Daria stared at the rendition. The beast had to be at least eight feet tall, with a thick skull shaped like a tiger's and a maw similar to a gator's, but with the mouth much shorter. It stood erect on two hind legs, thighs thick as tree trunks. Its chest was like a barrel, arms strong, hands and feet sort of webbed, with sharp claws on the end. The hide was tough and scaly-looking.
The creature was the ugliest fictional monster Daria had ever seen. Only it wasn't a costume for some alien movie. It was fact.
Everyone looked their fill for a few moments, the mood somber. Finally, Ryon spoke. "I hate to say this, but there's only one way I can think of as to how this monster came into existence."
"Unfortunately, you're on the right track. When we liberated Malik's and Bowman's test subjects from the last lab, one of them obviously escaped." Nick heaved a weary breath, but met his men's gazes steadily.
"And now we have some poor bastard who was turned into a mutant killing machine wreaking havoc on the general population."
"Jesus Christ," someone moaned.
Nick gave a grim laugh. "I have a bad feeling we're going to need more help than that."
Daria had a bad feeling he was right.
Chapter Six
Jax was pissed. Ryon watched his friend, knew he was taking the news badly. As they all were.
Jax yanked at his goatee in anger. "I don't see how it's possible we lost one. We were careful!"
"You can't take this personally," Ryon told him. "It's not your fault, or anyone's. Remember, the building exploded and some of us were injured. In the chaos, one of the test subjects ran. It's a pretty believable and understandable outcome."
Kalen pushed from the wall where he'd been leaning. "I just remembered something. Right before the building blew, Bowman was excited, talking about a test subject that was almost a perfect example of the super-soldier they were trying to create. He apparently had more tweaking to do, but in his twisted mind he was nearly there. What if that's the one who escaped?"
"It's a good theory," Nick said. "No one on our list of survivors has anywhere close to the horrible genetic mutation that our subject has acquired. So, it has to be one that got past us, perhaps Bowman's pet. Do you recall what Bowman said about the subject?"
Kalen nodded. "Yeah. He said something like 'Bring the wolf to OR-4. I want to try to splice his DNA with human subject 356 again. I'm on the verge of a breakthrough.'"
"That could be important. Every bit of information helps."
"You know," Micah said thoughtfully. "if this creature is in fact one of the poor bastards like me who got experimented on, that might explain why I felt him at the first victim's murder scene."
Ryon nodded. "That's right. I felt a vibration, but for you it was like ants crawling on your skin."
"A lot of tests were done on our skin," Micah said. "Might be why I get a prickling sensation when he's close."
"So what's the plan?" Ryon asked.
Nick clicked the remote and brought up a map of the Shoshone. "The forest is too vast to search the entire region at once. I think we should split into teams and look in the areas in the grid close to where the bodies were found. See if we can find where the creature is holed up."
"And if we do find it?" Aric snorted. "Should we ask it nicely to come with us? Man, I'm no pussy, but that thing? That's seriously messed up."
"I'm with Aric," Hammer put in. The big, quiet man usually just listened and used his muscle whenever and wherever needed, and he had plenty of that. But even he appeared worried. "We've got no idea yet what that thing can do."
Their commander shared their concerns, but his directions stood. "Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where we won't know until we dive in. I wish there was another way, but there isn't."
"When do we leave?" Jax asked.
"First light." His smile was grim. "When it's up and ready for breakfast."
More grumbling ensued. Micah shifted in his seat. "A question. Since the white wolf has been ruled out as the killer, why did it push Daria into the ravine?"
Nick was silent a moment. Whatever his thoughts were, he wasn't happy about them. "I don't know. But I'm going to find out."
Interesting choice of words. I'm going to find out. Not We'll find out. But Nick always played his cards close to the vest. Getting a secret out of him was like sneaking a gold bar out of Fort Knox.
"Everyone can go, except Ryon and Daria."
The others filed out, shooting them looks of sympathy. As good a boss as Nick might be, nobody liked to be the one singled out for a meeting when he took on that tone. Once everyone was gone, Nick moved closer to him and Daria, taking a seat at the table across from them. Most of Nick's attention was for his mate, and Ryon was puzzled. But not for long.
"Daria, I spoke with your father today."
That gave her a visible jolt. Her eyes widened. "Dad? How did you get in touch with him? Why?"
"Actually, he got in touch with me. The news story about the killings here went national and your name was mentioned as the wildlife biologist who stumbled onto one of the bodies and became injured."
She rubbed her temples. "Oh, no. I didn't think he would hear the story all the way in Missouri."
"Yeah. He's apparently been going nuts calling the Sheriff's Department for the past two days trying to find out where you were. Of course, that information was being kept secret and Jesse has been so swamped that he missed receiving your dad's messages until this morning."
"What did he tell Dad?"
"Just that you were fine, staying with friends while you recovered from your so-called scrapes and bruises," he said wryly. They all knew the danger had been much more than that. "He promised your dad you would call."
