Brandi: Nano Wolves 2

Chapter 4

4

When Brandi woke, she was strapped to a medical gurney. Déjà vu washed over her, making her feel stupid and inept. The one consolation was her clothes were still on this time.

Looking around the room, she saw sinks, IV stands, and extensive lighting mounted on movable fixtures. Science had never been her favorite subject in school, but everything she was seeing pointed to the fact she was in another freaking lab.

“s**t, ” she swore, staring at the ceiling and feeling like six kinds of a fool.

She was going to kill Travis Black Wolf’s betraying werewolf a*s, maybe even before she found out what the hell he had really been doing in Lane’s office. She didn’t for one minute believe he was just another agent like her.

She wiggled her wrists and found them bound securely. Squirming, she felt pain where Travis had stabbed her with a giant hypodermic needle full of knock-out juice.

When the door opened, she turned her head to glare at the person who entered. Her wolf strained inside her, wanting to attack. Brandi snorted and tested the restraints on her wrists again. They were canvass and strong, but not nearly as strong as she was now. A tall, thin man wearing glasses and a falsely apologetic expression approached the bed. She could practically hear him rehearsing his lines before he spoke.

“Hello, Agent Jenkins. I’m Dr. Santiago. I’ll be doing the research on your hybrid conversion experience. It would save us a lot of trouble, and you a lot of drugs, if you decide to cooperate with our investigation. I apologize for our rather unorthodox methods of recruitment. We weren’t sure you would go along with an official transfer. Your previous handler has reluctantly, but finally, agreed to release your contract to us.”

Brandi snorted and looked at the ceiling. “You must be smoking something really good to think that makes any sense to me at all. Being drugged, apprehended, and strapped to a gurney for scientific examination does not qualify as a work transfer. You’ve merely made me your prisoner, Dr. Santiago. I don’t intend to be one for long.”

She saw him hug the computer tablet to his chest and ponder her like a strange bug he’d pinned to a display board in biology class. Dr. Santiago was just another version of Crazy Crane. Fortunately, he was also human and easily killed, whether she used her wolf or not. Her gaze narrowed on his throat as she contemplated ripping it out. Her wolf danced inside her, ready to help. Brandi decided she just might let her.

“Most come to us with some reservations about working for our department, but I’m afraid you have no choice, Agent Jenkins. Your physiological changes preclude your agent service being conducted elsewhere.”

Brandi smiled. It made her examiner visibly nervous just like she hoped. “Okay. Since I’m strapped down and you’re not, I guess you have a point. What do I get if I agree to become your test subject?”

Santiago sighed. “You’re not my test subject and I am not Randall Crane, Agent Jenkins. I have no wish to make more of you. I just want to see what he’s done in your transmutation and figure out how to counteract it.”

Brandi snorted. “Who are you trying to bullshit, Doctor? If you’re successful in reversing what happened to me, wouldn’t you automatically learn how to create more?” She watched him shrug at her conclusion. His smirk combined with his non-answer made her furious. Angry heat spread through her.

One minute Santiago was looming over her. She heard him call out just before his tablet tumbled to the concrete floor. She landed on top of him in wolf form with all four paws pressed into his chest. She growled low and bared her teeth to his wide, frightened gaze. The smell of his urine suddenly filled the air. His complete terror didn’t satisfy her or her wolf enough, but she knew smelling his blood would. She opened her mouth and bared her teeth again, preparing to close them around his neck.

When the door opened a second time, complete shock instantly robbed her of her blood l**t. Morphing back to human form, Brandi never even felt the familiar pain of changing. The buzz of nanos working under her skin went mostly unnoticed as she stared in shock.

“Gareth? What in hell are you doing here?”

Gareth rubbed a hand over his jaw as his gaze took in the dangling straps Brandi had broken when she’d shifted. “Would you believe I came to rescue you?”

Brandi snorted and fisted her hands. “You’re too late. I found out my handler was the one who sent me to Feldspar, only it was to investigate Crane—not the wolves. The dipshit who just pissed himself here intends to change me back. I was about to make sure he doesn’t get the chance to practice his mad scientist skills on me.”

Gareth rubbed a hand over his head. “I see that… but you can’t kill him, Brandi. He works here.”

“I won’t be loud. I can do it quietly with my bare hands and no one will know. I don’t need my wolf to end his miserable, needle-probing, dissecting ass.”

“I know. Sound carrying is not the reason you can’t kill him. Dr. Santiago a scientist… and he works for our side.”

