Epilogue

Walker

"Come on in and take a seat. Lindsey, it"s good to see you. How are you?"

"I"m good Kyle, thanks," she said as she sat on the couch, and I squeezed in next to her.

I didn"t exactly know why the Alpha had called us over to his house on a random Tuesday afternoon, but here we were. Whatever it was must be important because even Michael didn"t gripe about it when I asked for time off.

"I"m sorry to spring this on you. I had hoped to discuss it first," Kyle said, and I suddenly had a bad feeling. An Alpha rarely apologized for anything. "We only have a few minutes before he arrives."

"Who?"

"An ally. I don"t want to worry you. He"s human but knows about our kind. He"s been tracking the Experiments, and until you, he assumed there was no humanity left in any of them. Now we know you may not be an anomaly. You said your challenger was an Experiment also. How did you know?"

I reached for Lindsey's hand to let her know I was here for her.

"If you don"t want to talk about it, you don"t have to," I told her.

"He"s right," Kyle confirmed. "But if there's a chance there are others like you out there who need help, your information could be crucial to saving their lives."

She nodded. "I don"t mind talking about it. It doesn"t even feel real anymore. But I"d rather wait until your friend arrives so I don"t have to tell it twice."

"Okay. So how are the kids?"

I relaxed and that helped my girl relax too.

"They"re doing great. I can"t even believe how well they"ve adjusted here."

"I heard Maya may be staging a coup and forming her own little Pack over at the school."

I laughed. "She"ll be running the place before you know it if you aren"t careful."

"Perhaps I"ll channel that little genius ingenuity into a leadership position at Westin Force someday."

"You know, I could see it."

We both laughed until the knock at the door shut us up quickly.

Kyle got up and opened the door to a man I was pretty sure I"d never seen before, though there was something about him that looked oddly familiar too.

"Lindsey, Walker, this is FBI Special Agent Nick Stone."

Nick Stone.

Nick Stone.

My brain started processing the name like a damn database of information.

Ah-ha! I knew there was something familiar about him.

"Any relation to Detective Nick Stone?" I asked unable to place the township, but I could recall a few bits and pieces of the mission where he"d been encountered by Bravo down in Florida. At least, I was pretty sure it was in Florida while Jake Forrester was deep undercover with the Raglan.

"Former Detective," he confessed.

"Thought so. We didn"t have the chance to meet, but I've read your file."

"What does the FBI want with Experiments?" Lindsey asked softly, scooting a little closer to my side.

I wrapped a protective arm around her. If Kyle thought it was safe to talk to this guy, then I had to believe it was true. But I didn"t have to like it.

"Seems someone in the chain of command knows what I know. I"m not sure who yet, but I don"t find it ironic to find myself stuck on one shifter case after another when everyone else on my team seems oblivious. This has led me to the south on several occasions now."

"Experiments," Lindsey whispered.

"Yes. So far, they"ve all appeared to be unimaginable monsters, the things of nightmares with no signs of humanity. I can only assume that Westin Force has been monitoring some of my case files. I guess I shouldn"t be surprised but was when Kyle reached out. Especially when he admitted he had a little Experiment that was perfectly human. Am I to assume that"s you, Lindsey?"

She started to confirm it, but I interceded.

"Why would you assume that?"

He sat back and stared at me for a sec and nodded. "Maybe you aren"t even realizing it, but you are basically pissing all over your mate. She is your mate, right? The arm wrapped around her, the body situated close and leaned towards her, ready to cover her at a second's notice. Should I go on?"

I looked down at myself and almost laughed because he was right.

"It"s me," Lindsey confirmed. "Kyle says you"d like to hear my story. Or do you have specific questions you"d like to ask?"

"Direct and to the point. I appreciate that. How about you start from the beginning with how you came to be with the Raglan and what exactly happened to you."

She took a deep breath and launched into a story of facts and not emotions. I suspected that"s the way she had to tell it to get through it all. It wasn"t as easy as that for me. With every mention of testing and the pain she suffered my wolf grew more agitated.

"Do we need to take a break, Walker?" Kyle finally asked me. "Or do you need to step away for a minute?"

"No, sir."

I linked my fingers with hers, needing to ground myself and remind my wolf and I that this was in the past. The horrors she"d been put through were long before we knew her, maybe even before we knew who the Raglan were.

Still, it did nothing to stave off the pain in my chest at having somehow let her down.

I took out my phone and sent a quick text off to Shelby.

ME: Bestie!

BFF: I"ll keep them.

ME: How'd you know I was going to ask?

BFF: You started with bestie. LOL

ME: Damn. Gonna have to watch that.

BFF: Haha. You can try!

BFF: How"s it going?

ME: Harder than I expected.

BFF: Big hugs. Just be strong for her.

ME: I'm trying.

BFF: Gonna mark your territory later, huh?

ME: All night long.

ME: You know me too well.

BFF: LOL Scary.

BFF: Pay attention.

I groaned. She really did know me too well.

"I honestly thought my wolf had died in the process, but having met this guy, I"m not so sure about that anymore. She"s changed but also hasn"t. It"s really hard to explain."

"And you really can control this beast?" Stone asked.

We both nodded. "She"s like any normal shifter, her animal is just a bit different."

She laughed and shook her head. Her eyes sparkled with mischief and happiness.

"I wouldn"t exactly say that."

I shrugged. "I would. I love her beast, for the record."

Stone smiled at me. "I think I"ve got enough to go on here. That"s one badass woman you have there to have survived all that."

"You don't need to tell me. I thank God every day for her."

"If I have any other questions, can I call you?" he asked.

"Yes. That would be fine. And if you happen to find anyone like, uh, me . . ."

"I"ll let you know."

We shook hands and said goodbye. He couldn"t leave fast enough. My head was already spinning with a dozen different positions I was going to take her in tonight to remind us both that she was fine; she was here; and she was mine.

"Will this be going in your official report or anything?" Lindsey asked as he was walking out the door.

"What report? I was never here."

*****