Forever's Fight (15 page)

“We’ll be fine. Now, the sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be home.”

“Don’t wait up. I’ll come find you when I get back.” He leaned down and kissed her one last time. Before he pulled away, he wrapped his arms around her, placed his mouth next to her ear, and whispered, “I love you, Clarissa.”

After he left, Clarissa made her way up to the lab. She needed something to think about, to get her mind off his last words. He loved her. She knew it wasn’t just the connection that was between them, because she had been falling in love with him before the mating took place. Her only hope was that he knew she loved him, too, because before she could respond he had turned on his heels, grabbed his bag and was out the door. She remained stunned by his words.

He’ll be back soon, and I can tell him then.
In the meantime, she needed to find a countermeasure for LUNA. They had hoped to have one before this mission, but there was no doubt they had to have one by the next one. The world was becoming too dangerous for any of them to go out without something they could use to defend themselves.

A light tap on the door had her looking up from the latest calculations, and she saw Austin standing in the doorway. “Nolan found this in the supply boxes when they delivered LUNA, and he thought it might be of use to us.” He strolled toward her with a folded piece of paper in hand.

“Where is Nolan, anyway? I haven’t been able to talk to him about LUNA yet.”

“He’s been trying to locate another Ranger shifter and bring him to safety. All we’ve gathered so far is that he took off from the base two days before LUNA arrived, but no one has seen or heard from him since.”

She took the paper from him and unfolded it. “Do you think this Ranger he’s looking for is still alive?”

“I doubt it. He was too much of a live wire.” He frowned. “But he was a good Ranger, and he was a pride mate of Nolan’s, so he feels honor-bound to find out what happened to him.”

“I’m sorry.” She glanced down at the paper. There in black and white was the equation she had been trying to work out. The missing piece of the puzzle. “Wait, how did he get this?”

“He just said it was in the supply box. Why?”

“Find him. I need to speak with him.”

“You’ll need to come downstairs to speak with him,” Austin reminded her.

“That’s fine.” She shoved the pen she had been using in her ponytail and rose from the desk. “Then do you have some time to help me?”

“I’m not a scientist by any means, but I’ll do what I can.”

She smirked at Austin. “I promise it won’t be more than you can handle. I just need additional hands in order to get this done.”

“My hands are all yours for as long as you need.” As they headed toward the door, he turned toward her. “Am I to assume that whatever was on that paper can help you with LUNA?”

“I believe it just might. Which is why I need to ask him how it came into his possession. The government wouldn’t have sent it to any military base. There had to be a reason, and I need to find out why.” Even though she could feel the siblings and knew where each of them was, she couldn’t stop herself as she glanced down the hallway to make sure they were alone. “Would there be any way a shifter could conceal their real intentions from an Alpha?”

“Do you suspect Nolan is a traitor? That he could have been sent here to spy on us or to lead us into a trap?” Before she could answer, he added, “I’ve known Nolan for years. He wouldn’t do a thing like that. He wouldn’t betray his own people for the government. No matter what they offered him.”

“You didn’t answer my question. Is it possible?”

“Maybe. If an Alpha weren’t paying close enough attention to the new member or
any
member for that matter, things could slip past. However, not with Patrick. He’s too careful, especially with everything the family has been through.” When she took a step away from him, he took hold of her arm to stop her. “If you don’t believe me, look for yourself. You’re connected to Nolan now, just as you’re connected to the rest of us.”

“Maybe, but the connection with the rest of you is stronger.”

“That because we’re of the same blood, now that you’ve mated with Patrick. But just focus, and you’ll know Nolan isn’t here to betray us.”

She stared pointedly at him, her brow furrowing. “It wasn’t me who questioned Nolan’s motives, it was you. Is there something you’re not telling me, something Patrick and I should know?”

“Shit.” He cursed softly enough that she almost questioned if she’d actually heard him.

“Whatever it is, tell me.”

“Nolan is a good man and one hell of a Ranger.”

“Why do I feel like there’s a
but
coming?”

