Hawke
As the fire crackled before us, I told Maddie about the tragic deaths of my mom and sister, the military enlistment, the move into the black-ops shit—the darkest fucking days of my life.
I told her about all the dirty missions in the world’s most fucked-up places, how I still had nightmares about them. Could still hear men screaming and begging for death—men from both sides of the line.
And then, I told her about the experiments. The military’s endless quest to build a better, stronger, unstoppable army.
“I still don’t understand the science behind it,” I said. “Something about DNA and genetic sequencing and molecular reprogramming… The experiments weren’t exactly optional or consensual, so they didn’t bother explaining it. But one night, we started getting injections, and then, in a matter of weeks, soldiers were just… just fucking shifting in the field. Uncontrolled, untrained, not knowing what the fuck was happening to us. It was terrifying, Maddie. More terrifying than all the enemies we’d ever faced. Because at least with them, we knew who our targets were. Knew how to take them out. This was… this was just madness.”
“It’s a lot harder to fight the enemy when the enemy is your own body,” she said softly, dashing away another tear. “God, Hawke. I can’t believe they put you through that. I’m so sorry.”
“Not gonna lie—it fucking sucked. But that was years ago. I’ve had a decade to accept it. To learn how to control the shifts. Now, the wolf is just another version of me, like I said. At this point? Fucked up as it sounds, I can’t imaginenothaving him with me.”
“Is that how all shifters are made, then? In labs?”
“No, not at all. Most are true supernaturals. They’re purebreds born into a family line of shifters. Not just wolves, either. Bears, lions, panthers, birds of prey… all sorts of animals.”
“But if that’s true, and the military wanted shifters, why not just recruitactualshifters? Surely some of the military brass know about their existence, right?”
“Sure, but there aren’t enough of them, especially in the States. Purebred shifters are a dying breed. And supernaturals don’t like to fight human wars—it would put them on the radar, and if there’s one thing all the different supernatural factions agree on, it’s that exposure to humans is bad foreveryone.”
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Humans would freak out if they knew. I’m freaking out, to tell you the truth.”
“Freaking out is one thing. Going on vigilante killing sprees, most likely getting themselves killed in the process? That’s a whole ’nother ball of bullshit.” I shook my head, imagining some of the half-cocked hunters I’d seen up in these parts trying to go after shifters and vamps instead of rabbits and deer. “Anyway, the military wasn’t actually trying to create shifters—not in the strict sense of the word. They just wanted to enhance human soldiers with what they thought were the best, most useful traits from the animal community. The pack mentality, the ability to hunt and track prey, heightened survival instincts, speed and strength, power, stuff like that.”
“But something went wrong in Dr. Frankenstein’s lab, I take it.”
“Exactly. The experiments were unprecedented—no data to rely on, no techniques to replicate. We were the first human test subjects. They had no way to predict the outcomes.”
“How many of you are there? The lab-created shifters, I mean.”
“In the world? I have no idea—it’s all highly classified, highly compartmentalized by design. They don’t want us finding out about each other or blowing the lid off their experiments. But in my unit, there were a dozen of us. Two died immediately after the first injection. Two more died during their first shifts—their bodies couldn’t handle it. Just… just gave out.” I swallowed the knot of grief in my throat. “Three died in combat. Despite our enhanced strength and healing abilities, we’re not immortal. We still go down for a well-aimed bullet, same as a regular Joe.”
“So there are only five of you from the unit left?”
“Far as I know, yeah.”
“You don’t keep in touch?”
“It’s not like there’s a Facebook group for the military’s lab rats, Maddie. Besides, the shit we saw out there… the things we had to do to survive… Sometimes I think we avoid each other because we just don’t want to be reminded of…” I trailed off as a shiver crawled down my spine, all the old ghosts stopping by to say hello. “Anyway, that’s all in the past. This is my life now, and I’ve accepted it. Those men will always be my brothers—I don’t need to keep in touch to know that. To feel it. I just… I don’t want to go back.”
Maddie nodded. “I understand about not wanting to go back.”
In that moment, her eyes were so blue, so bright, she looked again like an angel. I reached up and tugged on one of her curls, wrapping it around my finger, memorizing the silky feel of it. The curls, the blue eyes, her soft smile… all of it anchored me to the present. To her. To the warmth spreading through my chest.
“Do you know any natural-born shifters?” she asked. “Have you ever seen any?”
“They’re around, sure. Got a few packs here in Colorado, actually, but they’re pretty exclusive. Stick to their own kind, try to keep a low profile, don’t exactly put out the welcome mat for strangers. I had a few beers with one guy a while back, though—shifter named Cole Diamante, passing through from upstate New York. Real good guy, too. Bit of a recluse, like me. Lone wolf, no pack, though I hear he’s in pretty deep with the Redthorne vampires now. Crazy, if you ask me. Even if I was a purebred… Nope. Ain’t enough cash in the world to getmeinto bed with any ruling supers, especially the royals. Dorian Redthorne can be a brutal motherfucker when he has to be, and—”
“Wait.DorianRedthorne?” Her eyes widened, her body going rigid beside me. “CEO of FierceConnect?”
I wasn’t surprised that she’d heard of him, especially in her line of work. FierceConnect was a well-known social gaming company headquartered in New York. “The one and only.”
She pressed a hand to her chest. “He’s… he’s avampire?”
“A vampire?” I laughed. “He’s the vampireking, Maddie. Top of the supernatural food chain. Arguably the most powerful supernatural in the world.”
“He’s my client! He and his partner Aiden Donavon—I work on some of FierceConnect’s web and social media stuff, and… Oh, no. Don’t tell me Aiden’s a vampire, too.”