Gareth walked into the room cautiously and closed the door. He could smell the adrenaline still pumping through her. He could also smell her happiness to see him. What a mess. What a f*****g mess.

Reaching down, he extended a hand to the man on the floor and helped him up.

“She… she… surprised me,” Dr. Santiago stated.

Gareth nodded as Santiago positioned himself behind him for protection. “I know. She wants to kill you and is trained to do it in more ways than you’re used to dealing with, Doctor. I suggest you wait until you have Agent Jenkin’s full cooperation before doing any testing. It takes her a while to come around to new thinking.”

“Very well, Agent Longfeather. I’ll just leave you to your… debriefing… of our new recruit while I go change. Good to see you again. Hope you’re enjoying your retirement.”

Gareth nodded as the doctor hustled around him and out the door. When his gaze returned to Brandi’s, her arms were crossed and her eyes were on fire. Santiago had unknowingly revealed all the secrets he’d been hiding from Brandi in his comments. The error he’d made in waiting was now glaringly obvious.

“Holy hell. You’re in on this s**t too. If I had my g*n on me, I swear I would shoot you without giving it a second thought.” Brandi ran a hand over her head as she glared. “Between Lane, Travis, and now you, I’ve had about all the damn back stabbing I can take. Is Matt an agent too?”

Gareth shook his head. “No. No others from our pack. Just me. I didn’t know Travis was an agent until the day you left. When I called in, I was told he had offered to help induct you. I was told to stand down and let it happen as planned.”

Brandi snorted. “Induct me into what exactly? Does our government have some kind of secret society that collects the misfit creations of its power mad scientists?”

She studied Gareth’s guilty expression while mentally gauging what it would take to get around him and out the door. She had no idea what waited beyond it, but she was not going down easily again. In fact, if she could help it, she was not going down again at all.

Brandi watched a somber Gareth nod and frown.

“Our department is a monitoring service for human hybrids of any kind. Each newly discovered hybrid is researched and studied so a strategy can be developed to handle them in case they go rogue. There are many other hybrids like you, including those whose experimental situations didn’t turn out as well. They’re all in the database of this organization. Hybrids are chipped so they can be tracked if they escape.”

“Chipped? You mean I’m chipped… like a f*****g vet clinic does to a dog or cat?” Brandi shook her head and groaned. “I swear my taste in men gets worse every year. We slept together for two months, Gareth. I even told you the truth about what I did for a living. Do you know many people I ever disclose my life to? None, Gareth. None. Because the only man I ever told before you used the information to try and have me killed.”

Gareth sighed. “I know. You told me. I wish now I had told you about this, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I knew it was going to be like this when you found out. I guess I was being a coward, selfishly wanting to keep you to myself. I’m sorry, Brandi. I should have warned you… or something.”

“Or something? Lane sent me to Crazy Crane and delivered me up as a test subject. You let me come back here knowing damn well I would be collected as a lab rat the moment I arrived. And now, thanks to you—and f*****g Travis—these crazy s**t scientists already know all there is to know about me. I bet you guys told them about Ariel and Heidi too. Have I got everything about right, Agent Longfeather?”

Gareth rubbed his jaw. “I didn’t know the part about your handler setting you up, but that doesn’t surprise me. That’s how most agents get involved in hybridization experiments. Only a few have volunteered.”

Brandi turned, grabbed an IV stand, and deftly swung it in Gareth’s direction. He ducked of course, but she had anticipated his block, and his defensive reactions. When he dove at her to wrestle the IV stand from her grasp, she quickly released it to his hold. Catching him off-guard, she grabbed his free arm and twisted it behind him until she had enough leverage to put Gareth on the floor. The IV stand clanged on the concrete as it fell from his grasp and rolled away from their bodies.

If Gareth had changed into his wolf during any part of their struggle, it might have been a different fight altogether. She figured regret was making him careless. She wasn’t going to let it do the same to her.

“Pay attention here, Gareth. This is how agents break up with each other.”

She raised his head and sharply slammed it back down on the concrete floor of the lab. Gareth’s sudden stillness beneath her knee was her safe signal to climb off his back and move quietly to the door. She opened it, peeked out, and saw two tall, blond men talking to Travis across the room. With all the noise her tussle with Gareth had caused, she had to believe the room was soundproofed. Whoever was running this place obviously didn’t want other employees hearing the screams of their unwilling test subjects.