He let out a deep sigh. “He needs a leader. That’s why he joined the military. His former Alpha was killed, and the pride went into chaos. They fought amongst themselves. No one took over as Alpha for very long. It was a continual struggle throughout the entire pride before the pride eventually disbanded.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“The trauma that can create is something that can stay with someone. He’s seen his family being torn apart, many of them killed…brutally. I don’t worry about him right now as much as I will if he finds this former pride mate. We will have to keep a close eye on him to make sure he stays on the straight and narrow. He needs the structure the military gave him, but he needs it from us now. As long as he knows his place, I don’t believe we’ll ever have any issues with him. But if he ever suspects he can get away with something, I believe he’ll take that opportunity. He doesn’t have the same moral commitments that most members of a pride have. If he ever steps out of line, I won’t give him the chance to take us down. I’ll kill him, and he knows that.”

“Then it’s our job to make sure we give him what he needs so that doesn’t happen.”

He nodded. “I see you’re stepping into your role as the Alpha’s mate quickly. It will be one less thing Patrick will have to worry about. He needs a good woman by his side. One who can handle the pressures of his role.”

“I’ll do my best to make sure he has what he needs, and I will support him in any way I can. I just wish I’d had that formula before he left. I might have been able to give them something so they were more prepared if…” She forced herself not to think about the danger he could be facing. She knew she could drive herself crazy thinking about
what ifs
.

“We’ll have it next time. That’s when we’ll need it. Right now, they shouldn’t run into too many issues if any at all. It’s when we go after those camps that we really need to worry,” he said. “Come on, let’s see what Nolan has to say about that document.”

She followed after him and tried not to think about the camps. The first one was just outside of Bangor, Maine, but since that memory had returned to her she hadn’t had a chance to study the map and recall the rest. It still bothered her the camps had taken a backseat to the labs, LUNA, and everything else. The shifters imprisoned in those camps might be safe, but it did little to ease the guilt of not being able to get them out.

Dean had told her long ago that she cared too much, and that she couldn’t save everyone. He had been referring to how hard she worked to find a cure for illnesses, but she could see how it impacted her life now. Her caring might be a downfall in some ways, but if she could save just one person, it was all worth it. The information she had brought to the O’Reillys was about to do that, and more. They were about to take down yet another lab, saving countless lives. Not just those who were already imprisoned there, but those who might have been.

One life saved…so many more to go.

Clarissa and Austin found Nolan sitting behind a computer in the library. Dark circles shadowed his eyes,clea
r
indicators he hadn’t slept in a while. The growth along his chin seemed to suggest he wasn’t himself. After over ten years in the military, she highly doubted Nolan could just fall back into a routine of not shaving daily. She suspected it was more likely due to the search for his former pride mate. Everything about him suggested he was on edge, and that one push might send him over the brink. They would have to watch him closely.

“Nolan, we need to have a word with you concerning that paper you gave me.”

“Not now,” he snapped, not bothering to look up at Austin. “I’m busy.”

“Yes, now. I don’t care what you’re doing, it’s not as important as finding a protection against LUNA. None of us will be able to leave this castle if we don’t find something…and soon.”

Clarissa felt a hint of rage from Austin as she sat down across from the desk. “I understand you’re looking for a friend—”

“A brother,” he growled before she could finish.

“We’ve opened our home to you, supported your decision to search for him, and we’ve asked very little from you so far,” Clarissa pointed out. “Now, I just have a few questions, and we’ll let you get back to your search.”

With a huff, Nolan leaned back in the chair and stared across the desk at her. She recognized the challenge in his eyes and refused to back down. She met his rock hard gaze with one of her own, leaning slightly forward in the chair to let him know she was serious. If he thought he was going to intimidate her, then he was wrong.

When his gaze lowered, she smirked and leaned back. Win one for her, but there was no doubt in her mind it was the first of many more to come. “We appreciate that you were able to access the LUNA samples, especially since you brought us multiple injections. It will help us find something we can use against it.”

“So you said.”

“Nolan,” Austin growled.

She crossed her legs and just watched him for a moment. “I’m quickly growing tired of your attitude. This is not how you treat someone who has opened up their pride and home to you. You treat them with respect, and you respect those who are in charge. With all the years you’ve spent in the military, I would have thought you’d understand how the chain of command works. However, if we need to go through an update on just what is expected of you, I’d gladly arrange it.”

“I believe you’re straying from the point.” Nolan adjusted in his seat.

