The Wolf Within (Purgatory 1)

“If you can’t come up with a cure, then I’ll get another doctor in. You know I can pull any damn strings I want, and I heard that Forbes was in the area.”

Jonathan Forbes. The name had her tensing. He was good with DNA. He was also a prick. And her ex-fiance.

They’d split when she’d suddenly developed an appetite for blood. “Jonathan is more interested in slicing and dicing paranormals than he is in helping them.” That had been one of the main reasons she ran from him.

She hadn’t wanted to wind up as one of his experiments.

Silence. Then, “But he can do the job. There aren’t a whole lot of doctors in the know when it comes to the paranormals.”

No, there weren’t.

Pate continued, “I’ll make sure that he monitors Duncan.”

While she—what? Hid in the shadows?

“I’m not telling you this as your brother. I’m giving you an order as the senior agent for this unit. You’re to stay away from Duncan McGuire from now on.”

Easier said than done. She could still taste him, and she was…craving him. “You sent him out there, all alone, to fight the Seattle alpha?”

“He is an alpha.”

“What if he gets killed?” Didn’t Pate get it? Duncan didn’t want to be a werewolf. Maybe facing off against the other alpha was his way of making sure his death wish was granted.

I won’t let that happen.

“We’re tracking Duncan through the chip in his collar. If necessary, we can send backup to him.” Pate shook his head. Narrowed his eyes on her. “Go home, Holly. Just…go.When you’re back in control, then you can come back to the lab later.”

In control. Right. Because she always had to stay in control. Always had to be so careful.

Maybe she was tired of being careful. She stared at her brother. Saw all the secrets he carried in his eyes. He’d told her the unit was necessary. For the protection of the humans.

Only she wasn’t human anymore.

Neither was Duncan.

And Pate was still using them both.

“Screw control,” she told him as she turned and walked away. It wasn’t about control. It was about helping a man who’d just lost everything.

Pate might be willing to sit back and watch the brutal battle unfold before him, but she wasn’t going to do that.

One drop of Duncan’s blood. Just one. That was all she’d gotten.

It was all she needed. She could feel Duncan now. Could sense him.

And could track him. She didn’t need the collar to give her his location. Now, with his blood, she’d be able to find him anywhere, anytime.

If he was facing off against the wolves, she’d make sure he had backup.

The supernatural kind.

***

Pate didn’t move so much as a muscle as his step-sister walked away. Holly was so small and deceptively delicate.

The perfect killing machine.

He hadn’t wanted this life for her, but…but there was no going back.

His nightmares wouldn’t stop. He could still see her attack, over and over again in his head like a broken movie reel that wouldn’t stop playing.

But now…Holly was finally becoming stronger. Not the broken doll, the one who hid in the lab because she didn’t want to face the world outside.

She’d tasted Duncan’s blood. Gone for my throat.

Her killer instincts were showing.

The doors swung closed behind her.

And Pate finally let his smile sweep over his face.

***

Holly went to her home first, mostly because she had a bullet hole in her shirt and the fabric was covered with blood. She jumped into the shower and let the water slide over her skin. She’d get clean, then she’d find Duncan.

He wouldn’t die before she washed the blood away. At least, she hoped he didn’t and—

Her alarm was beeping. A high-pitched whine that she still barely heard over the roar of her shower. Frowning, she hurriedly turned off the water until only a drip-drip-drip remained.

The whine was clear now. Clear and plenty loud.

Her gaze tracked to the left. She couldn’t see anything through the steamed-up glass door of her shower. But that alarm had been set off by something.

Someone.

She heard a creak then. Very soft. Too close. The creak had come from her bedroom.

Fingers trembling, she pushed open the shower door and grabbed for her towel.

“Hello, sweets.” A drawling, dark voice.

Her head snapped up.

Saul stood in the doorway of her bathroom. He inhaled deeply. “Followed that sweet smell all over town…” He took a step closer. His gaze drifted over her. “And straight back home to you.”

Oh, hell. She’d been so worried about tracking Duncan that she hadn’t even thought about Saul coming after her.

He snapped his teeth together. “That smell tempted me for weeks. Fuckin’ weeks.Didn’t even realize you were the one sending out that sweet scent, not until you came into containment. And now I’ve just got to take a bite.”

The collar was around his neck. But the remote, hell, the backup remote she’d swiped on her way out of the lab was in her bedroom. In the nightstand drawer. Completely and totally useless to her at that moment.

Her hands were clutching the towel over her body. But it was weak protection. What she needed was a serious weapon.

Saul licked his lips. “Maybe I’ll f**k you and rip your throat out, all at the same time…”

Oh, yes, Pate had made a real brilliant move in letting this psycho out of his cage. Brilliant.

She swallowed—four times—and managed to choke down her fear enough to say, “That alarm—it will go feed back to the agency. P-Pate wired it. Agents will be here—”

He laughed. “I’m not as dumb as you think.” He was totally blocking the doorway. And his claws were out. “I cut the wires leading away from this apartment. The alarm might be screaming in here…”

It was. Just like she was screaming in her mind.

“But no signal is getting out.” He smiled at her, flashing his fangs. “No one’s coming to save you. It’s just you and me, sweets. You…” He leapt toward her and yanked the towel away. His claws sliced down her arm. “And me.”

She didn’t cry out at the pain. He wanted her to scream and beg. She could see it in his eyes. “You don’t want to…do this.”

He brought his mouth close to her neck. “I want nothing more. Your scent was in the air, did you know that? In the f**kin’ ventilation. I smelled you all those days.” His teeth raked over her skin.