Kalen Read online

  Martin stared at him for a moment as though he would like to kill him with his bare hands before he finally relaxed and shrugged. “Like I said, I can only assume they did as they were told.” He put his feet down on the floor and sat up. “What worries me is that they’re dead and the serum they had is now in the hands of the werewolves. What’s to stop them from injecting people and increasing their ranks?”

  Richard did his best to hide his alarm. Martin was right. If the weres had the serum, then they could have their people reverse engineer it. That was not a good thing. Nope. It wasn’t good at all.

  Chapter Ten

  Kalen pulled his cell phone from his pocket, thankful that Ally had had the presence of mind to bring his pack in with her. It was a good thing he’d kept it on him, as well. Sliding his finger over the screen to wake it up, he brought up Bastien’s number and pressed the call button.

  “Sinclair.” The alpha answered after the first ring.

  “It’s Kalen. I have the girl, but we have another problem.”

  He heard Bastien’s sigh through the line and over the women who sat huddled together talking.

  “How many others have they turned?”

  “Just one that I know of, but…” he paused, unsure how to break the news to him.

  “Just spit it out, will you?” Bastien sounded exhausted. He probably was. He was newly mated, alpha to their pack and searching for that lunatic who called himself a doctor.

  “The woman they injected is over seventy years old and they planned to breed her. Any idea how?”

  Bastien grew very quiet on the other end. “I have no idea unless they have already turned someone who was older. Perhaps when they turn, they become the werewolf version of seventy which would put them at just entering their prime.”

  That could be the answer. Weres in their twenties through forties were considered adolescents, for the most part. They were obviously adults, but they didn’t have the control of an older were.

  Kalen looked over at the two women. What would happen if Milly Jenkins got younger after her change?

  “There’s another thing,” he said as he stared down into the case the two men had left open on the counter.

  “What now?” Bastien sounded at the end of his patience. “I swear, Tolbert, if you can’t tell me some good news, keep the shit to yourself.”

  “Oh, I think you’re going to want to hear this.”

  “You have good news for a change?” Bastien perked up. He actually sounded a little excited.

  “I’d call it good news.” He stared down into the case filled with gray form-fitting foam. “I’m staring at five full vials of serum and if the sixth one is any indication, it only takes about a quarter of a vial to turn a human.”

  Turning his attention back to the women, Kalen waved at Milly to get her attention. “Excuse me, Mrs. Jenkins, but do you remember if the vial on the syringe was full when they injected you?”

  With a frown, Milly stared at the needle for a minute. She started to waver in her chair as though drunk as she thought about it, and Kalen knew he would have to get off the phone in a minute to help her.

  “No. I think the syringe was about half full.” She smiled at him drunkenly. “You’re cute. Did you know that?” She frowned at Ally who knelt beside her. “Shouldn’t you be at work?” After that, Milly’s head fell back on her shoulders and she was out.

  “Well…” Bastien paused, waiting. “What did she say?”

  Kalen shook his head to clear it and turned his attention back to the phone. “She said the syringe looked half full. There’s no way a quarter of a vial filled half of the syringe they used. I’ll bring everything back with me, including the already used syringe and you can have our people study it.” He watched as Ally had a difficult time keeping Milly on the chair. “I have to go right now. The old woman is unconscious and we need to pack some things for her and Ally before we head out. Ally has been traipsing the woods half-naked. I’m sure she’d like to stop by her house and get a few things.”

  “Okay. Bring them both to the safe house on Gates. We’ll meet you there.”

  Kalen shoved his phone back into his pocket and turned to the two women. Ally, trying her best to hold Milly on the chair fought a losing battle as the older woman slumped lower and lower in her seat.

  Kalen strode over to the chair, scooped the woman up in his arms, and turned to Ally. “Where is her bedroom?”

  He followed Ally through the kitchen and down a short hallway to the woman’s bedroom. “Do you remember how long you were out when they injected you?”

