Chapter 1

Why?

Why him?

Why this human?

Manu Agarwal glared at the human who was sitting next to him, nonchalantly chewing gum. Preston Fulwood. Manu's current annoyance and one he was stuck with. Preston had been captured by Morefield Village security when attempting to steal information about the village and its occupants.

Not that being captured seemed to bother Preston. He'd been so laid back about it, he might as well be sleeping flat on the floor. No doubt, knowing their head of security had allowed Preston to behave so relaxed. Elliot Young and Preston had worked together as SEALs, not that Manu or anyone else had been given the exact details, and that was to be expected.

Manu had been given the task of escorting Preston to his drop off point where he was to leave all the information he had stolen for this mysterious A. S. to collect. Names, ages, what shifter they were, where they had come from, blood types, and so on. All the information medical had on them would be passed on. Except additional information was included: a virus that would allow the shifters to track where the stolen information was being uploaded.

They had been careful about what information they had allowed the humans to see. Just enough to convince them that Preston had come through, but not enough to do anything with. Deacon Morrison, the man in charge of Morefield Village, had gone over the information with Elliot and between them decided what wouldn't cause them problems.

They'd figured whoever these people were who were kidnapping and experimenting on them, had certain information about them so had ignored details about names, ages, and the types of shifters within Morefield. Blood groups, too, but other information was removed. Mated couples, children.

It was a risk, but one they were willing to take.

Preston had dropped the USB in a safe deposit box, and now it was a waiting game. Once the information checked out, Preston would be wired the money he was owed, then they had to wait again for the USB to be used in case it moved to another location. Just because the USB and the information it contained had been checked didn't mean that place was its final destination. They would scope that location out but wanted to know where the information would ultimately end up. It was a guessing game, but there was too much at stake to let any detail slip past them.

This was the part Manu was used to. Waiting and watching.

During the time Manu had been stuck with Preston, a medical team had been sent to collect Preston's father and relocate him to Salutem. Salutem had a home for individuals suffering from age-related illnesses, and Preston's father had dementia. It had been part of the deal to have Preston help them, not that they needed one, but with Preston's relationship to Eli, it had helped.

Manu did feel sorry for Preston in that regard, but other than that, he found the human extremely annoying, which pissed him off even more when he felt the pull. His mate. This man who the enemy hired to find out anything and everything he could was Manu's mate.

The pull. The constant need to be close to Preston pissed Manu off all the time. He wanted to scream at his mate, punch him for what he'd done, and at the same time, fuck the guy into the mattress. The conflicting emotions were driving him insane, and he needed a timeout, which wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

Preston was gorgeous, too, with his blue eyes and blond hair and pale skin. The complete opposite of Manu. Why this human? The alluring scent Preston gave off had Manu fighting his instincts to take what was his. It wasn't that he had a problem that his mate was human; it was that his mate was this human.

All shifters had mates, and as a wolf shifter, Manu knew he would have one. It was a question of being fortunate enough to meet his mate, something that still didn't happen that often, and Manu knew he was lucky. Lucky to have crossed paths with his mate, but why this mate?

Growling softly, Manu glanced over at Preston and resisted the urge to grab him by the hair, haul him close, and kiss the fuck out of him. Preston's full lips had Manu wanting to kiss and bite and shove his dick… He really needed to stop thinking about Preston. He needed to focus on the job at hand and not about shoving his dick… And there he went again.

Capturing Preston had confirmed what they had suspected. They had a mole. Salutem had had moles, too, and been successful in ferreting them out, but it weighed Manu down knowing they had one. Was it someone Manu knew and thought he could trust? Everyone living in Morefield had had a thorough background check, but clearly not thorough enough.

Who was it, and why were they selling them out?

"I have the money." Preston stared at his phone, then switched it off.

Manu nodded and sent a message to the team, then waited. A minute later, he had one back.

Hunter is on it now

Hunter, a vampire, helped Salutem with security, especially IT security, alongside his human mate, Carter. They'd met when the vampires had been dealing with a king who wanted to kill all humans and rule the world. Fortunately, Jacques had replaced the former king and now helped Salutem and Morefield Village whenever they needed it.

Manu showed Preston the message, who nodded, then popped a bubble. Biting the inside of his cheek, Manu turned his back to Preston and glared out the window of the car they sat in. Resisting the urge not to punch or fuck his mate was becoming harder with every passing minute.

His phone vibrated, and Manu read the message. The data was accessed briefly. We have a location now and have a team moving in. We'll remain out of sight until the order to move in.

Does Hunter think it will be accessed again?

