Page 18 of Redeemed Wolf

“But—”

He shot me a look to cut me off. “No buts, and if you think for one second that you’re driving home, you are sorely mistaken.”

I groaned. “Please don’t leave work to drive me home. I’ll take an Uber.”

Dad sighed but relented, nodding. “Okay, but I’m paying for it.”

The whole way home, the Uber driver kept glancing at me in the rearview mirror, probably trying to gauge whether or not I was going to get sick again. That part was thankfully over, but I certainly didn’t feel anywhere near normal. My brain was a jumbled mess, more like scrambled eggs than the ordered, methodical thoughts I was used to. Physically I was just as bad, swinging wildly back and forth between hot and cold, my mouth dry, eyelids like sandpaper.

Thank gods I didn’t live with my father anymore. I needed somewhere dark and quiet where I could be alone. He would no doubt be checking up on me like the helicopter parent he was,asking all his questions about symptoms and what medications I’d taken. He would no doubt ask to do more blood work, maybe an MRI. Though I knew he loved me, sometimes I felt more like one of his science experiments than his son.

I was relieved when the car pulled into my driveway, and I mumbled thanks to the driver before staggering up the front steps. The driver waited to make sure I got in the door before backing out and driving off down the block.

Groaning, I headed straight up the stairs for the shower, peeling off clothes as I went. My skin felt too sensitive, like even the faintest whisper of fabric was too much friction. Cranking the water on, I didn’t even wait for the temperature to adjust before I stepped in, thrusting my head under the spray.

The water coursed down my chest and back, and my teeth began to chatter. Even with the water set to scalding, I couldn’t seem to get warm. Every bone in my body ached, like they were flexing under the skin, the joints threatening to pop out of place—but that was impossible! Bodies didn’t do that, just spontaneously changing shape.

I curled up on the bottom of the shower, knees to chest, and set my forehead on them, my breath loud in my ears. I could still smell the sick on my breath, even though I’d rinsed with mouthwash. My jaw hurt, my gums aching, and I swore I tasted blood.

“Why is this happening?” I moaned, gripping my wet hair in my fists.

As if in answer, the voice in my head whispered,Mate.

“What does that mean?” I growled, gnashing my teeth. “Tell me!” The voice didn’t answer, and so I repeated the word out loud, the one word that had been lingering at the fringes of my mind, haunting me. “Mate.”

My heart stuttered, and it felt like I was close to an answer, but I didn’t even know what the question was. The world just seemed so big and loud all of a sudden. I wanted to turn it all off.

Why was this happening? Why now? I’d been doing just fine for years, so what changed?

Clamping my hands over my ears, I tilted my head back and roared in frustration. It sounded almost like a howl…

Chapter 9

Silas

Monday morning as Iset foot in the building, I felt a strange frisson in the air, like the electric hum before a storm, though there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. The full moon was tonight, and my wolf was there at the forefront of my mind. It was going to be hard to keep him restrained. All he wanted was to take his fur and track down our mate, to mark and claim him, to knot and breed him. I’d tried to reason with him, to explain that it would mean our deaths, but logic was lost on a beast led by instinct—and it was hard for me to argue when some of those instincts coincided with my own.

Dr. Taylor was there waiting for me at the front desk. He, too, seemed to sense the anticipation, eyes alight. “Are you ready?”

“For anything,” I told him, and I meant it.

He spoke as we walked, heading for the restricted lab. “We will be collecting samples today, which as you can likely imagine, is not a one-man job. I will need you to help with restraining the subject, long enough that I can take tissue samples from variouslocations—here and here.” He pointed to his throat then the back of his neck. “Muscle, blood, and spinal fluid.”

I eyed him warily, before deciding there was no harm in my asking the question that was simmering in my mind. “Why would you do it on a full moon? Don’t you know that’s when they’re at their strongest?”

His grin widened. “You have been paying attention,” he praised. “I have found that when their animal forms are closer to the surface, I’m more likely to get an accurate sample, when they’re closest to being half and half.”

“And have there ever beenaccidents? With the guards assisting, I mean.”

He shrugged, swiping his card at the door. “Sacrifices must be made in the name of science.”

Science. Right.

It wasn’t until we were standing in front of the cell door, our little group of guards, breaths billowing in matching clouds, that I really had a chance to think this through. Whoever was on the other side of the door would know I was a shifter too. I had to hope they could figure why I was here and were willing to play along.

The guards all looked nervous, shifting their weight, their heartbeats whirring in their chests. I could smell it on them, which meant the shifter would too. Fuck, they were going to get us all killed, I just knew it.

“Ready?” Eric asked.

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