Page 57 of Anders
I apologize,he said more formally.That was inappropriately sharp.
Sarah shook her head.No, I’m sorry.I shouldn’t have questioned your commitment.
I need to gather more intelligence on this Chimera facility,Anders said, turning back to the monitors.Security protocols, personnel rotations, access points.
Malcolm nodded.How long?
Twelve hours minimum.Twenty-four would be better.
She may not have twenty-four hours,Conall pointed out.
Anders’s hands stilled momentarily on the keyboard.I know.Believe me, I know.
He could still feel the mate bond, though it was muted now, distorted by whatever drugs they’d given her.Like a radio signal through static, he sensed Etta’s presence, a flicker of awareness across the distance separating them.
It was enough to turn his focus into a sharp, deadly point.
Into a weapon that all parts of him would combine to use.
The guardian would plan.
The soldier would execute.
The wolf would protect.
And nothing—not government agencies, not black ops teams, not military installations—would stand between him and his mate.
I only hope I can get to her in time.
CHAPTER 13
DARKNESS GREETEDETTA WHENshe first opened her eyes.Not the comforting darkness of night, but the oppressive blackness of a windowless room.
Her head throbbed with each pulse of her heart, and her mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton.
Where am I?
The events at her rental house returned in fragments—men approaching, a device pointed at her, excruciating pain as the mark on her neck activated, then darkness as a needle plunged into her arm.
She tried to move, only to discover her wrists and ankles were secured to what felt like a medical examination table.Panic surged through her, and she pulled against the restraints, the cold metal biting into her skin.
Asset E5 showing signs of consciousness,a clinical voice noted from somewhere to her left.Vitals normalizing.
Asset E5.Not Etta.Not Eliana.
A thing.A possession.
The bitter thoughts cut through her drug-induced haze, bringing a sudden clarity.She kept her eyes closed, feigning continued unconsciousness while her other senses stretched outward, gathering information.
A strange feeling rippled through her, something deeper than memory or emotion—a tugging sensation, as if a thread connected her to…
Anders.
The mate bond.
It was real, she realized.Not just wolf mythology or romantic fantasy, but a tangible connection that even now strained against the drugs in her system, reaching for him.
Footsteps approached, followed by the snap of latex gloves.