Yes. The hit was brief. Enough to validate the data and just long enough for us to trace. It will probably go to a secondary location for a thorough analysis. As we suspected.

Where do you want us? It had been agreed they'd go to the first location as it would be closest to the initial drop off point, but plans could change.

I'm sending coordinates now. Meet the team there.

On it.

Seconds later, the information arrived, and Manu sat up straight. "We're going to the first location now."

Preston straightened and nodded as he put his seat belt on. "How far out are we?"

Manu put the details into his GPS. "Ten clicks due east."

Preston stared at the screen. "Let's go."

Manu drove to the location, ignoring Preston as much as he could, which wasn't as easy as it should be for a former military man like him. Preston's scent permeated the air, and Manu wanted to roll in it, which frustrated him. Now wasn't the time, but the big bad wolf inside had other ideas and didn't want to wait around to claim Preston.

Gritting his teeth, Manu forced those feelings aside and concentrated on the task at hand—meeting the team and waiting for the word to hit the target. Preston moved, and Manu watched him from the corner of his eye as Preston checked his weapons. He didn't want to admit it, but Manu was impressed with the speed and professionalism Preston used. As a former SEAL, it was clear Preston knew his weapons.

Remaining silent, Manu drove, his eyes finding the road easily once he neared their destination and cut the lights. If anyone was there, Manu didn't want the lights to give them away. Around a mile away, Manu found a place to hide the car, and they both got out.

Manu grabbed his weapons, then murmured, "I'll lead."

Preston nodded and waited, which impressed Manu. He had half expected Preston to question him, but all he'd done was nod. Preston pointed to his eyes, and Manu understood. Manu would be able to see better, and Preston didn't have night goggles with him.

Manu double checked his weapons, noting Preston doing the same, then headed into the woods toward the house where the data had been accessed. He barely heard Preston behind him, which proved how good the man was when it came to tracking. Again, Manu was impressed, but kept it to himself. Now wasn't the time or place to have a discussion on his mate's skills.

It didn't take them long to reach the coordinates provided, and Manu crouched, searching the area until he spotted a slight movement off to his left. Nodding in that direction, he and Preston moved closer and met the other team.

Cyan Dubois crouched near a tree, his eyes on what appeared to be a derelict building in front. "No movement."

The words were so quiet, Manu barely heard them. Nodding, he waited along with the others, and when the signal came, they ran forward as one, staying low to the ground until they circled the building. Cyan lifted his hand and counted down. Then they all entered.

Manu entered via a kitchen and performed a quick search and, as he did, murmurs of ‘clear' could be heard. It didn't take long before the building was given the all clear, then the real search began. From what Manu could tell, the property had been abandoned for some time, dust and rubbish everywhere.

"Been empty for a while," Cyan muttered. He walked over to the only clear area and squatted. "They accessed the data here. I can barely pick up any scent at all, so they're using that shit to cover themselves."

"I'd say in and out. No waiting around." Manu inhaled deeply and grimaced. "Can't pick up anything either."

Viridian Dubois, Cyan's brother, grunted. "Can't smell shit. I'll let Indy know."

Indy—or Indigo—was mayor of Salutem and another brother to Cyan and Viridian. Jim Malveaux, the other person present, grunted. "As much as I hate to admit it, that spray is good. We need to find something to stop its effectiveness."

"Camouflage spray. I saw something about that once when I had to go to one of their labs. You hit the lab not long after."

"We found nothing about the spray." Manu watched Preston, who furrowed his brow. "Can you remember anything about it?"

"I wasn't given access, but I remember them working on perfecting it. Something about it worked well, but they wanted it so that you wouldn't be able to pick anything up."

Jim grunted. "Bastards. We all know how they perfected it."

Manu growled low and deep. Their people experimented on to help that group make better weapons to hunt them with. "I want to kill them all."

"We'll get them." Cyan pulled his phone free. "Empty." He nodded, then hung up. "We'll place cameras to keep an eye on this place, but I doubt they'll come back. This was just a location to check the data."

"Make sure it was legit." Vir exhaled deeply and rubbed a hand over his face. "I'll be glad when this is finally over."

"Ever thought about coming out?" Preston asked quietly. "Let the world know of your existence and what has been done to you and your kind."

"We have, but it's not as simple as it sounds. There are many types of shifters, and we'd all have to agree, and we're not all in contact. It's a long story."

"I'm sure Manu can fill me in on the drive back."

Manu gritted his teeth as he glared at his mate. There was no way he was going to be stuck in the car explaining his history to that man. No way in hell.

"Good. Make sure to do that, Manu." Vir walked over to the door and stepped outside, the others following, leaving Manu alone with Preston. Why him?