Power Unleashed (3 page)

kidnapped some of us, but that’s not from firsthand knowledge. I woke up in a lab with

ten other wolves. By the time Perez and his doctor were finished…” She didn’t finish

because she didn’t need to. He knew only two of them walked out of that lab.

“Do you know what he did with the other bodies?”

Swallowing hard, she shook her head. She’d watched too many of her packmates

slowly die—writhing in agony from all the injections and experimentation. If she

thought about it too long, she knew she’d fall into a pit of depression and she couldn’t

allow that to happen. Not until Morales was caught. Only then could she grieve.

“Do you know what he was doing with your blood?”

Again she shook her head. As the questions continued she tried to

compartmentalize her thoughts.
Where is the human he injected? Were you ever allowed

outside? What kind of experiments was he performing?
The questions were never ending

and her head was starting to hurt. Memories flooded back in a sickening rush. No, she

wasn’t allowed outside. She hadn’t seen sunlight in over a year and that disgusting

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doctor had touched her however and whenever he’d wanted. At least he hadn’t raped

her. Paz pressed a hand to her stomach.

Frowning, Adam sat up straighter. “Are you okay?”

No.
“I’m fine. Do you think we could finish these questions later?”

He paused, nodded and stood. When he did, he held out his hand to her. She stared

dumbly at it until she realized what he wanted. For some reason the thought of

touching him scared her, but she placed her hand in his. An unexpected electric zing

shot through her like lightning. It coursed up her arm and through her body all the way

to the knot in her stomach.

She met his gaze and what she saw there startled her. It was lust. Plain and simple.

That surprised the hell out of her. Tucker had such a reputation for being scary, but

maybe the way he got his information from she-wolves was by seducing them. She

yanked her hand away and wrapped her arms around herself. “I think you should wait

to question Shea. She had a worse time of it than me and it’s too crowded for her right

now. Question her tomorrow morning. I’ll bring her over to your house.” It came out

like an order. As she spoke she realized it was stupid to bark orders at him of all

wolves, but she couldn’t help it. She was worried about her friend and the truth was,

Paz had lost a lot of her social skills and couldn’t seem to rein in her big mouth.

His eyebrows snapped down as he regarded her, but he nodded. “That’s fine. Make

it early and maybe we can go for a run in the morning.”

The request startled her. “Oh ah…okay.”

His gaze softened on her face as he held open the door for her. She couldn’t help

but wonder what the hell was wrong with him. He was an enforcer. Why was he being

so nice?

He cleared his throat and suddenly looked nervous as they stepped inside. “Would

you mind introducing me to everyone?”

“I don’t exactly know everyone either.”

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“All right. Want me to refill your drink then?” He plucked her wineglass from her

hand without waiting for a response.

She frowned at him. She hated that her insides had turned to mush around him

since he was no doubt trying to use her. “I don’t know what this nice guy routine is, but

I know who you are and why you’re here so if you think you can seduce me for

whatever reason, you’re out of your mind. And you better not think you can try that

crap with Shea.”

His emerald eyes darkened until they were practically black. He leaned closer until

he was inches from her ear. She tried to ignore his earthy scent but found it impossible

with his hot breath against her neck. “I do want to fuck you, long and hard, but not for

any other reason than I want you. For the record, I haven’t been with a woman—wolf or

human—in over two decades.” He shoved the glass back into her hand before stalking

away.

Like a mute, she stood there staring after his very tight backside.
Well, shit.

Adam raked a hand through his hair as he strode through the house. Ignoring the

curious stares, he continued until he was outside. He wanted to kick himself for

speaking to her like that. He might be The Council’s enforcer but he sucked at talking to

women. That much was clear.

He fished his keys out of his pocket and headed toward his truck. All his questions

for Shea could wait until tomorrow. Lucas Lazos, the Alpha, wasn’t even here so it

wasn’t as if he needed to stick around to speak to him. Lucas and his mate were on a

trip to speak to Shea’s pack about allowing her to live with them indefinitely. That was

something Adam needed to speak to the blonde about too, but that would just have

to—

“Adam! Wait.”

He turned to find Paz hurrying toward him. Her heels clacked loudly against the

stone driveway. When she reached him, she placed a light hand on his forearm. “I’m

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sorry. I swear I’m not usually such an ass, I just… I think I’ve forgotten how to talk to

people, especially people I don’t know.”

Her apology surprised him. And so did the fact that she wasn’t afraid of him.

Normally an aura of fear surrounded others when they were around him. But she

wasn’t afraid. Hell, none of the Lazos pack seemed to be.

He shook his head. “I think I should apologize for the way I spoke to you. Normally

I don’t lose control like that. I’m not so rude.”

Her brow furrowed. “I didn’t think you lost control… Did you mean what you

said?”

“Ah… About what?”

Her cheeks flushed a bright shade of crimson. “Are you going to make me say it?”

His cock hardened painfully when he realized she wasn’t offended by his graceless

words. Just the opposite in fact. “I meant everything I said.”

She moistened her lips nervously and when she did, all he could picture was that

pink tongue running the length of his cock. He had to bite back a groan of frustration.

Slowly, he reached out and cupped her cheek. When she didn’t step away, he

rubbed his thumb over her skin. It was soft and perfect. Just like the rest of her. Paz’s

breath hitched when he stepped closer, but she
still
didn’t pull back.

He was giving her plenty of time to tell him to stop, but she simply stared at him

with those dark, inviting eyes. Leaning forward, he didn’t stop until his mouth covered

hers. He ordered himself to take it slow, but his body wouldn’t listen.

