave a startled gasp, trying to pull his collar up with his free hand. “Gods, when did it get so cold?” he asked, looking up and down the street in front of his building, as if searching for something.
I was about to ask how he’d missed the start of winter, since we were smack dab in the middle of the season, but then I looked down at his pale, sunken cheeks and reminded myself that he’d been home sick. “Don’t worry, Mo. The truck’s parked just around the corner, and we’ll turn the heat on full as soon as we get there.” I let go of his handand moved my arm around his shoulders, pulling him into my side to share my body heat.
He gazed up at me, all moony-eyed. “You called me Mo.”
“Is that okay?” Were nicknames not something humans did?
“Of course it’s okay. More than okay.” He wrapped an arm around my waist and held on tight.
We hurried down the sidewalk toward where I’d parked the truck. “So… what kind of shifter is Al?” he asked, leaning in and whispering as if we were discussing trade secrets—which I guess we sort of were.
Though it wasn’t really my place to spill Al’s secrets, I saw no harm in divulging that much about the man. “Crow,” I answered.
Morgan nodded, humming in thought. “That makes toooootal sense. The hair, the beady eyes, the way he cocks his head. And have you noticed how much he likes shiny things?” He wiggled his fingers, indicating all the man’s rings. “Do all shifters’ human forms resemble their animal?”
I shrugged, half distracted by keeping an eye on our surroundings. “To a certain extent, I guess.” A tingling sensation had begun to crawl up my spine as I guided Morgan around the corner, my grip on him tightening. I could see my truck at the end of the narrow lane, andI hurried our pace. My heart began to thrum like a bird caught inside my cheat, its wings battering at my ribs to get out.
“We need to hurry,” I hissed, half catching Morgan as his feet slipped in the snow.
“What? Why?” Morgan’s head snapped up, his eyes on alert.
I smelled the man just a second too late. The sharp scent of formaldehyde triggered memories long buried but never forgotten. My legs locked up, and I shoved Morgan behind me just as a man stepped out from around the corner of the building ahead, between us and the truck. I hadn’t seen him in years, but I would recognize him anywhere, even without the white lab coat. “Dr. Taylor,” I snarled. Light glinted off the gun in his hand.
Morgan gasped, clinging to the back of my jacket. “Eric!”
“You know him?” I asked, alarm bells blaring in my head as I crouched in a defensive posture, claws extending.
“Oh yes, your mate and I go way back, don’t we, Morgan,” Dr. Taylor answered for him. “He has been so helpful in reuniting us.” His lips stretched into the grin I’d once found charming as a child, but I was no longer that clueless kid. I could see the tightness to his mouth, the malicious gleam to his eyes, and I knew exactly what he was capableof. He was older than I’d last seen him, his hair more silver than blond, but he was the same monster underneath it all.
For the briefest of moments, I wondered if I’d been taken for a fool. If they knew each other, did that mean Morgan had knowingly led me into a trap? But even as the thought flitted through my mind, I rejected it. I knew Morgan. I mean, I might not have known his favorite color or the names of his parents or grandparents, but Iknewhim. And I was absolutely certain that he would never betray me.
“Don’t listen to him!” Morgan said from behind me, sounding surprisingly fierce. “I would never help him! He’s been following me, hoping that I’ll lead you to him. It’s why I haven’t come to you before now.”
“It’s okay, Morgan, I believe you.” I reached back and set my hand on his hip. I could feel him shaking. “Nice try—Eric, is it? We were never on a first-name basis,” I growled, my muscles tightening in preparation to fight. I kept my eyes locked on his, anticipating him to make a move. His gun was pointed straight at my chest. Getting shot would no doubt hurt like hell, but I would heal. Morgan wouldn’t, though. If I’d been facing off against him alone, I would’ve simply taken him out, but with Morgan, the rules were different. It would be better if we could getout of this without engaging. “If you’ll excuse us. It’s a bit chilly to stand around and chat.” Keeping Morgan behind me, I tried to slide past Dr. Taylor toward my truck, but he shook his head.
“Ah-ah,” he tutted, gesturing with the handgun. “You’re not leaving. Well, not by yourselves, anyway. But if you’re eager to get warm, I’m parked just over there.” He jerked his head to where a black SUV was pulled up along the curb. “Shall we?”
“We’re not going anywhere with you,” I snapped, but it was like he didn’t even hear me.
Dr. Taylor was watching me with a critical eye, his gaze roving up and down my body. “You know, I really am surprised to see you, Jude. I’d assumed it would be a different wolf shifter, since we knew you to be defective, but now it turns out you reallyarea wolf! That you somehow suppressed your canine all those years, through hundreds of full moons. Fascinating. I’ve never found a shifter who could control their beast like that. I am very much looking forward to studying you further.”
“You won’t be studying anything,” I gritted out. My blood was roaring in my ears, my gums aching where my canines lengthened as my wolf begged me to let him out, and still I waited, wondering how this would play out.
Dr. Taylor’s eyes turned hungry. “I wonder if a shifter’s human mate is afforded any kind of special abilities…”
Panic reared its head, turning me borderline feral. My vision was overlaid with my wolf’s, and I knew my eyes must’ve been bright green by the way the doctor’s face reflected his satisfaction. He knew he had me. What he didn’t know was that my mate was pregnant.
I thought of my poor omega father, forced to bear children on the whims of a madman, and yet he loved us all the same. Right up until he disappeared through that unmarked door the final time, he protected and cared for me, all while being subjected to the worst mankind had to offer. The director and his team had spent over a decade studying us, torturing us in the name of science, taking blood and tissue samples, though for what reason, I still didn’t know. And now here I was again, faced with a choice.
If this were a busier street or an earlier time of day, there would’ve been a chance of someone stumbling on the scene, but as it was, the sound of traffic was too far in the distance. I even would’ve been grateful for the human cops at this point. But nobody was coming to save us. It was up to me.
“I’ll come with you,” I said, taking a step forward. “But you have to promise not to hurt Morgan.”
Morgan clung to my jacket, gasping. “No! You said you would never leave me again. Wherever you go, I go.”
