Chapter Eleven

K raven reluctantly left his new mate alone in their bed to visit with Talon. It’d been a week since Rose had touched him and they’d solidified their mating in one of the best nights of his life.

But…he couldn’t stop worrying about her future. Thankfully, no one from the hospital had come for her. They may have truly thought her dead.

“Come in,” Talon called out after Kraven had knocked on the office door.

“I came by to see if there has been any news about the hospital where Rose came from,” he inquired.

Talon wiped his hand over his face in frustration, shaking his head before he stood from his chair. “Kraven, I have tried to find it, but I have nothing. The sheriff is trying to watch for any news out of the major cities that border the Great Lakes, but he’s come up empty-handed.”

“Well, fuck,” he barked, flopping down in one of the guest chairs. “The only thing keeping me calm is knowing that those Trackers think Rose is dead. They wouldn’t be coming here unless they were tipped off somehow.”

“Garrett and I believe it’s for the best if we keep our research to a minimum right now,” Talon stated. “If we go poking around where we don’t belong, it could end very badly for us.”

“I agree,” Kraven replied. There were so many things that could happen to the pride if the hospital and its people came to the pride. They didn’t know how many Trackers were at that place.

“They could be tipped off about her whereabouts,” his leader reminded him.

“If they were studying wars, do you believe they’re tied to the military?” Kraven had thought more about what was going on there than he should during his mating week, but he couldn’t stop worrying for Rose.

“You know as well as I do, the government can’t be trusted,” Talon reminded him.

“I know I’m grasping at straws here, and this is a long shot, but do you think they were creating a fighting machine to protect the country against its enemies?”

“Hmm, you and I have been thinking the same thing,” Talon admitted. “However, we don’t want anything to do with the military. I know they wanted shifters to join their ranks, but all of the alphas refused. Could this be their answer for our refusal to be involved?”

“Honestly, Talon.” Kraven paused to pinch the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes as tight as they could go, but he still saw an image in his mind he’d been trying to dispel for the last month. “I think they are creating a special breed of soldiers to protect the country.”

“I think you are right,” Talon agreed. “If so, I can understand why the government would want to have warriors to protect the country, but then again, their choice of breeding shifters is completely insane and unnatural. It’s illegal in our world but not the humans’.”

“We have to find that hospital, and we need to find it as soon as possible,” Kraven reminded him.

“We will find them,” Talon promised, placing his fist over his heart. “This I promise you and Rose. No one should be held captive even in the disguise of honor at saving the population from a human war.”

“I agree,” Kraven sighed. “I’ll talk to Rose some more and have her give me as many details as she can regarding the hospital and what she remembers.”

“Let me know if you come up with anything,” Talon said. “Now, go spend time with your new mate.”

“I will, and I want to marry her in the eyes of the pride and by the human’s laws. She should be an Alexander.”

“I agree, friend,” Talon chuckled, standing up to shake Kraven’s hand. “You let us know if she says yes and when you want to have a ceremony.”

Kraven nodded and went on his way back to his cabin where he hoped his mate was still asleep. When she woke up, they’d spend the day trying to find out where she came from.

Onyx swore under his breath as he donned his lab coat. No one had heard from the Trackers in a week, and he hoped they’d come back with news of finding MOD-122101. That bitch was going to be an example to the other MODs.

If you flee, we will hunt you down.

It was after six in the morning, and despite the lack of communication, he busied himself in his work. As he took to his station in the lab, there were a few specimens next to his microscope. The blood of his Trackers and three other slides with the blood of newborns delivered over the weekend. He wanted to see if they matched that of a Tracker or the Warriors. Depending on what he saw, he would put those infants with the departments in charge of raising and training them when they were old enough.

The section of the government hadn’t given him a timeline as to when his warriors would be needed, and they never told him to stop the breeding program. The females he’d kept on hand to implant with embryos he’d created were new and they were more than willing to be surrogates for the money he paid them. They also knew they would have to live at the hospital for the rest of their lives.

The ones who were no longer viable breeders took up jobs elsewhere. Some of them were lab workers. Others took on a custodial job cleaning rooms for the MODs. The rest of them worked in the kitchens.

