Page 125 of Wanted

The scent of wolf’s bane grows stronger, as well. I alert Cheal of the potential danger of the plan nearby.

He nods before warning the rest of the pack.

Soon, though, we come to a clearing. This is where we find Emery’s parents and that son of a bitch Dr. Lee.

The unmistakable smell of burned flesh permeates the air. Dr. Lee stands beside a huge firepit, in one arm a stack of folders and papers. In the other, lighter fluid that he’s pouring into the pit.

Emery, stay back!I tell her.

She whimpers but comes to a stop beside me.

“Get away, you beasts!” her mother yells from behind Dr. Lee. Emery’s father is groaning in pain as he clings to her mother. The bite Emery gave him is nothing compared to what I plan on doing to him.

“Fuck you, animals!” Dr. Lee yells out as he glares at my pack surrounding him. “You’ve ruined everything.” Spit flies from his mouth as he yells and curses. He looks as animal-like as he’s accusing us of being.

I growl and bare my teeth.

“I had everything planned out!” he seethes, seemingly uncaring or unaware that he’s surrounded. He looks over at Emery’s parents. “All you had to do was control those fucking girls until I could finish what Rufus and I started.”

A whimpering sound comes from Emery’s throat as if asking him what he’s talking about.

“Your parents…yourrealparents never wanted to be wolves anymore or to belong to a pack. They wanted their freedom. Just like the rest of us lone wolves.

“Rufus and I were going to give it to them but then they grew a goddamn conscience! They went and told that fucking Alliance about our experiment, our desire for lone wolves to have a position among their fucking council!” he continues.

“They didn’t know Rufus was a part of our plot. That’s how he was able to kill them and make it look like an accident. Then trade you and your sister off to these humans to raise and run our tests on.

“That fucking wolf, Lupine, sent wolves to kill them for betraying their pack and other wolves. They tried to kill me too, but I hid. We came up here to New York, never to return to Florida, but we kept our experiments going. I designed those pills to prevent you wolves from shifting.

“And it worked! You never would’ve shifted if you only continued to take them. Especially you.” He points at Emery, making me growl and take a step toward him.

No, Emery tells me.Let him keep talking. He has to tell me where my sister is.

I don’t tear his neck apart only because my mate needs the son of a bitch alive for now.

“You could’ve had a normal life,” he says like he was presenting her with a gift. “We tried to save you from all of this.” He gestures toward the rest of my pack. They howl and snap their teeth at him threateningly.

Emery’s mother screams before burying her head in her husband’s neck. I decide right then that I’ll dispose of David Clarke quickly. But it’s her mother, the woman who emotionally tormented my mate for years, who I’ll make suffer.

The bitch who made Emery believe she was wrong, broken, or unsightly in her natural form. She won’t be spared my wrath once all is said and done.

“Your parents tried to give you everything. And what did you and that bitch sister of yours do? You went and threw it away!” he seethes as he tosses a lit match into the pit along with the folders tucked under his arm.

It immediately explodes into flames.

I push Emery back from the fire. Dr. Lee and her parents stand behind the fire, their heads only visible as the flames flicker about.

Emery yelps and snaps at Dr. Lee.

“You want to know where your sister is?” he asks.

This makes Emery step up, and a sound comes from her throat.

I move in front of her to keep myself between her and the flames and this crazy bastard.

Dr. Lee lets out a maniacal, crazed laugh.

“She’s in there!” He points to the fire. “She wasn’t strong enough to make it through her first shift. I threw her in here like the rest of every other wolf who defied me or tried to uncover my plans.”

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