Savage Awakening (Alpha Pack #2)(9)

"In layman's terms?"

"They're trying to create super-shifters with Psy abilities, and they hope to mass-produce them like an automobile factory would produce cars. If they succeed, humanity as we know it is history." He scowled. "Chappell is murdering people in the process, too. You can bet his reasons have nothing to do with bettering this country or saving lives, but involve his own power and greed."

Rowan gaped at him, trying to assimilate this new information. The seconds ticked by as the man watched her. "And how is that different from what you're doing here? Because from where I sit, I've been lied to and cheated out of the only family I have left. How do I know you haven't turned the story completely around, that you're not the bad guys?"

"That's a fair question. But let me ask you this-why would we have greeted you as shifters instead of humans when we could've kept that part of us a secret? We could have met you with a show of force, turned you away, and you never would've found out about us or what's going on with Micah."

"But you didn't make me leave, and you all showed me one of your secrets."

"Exactly."

And they hadn't harmed her in any way. They'd shown her their collective underbelly, so to speak, and hadn't attacked. All at once it hit her. "You wanted to gain my trust. To show me you're the good guys."

He smiled. "Well, I don't know about good. But as my men are fond of saying, we're not the guys you have to worry about."

Okay, that seemed logical. But none of it was very comforting.

Suddenly she was so damned tired. Her mind couldn't handle any more. "This is all so messed up," she muttered, shoving a strand of hair out of her face.

Dark humor colored his reply. "No argument there."

"So what does your Alpha Pack team do?"

"We're enforcers of a sort. We take care of paranormal problems that pop up all over the world."

She couldn't help it-a laugh escaped that was absent of humor and a lot on edge. "Pop up? Like the measles? What are we talking here, ghosties and ghoulies?"

"Yes. And much worse."

The man said that with a straight face, too. "Okay, I'll bite. Like what?"

"Vampires, rogue shifters of all kinds, witches, demons. You name it. If some being in the paranormal community is wreaking havoc, we get called out to either capture it or eliminate it. Some of them we bring here to undergo rehabilitation. You'll meet the rest of our residents soon enough." He shrugged, as though dealing with these creatures was an everyday occurrence.

"And I suppose you can prove everything you're telling me?"

"I can, though I can sense you're already starting to believe me whether you want to or not."

"I still want solid proof." She noted he didn't seem concerned by this, which meant one of two things: he knew she wouldn't be here long enough for it to be an issue, or he really could produce the evidence she wanted. Either way was troubling. "What about you? You said that you've only known these guys for a few months, so how did you become a wolf? Were you attacked, too?"

"No. I was born a shifter."

Another surprise, which she couldn't keep off her face. "That's... neat. Was your family-"

"My family is not up for discussion," he said coolly.

Whoa, the drop in temperature could've given her frostbite. Message received. "Hey, my bad. You can't blame me for being curious after hearing all of this. No hard feelings?"

The man relaxed some, and nodded. "Not at all."

She hesitated. "Assuming I can ever, in a zillion years, swallow that you guys battle mythical creatures, why enlighten me? Why not just tell me Micah is dead and send me on my way?"

"I could have," he acknowledged. "But you'd already learned of our compound and I saw right away you're not the type of person to be put off once you're on the hunt. We're similar that way, you and I."

"True enough."

"Besides, your journey led you here for another reason besides finding your brother. One every bit as important."

"What- Oh. More psychic stuff, huh?"

"PreCog, and yes."

"Whatever." She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Barely. But she couldn't help but be curious about his mysterious claim. "What other reason would there be?"

He looked uncomfortable for a second, then shook his head. "Can't tell you that. As a rule, I try not to influence others' life decisions, which means I don't interfere with free will."

"Well, thanks, Great and Powerful Oz," she deadpanned. "That's real helpful. Now what?"

"We have a new lead," he revealed, studying her intently. "One that might take us to Micah and another of our teammates, Aric Savage, who was captured by this same group a few weeks ago during an op gone bad."

"That's the best news I've heard all year-the part about the lead, not the screwup." A thrill of excitement fired her cop's blood. "So, what's the plan? When do we leave?"

"The plan is, Alpha Pack is going in to hopefully capture as many of the organization as possible, and rescue our men along with anyone else being held. You are staying here."