Marshal’s hand moved, clasping the weapon at his side as the two soldiers brought their automatic rifles up a few inches higher, aiming them straight at Jacob’s heart.

“Release her to me, Jacob,” Marshal ordered again. “Or I may have to get testy. You know how unpredictable I am when I get testy.”

“Unpredictable?” Jacob questioned the word. “Rabid, you mean? You are like a diseased dog, Marshal, that needs to be put down. I would never trust you with my woman.”

“You are not looking at the bigger picture, you fool!” Marshal finally spat out. “She is trying to conceive. We cannot allow untested conception, Jacob. You know what it could mean to the future of civilization. The world is not ready for your kind. We must fix this problem. Only a Breed fully human can be allowed to survive.”

Shock ripped through his system. Insanity glowed in Marshal’s eyes. A fanatical gleam that hinted at a greater evil.

“Fully human? How could this be possible? What insane experiments are you bastards involved in now? We are not fully human, Marshal,” Jacob reminded him.

“You are abominations. That must be fixed if you are going to force your seed on the world,” Marshal spat out. “The Felines were bad enough. We will not allow it with your Packs as well.”

Insanity. Only the insane could have conceived the plan to create the Breeds. Only the demented, true monsters could carry out their plans.

“Then perhaps your Council should not have created us,” Jacob shot back. “We were to be your dogs of war, your trained pets to carry out your perverted plans. They forgot, Marshal, only humans are naturally deceptive. Naturally cruel. The breeds they chose were the most honorable, as well as the most savage. We were not meant to be your mindless puppets.”

Marshal’s face flushed as fury engulfed him.

“Puppets be damned. You are all animals who now think you have the right to live and multiply. The Council created you, and they will now destroy you.”

Two things happened simultaneously. Jacob pushed Faith to the floor behind the dubious protection of the chair as he brought the gun to bear on the three men already pulling the triggers on their own weapons.

The glass in the windows behind him shattered as he fell to the floor, covering Faith’s body, firing at the enemy that would destroy all he had ever dreamed or prayed for.

But it wasn’t Stygian or the Enforcers that came through the windows, guns blazing, a war cry sounding on their lips. Jacob’s attention splintered from Marshal and his men as shock tore through his body. It couldn’t be possible. Even the Council in all their perversions and cruelties couldn’t have actually managed to create a Breed such as this.

But they had, the proof of it rolled across the floor. Three large males in their prime, weapons blazing, rage reflecting in their cries as they focused their fury on Marshal and his men.

“Don’t kill them all, dammit!” Jacob screamed as he saw a soldier fall. “Marshal, we need Marshal.”

He had no idea if his words were heard above the commotion. He kept Faith covered, his heart pounding in fear as weapons blazed and bullets ricocheted around the room.

“Dammit, Jacob, get off me,” Faith cursed beneath him as he held her securely to the floor, protecting her with his own body. “I’m going to kick your ass when I get up.”

She jerked beneath him, her voice raised furiously.

As the last shot fired, Jacob was on his feet.

“Find out who the hell they are,” he yelled as he pointed imperiously at the three winged men slowly coming back to their feet. “Dammit, we don’t need any more fucking Breeds running around the world. Kill the fucking Council members I say…”

He rushed into the hall, shouting orders as he went, cursing the blood and the damage done to the house.

“Does this look like my house?” he yelled out as he passed through the doorway. “Goddammit it, Caleb is gonna kill all of us.”

* * * * *

“Not if I kill you first,” Faith muttered as she turned to face the three men watching her, their aristocratic expressions immediately setting her hackles up.

“Let me guess,” she said roughly. “Alphas of course. Where the hell are all the betas, don’t any of them survive genetic selection? Betas are good things.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Marshal didn’t make it to questioning. Neither did any of the others. Faith listened to Jacob curse loudly, violently.

“One. All I ask for is one. Just don’t kill one of them, so we can question them,” he growled as he faced Stygian furiously. “What happened?”

“They had bigger guns, boss.” Stygian shrugged. “Shoot first, worry about questions later. This ain’t no place for serious wounds.”

Faith watched Jacob as he wiped his hand over his face in a gesture of extreme frustration. She stood back patiently as she shared an amused look with Cian, the second in command of the Winged Breeds.

Jacob turned to Faith. “You find something amusing here, mate?” He scowled.

Faith shrugged. “Maybe.”

Jacob’s eyes narrowed. She could feel his lust, his aggravation, his fury, all combining in a way that made her blood pressure soar.

“Such as?” he bit out.

“Such as the fact that our new Breeds have some interesting information.” She shrugged. “While you were taking care of Alpha business, I was being the good little Liaison and gathering facts.”

“Like?” A thread of suspicion entered his tone.

“Like the fact that the Council has developed an intriguing little serum. One that they believe will force conception, but in doing so, will ensure that all Breed DNA is reversed in the child.”

Shocked disbelief lined the expressions turned toward her.