“Actually, that’s part of the point. I’m Patrick’s mate, and I demand the same respect you’d give him if he were sitting before you.”

His eyebrow rose in question. “For a human you seem to have our customs down pretty well. Especially a human who only a short time ago stood against us. How Patrick could accept this mating is beyond me. He should have had more sense and fought it instead of being tied to you.” Every word he spoke was laced with disgust, but it didn’t faze Clarissa.

“Patrick and I are mated, so it entitles me to his knowledge.” She let out a deep breath, and tried to stop herself from reaching over the desk and smacking him for his last comment. Neither did she give in to his baiting, instead, she let his comment slide off her and marked it up to his stress.

Austin stepped up next to her chair. “I brought you here because I believed you would be an asset to us and our fight. I don’t know what’s happened over the years since I left the Army,but you have changed
.
I won’t have you insulting Clarissa or my family. Unless you know what you’re talking about, you should just keep your mouth shut.”

“I know plenty.”

“You know gossip, and you judge me based on what my former employer did. You don’t know who I am or what I’ve done. How would you like it if I judged you against all the military and blamed you for the deaths of your comrades? Not really fair, now is it?” She paused for a moment, but he didn’t answer. “My point is, I never had any part in what went on at Hathaway Medical. At least, not like you believe. I was there as a scientist, but I never took part in any of the experiments they conducted. I only worked there for two weeks.”

“When she found out what they were doing, she left,” Austin added. “Patrick and Blake found her while she was running from them.”

“A scientist, huh?” The disbelief was clear in Nolan’s voice. “Then what did they recruit you for? Because I know for a fact that the military was trying to get you to work for them, and instead you went to Hathaway.”

“You’re right. I had entertained a job offer with the military, but I thought I would be able to do more at Hathaway Medical. When I accepted the position, I was supposed to work on finding a cure for cancer.” She crossed her legs and leaned back in the chair. “All these years, we’ve been able to cure this disease or that one, but never cancer. It was the one thing I worked toward, and it’s the reason I became a scientist.”

“Then you were with the wrong company.”

She nodded. “Hindsight, but I didn’t know at the time. Not everyone who works at Hathaway Medical knows about what happens in the lab, or about the shifters who are hidden away down below. If I had taken the position with the military, I wouldn’t have witnessed what I did, but…then again, I might not have met Patrick and the rest of the O’Reilly family.”

He shook his head, seeming disbelieving of her claim, his arms folded on the desk. “How could you not know what goes on in there?”

“I worked there for two weeks,” she said. “I was just settling in, working, making friends, and basically enjoying it.” Uneasy, she fought the urge to adjust her positioning in her chair. She didn’t want him to see how uncomfortable she was. “It wasn’t until they wanted me to take part in an experiment that I found out what they were doing. I was appalled. Part of me wanted to run down to where they were kept, and do something about it then and there, but I knew it would only get me killed. It wouldn’t help them. After giving my boss an excuse to get out of it, I made it back to my office to gather what I could. I wasn’t sure who I was going to go to with the information I had, but I knew there must be someone out there trying to stand against what was happening, and I decided to find them.”

“See what I mean?” Austin placed his hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “So, before you go judging someone, maybe you should take a few minutes to actually find out their story. Not everything is as black or white as you’d like to think.”

“She still worked for one of the companies that are torturing our kind.” Nolan defended his stance, but now his argument seemed halfhearted.

“And you worked for the government,” Austin pointed out. “They’re the ones who are behind this. Your branch might not be playing an active role in it now, but turn on the news and you’ll see soldiers guarding the camps, capturing shifters. If you’re going to blame her just because of her association with Hathaway Medical, then you’re going to need to look in the mirror because you’d be just as guilty.”

It was clear they weren’t going to get through to Nolan just yet, and they were wasting time. When Patrick returned, he’d have to have a long conversation with him and make sure Nolan understood his place if he were going to stay there. Otherwise, it was better to cut their loss before he did something stupid and got them all hurt. “Due to your attitude, we got off track,” Clarissa said. “I came down here to speak to you about that paper you gave Austin. How did you get it?”

“How?” He shrugged. “I grabbed it from the box.”

