Chapter 25 Under the Skin
POV : Eric
“You’re telling me it’s all gone?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
I wait for the supplier to explain, but he sounds too busy trying not to piss himself. My wolf perks up. Weak. Liars and cowards both bleed the same.
I grip the phone hard enough to hear it creak. “That container of X-19 substrate was in my name. The purchase order went through. You took my fucking money.”
“I understand, Mr. Wood, but I have no control over—”
“Who stole it from me?” My voice drops. Colder. The wolf presses against my ribs, ready to slip out.
“Excuse me, sir?”
“Two tons of manufactured chemical don’t just disappear. Someone bought that container. I want a name.” I’m pacing now. My office feels too small. Cael flattens himself against the wall as I pass. Smart kid. Stay out of the alpha’s way.
“Uh… that information is classified, sir.”
“What’s your name?”
Silence.
Then dial tone.
That son of a bitch hung up on me?
Rage hits fast. The wolf snaps its teeth in my head. Hunt him. Break him. Make him scream.
I snarl and hurl the phone across the room. It shatters against the door, glass catching the afternoon light.
I breathe. Once. Twice. Shove the wolf back down. I turn to Cael. He’s already holding out a new phone like this is routine. Because it is.
“Transferring the SIM,” he says. “Like always.”
“This is Alexandre,” I grind out. “That bastard’s paying me back for the hit to his ego.” I can smell him on this. Smells like rot and desperation.
Cael digs the SIM from the wreckage. “You really think he’s got the guts? Or the money?”
“Taking me down is his whole life. What better way than this? Kill Hydera before it launches. Cost me millions.”
He hands me the new phone. “Got it. So what do we…?”
I’m already moving. “Where are you going?”
“To handle it.” Catherine looks up from her desk as I pass. Her eyes go wide at the noise, at my voice. Scent of vanilla and fear hits me. The wolf stirs. Ours. Protect. Later. “Cancel my meetings. I’m out of office today.”
WSL to the lab. In the car I’m seeing red. Alexandre under my heel, throat open. Yes. Make it slow. Make him beg. I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste blood. Cael drives and pretends not to hear me growl.
I hit the lab without a coat, without patience. I bellow for Mathieu. He stumbles out of storage, pale and sweating. He can smell the alpha on me. Good. Be afraid. Keeps you honest.
“We lost the last container of X-19,” I tell him. My voice makes the glassware vibrate. “How much Hydera do we have? And how bad do we need X-19?”
Mathieu swallows. “Uh, well… I might have a solution.”
“Talk.”
He shifts his weight. “I’ve been… experimenting. Without your approval, sir. I apologize. I wanted to reduce Hydera’s side effects. I pulled X-19. Replaced it.”
The wolf doesn’t like people touching our things. Insolent pup. But it waits. We need what he’s got. “Results?”
“On paper, the new formula without X-19 performs the same. But we need more trials.”
My teeth ache. The wolf wants blood, I want data. “Then start trials. Now.”
“Yes, sir. Right away.”
“Launch delay?”
He does the math in his head. “A few dozen trial sessions next week. We’d only slip by days.”
I nod. The wolf settles a fraction. Finally. Someone useful. “Do it.”
I’m at the door when he stops me. “Sir, we have a trial running. Want to see?”
Why the hell not.
Observation room. One-way glass. On the other side, a man and a woman. Young. Good-looking. And fucking like nothing else exists.
His pants are around his ankles. Her skirt’s around her waist. He drives into her against the exam table. She’s got her hands over her head, eyes glazed, mouth open. Both of them gone. Lost in it.
The wolf goes still. That’s Hydera. It works. Then it hits me: Catherine, last night. Same look. Same sounds. No drug. Just me.
My jaw locks. Mine. No one sees her like that. No one hears her like that. I’ll kill anyone who tries.
I clear my throat. “Lead on this trial?”
Dr. Iris Moreau steps forward. “That’s me, Mr. Wood.”
“When did they meet?”
“Less than an hour ago. Right here.”
“Both took Hydera?”
“Fifteen minutes prior, yes.”
I watch the couple. He’s moving faster now. She’s coming apart, nails scraping the padded table. They wouldn’t stop if the room was on fire. If the President walked in. Nothing matters but the next thrust.
No pack. No bond. Just impulse. Crude. Effective. Even the wolf has to admit it.
“They know we’re watching?”
“Of course. Signed consent.”
“Timeline?”
“Flirting at thirty-one minutes. Touch at forty-six. Intercourse at forty-seven minutes, twenty-four seconds.”
Perfect.
I look at Mathieu. “If this holds, we win.”
“I don’t see why it wouldn’t.” For once he sounds sure. Less like he’s about to pass out.
I watch the couple again. He’s relentless. She’s taking everything he gives. Two strangers, no shame, no limits, with a room full of scientists taking notes.
Thinking of Catherine and me in that position makes my blood run hot. She’s ours. Her pleasure is ours. Her body is ours. Anyone else looks, they lose their eyes.
ERIC: Check on Mathieu more often. Make sure he has what he needs.
VIKTOR: As you wish.
Too flippant. I let it go. He’s my uncle. He held my father together after the crash. That earns him some mouth.
In the car, Cael runs a red light. “Your schedule’s in the back. Ms. Hale color-coded everything.”
The way he says her name makes my lip curl. Ours. He doesn’t get to say it like that. I shove the growl down. Not now.
“By the way,” Cael adds, “Olsen-Ferber gala next week. Do you have a date?”
And there it is. My brain betrays me with an image: Catherine on my arm, red dress, red lips. The wolf surges. Yes. Ours. Show them. Mark her. Claim her in front of everyone.
I grit my teeth. No. Bad idea. I’m already stupid with her. Like last night. No condom. She jumped me the second I walked in, and I lost my head. Filled her. And god, she felt perfect. Tight. Hot. Worth it.
Shut up, I tell the wolf. To Cael I say, “I’ll take Jenny. Cut security in half. No one’s crazy enough to get near her.”
Cael grimaces. We turn onto 48th.
Then the wolf shoves. Hard. Against my ribs. Take her. Now. She comes with us. She stays close. She’s ours and we don’t leave her behind.
I cave. Partly. “One more thing. Add Catherine to the team for the gala.”
Cael slams the brakes. “Catherine?”
I shrug, keeping my face blank. “In case I need her.”
The wolf laughs in my head. Liar. We always need her. And we’re keeping her.