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“I wiped the records of you and your sister’s results from the system. I had to wipe them both because if just yours had gone missing it would have been suspicious.” He took a deep breath and looked off to the side, out the windows. “I had been working in the labs on something that I’d thought would help people. That was what I gave you that day. What these people have twisted into something that, as a scientist, I can acknowledge is remarkable but, as a human, I find it abhorrent. I want them stopped as much as you and your pack do.”
“How did you think that would help people?”
“One of my best friends is a Beta. He and his Omega have been together for years. They struggle through her heats because she doesn’t want an Alpha. They are their own pack and it works for them. I started to wonder if there was a way to enhance a Beta’s pheromones, temporarily, so that if they had an Omega partner in heat or an Alpha partner in rut, they would mimic the stronger pheromones of an Omega or Alpha. They would be able to soothe their partner’s biological needs without having to use services or bring people in.”
“That’s why your scent changed before, on campus, and… after.”
“I am so sorry. I understand now that I had gone feral. That’s not an excuse but I would never harm anyone in my right mind.”
“Too bad your pack didn’t share that sentiment.”
He met my gaze with that statement, a hardness entering his eyes that hadn’t been there before.
“The police were kind enough to share what they’d found out about my pack.” he practically spat the last word. “Selling my research to those monsters? We were more together out of convenience than actual packmates long before I lost Liam. I’m not sorry they’re dead, after what they did.”
“Why are we here though?”
For the first time since we walked into the room, Clint looked directly at my Omega and that did make my hackles rise, until he spoke.
“Do not trust the Foundation. Those ‘donations’ weren’t going through official channels. I think someone there is connected to the Jackals, somehow. I know I sound crazy, and the police have dismissed me, but I thought no one knew about my research outside of my assistant. They told me Dayton was taken too, but how did they know who he was? The police said they probably just took anyone from the lab after my pack went to them, but I don’t believe it. The other Alphas in my former pack weren’t bold enough to do this on their own. They certainly weren't creative enough to imagine the uses of my research.”
I looked back to Ethan and I could see his brilliant mind racing to make connections. As much as I wanted to take him home and wrap myself around him in his nest after all of this, I had a feeling we’d be going to Drake House so he and Cole could do their nerd thing. Ethan looked at me and there was a spark of something in his eyes. Yep, definitely heading to the BullPen.
“We have to go.”
Ethan and I stood and started to leave the surprised Alpha without another word, until Ethan grabbed onto my wrist and turned back toward Clint.
“I won’t forgive you. I have to live with what you did to me, and you should too.”
Clint’s shoulders slumped and he nodded as more silent tears leaked from his eyes.
“But… I don’t think you’re evil.” Ethan chewed on the corner of his lip, and the Alpha’s eyes snapped up to Ethan’s face. “What was your Omega’s name?”
“Liam. Liam Carter.”
“I, uh, volunteer for an organization that helps Omegas." I tried not to scoff at his use of Aubrey’s description of his work for Haven. “I can’t promise anything, but I will check on him and make sure he’s with a pack that he chose and is happy.”
The eagerness in the Alpha’s gaze, and the hopeful look on his face, was hard to look at.
“Thank you.”
Fuck, those words came out like he was dying and Ethan had just given him the one thing that would save his life. Ethan nodded once and then we turned again to leave.
We made our way back to the car after saying our goodbyes to Dr. Hopkins and retrieving our things. After buckling in, I turned to Ethan, needing to know what was running through his brain. He’d pulled out his phone as we’d been walking to the car and was still furiously texting. I put my hand over his to stop his thumbs from flying over the screen and bring his attention to me.
“Alright, Biscuit. Spill.”
“We need to go to the BullPen.”
“Yes, I figured, but why? What are you thinking?”
Ethan’s energy was all over the place. He was fidgeting and anxious but not in a way that told me he was scared, more like the way an athlete gets before the start of a game.
“It’s the Foundation, what I’ve been missing. So stupid! We couldn’t find where the Jackals were getting their funding and their medical or scientific knowledge or whatever. I need to look for connections between the Jackals, the Foundation, and where those donations came from. Can we go now?”
I chuckled at his pout as I put the car in gear and pulled from the parking lot. Inside, though, I felt some of that anticipation transfer over to me. This could really be the information we needed. Stupid fucking cops being tied up by their red tape. Not that I would have believed Clint, either. Those interview tapes made it clear the Alpha was missing a screw or two. But, damn, if he was right? This would be bigger than we’d realized.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
