Hunter's Heart (Alpha Pack #4)(70)

Though the man maintained his smile, it tightened noticeably. "The government, you say? Well, there was your first mistake."

"Now I'll bite. How so?"

August cocked his head, studying Ryon. "You're a shifter. Cat? Wolf?"

He saw no reason to lie. "Wolf."

"Made, not born."

"Yes." He exchanged a quick look of confusion with Daria. Where was this going?

"Since you're with an arm of the government, as you put it, I'll assume it's black ops. Am I correct in also assuming you were military before you were turned?"

"Navy SEAL," he admitted, a cold ball forming in his stomach. This man was getting at something very bad, and they were about to learn what. "So, what does any of that mean?"

"Ah, Ryon Hunter, you've been wondering that for years, haven't you?" August almost whispered, a clever light in his eyes.

A cold shock went through him. "How do you know my name? What are you trying to say?"

"Must I do all the work here? Connect the dots, boy. Haven't you and your fellow SEALs who were attacked in Afghanistan and turned six years ago wondered why?"

Ryon stared at the man, his heart pounding in dread.

August chuckled, stepping closer. "Why did you all survive, when so many others died? How is it that a group of human men, each with Psy powers unbeknownst to the others, ended up in the same unit? How did it happen that they were attacked that day, thousands of miles from home, and no one but the men with the Psy abilities survived the slaughter? At some point, each of your team must have wondered why, why, why."

Ryon groaned as the full import hit, and he nearly collapsed. "Mother of God. It's true. We were set up."

"Yes, young wolf. You were set up from the very beginning, down to the last man." Glancing at the computer they'd hacked, he shook his head. "You might be able to help my niece's hapless former fiance, but in the end it won't matter. Where do you think all of the information you've gone to so much trouble to obtain will go? In whose hands will it finally rest?"

"Someone high up," he said desperately. "Someone who'll stop you, maybe put you behind bars for the things you've done."

August studied him for a long moment. Then he spoke quietly. "Did your team honestly think that Malik and Bowman were the end of the line? That we could possibly have put in place an operation of such a large scale without someone high up, as you say, calling the shots?"

"No," Ryon whispered. "I won't believe it."

"Believe what you will. Malik had his own agenda and his own God complex. But the truth is, the tentacles of this thing go all the way to the top. To the f**king Oval Office. Are you following me, boy? It's not one person, but several in key positions of power in the United States government."

Ryon gripped the edge of the desk, sweat dripping onto the surface. Horror consumed him, robbed his speech.

August nodded. "Everything was planned. Your team pulled together beautifully, and afterward we focused our research on other areas, such as how to create an even stronger, more lethal shifter. A legion of super-soldiers. Until things began to go wrong."

"You mean until the Alpha Pack turned on its creator, and began to dismantle the project."

Nick! Nick, did you know? Please, tell me you didn't. The commander remained silent.

"Exactly. Thanks to someone of power who's helping the Pack, guiding them from afar." As though suddenly remembering the gun in his hand, he leveled it at them more squarely. "And you're going to tell me who it is, or I'll kill you both."

August doesn't know. He has no idea General Jarrod Grant is our ally.

"I don't f**king think so, you sonofabitch!"

Moving fast, he launched himself at August.

The deafening blast of the gunshot, and Daria's terrified scream, tore into Ryon as he fell.

Chapter Fourteen

Ryon yelled, throwing himself at August, and all hell broke loose.

A gunshot blasted the air, and the two men crashed to the floor, grappling for the weapon. They rolled, and Ryon landed a punch to August's jaw with his free hand. Daria bent and snatched the SIG off the floor, hoping to get a shot at August.

"Daria, go! There's no time!" Ryon shouted.

She hesitated, but knew he was right. A crash sounded somewhere in the house, followed by pounding feet. If she distracted him by not following his order, he'd lose focus on the fight and they would both die for nothing. She hated leaving the pack with their supplies, but they had no choice now. Speed was everything, and all they had to do now was make the rendezvous point. Praying Ryon would follow, she turned, released her wolf and shifted, and dove headfirst through the plate-glass window.

Daria's first thought was that that stunt always looked so easy in the movies. Her second, that she'd probably scalped her hide on the glass even through her thick fur. She rolled to her feet, shaking off her clothes and the shards of glass that rained like confetti, and hit the ground running as though the hounds of hell were on her heels.

Shouts. Curses. Rapid-fire gunshots.

The security floodlights bathed the compound, bright as daytime. Any second she expected a bullet to plow into her back and end her life. Or Ryon's. God, where was he?

Two men were closing in fast on her right, shouting, "Stop!"