Chapter 37

THIRTY-SEVEN

M arcus caught her hand, pressing it over his heart. “Can’t promise that one, sweetheart. Keeping you safe isn’t just a duty anymore.”

Something softened in her expression. “I know. But you can’t protect me from everything.”

“Watch me try.”

A knock at the lab door interrupted whatever reply she planned to make. Jax entered, his usual easy grin in place despite the late hour.

“Sorry to interrupt the love fest, but we’ve got intel. Emily’s decoded some of Liam’s flash drive - looks like Tomlinson’s network is bigger than we thought.”

Marcus straightened, though he kept one hand on Natalie’s shoulder. “How much bigger?”

“Try international.” Jax’s expression turned grim. “He’s got facilities in Canada, Mexico, even Europe. And get this - some of them are legitimate medical research centers. Perfect cover for testing enhanced subjects.”

“Son of a bitch.” The curse slipped out before Marcus could stop it. “He’s been planning this for years. But he wants your data? Why?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he hasn’t succeeded. Which means we need to move fast.” Natalie was already pulling up data streams on her monitors. “If he’s got that kind of infrastructure ready...”

“He’s confident he’ll get the formula soon,” Marcus finished. His grip tightened involuntarily on her shoulder. “What’s our timeline?”

“Emily’s running analytics now, but based on facility readiness and supply chain patterns...” Jax consulted his tablet. “Two weeks, max, before he makes a major play.”

“Then we have two weeks to prepare.” Marcus’s mind raced with tactical possibilities. “How many doses of the counteragent can you synthesize by then?”

“Depends on batch size and purification requirements.” Natalie’s fingers flew across keyboards as she ran calculations. “Maybe fifty doses per day, assuming no complications. Though we should factor in failure rates and-“

“We need more than that.” They all turned to find Emily in the doorway, tablet in hand. “According to the files, we’ll need all we can get - Tomlinson’s got at least three hundred ‘enhanced’ soldiers ready for initial deployment.”

“What do you mean by enhanced ?” Natalie asked.

“Look here.” Emily passed her table to Natalie. “There’s not a lot of detail, but the results are mentioned.”

He watched as his mate’s face blanched. “What?” he asked.

“Tomlinson has created a formula that enhances shifter ability exponentially,” she said, falling into a chair. “So why does he want my work? What does he want from me?”

Marcus felt his wolf stir fully awake, rage building at the threat to his mate and pack. “Jax, coordinate with security teams. I want around-the-clock protection on this lab and Natalie’s backup servers. Emily, work with R&D to streamline production. We need as many doses as possible.”

“And what about me?” Natalie’s tone held a dangerous edge. “Since you’re giving everyone else orders.”

He turned to find her arms crossed, one eyebrow raised in challenge. Despite the situation, his lips twitched. “Would you actually follow any orders I gave?”

“Depends. Are they reasonable orders backed by scientific logic, or overprotective alpha nonsense?”

“Is keeping you alive overprotective?”

“That depends entirely on your methods.” She poked his chest. “I’m not some damsel to be locked away in a tower.”

“Trust me, sweetheart, no one would mistake you for a damsel.” He caught her hand, keeping it pressed against his heart. “You’re the dazzling scientist who just created our best weapon against Tomlinson. Which makes you both invaluable and a target.”

“Then let me help. Really help, not just work in a secured lab while others take all the risks.”

Marcus recognized the determination in her eyes - the same look she’d worn when insisting on testing the counteragent on him. His mate was many things, but never a coward.

“We do this smart,” he said finally. “You focus on production and refinement. Build our arsenal. But you also train - combat, evasion, whatever skills might keep you alive if things go wrong. Deal?”

She pretended to consider it. “Do I get to practice these combat skills on overprotective alphas?”

“Only if said alpha gets to help with your... physical training.”

“Oh my God.” Emily made gagging sounds. “Can you two stop with the weird mating dance flirting? Some of us are trying to work here.”

“Seriously.” Jax grinned. “Though I gotta say, boss, never thought I’d see the day a tiny scientist had you wrapped around her finger.”

“I am not wrapped-“ Marcus broke off as Natalie cleared her throat pointedly. “Fine. Maybe a little wrapped.”

“A little?” She smirked. “Need I remind you of the incident with the centrifuge?”

“That was different.”

“You growled at it for making too much noise while I was working.”

“It was disrupting your concentration.”

“The big bad alpha, defending his mate from loud laboratory equipment.” Jax wiped away an imaginary tear. “So touching.”

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

“Going now, boss.” But Jax’s shoulders shook with barely suppressed laughter as he left. “Try not to terrorize any more innocent machinery while I’m gone.”

Emily followed, mumbling something about “disgustingly cute” and “worse than a rom-com.” Then she stopped and turned back to Natalie. “I just had a thought. Emily, call me when you get away from lover boy.”

The door clicked shut behind her, leaving Marcus alone with his still-smirking mate.

“I did not growl at the centrifuge.”

“You absolutely did.” She patted his chest consolingly. “It’s okay. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“You’re impossible.”

“You love it.”

The words hung between them, weighted with meaning neither still had voiced yet. Marcus studied her face - the magnificent mind behind those hazel eyes, the strength in her stubborn chin, the smile that somehow managed to be both challenging and soft.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I do.”

Pink bloomed across her cheeks. “That’s... very unscientific.”

“Some things transcend science.”

“Careful.” Her voice wavered slightly. “Keep talking like that and I might have to run more experiments on alpha romance patterns.”

He pulled her closer, enjoying how her breath caught. “What kind of experiments?”

“Oh, you know. Hypothesis testing. Data collection. Thorough documentation of-“

He silenced her with a kiss that earned a small, satisfied sound. When he pulled back, her eyes had that slightly unfocused look he loved causing.

A ping from her computer made them both sigh. Right. They had work to do - plans to make, security to arrange, an arsenal to build. Tomlinson was coming, and they needed to be ready.

But as Natalie turned back to her monitors, already rattling off molecular formulas and production schedules, Marcus felt something settle in his chest. They would face whatever came together - his strength and her brilliance, alpha and scientist, mate and mate.

And God help anyone who tried to harm her because Marcus Vale protected what was his.

Even if it meant occasionally growling at loud laboratory equipment.