Stolen and Forgiven (Branded Packs #1)(43)

Running a satisfied hand over the leather seat he’d ordered just minutes after learning his predecessor had had his throat ripped out by the Alpha of the River Pack, Frank was interrupted when the door was rudely shoved open.

“Director Markham,” he forced himself to murmur as the large man with short, iron-gray hair attired in a crisp blue suit strolled into the office.

Frank stiffened as the head of the Denver division of the SAU studied him with a mocking smile. Unlike him, Markham had risen through the ranks of the military before becoming a part of the secret organization.

A trained monkey in a suit, Frank silently told himself.

He, on the other hand, had graduated top of his class from Harvard Medical School, and had been one of the most promising researchers in the field of virology until he’d been fired for using the homeless as his test subjects. Ridiculous laws.

Thankfully, the fact that the Verona Virus had nearly wiped out humanity had prevented him from being tossed into jail. Instead, he’d been transferred from his prestigious position to this shadowy agency that wasn’t nearly so concerned with pesky details like morals and ethics.

“Talbot,” the older man drawled.

Frank narrowed his eyes. “Doctor.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s Dr. Talbot.”

The Director snorted, glancing around the paneled walls that were now decorated with Frank’s framed diplomas and a picture of his mother who’d died during the Verona outbreak.

“I see you’ve made yourself at home.”

Frank shrugged. The dead doctor had been an idiot. Frank was far more deserving of the position as head of research. Why pretend otherwise?

“There didn’t seem any point in allowing a perfectly good office to sit empty,” he said.

“The previous owner is barely cold in his grave.”

Frank shrugged, increasingly annoyed by the interruption. Didn’t Markham have better things to do than worry about proper etiquette for taking over for a colleague who’d recently had his throat ripped out?

“We all mourn in our own way,” Frank snapped.

The Director held up a beefy hand. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch, doc. I prefer a man who sets his sights on the finish line and refuses to let anyone or anything stand in his way.”

“Then we should work well together.”

“Time will tell.” Markham folded his arms over his chest, his square face hardening as he got down to business. “What are your plans now that you’ve claimed the position of head researcher?”

Frank smoothed his hands down the white lab jacket that he wore over his pale blue shirt and black slacks.

“It’s obvious that we need to discover more about the process of mutating a human into a shifter.”

The older man nodded. Since the wolf traitor had revealed that a shifter didn’t have to be born, but could actually be created by the bite of an Alpha or a true mate, the SAU had been foaming at the mouth to see if they could discover the exact details of how it worked.

They claimed it was merely to better understand the enemy. Frank, however, knew that wasn’t the entire truth. The Board of Directors had every intention of trying to create their own shifters that they could control.

“Easier said than done,” Markham muttered.

“True,” Frank agreed. “The best-case scenario would be to bring the Alphas to the lab, where I could have the shifters—as well as the humans—hooked up to my equipment so I could scientifically monitor each step of the process.”

“Impossible.” The Director gave a firm shake of his head. “After the previous doctor’s bungled attempt to get his hands on the wolf’s human mate, the Packs are on edge. If we try to take their leaders, they’ll explode into a full-out riot.” Markham grimaced. “The SAU can’t afford that sort of unwanted attention. Not now.”

Frank hid a smile. The SAU liked to pretend that they were a powerful force in the government, but the truth was, there were many members of the Congress and a few judges on the Supreme Court who thought they were going too far in containing the shifters. And there had been more than one attempt to close them down.

If they knew what truly happened behind the fences…

Well, it would be a sad day for Markham and his cronies.

“Fine,” Frank said. “Then we need to encourage one of the Alphas to willingly participate in our experiments.”

Markham widened his eyes before he released a sharp laugh. “Yeah, right. And why don’t you teach him how to shit gold while you’re at it?”

Frank wasn’t amused. “It’s all a matter of leverage.”

“Leverage?”

“They have something we want, so we must discover something they want.”

The older man continued to study him with barely concealed disdain. “There’s nothing that would force them to teach us how they create shifters.”

Leaning to the side, Frank grabbed a file off his desk, holding it toward his companion.

“She would.”

Taking the folder, Markham flipped it open, his heavy brow wrinkled as he studied the picture inside.

“Why does she look so familiar?”

“Cora Wilder,” Frank said in smooth tones. “From all reports, the Alpha of the Golden Pack adores his only daughter. Which means he would do anything to protect her.” He deliberately paused. “Anything.”