Page 6 of Redeemed Wolf

It all came down to me…

Nerves began to churn in my gut. It was an unfamiliar sensation, and wholly unpleasant. Did everyone feel like this before an interview? I wondered why anyone would ever want to get a new job if this was the price, though most people weren’t also risking their lives in the process.

I was normally a pretty relaxed guy, calm and cool under pressure, but for the first time in a long time, I felt thoroughly out of my depth. I was in a city surrounded by humans, wearing an ill-fitting suit, and consuming the most disgusting food. My half-eaten hamburger still sat on the kitchen table on top of its wrapper. I had a hard time believing it was actually meat.

“You okay?” Pacey asked, and I dragged my eyes over to his in the mirror’s reflection.

“I’m fine,” I barked.

Yeah, I so wasn’t fine, and there was no hiding that fact. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was walking into a trap or if it was because this was the first time the reward for accomplishing a goal was something I truly wanted.

I gave up on fixing the tie—there was no amount of adjusting that would suddenly make it comfortable—and walked over to the bedside table where I’d left a folder of pictures. My targets.

Right on top of the stack was Dr. Eric Taylor. We didn’t have a ton of information on him, though Joe had managed to dig up his home address and his bank records, and he’d put a tail on him to see if there was anything else we could learn that might be important. I didn’t see how learning his eating habits would tell us whether or not he had Jude’s siblings held captive in his super-secret lab, but whatever. What did I know.

The rest of the papers in the folder were what we’d dug up at the lab we’d raided last year. That had been purely a brute-force attack. We’d hit them hard and fast, and in the end, it had been effective, but it lacked finesse. If we’d had more timeto plan, it would’ve been smoother, but we were in a rush. Dr. Taylor hadn’t been on site, and neither had Jude’s siblings, and now these bastards knew we were coming. An attack like that wouldn’t work a second time.

I looked at the time on my new phone, bought specifically for this mission. “You’ll be here when I get back?” I asked Pacey, pocketing my phone and heading for the door.

“I can be.”

I nodded. “If I’m not back by dark, let Shan know…” I trailed off. What was I supposed to say? I’d told them I was expendable, and even then, I knew Shan was too good, too kind, to just leave me behind if something should go wrong. But I honestly didn’t want them to come after me. It would be a suicide mission. I thought of those sweet kids, already touched by the darkness that had befallen this cursed pack. “Tell him I’m dead.”

His dark eyes met mine, and after a pause, he nodded solemnly.

I stepped out of the apartment we’d rented under my alias, Silas Graves, and headed down to the parking lot where I got into my new used car. The upholstery still reeked like whatever air freshener the dealer had drenched it in, a rose scent that smelled nothing like actual roses and which somehow still couldn’t entirely hide the stench of the previous owner’s cigarette smoke. It made my sinuses burn, and my wolf jerked back as far as he could go inside me—which wasn’t anywhere near far enough to escape the smell.

“Suck it up, buttercup,” I muttered, trying to hold my breath while I rolled down the window. We had to look human, and humans liked shit like air fresheners and fast food.

According to Joe’s file, the lab was just outside of town in a row of industrial complexes. The drive there took longer than I’d hoped, with rush hour just starting. My gaze kept flicking between the mirrors, halfway expecting to see one of their tintedSUVs falling in behind me. I saw nothing, but it was still early. There would be plenty of time for them to investigate me once I got the job.

I pulled the car up in front of the guarded gate and rolled down my window. The uniformed guard stepped out of his booth and leaned in, and I gave him a quick scan, trying to be casual about the perusal. His eyes weren’t lazy or unfocused, and I noticed from the corner of my eye that he had a gun holstered at his hip.

“Uh, hi,” I mumbled, because in my mind, humans mumbled, right? Morgan did. “I’m here for a job interview with, um… Dr. Taylor?” I tried to make myself look appropriately nervous—which wasn’t hard, since my intestines were currently tying themselves into knots in my gut.

“Can I see some ID?” the guard asked, grabbing a clipboard from his booth.

“Yeah, sure.” I pulled out my wallet and dug out the fake ID Joe’s team had made for me. While he was comparing my name to a list, I asked, “Hey, can you tell me how many other applicants there are? Do I have a shot?” I gave a shy smile. I knew I had a wholesome boy-next-door face, and I intended to use it.

The guard softened a little. “Only a dozen or so. Most applicants didn’t even make it past the preliminary background check.”

I let out a breath of relief, smiling crookedly. “Thanks.”

“Now, I am sorry, but I do have to take your phone. The lab is a secure facility, and there can be no risk of any photography. You can pick it back up here at the gate on your way out.”

“Oh! Yes, of course, I understand.” I acted surprised, but in fact, we’d expected this and were prepared. We’d loaded the phone with pictures of another life, one of a boring human living in the city. Images of my breakfast and pets and groups of smiling people I’d never met. There were apps for a bank,utilities, and various streaming and social media platforms, all in the name Silas Graves, plus idle games I knew nothing about, and I expected them to go through it all while I was inside. Dr. Taylor was nothing if not curious and cautious.

After I’d turned over my phone, he passed me a visitor’s badge on a lanyard and directed me where to park, before opening the remote gate with the push of a button. I paid close attention to every step of the process, including him radioing someone inside to let them know to meet me at the front entrance.

A tightly wound man in a slim-fitting suit opened the front door for me. He had a slightly rodent quality to him—not that he was a rat shifter or anything, but more like I expected him to wiggle his upturned nose. He had beady black eyes and slicked-back hair, and his voice was raspy. “Mr. Graves, if you will please follow me.” He didn’t introduce himself, and I suspected it was intentional.

Everything here was buttoned up tight. All doors were closed and presumably locked if those digital keypads were any indication, unadorned white walls, and white floor tiles that smelled like bleach, covering up any potential scent I might’ve been able to pick up. There were red lights blinking from security cameras in every corner. There’d been a handful of cars in the parking lot, but I saw no one besides the two of us.

I really hoped I got this job, because I would get nothing from this little foray inside their walls. I needed more time.

We passed two more armed guards, both wearing black uniforms, guns at their hip, their eyes following our progress through the building. The man finally stopped at a series of chairs along one wall. “Wait here. Dr. Taylor will be with you in a moment.”

I smiled blandly in thanks and lowered myself into a chair. My necktie had seemed to constrict even further, making myquickening pulse pound in my temples. I hooked a finger above the knot and loosened the tie just a bit, tugging my collar up.

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