“They believe they can fuck with nature a second time, within the same genetic code?” He growled. “Have they lost their minds?”

“Did they ever have any?” Cian asked him then as he leaned casually against the wall in the kitchen where they were gathered. “They have two human women, who they have forced into heat, similar to what the Breed females suffer. By studying these women and their physical and hormonal changes, they think this can be done.”

“What else have they done to them?” Jacob asked darkly.

Cian shook his head. “There is one at our Labs, where our commander and two of the youngest of our clan is being held. Her screams…”

He went no further.

“Which one? The Dunmore woman or Roberts’ get?” Stygian bit out, his voice cold, hard.

“Charity Dunmore. She was brought in several months ago. She was still there when we escaped. We do not believe she will live much longer. Whatever they have done has…affected…her.

“Call Wolfe.” He turned to Faith. “I want Aiden and his men here.”

“Taken care of.” Faith nodded firmly. “I’ve also put out a call to any Packs close enough to aid us.”

“Have they moved the Lab?” He turned back to Cian.

“They will not move it. It is very heavily defended though. Part of the mountain itself. It will not be easy to breach.”

“None of them are,” Jacob assured him. “We’ll begin planning when Wolfe and Aiden arrive. Until then, we prepare. Faith.” He turned to her slowly again. “Get ready, you’ll be returning to the Pack compound to stay with Hope. I’ll need you there to coordinate the Packs, and to protect the home base.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Hours later, after a hot meal and a steamy bath, Faith awaited Jacob in their bedroom. She sat in one of the chairs, facing the door. Some of Jacob’s plans and preparations would of course have to be revised. His latest bombshell in regards to her would be shelved, or she was going to shoot him herself.

Provide protection for the home base. She snorted rudely. As though any would be needed. Every man, woman and child was trained to protect and uphold the security of the home base. And Hope would never allow Wolfe to leave her behind, this Faith was certain of. Just as she would not be left behind either. It was time her mate learned that they were now a team, no longer separate entities. He was going to have to get over this protection issue he seemed to have problems with.

She didn’t have much longer to wait for him. He entered the bedroom quietly, closing the door behind him as he took a deep breath. Faith reached over and flipped on the small lamp, catching a glimpse of his haggard, worried expression before it cleared.

“Everything ironed out?” she asked, keeping her voice carefully bland.

“Wolfe and Aiden will be here in the morning. We will hit the Labs three days from now.” His voice was cold. Hard.

“And is he leaving Hope behind?” She tilted her head, watching him curiously as he cast her a fulminating glance.

“You are going to get just as stubborn as our Leader’s mate, aren’t you?” he bit out furiously.

And he was angry. She could see it pulsing in the air around him, glowing in his pale eyes.

“You know, Jacob, being a mate to you is becoming particularly frustrating. You cannot protect us the way you want to. You can’t wrap me in wool and set me on a shelf, only to take me down when you wish to play.”

She settled herself back in her chair, watching him with lazy amusement. He was snarling silently, the strong points of his canines gleaming in the dim light of the room.

“Did I say I wished to do this?” He removed his shirt with short, furious movements.

“There are some things you don’t have to say, Jacob,” she pointed out. “I will not return to the Pack home base. I will fight by your side, or I will leave you. And I promise you, there will be no returning when I do so.”

Shock held him rigid. Faith watched his body tense, his eyes widen as he faced her.

“Why?” he whispered roughly. “Why would you do this, Faith, when you know I want only to be assured of your safety?”

She wondered if he was aware of the edge of pain, or fear that ran through his voice. She was, and though it broke her heart to see him come to terms with what he felt was a weakness within himself, she refused to back down.

“Because you can’t assure my safety,” she told him bleakly. “Because our lives have been a fight from the time of our creation. Because there is no protection for me or for you. I am your mate. I was created by man, but nature made me compatible to only one male. And that male is you. I will not stand alone while you risk yourself, time and again. I won’t wait in silence, wondering if or when you will return. I won’t do it, Jacob, because I can’t bear the separation.”

“So you would risk yourself?” he bit out. “Risk any child you would conceive, and my sanity by rushing into danger beside me?”

“The same as you risk yourself, and protection a child of ours would have if you died,” she snapped back. “Should I conceive, then I will of course reconsider my options. But until that day arrives, if a separation occurs between us, then consider it permanent.”

“I would have no other woman—”

“Do you think this has something to do with jealousy or trust?” she asked him, furious now as he stared at her with dark hunger. “Do you believe I do not trust that you would never touch another woman? I do trust you, Jacob. But my place is at your side, not locked in a compound away from you. I will not do this.”

She watched as he plowed fingers through his hair in frustration. His face was lined with pain and bitterness, and his own worries for her safety. A safety he was well aware that he could never ensure.

“I stayed away from you to protect you,” he finally bit out roughly. “Six years I denied everything I was, because of my fears for you. You expect me to forget these overnight. To go on, as though the danger to you does not exist.”