  Ally bit her lip, deep in thought. The action made his cock throb. Damn. His human side might not have wanted a mate, but his wolf certainly did. Just watching those perfect teeth of hers pull at her full bottom lip was enough to make him crazy with need.

  What was it about the way she smelled, looked and moved that made it difficult for him to think of anything other than sliding his hard cock into her wet cunt and losing himself in her body?

  “No, but I don’t remember them clearing their stuff out of the room. It would have taken at least thirty minutes for them to pack up all of their crap and load it in their car.”

  “And their trail was at least thirty minutes old when we got there.” Kalen rubbed his chin then frowned. He hated that his beard grew faster when he changed. “That should give us at least an hour before she wakes. Let’s find her keys and lock up, then go over to your house so you can get some things.”

  “I can go by myself.” She waved toward the bed. “That way you can stay here and keep an eye on Milly.”

  I don’t think so.” He moved to block Ally’s way out of the room. We’ll go together. We already know that this house is clear.” He glanced back and the older woman lying face up on the bed and frowned. Did she look younger? “We don’t know if your house is safe. There could be men waiting there for you to show up.

  “Alright,” Ally said with a frown, her shoulders drooping. “But once we get over there and you deem it safe, I want to pack by myself. I don’t need you in the room with me watching me go through my underwear drawer.”

  “I won’t watch you pack your underwear.” He chuckled. “But I do have to tell you that if they all look like what you’re wearing now. I wholeheartedly approve.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Face burning with mortification, Ally pushed past Kalen and practically ran from the room. She would have left the house and gone straight to her own if Kalen hadn’t grabbed her arm at the front door.

  “Where are her keys?”

  Ally heaved a sigh, led him to the kitchen and pointed at the coat rack. “She always hangs them there, under her jacket. She always figured that if someone broke into her house, they would waste time looking for her purse first before they would think to look under her coat.”

  “Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to go pack a few things before the police show up wanting to question me.”

  “If anything, they’ll show up looking for proof that you’ve packed clothing and left.” He shrugged at her narrow-eyed glance. “What’d I do?”

  “Nothing. I just don’t like the fact that I’m going to my house to do just that and they won’t know I’ve been kidnapped.”

  “Kidnapped?” He raised his brows. “I’m not kidnapping you, sweetheart. I’m taking you into protective custody. There is a difference.”

  “Not much, to my way of thinking.” She opened the door. “She has a key to my place on there, too. Her key is the one with the blue nail polish, mine has the green.”

  Ally stomped out on the porch and waited for him to join her. It galled her to no end that she had to take this man with her to pack her clothing. No doubt he’d want to search her underwear drawer for imps, or something before he’d let her pack. She’d die if he did that and found her vibrator.

  Kalen locked the door, his shoulders shaking.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing.” He turned and loo
ked at her, his lips pressed together. He looked as though he was trying not to laugh. “Just for the record though… I’ve never met an imp and I’ve traveled the world over.”

  Ally spun around and ran for her house. Oh, my God! I forgot he can read my mind.

  I don’t read your mind, sweetheart. We’re connected somehow and I feel it when you’re upset. And…he paused. I can hear your thoughts.

  “Stop that! Stop talking into my mind and stop calling me sweetheart. I am so not your sweetheart.”

  She stopped at the front door to her house and frowned.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Ally reached out and pushed her door open. Kalen shoved her to the side just as she heard a spitting sound come from her living room. Wood splintered on her doorjamb as he shoved her out of the way and a dart hit the porch rail with a slight thunk.

  “Come on in, you two. We have some talking to do.”

  “I knew I saw three men in that kitchen.” Kalen whispered.

  “There’s no need to lower your voices. I can hear what you say. I have wonderful hearing now that I’m one of you.”

  Kalen motioned Ally to the side. Stay low. He can shoot you through a window, but not a wall. He grinned. And if I’m not mistaken, he has no idea we can communicate like this. He is untrained in our ways. That is why they can never win. They may shift shape like us, but they have no idea what all they are capable of doing now.