She rubbed the spot on her a*s where Travis had shoved the needle as she glared at him through the c***k. Thank God she never shared Ariel’s conscience about taking out Reed’s family members. If she ever got the traitorous werewolf alone again, she was going to take Travis out once and for all. Reed had plenty of children and grandchildren. One less clone of him wouldn’t harm the Black Wolf gene pool. Plus, Reed would probably kill Travis himself if he knew he was putting his whole pack at risk.

She glanced back at Gareth still face down on the floor. A trickle of blood seeped out from under his forehead. She was still too mad at him to regret her actions in taking him down, but something unfamiliar was tugging at her heart.

Shaking her head over her uncustomary compassion, she grabbed a handful of gauze from some sort of nearby prep tray and knelt to slide it under his forehead. No doubt Gareth would heal and come after her eventually. Hopefully by then she would have gotten away without leaving a trail.

Standing once more, she pondered how best to handle the situation. She felt around on her body for tender spots that might be hiding a tracking chip. Gareth hadn’t confirmed the presence of one in her, but he had heavily insinuated it. Had that been done before she’d gone to Alaska? If so, why hadn’t Lane known where she was? Or had he?

Rubbing her face in misery with each downward spiraling thought, Brandi decided waiting around was no way to constructively handle this. Walking to the door again, she opened it just wide enough to peek out. The two blond guys were still there, but Travis was now nowhere to be found. Telling herself it was a good thing, she shook her head and pondered how to play her escape.

Decision finally made, Brandi finger-combed her hair back into its normal shaggy chaos and walked out of the lab room confidently, heading straight for the two blond guys. Smiling, she waved as she got closer. “Hi. I’m Agent Brandi Jenkins—newest recruit—I guess. Where did Travis go? I wanted to talk to him.” She sniffed the air. “What are you guys?”

“We are very handsome… and my name is Fallon… just Fallon. This is Lars… my partner. He is less handsome, but passably good-looking if you like his type. He is lucky I have bad vision.”

Brandi laughed at the guy’s teasing, but it wasn’t really a joke. Fallon was incredibly handsome… but then so was Lars. They were both quite striking… and Nordic sounding.

“You are Gareth’s woman… his new mate?” Lars asked.

Though usually in perfect control of her reactions, especially while trying to escape captivity of any sort, Brandi couldn’t prevent her mouth from dropping open at his query.

“Mate? Are kidding me? Gareth is good in bed, but he’s also a lying bastard. So no… we’re not mates. Right now, we’re not even friends.”

Fallon chuckled before he turned to Lars. “He didn’t tell her about this. Now she is mad. He is still silent and strong… and just as stupid as ever.”

When Lars huffed indignantly, it made her chuckle at the dynamic between them… before she caught herself.

“If I were her, I would be mad too,” Lars declared. “Did you hurt him when you fought just now?”

Brandi bit her lip. Damn. An open fight with these two did not mesh with her need to get away. “I don’t think so. Gareth’s head is too hard.”

Fallon burst out laughing. “I like you already. The mighty Gareth… felled by a female. This I must see happen sometime.”

“Does Gareth need medical attention?” Lars asked.

Brandi reached out and patted his arm. “You are a very good man, Lars.”

“No. Do not tell him that,” Fallon protested. “He has the big head already.”

Laughing, Brandi took a step back. “So… are you two going to let me go?”

“Depends. Are you going after Travis? He said he was returning home and Alaska is very far away. You would make it a very expensive chase if we had to collect you from there.”

Brandi shook her head and sighed. “Then I guess I’m not going back to Alaska just yet. It’s tempting to go kill Travis Black Wolf’s betraying a*s, but I suppose it can keep until next time. But I do need some time alone to think about what kind of s**t pile I’ve landed in here.”

“I hear much anger between your words. Your friends in Alaska… they are quite safe. You keep them that way by willingly being here,” Lars declared quietly.

Brandi blew out a breath, not happy with the advice, but she felt the truth of it in her gut. “Did you guys get the same deal from the people in charge?”

Fallon and Lars exchanged long looks before they both shook their heads.

“Not exactly. We are special… two of a kind,” Fallon declared.

Brandi snickered at Fallon’s bragging. “Well, I made creepy Dr. Santiago piss himself a few minutes ago. How much trouble am I going to be in for it? He announced he was going to reverse engineer me and my animal side didn’t react well to the news.”

Fallon snickered then covered his mouth with a hand to laugh. Lars smacked his arm. Brandi grinned. Friendships formed quickly and lightly had always suited her well. She was glad to find such friendships here because she’d surely made some whopping mistakes trusting people in Alaska.

