Page 17 of Their Defiant Mate

The female was still moaning like a lunatic, so Elias ordered, “Shut her up. I’m tired of listening to her.”

Juan crawled onto the bed and drew her head up by her tangled hair. He took his cock in hand and brought it to her mouth. “Open up, sweetheart. You clearly need something more constructive to do with your mouth.”

Elias chuckled and pulled out of her rippling cunt. He positioned himself against her other opening and impaled her ass with one brutal thrust. The human’s startled cry was muffled by Juan’s cock, but she bucked and sucked noisily, assuring them that she was enjoying herself. Elias rode her hard, reveling in the firm grip of her ass. Juan matched Elias’ strokes and soon they both emptied their balls into the well-fucked human.

She collapsed onto her belly as they released her, and Elias cringed. She reeked of sweat and cum and numerous bite marks marred her pale skin. She was by far the most beautiful of thehuman females who had been captured during the last raid. That’s why Elias had chosen her. But watching half his pack fuck her had severed any emotional connection he might have felt for her. The only person any self-respecting alpha would share his mate with was his beta.

Once this human gave him a litter of pups, Elias would dispose of her and find a female worthy of?—

A savage growl emanated from the female, interrupting Elias’ thoughts.

“What’s wrong with her?” Juan asked, staying well back from the bed.

She screamed and kicked, bucking as if someone were on top of her. Carefully, Elias rolled her to her side and brushed the tousled hair back from her face. Her features twisted and morphed. Her nose and mouth elongated into a distorted muzzle only to revert to a more human appearance. “Go get Babcock,” Elias urged. “It’s much too soon. She shouldn’t be shifting yet.”

Pausing long enough to pull on a pair of pants, Juan sprinted from the bedroom.

The woman thrashed and moaned, arching and twisting as she continued to randomly transform. Elias watched in morbid fascination. Over and over the shift rolled across her features, resulting in grotesque creatures neither wolf nor human.

Suddenly, she lunged for him, fangs bared, long claws extending from her fingers. Elias twisted sharply, barely missing the slash of her claws. She lunged again and he responded instinctually, batting her aside with his muscular arm. She hit the wall with a sickeningthunk, then lay on the floor moaning.

He approached her hesitantly and knelt at her side. Her eyes were wide and filled with terror.

“Help me,” she pleaded as her thrashing began to ease.

Her strength was ebbing, he realized. But the transformations continued. Her final shift was truly monstrous, and she died with a pathetic whimper.

Elias threw a blanket over her body, making sure to cover her mutated face. He grabbed his pants off the floor and dragged them on, then hurried into the living room. Damn it. Babcock had warned him that there were significant risks when attempting this sort of conversion. Still, Elias hadn’t expected it to happen tohismate.

Babcock arrived a few minutes later looking blurry-eyed and annoyed. “This couldn’t wait until morning?” he grumbled as Juan escorted him into the cabin.

“She’s dead,” Elias snapped. “Your fucking treatment killed her.”

Without reacting to the news, Babcock walked into the bedroom and examined the female. “Transformation at this point is unexpected, but not unprecedented. However, her transformation was clearly abnormal.”

“Transformations,” Elias stressed. “She shifted continually for at least ten minutes before she finally died.”

Babcock looked at him, eyes narrowed with suspicion. “That’s not possible. Nothing in the injections should have resulted in multiple shifts.”

“I don’t give a shit. I only know what I saw,” Elias snarled and walked back to the living room.

“I saw it too,” Juan interjected as Babcock emerged. “She changed shape over and over.”

Babcock scratched the side of his head and stared off into space. “I’ll reassess the formula, but this doesn’t make sense.”

“Have there been any other side effects?” Elias shuddered. Side effects didn’t get much more significant than what just happened in his bedroom.

Ignoring the question, Babcock continued to mutter. “There must have been something odd in her genome. I’ll need a tissue sample before you dispose of the body.”

“Take whatever you need now. She’s the third casualty,” Elias reminded. “At this rate we’ll run out of women.”

The doctor’s cold gaze snapped back to Elias’ face. “You’re right. We need more test subjects. A lot more.”

Elias scoffed, shocked by the utter indifference in Babcock’s tone. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Of course not, but it’s a fact nonetheless. The cats will never let you near their village, but the shelter outside their gates is less secure. Send a large party over there and collect?—”

“You do not command me!” Elias shouted. “I will not gocollectmore females for you to murder.”

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