The Wolf Within (Purgatory 1)

Duncan lunged forward. In a second’s time, he had his claws at the guy’s throat. Holly was screaming behind him, telling him to back away, that she had this—

No, he had this. Duncan had the fool who thought he’d take what belonged to him.

“It’s the way of the beast,” the werewolf whispered to him. “We don’t like to share what we’ve marked as ours, do we?”

Holly is mine.

The werewolf gave what appeared to be a sad shake of his head. “It’s going to be a problem for you.” Hell. It almost sounded like the psycho werewolf pitied him.

Duncan tightened his hold, ending the guy’s words. “You don’t threaten her. You don’t even look at her.”

Golden eyes stared back at him.

I’ve seen those eyes. He knew the guy’s face. The heavy cheekbones. The sharp nose. The cleft in the guy’s chin.

He stared at the guy and heard echoes of screams. Cries that didn’t come from anywhere but in his own mind. A child’s cries. Begging. Desperate.

Holly’s hands closed around his shoulders, and she jerked him back.

The screams died away as the alpha smirked up at him. Duncan could hear other sounds then. Like the heavy tread of footsteps rushing toward the room.

Then Pate was there. Climbing over the broken door. Shane and Elias were right on his heels. They were all armed, and Duncan knew silver would be loaded in their guns.

“When will they turn those weapons on you?” The alpha asked, raising his brows. “Think they’ll wait until the full moon rises? Or will they put you out of your misery before then?”

A woman moaned then. The blonde in the back. The woman stretched out on a table and currently bleeding.

Was that blood having any impact on Holly? She seemed to be in control.

“I couldn’t let him kill her,” came Holly’s soft voice. “I had to do something to stop him.”

Her “something” had been to shoot the alpha. Nice.

Pate inclined his head toward Shane. The agent hurried across the room and scooped the blonde into his arms. But the blonde began to fight him almost immediately, crying out for “Connor!”

The werewolf’s smile vanished. “We’re done, love. The humans can take you now.”

And just like that, she stopped screaming.

What the hell?

Shane carried her out of the room. Pate and Elias closed in on the alpha called Connor. Pate pulled a second weapon from a holster under his jacket. With one glance, Duncan knew it was the weapon used for dosing paranormals. Not killing, but knocking them out.

“Alpha, you’re under arrest.”

Connor’s bloody claws raked over the dirty floor. “Gonna to send me to Purgatory?” His fangs snapped together. “Gonna toss me in a cage like you’re doing with the rest of my kind?”

Pate fired the weapon. A dart burst from the gun and lodged in Connor’s throat. “Yes.”

“Y-your…mistake…” Connor grabbed the dart and yanked it from his neck. Duncan knew the removal would do no good. The drug was in his system now. “Putting…together…makes us…more dangerous…”

Pate fired again. Guess the guy wasn’t in the mood to take chances. The second shot hit Connor in his already bloody chest. “Once you’re in Purgatory, you won’t be getting out.”

Connor’s gaze—now growing bleary—found Duncan. “N-neither w-will…he…”

Then he crashed forward, slamming into the floor. Out f**king cold.

Daphne and Brent—two other Para Unit agents—hurried into the room. They stood near Elias.

“Make sure he’s secure, Elias,” Pate ordered without taking his gaze off Connor. “I want his transfer to be smooth and fast. Get him to our base and get him caged.”

The base that had been already been under attack by the wolves? The place hadn’t exactly been secure then, and Duncan sure hoped that Pate had stepped things up. The werewolves might try to rescue their alpha. If they did, he didn’t want to walk into another bloodbath.

“The guards have been doubled. We aren’t gonna have any trouble,” Pate said, as if the jerk had just read his mind. But he couldn’t do that. Pate was just human.

At least, Duncan thought he was.

“You didn’t believe we’d have trouble before,” Duncan said. He was suddenly conscious of his collar. The heavy weight. The silver that was burning more than it should in that instance. Because his wolf was trying to come out?

The alpha hadn’t challenged him, other than that ass**le comment about Holly. Shouldn’t the guy have come at him with claws ready to rip him apart? The whole scene just felt wrong to him. What the hell was going on?

Duncan’s eyes swept back to Connor. The unconscious wolf wasn’t giving him any answers.

“Good job, Holly,” Pate said. Duncan looked back as Pate’s hand lifted, and he pulled the gun from her fingers. “But I thought I told you to locate him. To confirm that he was here, then call for backup.”

“There wasn’t time for backup.” She shook her head. Duncan realized she was still staring at the unconscious werewolf. A faint furrow was between her brows. “He was going to kill the blonde.”

“He won’t be killing anyone else,” Pate said, as if making her a promise.

It wasn’t a promise that Duncan was sure the guy could keep.

And just why did Pate still have his gun out?

Pate shifted his position slightly, as if putting his body between Holly and Duncan. No, not as if he were doing it. The guy was damn well trying to separate them.

He was also lifting his gun and pointing it at Duncan. “Is the silver burning you more now?”

“Why are you pointing that at me?” Duncan demanded, not answering the question.

A muscle jerked in Pate’s jaw. “Because your eyes are glowing, and there’s smoke rising from your neck.” His lips tightened. “I didn’t need to ask. It’s obvious the silver is hurting you more. That wolf of yours wants out.”

Because another alpha was close? Or because he’d been so wild at the thought of Holly being hurt?

Maybe it was both. And maybe…maybe it didn’t matter anymore. “Drop the gun.” Or he’d rip it out of Pate’s hands.

Pate shook his head. “Before you go back to base, I need to make sure you’re in control. If I need to cage you—”

“You’re not putting him in a cell!” Holly snapped.