The Wolf Within (Purgatory 1)

Duncan rocked forward onto the balls of his feet. “Bait?”

“Saul.” Pate shook his head. “I don’t want to let him go—”

“You said you wouldn’t—”

“But if we track the guy, keep him monitored twenty-four, seven, we can follow him back to the alpha.”

Duncan’s heart started to pound faster. “And what will you do if he gets away from your monitoring, huh? He’s a werewolf, it’s not exactly easy to track his kind.”

“It is if another werewolf is doing the hunting.”

They stared at each other.

“You want me to follow Saul.”

Pate nodded. “Not only that, I want you to be the one to get him out of his cage.”

What the hell? “Did you hit your head in the attack? Take a shot? Something?” Because this plan was shit.

Pate’s smile was cold. “In that containment room, I made myself his enemy.”

“I was the one choking the bastard.” Because of the way Saul had looked at Holly. As if the werewolf could already taste her. No one else gets near her.

The wolf inside was still pissed. Or maybe the man was. Right then, it was hard to tell the difference between them.

“I told Saul that I wouldn’t make a deal with him.” Pate walked around behind his desk and sat in the leather chair. He flattened his hands on the desk’s scarred surface. “And I won’t make a deal, but you will. One wolf to another.”

He didn’t like where this was going. “You’re just gonna let me open his cage?”

“Um…” A small nod. “And you need to do it now, while the other agents are all distracted by the recent attack. It will look more real that way. It has to look real to Saul. The guy needs to believe that you’re working with him. If he believes you, if he trusts you…then the guy might even wind up siding with you and helping you to take out the alpha.”

There seemed to be a whole lot of ifs involved in the equation, but they didn’t exactly seem to have a whole lot of options. Either they could wait for the alpha to attack again or Duncan could launch his own attack first.

“Get his trust,” Pate said. “Use him. Take out the alpha.”

Easier said than done.

“Don’t worry about human casualties. The collar that Saul wears will transmit his location to us every minute. He won’t get free.”

Pate was way too confident. “It’s not the getting free part that worries me. It’s the whole slicing the throats of humans part.” Like Saul had already done, six times before. He’d gone after the homeless deliberately because the guy had a taste for the helpless and weak.

“Your job is to make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone, Agent McGuire. Consider yourself the guy’s federal guard, if that makes you feel better.”

Was the guy crazy? “I’m the one we need to watch! I need a guard!” He lifted his hands. With his increased heart beat and the tension that was eating away at him, sure enough, the claws were pushing out again. “Screw Saul. He’s got years of control—”

“No, he obviously doesn’t, or he wouldn’t be killing.”

“I could be the one to go bad. I could start killing.”

“And that’s why you’re wearing a collar, too.”

He barely felt the weight of the silver around his neck. Probably because Holly had set it for the lightest possible intensity level. She hadn’t wanted to hurt him.

And he…

I want her.

Duncan cleared his throat. He had to stay away from her. When he was near Holly, he just thought about f**king.

Or killing anyone who wanted to hurt her.

The beast was way too unstable when she was near.

Pate held up the remote he’d taken from Holly. “There are several master remotes at this facility. And the silver can’t just be amped up…the setting can be switched to kill mode.”

So Duncan had always suspected.

“You go rogue, you start attacking humans, don’t worry, I’ll take you out myself.”

Good to know.

“Now time is running out.” The lines near Pate’s eyes deepened. “If you’re not in for this plan, then—”

“You think I’m stable enough to handle this?” A question that had to be asked. “Another shift could come. I can’t—I can’t stop the shift.” He’d been so angry before when he’d been in his cell and he’d heard Holly’s screams. Enraged and afraid for Holly. The shift had swept over him, and there’d been nothing he could do to stop it.

But then, he hadn’t been sure that he wanted to stop it then. He’d wanted to attack whoever—whatever—had been hurting her.

“We wanted you to stay the night at the facility so that Holly could do her tests.” One brow rose even as Pate’s gaze dropped to his neck. “So you’d be collared.”

And you’d have your automatic kill switch?

“But you aren’t a prisoner here. You’re a federal agent. A man who has always done his job and protected the innocent. You can walk out of this building anytime you want.” A pause. “Though I’d prefer for you to leave in the next five minutes…with Saul.”

Taking that guy anywhere was going to be a risk. “I want a master remote.”

Pate immediately tossed it to him. “Done. Saul’s code is 7943.”

“And my code?”

Pate smiled.

Right.

“I know it. Holly knows it. So I’d say we’re covered on that end,” Pate told him.

No, Pate was covered.

“Are you going to tell the others what I’m doing?” Duncan asked. He’d rather prefer not to get shot down by his own team members.

Pate nodded. “After you’re gone, they’ll all know.”

“Not before?”

“We need to make it look real,” a soft murmur.

So it looked like he was going to do this. All right. Fine. He motioned toward himself. “I think I’ll need more clothes.”

“Back up gear and clothing are waiting outside. Go in the hall, then take the fourth door on your right.”

Duncan turned away.

“Ah…just one more thing, McGuire.”

Wasn’t there always one more thing with that guy?

“I’ve noticed that you seem to be reacting a bit…intently to Holly.”

Understatement of the century.

“You’re too dangerous to be around a woman right now in any sort of sexual capacity.” Pate’s voice had hardened. “So I’m giving you an order. Stay away from her.”