"Damn. I'd hoped to get through this without him finding out." She frowned.
"Any particular reason?"
She leaned back, looking annoyed. "He's a worrywart. Dad and I are close, and he'd be in my hip pocket if he could, keeping his baby safe."
Nick's sudden smile was wistful. "Dads are like that. You should cut him some slack."
Ryon wondered at his tone, the expression, but the moment passed.
"Well, thank you for telling me. I would've called him in another day or two anyway, though I wasn't going to mention my, um, adventure."
"You should know that he's been trying to reach you since before he knew you'd been hurt. Not only does he want to make sure his daughter's all right, he has some news from home and needs you to call right away."
Daria looked alarmed. "Is he okay? Did he say what's wrong?"
"Your dad is fine," Nick assured her. "No, it's something else. He wanted you to hear it from him."
"He told you what it is?"
"Yes. But I think you should talk to your dad."
Nick, what's going on? Ryon asked through his telepathic link.
Daria will tell you when she's ready. Just be there for your mate.
So I'm here for moral support?
Basically.
That doesn't help me much.
You'll understand soon.
Jesus! Half the damned time, that's all the man had to say. He would either speak in riddles or not give any information at all. It made Ryon want to hit something.
Nick rose, signaling the conclusion of their brief meeting. Ryon frowned at his boss, but the man wasn't giving anything away. After issuing a reminder to Ryon that the team was leaving early in the morning, he headed out.
Ryon took Daria's good hand as they walked into the hallway, and she looked at him in surprise. Pleasure also blossomed on her face.
"It's been forever since someone held my hand."
"That's a shame," he said with a grin. "Because if ever there was a pretty hand made for holding, this one is it." He brought said hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. He loved her sweet scent, sort of like orange and ginger. He'd smelled a candle like that once in some fancy bath store. He liked it, a lot.
"What a sweet thing to say."
Only her worry seeping through their bond regarding the impending talk with her dad put a blight on his mood. Just a temporary one, though, because in the wake of that came a tentative caress against their bond. A brush of contentment and well-being that couldn't be faked. He doubted she knew she was doing it, reaching out to him as a mate, and that both scared and elated him.
The last thing he wanted was for her to feel trapped.
"Would you like to come to my room to make your call?" he asked, trying to keep the boyish hope from his voice. "I'd like to make you dinner instead of going to the cafeteria."
She brightened. "You can cook?"
"I'm a pretty damned good cook, if I do say so," he said proudly. "My mom made sure I knew how when I was growing up, and I found it to be very therapeutic."
"That's cool," she replied with enthusiasm. "I can't cook to save my life, except for the prepackaged stuff I have to keep with me when I'm staying in the field, performing my studies."
"MREs. God, I remember those days from the SEALs."
"Meals ready to eat, the bane of my existence." She smiled. "We have something in common."
"Oh, yes." He grimaced. "I had to endure those for far too long. Every single one I choked down made me long for my mother's kitchen."
"You're lucky. My dad is a fair cook, but not a ton better than me. We ate out a lot."
"Nothing wrong with that, but it's good to enjoy a home-cooked meal once in a while. I'm going to spoil you."
"Well, Mr. Hunter, I'm going to let you." She sounded light, happy. It was a good look on her, too.
"Great! What's your favorite food?"
"Um, anything someone else cooks?" She snickered. "We already established I'm grateful for whatever isn't freeze-dried."
"Seriously, there must be some hard limits. Stuff you don't like."
"Hmm. I'll eat almost anything, but if I had to say, I'm not big on pasta."
He gave a mock gasp. "What? That's just wrong!"
She laughed. "I know I'm weird, but I don't care for slimy food. Don't like calamari or escargot, either."
"Okay. Squid pasta it is." He loved the sound of her voice when she giggled. "Nah, how about chicken quesadillas? I grill my chicken and everything, don't use that precooked meat in the package."
"That sounds fabulous."
When they got to his quarters, he let them in and gestured to the phone as he led her into his living room. "Feel free to use my phone. I'll be in the kitchen to give you some privacy."
"Thank you."
Walking to the fridge, he opened the freezer door and got out a package of boneless chicken breasts, trying not to eavesdrop. Okay, trying not to appear as though he was eavesdropping. She punched in the number and waited for it to ring, and as she started talking softly, he felt guilty. She had no idea that while a normal human man would've had to strain to make out her words, Ryon had no such problem.
"Hey, Dad! Yes, I'm fine, I've just been- No, no, everything's okay." A pause. "No, there's absolutely no need for you to fly out here!"
He smiled at the hint of desperation flowing through their bond. His mate definitely didn't want her father rushing to the rescue. Taking care of her was Ryon's job anyway-even if she didn't know it yet.
"Just a few scrapes and bruises, nothing serious." Pause. "Yes, it was awful. I've seen death, but never anything like that. Nobody here knows for sure what killed that poor woman, but it was probably a grizzly."