Stolen and Forgiven (Branded Packs #1)(76)

They didn’t have the numbers, or the necessary weapons to win that battle.

“And now she’s free,” he said in soothing tones. “We live to fight another day.”

Jonah’s eyes flashed with the golden heat of his cat. “We need to teach them that we aren’t completely at their mercy.”

Holden allowed his gaze to skim the nearby area, making sure none of the wolves or tigers were close enough to overhear their conversation.

The two Alphas had taken special care not to be seen arguing in front of their Packs.

No matter what their disagreement.

“Are you talking war?” he demanded.

“No.” Jonah sent him a smile that did nothing to reassure him. “Just a small lesson.”

“Damn, you stubborn cat,” he muttered in low tones. “You’ll get us all killed.”

The smile never wavered. “I don’t intend to spill blood,” he promised Holden. “At least…not tonight.”

Holden scowled. Okay. He accepted that Jonah wasn’t intending to start slicing and dicing humans, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to cause trouble.

“Then what do you plan?”

The male reached beneath the leather jacket he was wearing to pull out a large manila envelope that was embossed with an official-looking emblem on the front. Jonah held it up as if it was the Holy Grail.

“So far, the SAU has managed to convince the public that we’re dangerous beasts that have to be locked up for their safety,” Jonah said.

Holden snorted. He had little love for the humans who’d so easily turned on them despite the fact that it was shifters who’d saved their damned lives.

“They were eager enough to believe the lies.”

Jonah gave a lift of one shoulder. “People always fear what they don’t understand. Especially when they’ve just witnessed a near genocide.”

Holden didn’t give a shit about what the humans had endured. All he needed to know was whether or not he needed to prepare his people for retaliation.

“Do you have a point?”

“It’s time they knew the truth,” Jonah said, giving a wave of the envelope.

“What is that?”

Jonah paused, waiting for a patrol of wolves to pass the rock and head for the thick circle of trees before he spoke.

“Files that were smuggled out of the CDC headquarters before it was burned to the ground.”

Holden felt a genuine stab of shock. Civilization had crumbled during the worst stages of the virus. There’d been looting, fighting in the streets, and outright anarchy that had included torching of most government buildings.

Which meant that any actual information gathered during the initial outbreak was as rare as gold.

“How did you get your hands on them?” he demanded.

A sly expression settled on the older man’s narrow face.

“I have connections with a few humans in leadership roles who aren’t completely happy with the SAU and how shifters are being treated,” he admitted.

Holden narrowed his gaze. The cunning cat.

“I knew it,” he muttered. Silently, he wondered what it would it take to get the names of the government contacts from the tiger.

An Alpha could never have too many friends in high places.

Clearly not ready to share, Jonah glanced at the envelope instead.

“They gave me these when it was obvious that we needed a way to keep the SAU from completely destroying us.”

“What’s in the files?”

“They trace the original outbreak of the Verona Virus to a human lab outside of Rome,” he said, a hint a triumph in his voice. “The defense contractor was attempting to create a weaponized form of the Ebola virus.”

“Shit.”

It was exactly what he’d always suspected. The virus would never have spread so swiftly, or been so potent, if it hadn’t been genetically engineered. Every attempt to halt it had been met with a mutation of the virus that would have wiped out the human race if the shifters hadn’t stepped forward and offered their far more potent blood to create a vaccine. The SAU, of course, had steadfastly refused to admit their guilt. Instead, they’d more or less implied that it was the shifters themselves that had been responsible for the outbreak.

To be able to show that the original virus had come from a human clinic…

That was a game-changer.

“You have proof?”

Jonah grimaced. “Nothing that the governments around the world won’t try to refute,” he admitted. “Nothing less than the actual scientists confessing to the truth will ever force them to reveal what truly happened.” He gave a wave the envelope. “But I have enough evidence to create questions among the press.”

Holden folded his arms over his chest, his brief flare of hope swiftly fading.

His opinion of the human press wasn’t much better than the politicians.

Scuttling bugs that pretended to shine the light of truth, but were, in fact, on the payroll of the highest bidder.

“We’ve tried to get them to listen to our side of the story before,” he growled. “They refused to believe what we had to say.”

“It has taken time for the world to recover from the chaos,” Jonah said.

“Meaning?”