They’d learn soon enough.
The first explosion rocked the ground beneath them, but they didn’t stagger. They’d been expecting it, after all. All of the wolves were a safe distance away. Kameron and his people were fast and efficient—they wouldn’t be working with the Enforcer if they weren’t.
“No,” she answered as flames escaped the windows and the structure collapsed in on itself. “No, I think it’s only the beginning.”
What came next was a mystery, but Charlotte prayed they were strong enough to face it.
COLLECTION
General Montag watched the monitors as his original compound burned to ash. He fisted his hands at his sides and cursed.
Damn wolves.
They’d found his research and had destroyed it. He hadn’t had time to grab everything on his way out. He might have tried to keep the computer on him as well as a vial or two, but he hadn’t been able to ensure its safety. He’d had meetings in Washington, and couldn’t have ensured the security it would take to keep his secrets hidden. Senator McMaster was already too suspicious of everything he was doing, even if the other man was supposedly on his side.
He’d never had cameras inside the building where he’d kept his plans, as he hadn’t wanted his face on anything that would incriminate him. However, he’d had a few placed outside the compound for an extra layer of security. He was glad he had because the men he’d hired had been useless. When he’d found out just how useless, he’d had them silenced permanently. There were no second chances when it came to a future of his making.
Montag paused the screen and looked at the image there. He’d thought Bruins dead, but he’d been wrong. The man was alive and working with the wolves. If anything, he seemed stronger, more alert.
The serum had worked.
Montag gripped the edge of his desk. And because of his need for secrecy, he’d lost everything it had taken to make the formula.
He touched the screen, his fingertip tracing Shane’s face. Not everything. The formula lay within the ex-soldier’s veins. Now that he knew Shane was alive, he’d find him and take him. There was no other option with so much on the line.
Montag’s attention turned to the dark-haired woman at Shane’s side and the other man in the frame. These two had worked with Shane and leaned toward him in other images. That fact might be useful later. Just what hedonistic things was Shane up to in the animal den?
As he clenched his jaw, Montag started working on a new plan. If Shane was alive and indeed a wolf, that meant he needed to be in the right hands. Not those of an animal who thought itself a leader. They called themselves Packs and howled at the moon like the dirty dogs they were. He didn’t care for what they turned into, but he did care what their strength could do for him.
He would be invincible with an army of wolves that only knew him as their leader.
There would be no more loss of human life, no more endless wars where he had the possibility of losing.
He would be their savior.
People would remember his name, his duty, his purpose.
He would be immortal.
And he only needed Shane Bruins to do it.
Chapter Eight
Things had been easier when he’d only been in love with his best friend. At least then, he only had one thing to worry about. Now it seemed as if the entire world had thrown him for a loop, and he wasn’t sure he’d find his footing again.
Someone slammed into his side, and he fell on his ass. He growled and tried to get back on his feet—much like he was already trying to do mentally—and hit the ground again when Kameron pushed him down.
“I’ll still always win,” Kameron said. The man grinned as he said it, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Bram could never quite figure out this wolf, but he supposed it wasn’t his place to do so. He wasn’t even a Talon member.
Bram flipped the Enforcer off before pushing back, using a little more force than usual, but not enough to draw attention to him. Kameron’s eyes narrowed as he found himself on his back with Bram standing over him. Bram just shrugged and went back to the game.
Even though they were still on high alert since they’d taken out Montag’s buildings, the wolves needed to do something to relieve the tension. Those with mates could at least work out the rising anxiety the old-fashioned way. Those without mates either found a willing body they could at least have a physical relationship with without being mates, or did what Bram was doing.