Page 42 of These Deadly Dreams

The main entryway of Noah’s office is surprisingly nice. A pair of leather chairs sit in front of a gas fireplace with a low side table between them. The secretary’s desk sits along the far wall with a vase of fresh flowers that scent the air with their floral aroma. Cade motions us to a door to the left of the desk, and we file in. Noah’s desk takes up the majority of the room, with a couple of book shelves and a filing cabinet along the wall behind it.

“I’ll make sure everything is unlocked,” Cade says, heading to the desk. “Ellis and Kai, take the desk. Sterling, you can help me with the filing cabinet.”

With Cade’s magic unlocking everything, we get to work searching for what we came for. The first drawer is useless. We leaf through property titles and deeds for the pack lands, census paperwork, and criminal records. None of it is what we’re looking for. Cade closes the drawer and opens the second one. As if something possesses me, my fingers move on their own accord, rifling through files to stop on one particular folder. I pull it out and flip it open, eyes scanning the first page. The world blurs around me as the words register in my mind.

“Cade, can you unlock this lockbox?” Ellis’s question is a distant echo in my head.

My finger shakes as I drag it down the page, certain words jumping out at me and making my heart stop in my chest.

Project Bellona.

Experiments.

Powers.

Weapon.

And hidden in the midst of a list of names:

Ellis Kennedy.

Grace Kennedy.

“Cade,” I breathe, my voice trembling as much as the folder in my hand.

I sense him next to me, looking at the file. His breath leaves him in a harsh exhale. “What. The. Fuck.”

Kai’s stunned voice whispers against my mind as he says, “That’s it. Ellis, we found it.”

“Wait,” she says shakily. “What’s that?” Papers rustle, then she says, “There’s one for Gracie, too.”

“Okay,” Kai says. “We have what we need, let’s get out of here.”

I ignore them and keep flipping through the file in my hands. At this point, I’m not really seeing anything except Ellis’s name on the first page. It’s like it’s imprinted in my memory, a fear I never knew I had coming to fruition.

“Sterling, take as many pictures of those documents as you can. Quickly.” Cade keeps shuffling through the files in the cabinet, just in case there is anything else we need to find.

“What did you find?” Kai asks, coming to stand behind me.

I block Ellis as much as I can from what I’m doing, however I get the impression from her silence she’s either reading what she found or she’s in shock over what she found. “I’m not sure yet. We’ll have to go over it together.” My voice shakes a little, despite how I try to make it strong. The moment my fingers closed on that file, dread sluiced through me like a bucket of ice water had been pumped inside my veins. Nothing good will come of these documents.

The door to the office crashes open. I drop the file and jump up, heart pounding. Claws are already forming on my fingertips, and my teeth have sliced my tongue where they elongated so fast I didn’t have time to open my mouth. Kai and Cade have Ellis shoved behind them, and I grab her hand, ready to run or fight or something. But instead of a bunch of wolves I expected to find in the doorway, it’s just Drew, panting and wild eyed.

“They’re coming.” He hasn’t fully shifted. His feet end in talons and his arms still sport shiny black feathers. “About fifteen wolves, all headed in this direction. They’ll be here in minutes.”

“Fuck.” Kai grabs the papers from Ellis’s hands. He shoves them in his jacket pocket and grabs her hand, tugging her away from me and toward the office door.

I grab the file I dropped and quickly place it back in the cabinet and close the drawer before following Kai and Ellis. Cade stays behind, locking everything again and sweeping his magic through the room to wipe away our scents. I push past Ellis and Kai, and run through the front door as Drew points to the south. Letting my ears shift so I can hear better, I try to tune out the frantic rhythm of my heart pounding against my ribcage. When I gaze through the trees, I realize I didn’t even need to shift my ears. I can see them clearly, just fifty feet away, and I recognize the wolf leading the charge.

Alex, Noah’s nephew, is a massive gray wolf, and one whom I have a bad history with. Without thinking, my wolf surges to the surface, ready to fight. My scar tingles, and I itch to rub it. As the change starts taking over, I’m jerked backward by someone grabbing the scruff of my neck, halting the shift.

“Don’t even think about shifting,” Cade growls, pulling me away from the oncoming wolves. “Get in the fucking car.”

My wolf doesn’t want to listen. Instinct rides him, the need for revenge is greater than anything. Almost anything. A gust of wind blows Ellis’s scent my way, lavender and vanilla, and I’m able to push my wolf back enough to turn toward the car, and my mate. Her eyes meet mine over the hood before she climbs into the passenger seat. Worry and fear shine brightly, and she swallows, shoulders slumping as I make my way to the car.

I hop into the backseat, Cade following after another blast of his magic sweeps the area and erases our scent. It doesn’t matter though. Alex saw me. There’s no way he wouldn’t recognize me.

“Go, go, go!” Cade yells at the same time Kai steps on the gas.

---