Page 119 of Feral Mates
I heard a little blip on my new phone and glanced at the screen. It was from my father. Excitement surged through me even though the tug of sadness remained.
“What are you doing, little mate?” Apollo asked.
“Oh, just finishing what we started.” I flipped on the radio, trying to find the station my father had directed me to. While the Cherokee was an older model, Mark had equipped it with satellite radio, which I’d been grateful for on the long trip.
“Do you have a feeling she needs to be controlled?” Kai teased. The wolves were finally starting to relax.
Roman fisted my hair and growled. “She needs a stern spanking.”
“Not going to happen.” I found the station and held my breath. True to form, in five minutes as my father instructed, a new report surfaced on Blackwell Industries.
“This is Carter Pughes of CNN. We’ve received verified reports that the board of directors of Blackwell Industries has recently been indicted by the Justice Department based on information received from anonymous sources presented to the Scientific Research Government Oversight Committee.”
Apollo laughed. “You’ve been keeping a secret from us, little mate. I’m not sure how.”
“Women have their ways, Apollo. That’s something for all three of you to keep in mind.”
“As I said before,” Kai chortled. “She needs a spanking.”
“Not going to happen,” I repeated.
As the reporter went on to describe the unusual activity, they neglected to mention lifeforms had been discovered or that several of these beings had escaped. At least they mentioned the horrific experiments performed on several animals. With the copy of my research and Carl’s, including his incriminating letterwritten to me, the committee had been able to piece together the truth about what Blackwell Industries had been doing.
And permanently shut down the project.
“The investigation continues into the explosion that severely damaged the facility as well as the total destruction of the refuge involved in the criminal activities. It is now believed the fires were intentionally set by Marcus Blackwell in an effort to hide his heinous activities. Fortunately, there were no human casualties, no animals injured or killed in the horrific fires.”
As soon as the reporter took a breath, the four of us looked at each other.
“What if Thanatos is still alive?” Roman mused.
We took a beat to reflect his question before Apollo snorted. “Not possible.”
While I agreed with him, my skin was suddenly crawling, the heebie-jeebies taking over.
He made a turn down the driveway, pulling up to the house. What a beautiful setting, the A-frame home nestled between acres of woods, the clearing with bright green grass lush. The mountains peeked over the roof, providing a perfect backdrop. From what Mark had told me, there was a small lake fed by a clean, swift river behind the house.
I could see spending the rest of my life here.
“In addition, all charges against Dr. Savannah Morgan have been dropped based on security cameras furnished to the FBI.”
The reporter’s last statement provided a sense of relief as well as closure.
Kai gripped my shoulder. “It’s over.”
“I know.” But was it?
As soon as we stepped out onto the gravel driveway, the reality of everything we’d been through in less than a week hit me.
Hard.
Maybe the reason was that we’d been destined to be together. Lovers and mates. The thought continued to marvel my mind and stretch my imagination.
Whatever the reason we were so connected, I couldn’t deny the chemistry we shared.
Or the burning carnal need that just didn’t want to fade away.
Suddenly, Apollo’s arms were around me, the other two wolves flanking our sides. We stood quietly together, enjoying the view as we took several deep breaths.
