Page 6 of Last But Not Leashed

“Excuse me? You’ll do what?” The amused disbelief in my boss’s voice jolted me to full awareness, and I tensed. A flashlight shined in my eyes, and I growled, unable to turn to avoid the blinding beam. “This is how this is going to work. You’re going to stand down, back off, and behave, or I’m going to pump so many rounds into you they’ll be pulling bullets out of your hide for a week. This puppy’s an M14, and if I pull the trigger, you might not even make it to the hospital. Your choice.”

“Cheat,” the female snarled.

“One would say nine against one is cheating, too. She who holds the M14 makes the rules, and my rules say you’re the one cheating. Call your pack off, or I’m going to unleash my gun and the pack of angry wolves itching for a chance to beat on you for a while. It takes a lot of balls to attack one of the Baltimore pack’s betas. Unless you want to die young, I recommend you back off.”

The female tightened her grip on me, digging her claws deeper into my throat, spilling more of my blood. “Hybrid beta? Not alpha?”

“I’m the alpha,” Jerome announced, and he redirected the flashlight out of my eyes. “The missus apologizes she can’t wipe the concrete with you herself, but she’s stuck at work. As for Dale, he’s my beta because that’s what he does best. I recommend you listen to the lady here. She really will pull the trigger. Frankly, I’m surprised she hasn’t yet.”

“I won’t if she lets Dale go,” my boss grumbled.

According to her tone, my boss wanted nothing more in life than to turn the hybrid female into paste with her fully automatic military rifle.

“Dale’s going to be fine, Ethel. Sure, they’ve bloodied him up pretty badly; this whole lot is going to need detoxed, but he’ll be fine. Just be careful, his virus is probably spiked to hell, and I make zero promises I can control him after she releases him.”

“We’ll play it by ear.” My boss grunted. “Well, lady? What’s it going to be? You going to let him go?”

“You CDC.”

“Yes, I am, and you’re digging your claws into my wolf.”

“You steal my male. This male mine until my male returned.”

While the crazed hybrid female allowed me to breathe, she kept her claws lodged in my throat. If my boss opened fire, I might emerge with my head still attached—maybe.

I bet I could make a fortune with a circus. Working for a circus, I wouldn’t have to worry about anything other than keeping my fur pretty and showing off my inhuman strength. I’d probably even make more money, as long as I didn’t mind the entire world knowing I was a freak.

“Wait, what?” my boss blurted.

“My future mate gone. You take. He work here. This male do mine’s rounds. He said CDC take. You take.”

“Is your future mate’s name Mr. Jones?”

“My male,” the female snapped.

“Mr. Jones is in the hospital undergoing treatments right now. We didn’t take him. He’s being given medical care.”

“My pack no hurt future mate. I introduce him to pack tonight, but he not here. This male here instead! Want my male.”

“Can you confirm his name?”

“San…” The female snapped her teeth. “Hard like this. My male.”

I liked that the two talked; talking meant I had a substantially higher chance of escaping with only a few holes in my neck, which my virus would heal given a few hours. With Jerome nearby, if the CDC decided I’d bled too much, they’d pump me full of his blood to jumpstart my virus, which would multiply in response to his virus. As he was pack, the viruses would ultimately work together until Jerome’s died out in several days.

The CDC didn’t like doing it because until Jerome’s virus was out of my system, I’d be prone to flying off the handle.

My boss replied, “Take your time and try again.”

“San-tee-ah-go. Jones. Mine.”

“If you can control yourself and your pack, I can arrange for you to see Mr. Jones,” my boss offered. “After, you’ll need to go to the station to answer some questions. You’ll need someone to accompany you from the CDC. Mr. Jones is very sick right now, and you will be drugged if you cause trouble. You’ll need to shift to your human form. The same applies to your pack.”

“You no lie?”

“I make no promises you won’t be fined for attacking a CDC employee, but the CDC does take circumstances into consideration. You’ll have exactly one chance to cooperate before my rifle does the talking.”

“Okay. Trade your male for my male.”