Page 10 of Redeemed Wolf

“My name’s Mike, and this is my bar. You’re welcome anytime. Your first drink’s on the house.” He passed me a glass mug of beer, and I could smell the earthy herbal hint of wolfsbane under the hops.

My smile turned appreciative, and I raised the glass in a toast. “Much obliged.”

Halfway through my third drink, things had started to turn liquid around the edges. It was nice to relax for the first time all week, but I reminded myself to be mindful of what I said.

I wasn’t the only one feeling a little loose. I’d lost count of how many drinks had been consumed around the table, and while it seemed like Greg could hold his liquor, the other two were lightweights.

Felix had started to slide low on the bench, and Melissa leaned her head on my shoulder, sighing. “So… I might’ve applied for some other jobs.”

“What?” Greg choked on his sip of beer and smacked his glass down on the table.

Felix let out a long whine. “Noooo, you can’t leave us.”

Melissa shook her head slowly, lolling back and forth. “I have to. I can’t do it anymore.”

“Why not?” I asked, my focus sharpening. “The pay seems pretty good to me.”

“You don’t know,” she slurred, and her eyes slipped closed. “I’ve seen things, heard things… They’re not good people.”

“Mel,” Greg barked, and Melissa gasped sharply, dragging herself up to sitting.

She blinked a few times as if just realizing where she was. “I’m drunk,” she finally said, as if that were explanation enough. Then she nudged me to slide out of the way. “Move, I gotta pee.”

“What did she mean?” I asked once she’d disappeared down the hall to the bathrooms. “What has she seen?”

“Nothing,” Greg said, leveling me with a hard look. “None of us have seen or heard anything. Got it?”

“Yeah. I got it,” I said without hesitation.

I knew exactly what these people were capable of.

Chapter 5

Silas

If I’d thought thefirst week had been boring, things were about to get worse. I’d been moved from my station with Melissa to the main desk, and silly me, I thought that would be more exciting somehow. But now, I didn’t have anyone to talk to. Just when I thought I could needle some more information out of her about what she’d seen. I didn’t even get to stretch my legs every 15 minutes anymore. All I did was sit in front of a bank of computer monitors, watching security feeds. Occasionally I would check employee ID badges as people arrived for work, but every time I tried to engage in conversation, I got little more than a suspicious glare before they disappeared down the hall.

I wonder if they’re going through that secure door…

When a delivery driver had me sign for a package, I took a risk and gave the box a little shake to see if I could figure out what was inside it, but it must’ve been packed tight because it didn’t even rattle. There was a biohazard sticker on it, so I didn’t really want to handle it, but I figured the driver hadn’t even beenwearing gloves, so it was probably sealed inside, whatever it was. It wasn’t heavy, and there was a faint chemical scent coming off it, like formaldehyde. Tissue samples maybe? I hated to imagine where they might’ve come from—or from whom?

The possibilities crawled under my skin and refused to leave.

Run, my wolf prodded irritably. He’d been getting stir-crazy trapped inside me.

I growled under my breath.I already told you, we can’t go for a run, I explained to him again.They’re watching us, and we don’t want to give them any reason to lock us up and run experiments on us. They might cut us open to see what makes us tick.

My wolf settled down at the imagery I conjured, of us cut open, flaps of flesh pinned wide, flayed and gutted. He didn’t like the position we were in, but at least he understood it. He was just as bloodthirsty as I was to take these monsters down—for good.

Even though my wolf remained silent for the rest of the morning, I could feel him pacing the recesses of my mind. It made my own limbs itch to move, and that was probably why, when my lunch break rolled around, I found myself walking the halls instead of sitting in the breakroom, drinking murky coffee out of a Styrofoam cup.

There was no sign of all those people I’d signed in this morning, so I allowed my hunch to carry me toward that specific locked door. I needed to find a way through there. I was no hacker. I didn’t have a code, a card, or the right retina to scan, so I had to work with what I got.

Right as I rounded the last corner, the door was swinging open, and in that faint whiff of air, my senses lit up. Wolves, but that wasn’t all. There were other kinds of shifters behind that door, and they wereterrified.

Dr. Taylor stepped through the door, closing it behind him and ensuring that it was locked. He was wearing a white lab coat and hospital scrubs stained with a rust-colored splatter.

“Hey, Eric,” I called, jogging up to him as I tossed any survival instinct I had to the side.

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