  “Silence will only buy you a small amount of time. Come on in before I start using the real gun.”

  He’s bluffing, sweetheart. He needs to take us both back alive. He’ll continue to track us and try to shoot us with that dart gun of his. He tossed her the keys. Go back to Milly’s and let me handle this.

  And get yourself shot? Uh, uh. No way. We take this guy out together. Two targets are better than one, or don’t you remember how we took out the moron twins back there in the woods?

  Fine, but you’d better not get yourself shot. If I get hurt, there will be no one to protect you or Milly.

  You have a point. She gave him the sweetest-looking smile she could muster. Too bad it’s on the top of your head.

  Kalen chuckled. That surprised her. She thought it would piss him off. Instead, it seemed to relax him. I’ll push open the door on the count of three. You go in high and give him a target. I’ll go in low and go for the payload, so to speak.

  “I’m not getting any younger in here. Come on you two, or I come out to show you my automatic.”

  “Give us a minute. He promised to tell me he loved me.”

  She could tell Kalen wanted to laugh at her impromptu performance, but instead he winked at her and said, “She’s right. I did. Give us one minute, will you?”

  “Hurry the hell up out there. I’m getting impatient and my finger is getting itchy.”

  Now, there’s a man who has seen way too much TV. Kalen shook his head, then started to count. One. He hurriedly stripped off his clothing.

  You’re always getting naked. Ally shook her head and looked up. The last thing she needed was to get all hot and bothered looking at his broad shoulders, washboard abs and, oh God, she didn’t mean to look at his impressive package. She looked away and counted to ten.

  You can look now, Ally. My impressive package isn’t so impressive in wolf form. Not to human women anyway.

  Shit! Why did she keep forgetting to censor her thoughts?

  Two. Now, look at me, Ally. I’m going to explain all of this later, but as difficult as it is to believe… He paused for a moment. I do love you. Three. Now, go! Kalen pushed the door open and Ally sprung to life, prompted more by his urgency than his words.

  Still, it didn’t stop her thoughts from running rampant as she ran into the room, then dove to the side as the man, sitting on her sofa, aimed his gun her way.

  As Kalen hoped, he went for the easier target instead of the most dangerous one. Kalen leapt into the air, grabbed the man by the throat, and pinned him to the couch.

  “Oh, do try not to kill him on my furniture, will you? I just got it about a year ago.

  I won’t kill him, but you’ll still have to have it cleaned. He just urinated on it.

  Dammit!” She picked up her umbrella and hit the guy’s arm with it, knocking the gun from his hand. “I haven’t even had invited guests to sit on that couch. Stop pissing on it!”

  The man gurgled something she didn’t quite catch. “I can’t understand the idiot when you have his throat closed off like that, Kalen.” She glared at the man. Hell, she was almost mad enough to rip his throat out herself. “That better have been, I’m sorry for peeing all over your quasi-new couch, Ally. I’ll pay to have it cleaned, honest, that I heard coming from your frickin’ mouth, buddy.”

  Kalen still held the man by the neck while she paced in front of him, still holding her umbrella. She stopped occasionally to narrow her eyes and shake her umbrella at him. God, she was pissed off that her couch had been pissed on.

  Shoot him, Ally. You know you want to.

  “I can’t do that!” She stared at Kalen, her mouth open. Have you lost your mind? I can’t shoot him. Bad guy, or not, it’s just not in me to do something like that. She looked at the man and her anger returned. Though, I might be able to rip his heart out.

  Boy, aren’t we bloodthirsty today? He chuckled. You’re holding a dart gun, Ally. It’s not going to do any permanent harm and we’ll be able to stuff him in Milly’s trunk and take him to the Alpha unharmed.

  That was true. Ally looked at the guy who had probably just permanently stained her beautiful cream-colored sofa, raised the gun and shot him in the leg…three times.