“You know that’s not what she meant,” Austin growled his impatience showing. “That’s a confidential file. How did you get your hands on it?”

“Why was it sent to your base to begin with?” she added before he had time to answer.

“Because they’re one of the bases that will begin production on the stuff,” Nolan said as if they should have already known.

“What?” Austin stepped forward and placed his hands on the desk. “You didn’t think this was something you should have told me when you got here?”

“Sorry if I was preoccupied trying to save someone that actually needs my help, instead of thinking about fucking LUNA.”

She spent the next twenty minutes gathering every bit of information she could about what the base was doing, and how LUNA was going to be produced and distributed. She repeated her questions in different ways just to make sure she was getting everything she could from him. In the end, Nolan seemed to know very little about any of it, only that they were starting production the following week, and it would be round the clock.

Even after questioning him with Austin’s help, she still couldn’t stop the nagging feeling that he had some other nugget of information they hadn’t been able to get out of him. Neither of them wanted to find out there was something else he was hiding. By the time they stepped out of the library, she was ready to throttle the man. He had worked his way under her skin until she thought she was going to climb over that desk just to get at him.

“You handled that well,” Austin told her once they had put some distance between them and the library.

“That’s so unlike me.” She waited until they were past the kitchen where Jade was busy making something that smelled truly delicious. From the hints in the air, Clarissa would have guessed there was a roast in the oven and fresh apple pie cooling on the counter. The scent had her stomach yearning for a bite. “He tried to dominate me with his gaze,” she added as an afterthought.

“You didn’t let him.”

“I know. But I’ve always been more of a loner, doing whatever I needed to avoid fighting with someone. Submissive, if that helps you understand what I’m trying to say. But now…”

“You are an Alpha’s mate, and that changes you. A submissive mate would be no good to a pride. I know you can feel his beast within you, and that’s giving you the strength to be the woman he needs by his side.” He touched her arm. “I don’t think there was ever anything submissive about you.”

“I ran when I knew what was happening at Hathaway Medical. Isn’t that enough proof?”

He shook his head. “That’s only proof that you’re smart. You knew you couldn’t handle it on your own, and that you were no help to anyone dead. You’re a strong woman, and you’re becoming stronger because of the mating. That’s what all of us need. Especially Patrick.”

Hathaway Medical was just like all the other medical buildings Patrick had been in. The first floor had all the labs one would expect, with offices on the top floors. But this building had a secret lab hidden underground. That’s where the danger and horrors waited for any unsuspecting person who happened to stumble upon it. They had done their best to keep those unwanted intruders out, with high-tech security at every door. Luke had given each of them a security card, and a homemade jammer to guarantee they’d get through every layer.

Blake was outside setting up the explosives, so they could blow the place sky high when they finished. Chase had continued farther down the hall with Andrew in search of any surviving captives. Meanwhile, Patrick had headed to Doctor Songborn’s office. He was in charge down here in the basement, and he was also the one referenced in the file concerning the experiments on children. If they were going to find anything, it would be locked away in his office. Patrick only hoped he could do it in time.

Entering the office, he glanced around at the clutter. First impressions said a lot, but the biggest thing he noted was Doctor Songborn didn’t like technology. Even though there was a computer sitting on the desk, there was a thin layer of dust coating it, and stuff stacked on top of it. The half empty cup of what had once been coffee, but now appeared to be sludge, sat on top of the ancient desktop. There would be nothing on the computer worth wasting time on. Anything of interest would be on paper.

Behind the desk was a lone bookshelf, mostly holding medical books, but there were a few personal articles. As Patrick rifled through them, he discovered nothing that shed any light on a life outside the office. This guy appeared to be a workaholic, and Patrick had less than twenty minutes to go through the mess in order to find the file he needed. Anything that might be important, he’d stick in his bag to examine later, but the file on the child they’d experimented on was the most important thing.

He rubbed his hands together and dug into the stack of papers on the desk. It was unlikely the file was there, but the mess before him was what the doctor had been working on recently, and therefore it was important. He’d scan it quickly before tossing it into the bag he had on the chair while he got into the man’s head and figured out where he’d have put such confidential files. This was information even someone with the highest level of clearance wouldn’t have access to. Experimenting on a child would be something they’d want very few people to know about.