Fallon shrugged as he spoke. “Santiago is a little fish scientist. You need to see the big fish. I don’t know how he will feel about your intimidation methods.”

Brandi lifted her hand. “Fine. Let’s get the introduction over with and see what he says. Point me in his general direction.”

She saw Lars shaking his head. “What?”

“You might want to give that some thought first. His name is Sheldon Crane—as in slightly better scientist brother of Randall Crane. I believe you have already had the pleasure of Randall Crane’s acquaintance.”

“Brother? Well, f**k me for being a complete i***t,” Brandi exclaimed in anger, running both hands through her hair as she groaned in disbelief. She had only been in Virginia a matter of hours, but she already knew who had most likely been funding the man who experimented on her. It had been her own damn government—the government she’d served most of her life already. Could she have been anymore blind?

Fallon gave her a wicked smile. “Unfortunately, I cannot accept the lovely offer of enjoying your body. You are very attractive, but you smell too much like Gareth.”

“You would cheat on me with a wolf woman?”

Lars landed a hard punch on Fallon’s shoulder which had Brandi reluctantly chuckling again, despite her shock.

“Hopefully Gareth’s stink will wear off after a while,” she declared.

Lars snorted. “Why bother trying to remove it? Gareth will just put it back. He only came back for you. After what happened to his last mate…”

Brandi saw Lars wince when Fallon punched him—and hard.

“Paska! I was not going to tell her all the man’s secrets, Fallon.”

Brandi looked between the two of them, wondering what Fallon had stopped Lars from revealing.

Not that it mattered.

What mattered was keeping Ariel and Heidi safe until she could figure out how to deal with what was going on. These two acted blasé about her staying, but their unsteady heartbeats told her it was best not to run. She imagined they wouldn’t hesitate to do what was necessary to retain her when they felt the urge.

“It’s okay, Lars. Gareth’s past is none of my business. But I guess I need to go wake him up if I’m staying.”

“We’ll help you. I can carry him. I’ve done it many times before,” Fallon declared.

Following her instincts to gain all the sympathy she could, Brandi nodded as the three of them headed reluctantly back to the lab room. With nowhere else to go in Alexandria, she was going to need all the allies she could get where she was. Lying, traitorous, bastard ones would have to be included.

“Guys… I have an apartment… s**t. Or at least I did. Can Gareth and I get a lift there to see if my key still works for it? I need time to sort this out.”

“You are taking Gareth home with you instead of to his hotel?”

When Lars looked surprised at her seemingly abrupt change of mind, it made her laugh. “Yes. I’m just going to put Gareth to bed, see that he heals, and then make him help me tomorrow. Trust me… what we had in Alaska is over now… completely over after he lied to me.”

“But what if it is not over for Gareth?” Lars asked.

“Trying to change my mind would not be wise unless he has a death wish. I do not forgive betrayals.” She heard Fallon chuckling and turned to face him. “I’m not joking, Fallon.”

“Of course not. You are a dangerous lover. I can respect that,” Fallon declared with a smile.

Brandi smiled back at the flattery, appreciating Fallon’s observation, even though the words were offered with a good deal of sarcasm. “Yes. I suppose I am a dangerous lover. But I’m also a great friend.”

“Good. We need more of those, even if they are wolves,” Lars declared.

“Hey—I like being a wolf. It’s better than being a… being a… ” Brandi sniffed as they opened the lab room door. “You’re some sort of exotic cat.”

Lars laughed. “So our noses mean we have no secrets from each other, eh? I like this idea. Tell us… is Gareth a wild man in bed? Fallon and I have often wondered.”

“Gareth? A wild man?” Brandi burst out laughing. “No. Gareth’s just proficient. He gets the job done. Better than some men at least.”

Fallon and Lars both chuckled at her less than sterling summary of Gareth’s bedroom talents as they lifted the still unconscious man from the floor. They positioned him over Fallon’s shoulder. Then out they all trekked out again, heading down the long hall to an elevator. Brandi assumed it would take them to a parking garage.

A familiar figure in a white coat walked towards them. When he passed by, Brandi growled low in her throat. She had to fight the urge to howl and break his ear drums when Dr. Santiago flinched and jumped in alarm. The tablet he clutched flew from his grip and went skittering down the hallway floor. The nervous doctor scrambled after it. She snorted at his fright and grinned as they walked on through what turned out to be a mostly empty building.

As they stepped into the elevator, Fallon and Lars were speculating about whether or not the man would have to go change clothes again.

Brandi told herself she shouldn’t feel so proud.