Chapter 42

FORTY-TWO

I n the control center, Marcus’s tactical display lit up like a Christmas tree - red dots appearing across multiple buildings. His enhanced hearing picked up the chaos erupting through the property: alarms blaring, boots pounding on metal stairs, the distinctive sound of shifters transforming.

“Report.” His order cut through the command center’s tension.

Emily’s fingers flew across her keyboard. “Three buildings breached simultaneously. Enhanced soldiers showing coordinated attack patterns.”

“Pull up thermal imaging.” Marcus studied the feed as Jax burst through the door, blood streaking his tactical gear.

A new alert flashed. Marcus’s heart stopped as he recognized the biochem lab’s signature - where he had taken Natalie to work on the treatment. “Status of?—“

“Lab’s secure.” Emily anticipated his question. “Natalie’s got Team Delta providing coverage while she synthesizes more treatment batches.”

The security feed showed Natalie bent over her workstation, focused despite the chaos. Pride surged through Marcus’s chest. His mate’s huge heart would save more lives today, if they could keep Tomlinson’s forces at bay long enough.

“Sir.” A young pack member - Ryan - appeared in the doorway. “Team Two requests immediate backup. Enhanced wolves breached the east wing.”

Marcus nodded to Jax. “Take Team Three and?—“

The words died as Ryan’s eyes suddenly blazed with unnatural power. His muscles bulged, splitting his uniform as the enhancement took hold.

“No.” Marcus’s wolf howled in betrayal. Ryan had been with the pack since childhood.

Two more enemy appeared behind Ryan, their eyes glowing with the same artificial enhancement.

“Take the alpha.” Ryan’s voice distorted with power. “Tomlinson wants him alive.”

“Emily, initiate Protocol Seven. Now.” Marcus shifted seamlessly into fighting stance.

She slammed her hand on the emergency controls as Ryan lunged. Marcus met him head-on, using the younger wolf’s enhanced strength against him. They crashed through reinforced glass, alarms screaming through the building.

Jax emerged in wolf form, massive and battle-scarred, intercepting the other traitors. The command center erupted into chaos.

Marcus. Natalie’s voice whispered through their mate bond. The treatment’s ready. I can help them.

He slammed Ryan into a wall, buying seconds to respond. Stay in the lab. I’ll handle this.

But—

Trust me. He pushed reassurance through their connection, even as Ryan’s enhanced strength drove him back.

The facility speakers crackled to life with Natalie’s voice, broadcasting across all frequencies: “Listen up, Tomlinson’s shifter. The enhancement he gave you is fatal. Tomlinson lied. He doesn’t care if you die. But we have a treatment. Stop fighting, and we can save you.”

Ryan faltered. Blood trickled from his nose - the enhancement already taking its toll. The momentary hesitation cost him as Marcus struck, precise and brutal.

“I trusted you.” Marcus’s words carried the weight of alpha command. “The pack protected you.”

“Tomlinson promised power.” Ryan coughed red.

“And now you’re dying for his lies.”

More enhanced soldiers poured through the breach, but uncertainty showed in some faces as Natalie’s warning repeated. The pack link hummed in Marcus’s mind as his loyal wolves coordinated their defense, proving natural bonds trumped artificial power.

“Marcus!” Emily’s voice cut through the chaos. “Main lab breach! They’re?—“

A massive explosion rocked the building. Marcus’s bond with Natalie flared with alarm.

New alerts flashed: Tomlinson had entered the facility.

Marcus tried to get out of the control room to get to his mate, but three more enhanced soldiers blocked his path, and the command center remained vulnerable. He had to trust his pack - trust Natalie - while he secured their tactical hub.

Jax called out, “Go. We’ve got this.”

Marcus hesitated. A leader never abandoned his post.

“She’s your mate.” Jax shoved him toward the door. “And she’s got Tomlinson’s whole army gunning for that treatment. Get to her!”

The decision crystallized. Marcus sprinted through the chaos, following his bond with Natalie while barking orders through the pack link. His wolves responded instantly, years of training paying off as they coordinated defense patterns.

Marcus tore through the facility’s emergency stairwell, taking steps four at a time. The mate bond thrummed with Natalie’s determination, overlaid with sharp spikes of fear. Not for herself - his alpha mate worried about her research team, about the enhanced soldiers she might still save.

“Emily.” He activated his com link. “Status on lab security.”

“Outer barriers holding.” His sister’s voice crackled with static. “But not for long.”

Marcus, Natalie’s voice filled his mind, Tomlinson’s using a stronger version of the formula than the one Emily found. It’s killing them faster, but they’re nearly unstoppable until their bodies fail.

How long is that?

Hours. Maybe minutes. Their cellular structure’s collapsing, but they won’t feel it until it’s too late.

Perfect. Tomlinson had created kamikaze soldiers.

The stairwell door burst open above him. Three enhanced wolves charged down, their muscles grotesquely distorted, veins pulsing with artificial power. Blood leaked from their eyes, but they moved with terrifying speed.

Marcus met the first one with a brutal uppercut, using the narrow space to his advantage. The enhanced wolf’s head snapped back, but he kept coming. No pain response. No survival instinct.

Marcus snarled as he drove his elbow into an enhanced wolf’s throat. The soldier dropped, gurgling blood, but two more appeared above. They fought like machines, never tiring, never yielding.

A familiar howl echoed through the stairwell. Jax burst through the door below, leading a team of loyal wolves.

“Got your back, boss!” Jax launched himself into the fray. “But you might want to hurry. Your mate’s getting creative with the lab defenses.”

Through their bond, Marcus sensed Natalie activating emergency protocols - protocols they hadn’t fully tested. His scientist mate had a habit of improving security systems without documenting all the changes.

“Emily?” He tried the com again as he dispatched another enhanced soldier. “Status?”

“Command center secure.” His sister’s voice returned. “By the way, Nat and I have been working on something.”

“What something ?”

“You’re about to find out.”

Emergency shutters slammed down throughout the facility, creating a maze of sealed corridors. Clever mate. She’d turned the lab’s defensive architecture into an air-tight trap.

Through the ventilation system, a fine mist hissed out targeting enhanced cellular structures with precise molecular efficiency.

The first wave of enhanced soldiers dropped to their knees as the counteragent neutralized Tomlinson’s formula. Their grotesque mutations began to recede, leaving them human - or natural shifter - once more.

“Tomlinson’s forces are transforming.” Emily’s typing echoed through the com. “But he’s still got a clear path to the main lab. Marcus, he’s herding Natalie’s team into a corner.”