Page 98 of Corbin
“As for evidence, I have plenty. I may have been isolated from other shifters, but they have found me.”
“You mean that rogue wolf? One word from me, just one word, and SCIS will track him down. They’ll drag him to their prison and make an example of him. His death will be broadcast to prevent other shifters from making his mistake.”
Her throat tightened at Leszek’s warning. He’d held an iron fist over her head for so long that she could not easily ignore his threat.
Corbin had been through so much misery in his life.
Her words today could shatter the world he’d built with his pack. She suffered a moment of panic at not having broken through Leszek’s hard shell. She couldn’t stop halfway. “Do not threaten my mate. You have no idea of what terrifying power you’ll bring down on your head.”
Leszek’s hands shook like she’d never seen before. His skin paled, but he did not fold. He jabbed a long finger in her direction. “That’s it. You’ve made a huge mistake.”
She held her breath, hoping she’d stomped on his defiance enough for him to capitulate.
He stabbed a button on a polished mahogany box sitting on his desk.
The door lock audibly clicked behind her.
In the next second, he lifted his mobile phone and punched a button. “This is Dr. Moore. My ward is having a psychotic episode. I need you to pick her up and deliver her to my institute.”
Stunned silent, she stared at him.
When he placed the phone down, he explained, “Acting calm won’t work when security arrives from my clinic.” He raised a revolver. “This carries titanium bullets if you try to attack me or refuse to cooperate.”
She didn’t so much as flinch, but her blood pressure shot up like a geyser erupting. She couldn’t back down. If she lost today, it wouldn’t be because she failed to throw everything in her arsenal at him. “You’re done, Leszek. You won’t need a titanium bullet. I wish I had it in me to kill someone like you, but I don’t. You will face justice, though.”
He withdrew a small white box from a pocket in his black suit jacket, the size of an unmarked container of mints, and placed it at the front of his desk. “Take one of the pills inside and swallow it. You will not die, but you are going to wake up wearing a straitjacket. If you don’t take that pill in the next thirty seconds, I’ll shoot you and claim you had gone mad and tried to attack me. Then I’ll personally oversee your care.” His eyes lit up with madness. He grinned like the crazy monster he was.
She changed her voice from antagonistic to soothing. “I will do as you say if you’ll simply tell me one thing.”
He cocked his head at her. “What would you like to know?”
“Once I take that pill, I have no way to ever convince anyone of anything I believe you’ve done. I’m only asking for one thing. Answer that, and I will take the pill without fighting you. How did you find the shifter to send into our home that night?”
Maybe it was her submissive tone or the need for a maniac to brag about his deed. Either way, he beamed the confident smile of a man comfortable in his position of authority. He put the gundown and shoved his hands in his pockets, walking around the desk as if to casually discuss a dinner reservation.
When Leszek reached the corner of the desk, he bragged, “I have a secret wing in my clinic where I treat shifters. An SCIS recovery expert, a jackal shifter, delivers particularly disturbed ones there to use as test subjects. The jackal shifter admires what I’ve done with you and hopes to see if other shifters can be trained to follow orders. He has a resource in another country who pays well for strong workers. I chose a shifter that had shown a lot of promise, but when he finished your father, he had blood lust and went crazy.” Leszek shrugged as if the shifter had only broken furniture.
Tears burned the corners of her eyes. Her father had been protective and overbearing, but she didn’t believe he knew what his security had done to Corbin or that he deserved a horrific death. She blinked them away and drew in a cleansing breath at having finally gotten an admission from Leszek that she had doubted would ever happen.
She lifted her voice and announced, “I’m done. I’ve said all I want to you.”
“Good.” Leszek rubbed his hands together and walked back behind the desk. “Hurry up and take the pill. I don’t wish you to be in pain while being transported. Once you’ve gone through treatments, I’ll announce that you voluntarily entered my clinic after an emotional breakdown due to the rogue shifter who tricked you, but you are healed and ready to sing again. That album will be priority number one for you.”
The lock on the door clicked on its own, sounding like a gunshot.
Leszek frowned at the noise and picked up his handgun.
The door opened, and Corbin walked in, stepping between her and Leszek.
She loved his protective nature. She would always protect him equally. She’d come to learn that she and Pixie might not be dominant, but they would fight for their mates.
The tall man with strange eagle eyes, she now knew as Corbin’s boss, stepped inside next. His mere presence filled the room. He wore an expensive-looking suit that had to be custom-made for a muscular body of that size.
His eagle-shaped eyes zeroed in on Leszek, who stood with his mouth open. Spoken in a voice with old-world sophistication, he ordered Leszek, “Put the gun down.”
Leszek had become so shocked that he seemed to have forgotten he held a gun. He jerked it up and leaned a hand on the desk, probably to steady himself.
The gun went right back down, crushing his fingers against the desktop. He screamed in pain, but the gun never moved.