And every one of them knew if they showed any maternal love toward the MODs, they’d be let go, and by let go, he meant death. That was part of the agreement with the government. They couldn’t have those females out in the public, spreading information only a few knew.

After working for a few hours on the slides and other lab work, he jotted down notes on the charts of the newborns and added their assigned destinations. Two were going to be warriors, and one, a male, would be classified as a tracker. Their genes were strong, and he smiled at the idea of his creations.

He’d done well, and he would be rewarded by the government once the MODs were needed for the war that was supposedly coming.

Rose scented Kraven as she woke from her slumber. Her eyes were still heavy, and if she wanted to, she could go back to sleep for another hour or so.

“Good morning,” Kraven whispered as he slid beneath the covers.

She moaned in what was becoming a very familiar sound when he was touching her. Despite her not needing Talon’s blood to survive, she was thankful to find that the mating thing amongst shifters was not absent from her.

“Morning,” she said after covering her mouth with the back of her hand. “What’s on the agenda today?”

“Well, I thought I’d feed you first. Then, after that, I’d like to sit down with you and ask you a few more questions about the hospital. Maybe we could go over some photos of big cities around the Great Lakes.”

She tried to picture what she saw out of the window of her room at the hospital, but there wasn’t much to go on. The day she fled, she didn’t pay much attention to the landscape because she was so scared of getting caught. There were a few buildings, but how could they figure out the location just from that?

“I’ll be glad to do that,” she admitted, rolling over to face him. “I want to free the other MODs, because now that I know how shifters are supposed to live, I can’t imagine them being captive there at the hospital.”

“Get dressed and meet me in the kitchen,” he ordered softly, of course.

Kraven kissed her on the lips and slid from the bed. She watched him walk away and had to tamp down the desire she had for him. Who would’ve known she’d like sex as much as she did?

Once she got out of the shower, she donned her typical hoodie, but instead of jeans, she grabbed a pair of sweatpants instead. The temperatures were dropping again, and with the Christmas holiday closing in, they would be preparing for the first of the year and the one thing everyone was hoping would happen…snow.

Rose had to laugh because she had seen snow several times a year her entire life. If she was from the Chicago area, she was certain they had already had at least a dusting. Which had her thinking more about where she came from.

Sitting heavily on the bed, she felt frustrated at the fact she could memorize complex instructions but had no idea when it came to geography. That was something she should’ve been taught in her classes, but she hadn’t been chosen for that. Her MOD friend, however, had.

“Everything okay?” Kraven asked from the doorway.

“I’m frustrated with myself,” she admitted.

“What’s wrong? Why are you frustrated?” He came to sit next to her, taking her hand into his. She felt his warmth and strength and it helped her focus.

“I should’ve known where I escaped from,” she groaned. “Each of us were divided up into different groups. I was a fighter, and that was my area of focus. The female, who I now realize was my friend, was put into classes for planning, and her specialty was geography. I should’ve asked her where we were, but I was too afraid of someone finding out what my plans were.”

“Do you think she would’ve told someone of your plans?”

“No.” She paused. “I don’t think so. She had even made her own comments a few times about how she felt like a prisoner. For all I know, she might’ve left too.”

Rose was worried for her MOD friend, and damn if she had left, too, the Trackers would’ve found her and killed her. She wasn’t as fast as Rose by any means. In fact, she was a bit nerdy and would rather spend her time reading textbooks than sparring.

“If she did, we will find her,” he promised, pulling their conjoined hands up to his lips where he kissed the back of her hand. “Breakfast is ready. Come on.”

“I didn’t know what real friendships were until I came here and saw the connection you have with your pride family,” she said as she laid a napkin across her lap. “That’s what I meant when I said MOD-122101 was my friend.”

“We will find her,” he promised. However, his eyes flashed amber sparks for just a moment before returning to his normal icy blue. “When we find the hospital, things will be hectic for a while, but it’ll all be settled down once we save all of the MODs.”

“I know.” She took a deep breath and blew it out in a rush, knowing exactly what Kraven was talking about. “I’ve trained for hostage rescues. So, I’m not completely oblivious.”

“Good,” he said with a nod and a soft smile. “Do you want to spar with me now that we can touch each other?” His mating scent drifted across the table with his question.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she teased.

“I think I can handle it,” he replied, tucking into his food.