  “Why couldn’t he have sat in my ratty old recliner?” She tossed the gun down and waved to the old chair. “Noooo, he has to sit on my couch, then piss all over it. How much do you want to bet he’s dehydrated, too? The stain is probably dark yellow, dammit!”

  Kalen looked up at her and grinned. It looked funny on the wolf’s face. He opened his mouth, letting his tongue hang out, then barked.

  “Don’t act like a dog now, you.” She pointed toward the front door. “Go drag your clothes in here and get dressed while I go pack. Don’t worry about me. I’ll protect myself against inept criminals who should be wearing Depends with this.” She picked up the gun and shook it. Turning, she stomped into her bedroom, yanked her suitcase out of her closet, and packed everything she could fit into it.

  Ally dragged her suitcase out of her bedroom and left it in the hall outside her office where she packed her laptop and its accessories along with her e-reader and the cord that would charge both it and her cell phone that she’d found on her bathroom counter when she’d packed her toiletries.

  She took one last look around, making sure she had everything she wanted. Now, it was time to go do the same for Milly.

  She turned to the door, jumping when she saw Kalen standing there. “You know that was a dirty trick you played on me to try to get me to stay on the porch.”

  “What?”

  Kalen looked confused, but she knew it was nothing more than an act.

  “Don’t give me that I’m-innocent-and-don’t-have-a-clue-what-you’re-talking-about look, dammit. You know exactly what I mean. You thought telling me you love me would keep me on the porch.” She stuck her chin in the air, proud to know she figured out what he was up to before he came into her house and got himself shot and maybe killed.

  Based on what he’d told her about that doctor and his men, they wanted women to breed, not men. They had plenty of men volunteering to become super soldiers, from what she’d seen so far.

  Kalen moved closer, his expression difficult to read. “Keeping you on the porch would have been a good thing, yes.” He kept advancing until he stood right in front of her, looking down at her with those intense gray eyes that seemed to change color with his moods.

  “There’s something you should know about our people, sweetheart. Mother Nature chooses our mates, we do not. We also mate for life.” He
skimmed his hands up her arms to rest them on her shoulders. “Another thing Mother Nature does for us is make certain that we do not let our mates get away once we find them. We recognize them immediately and…” pausing, he bent toward her before adding, “…we fall in love with them very quickly.” He pressed a gentle kiss against her lips.

  Ally closed her eyes as warmth stole through her. For the first time today, the heat she felt in her face, throughout her body, wasn’t from embarrassment, but desire. Everything seemed to slow down. It felt as though time had somehow shifted to low gear. Her heart thudded in her chest. It should have felt as if it was racing. Instead, it felt as though her blood thickened in her veins and caused her heart to slow to a sluggish pace.

  Her stomach flip-flopped and her legs grew weak. Lightheaded, she swayed beneath his hands, and instead of letting her go, he moved closer, wrapped his arms around her and deepened their kiss.

  Kalen cupped her cheek, then tilted her head back and trailed his lips over her jaw to her ear. His lips and tongue burning a path to her ear then down her neck before he finally lifted his head to look deep into her eyes.

  “Remember this, Ally. I have never, in my life, uttered those words to another female, save my mother. Like it or not, you are my mate and we owe it to ourselves to find a way to get used to that fact.”

  Swallowing, Ally looked up at him and didn’t know what to say. Exactly how was a woman supposed to reply to such a declaration?

  Things had gotten so strange. Yesterday she had been living her life oblivious to all these strange…paranormal things, now she was a strange, paranormal thing. She wanted to laugh about it, cry or even scream about it.

  How many times had Ally wished that she had called in sick today and never walked into that room? If she had, she wouldn’t have been there when the doctor and his companion arrived.

  She looked at Kalen and realized that she never would have met him either. She wouldn’t have met a man who didn’t complain about her weight. Hell, he’d even carried her several miles and didn’t even run out of breath. Not to mention the fact that he thought he was in love with her and he was hot with a capital H. There was that.