Threading his hands through her hair, he lightly gripped the back of her skull. With

his other hand, he grabbed her by the waist until she was flush against him. His body’s

reaction to her was pressing against her abdomen.

Her tongue rasped against his in a hungry fervor. She tasted sweet and fruity.

When he tightened his grip on her ass, she wrapped her arms around his neck and

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pressed harder against him. She started grinding against him and it took all his control

not to push up her dress and just start fucking her the way he wanted to.

Somehow, he drew his head back. “We’ve got to stop. Now. Or I’m going to do

something stupid.”

Looking dazed, she stared up at him. Her fingers dug into his shoulders and she

didn’t make an attempt to move away from him. “Wow,” she murmured.

The man and wolf inside him experienced a surge of primal satisfaction. It had been

so long since he’d let his guard down around anyone. After just one kiss, he was ready

to bed her. That hadn’t happened to him in…ever. His body screamed at him to do

something about the dull ache spreading through him. “Do you want to take a walk

along the beach?”

Paz opened her mouth but was cut off.

“Paz!” Marisol’s voice broke them apart. She hurried across the drive toward them.

She looked between them accusingly. “What are you doing?”

Paz looked at Adam then at her sister. “What does it look like?”

Marisol’s mouth opened and she stuttered for a second. “Well, whatever you’re

doing, just stop it and get inside. There’s something on the news you both need to see.”

Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and rushed back in.

Paz was a little embarrassed by her wanton behavior. She barely knew Adam and if

she wanted to do what was good for her, she’d stay away from him. If he found out she

was half fae, he’d probably turn her over to The Council. Hell, if he didn’t kill her first.

She had no clue what his views on mixed-bloods were. For all she knew, he was just as

prejudiced as the majority of werewolves. Taking a step back, she put some distance

between them and averted her gaze. “I guess we better get back in,” she muttered.

“Paz—”

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Whatever he was going to say, she didn’t want to hear it. She followed her sister

and hurried inside, effectively cutting him off. She was a complete and utter idiot. After

a year with no human contact her brain had apparently turned to mush.

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Adam waited until Paz disappeared inside before following. He wanted to give her

space and he needed to get his body under control. As he entered through the front

door he was immediately hit by the silence. No music, no chatter. Once inside the foyer,

he followed the sweet scent of Paz down a short hallway until he found everyone in a

spacious living room.

Everyone was packed inside and watching the news on a flat screen television

against the wall. He spotted Paz immediately. She leaned against the arm of one of the

loveseats where her sister and Shea sat. It was slight, but he didn’t miss the

imperceptible change in her stance. She was aware that he’d entered the room. He tore

his gaze away from her and focused on the screen where a petite Asian woman

delivered the news.

According to police, this is one of the worst animal attacks the city has ever seen. And it’s

not the first. A few days ago, reputed drug dealer Antonio Perez was found mauled to death in

an abandoned warehouse. Police are speculating that whatever killed this couple was the same

animal that killed Perez. Until both families are notified, names are not being released.

A low murmur broke out as they cut to a commercial break. Thomas stood and

flipped the television off. “All right, everyone. We know what this means and who this

probably is. No one goes anywhere unless they’re chaperoned, especially the younger

wolves.” He looked pointedly at a group of three younger she-wolves. They couldn’t

have been more than fifteen or sixteen in human and wolf years. “We stick together like

we always have. Until your Alpha is back in town, you come to me with any problems.

If no one has any questions, go back to the party, enjoy yourselves.” When no one spoke

up, he nodded at Adam, then looked at his brothers and motioned for them to follow

him.

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Adam maneuvered around everyone and followed the three brothers through

another door into what was likely their Alpha’s office. He waited until they all sat then

took a seat next to Nick, who he hadn’t officially met yet. He knew Nick was married to

the redheaded human, that he owned a few auto body shops and that it was his

birthday, but that was it.

Nick gave him a brief nod. “I’m Nick, nice to meet you.”

He took his outstretched hand. “Likewise.”

“Before anyone asks, I left a message with my boss and he still hasn’t gotten back to

me so I don’t know any more about those attacks on the news than you do,” Stephan

said.

A sharp knock on the door had all four of them turning toward the sound. Before

anyone could speak, it flew open and Marisol and Paz stormed in. Actually, Marisol

was the one doing the storming. Paz trailed after her but hung back.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing excluding us?” Marisol growled at

Stephan.

“Damn it, woman!” He started to rise, but Adam took the opportunity to cut him

off.

“I think they should be here for this,” he said quietly. The rogue wolf they were

hunting had personally threatened Marisol. She had a right to hear everything.

Thomas lifted an eyebrow, but he nodded. “I agree. Ladies, have a seat.”

Adam refrained from smiling when Marisol didn’t sit next to her mate but next to

his brother instead. Yeah, someone was in the doghouse tonight.

Thomas took over the floor again. “As far as we know, the couple attacked tonight

is not related to us in any way, but once their names go public, we’ll know for sure. All

the males in our pack are ready to start hunting Morales. As soon as the police clear out

of the park, I think we should start there.”

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Power Unleashed

Adam cleared his throat. Normally he liked to stand back and handle an

investigation by himself, but this was a different situation. They needed to work as a

team and while he realized it, it still went against every fiber of his being. “I have a

friend who works for the DOJ. I’ll call him and see if he can get us access to the traffic

cameras around the park and throughout the city. If we can get an idea of where