[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Ryon stood there bare-chested, and she couldn't help that her eyes immediatelyfell upon the broad expanse of taut skin.He was toned a golden hue, a fair-haired man with thecomplexion of someone who was outside frequently.His pecs were dusted with just the right amountof hair, enough to tickle and fun to play with, but not too furry."Hey there," he said, eyeing her curiously."I was going to check on you soon.Everything okay?""That's what I'm here to find out." She wasn't going to be swayed by his hunky self standing half- naked inthe doorway.His expression became serious."You deserve the truth.Why don't you come in and we'll talk about  " Abuzzing noise interrupted what he was about to say.With a grimace, he pulled an iPhone fromthis front jeans pocket and looked at the display."Nick.I have to take this."Turning, he went back into his quarters as he answered and waved her to follow.From his end of theconversation, she could tell that hers with Ryon would have to wait."Hey, boss." Pause."Now?" Pause."All right, I'll tell her." He ended the call."What is it?""Nick wants you and me in the conference room for a meeting with the team." He made a face."It hassomething to do with the body in the woods."She shrugged."I don't know what more I can contribute, but I'll sit in and listen.""Let me just put on a shirt." Quickly, he disappeared into his bedroom."Don't bother on my account," she muttered.He called out."What?""Nothing!" Damn, wolf shifters must have supernatural hearing, too.He emerged wearing a dark T-shirt that read NEVER ENGAGE IN A BATTLE OF WITS WITH ANUNARMED PERSON.She snorted and he glanced down at it.Then he snickered."Oh, well.Guessit'll do."They walked out together, and he kept his pace slower so she could keep up.Her energy wasn't 100percent, though her pain was pretty much in the past."You're doing great without the wheelchair," he observed."I just needed that extra bit of time to get back on my feet, but now I'm fine.""We'll get Melina to x-ray that arm again.She might be able to take the cast off."She gaped at him."After a couple of days? Are you nuts?""Nope.You'll see."He didn't offer more, and it frustrated her to no end.She tried to put it out of her mind as they came tothe conference room.Inside, the Pack guys were assembled, some sitting around the huge oval table,some standing or leaning against the walls.All of them appeared interested in what Nick, at the headof the table, had to share with them."I've had some news from the sheriff," he said by way of calling them to order.When the roomstilled, he went on."This afternoon the body of the second hiker was found about two miles from thewoman.They're almost positive it's her husband, from the clothing and some of the belongings thatwere scattered.Deveraux slipped us a sample of the man's tissue, for comparison against the woman.Of course, our lab is looking for shit the humans would never dream of."A few grim chuckles followed that statement."And have they got anything from the woman?" Micah asked."Yeah." Nick rubbed the back of his neck, as though he was searching for the exact right words forwhat he had to tell them."There was no wolf DNA present in the saliva on the lady's tissue, eithernatural wolf or shifter.Even if the white wolf was capable of shifting into half-human form, our labdoesn't feel there's any way she could've done that sort of damage.The teeth marks aren't consistentwith the length or curvature of our fangs.""What are they consistent with?" Aric crossed his arms over his chest."This is the fun part.The marks in the tissue and the way the victims' bones were crushed match ananimal with the massive skull of say, a tiger, and the teeth of an alligator.The skin was punctured,two jagged rows of long teeth evidenced there, just like a roadmap of the creature's mouth.""Jesus," Ryon breathed."What the fuck?"Grabbing a remote control for the projector, Nick turned on the device to shine an image on the widescreen."What the fuck? about sums it up.This is a computerized composite image of our mysterycreature based on the lab's findings.""How the hell did they come up with something like that?" Jax blurted."That thing is impossible.""Nothing is impossible, as we all know firsthand.The victim's tissue was slathered with the DNA ofthe attacker, and it turns out that the DNA contained shifter gene strands of a tiger, a bear, a wolf, ahuge lizard and a human." This caused some exclamations of shock."I created this picture with thelab's help, as a beast that contains similar characteristics of their findings, using the strongest traits ofeach shifter, and merged with a human.It won't be exact, but we're dealing with something like thisguy."Daria stared at the rendition.The beast had to be at least eight feet tall, with a thick skull shaped likea tiger's and a maw similar to a gator's, but with the mouth much shorter.It stood erect on two hindlegs, thighs thick as tree trunks.Its chest was like a barrel, arms strong, hands and feet sort ofwebbed, 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 somealien movie.It was fact.Everyone looked their fill for a few moments, the mood somber.Finally, Ryon spoke."I hate to saythis, 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 fromthe last lab, one of them obviously escaped." Nick heaved a weary breath, but met his men's gazessteadily."And now we have some poor bastard who was turned into a mutant killing machine wreaking havocon the general population.""Jesus Christ," someone moaned.Nick gave a grim laugh [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]