Reclaiming the Wolf (Cascade Shifters Book 1) (14 page)

After pouring his coffee, he booted up his laptop. He had some clan stuff to do before his visit with DS Engineering’s branch office later today, but he had fifteen or twenty minutes to work on his surprise for Kaya.

Just as he opened up his document on his computer, his cell phone rang. He reached across the table, glanced at the screen to see it was Erika from GreyFire and tapped the receive button. “Yes?”

“Kaya’s in her meeting, isn’t she?”

“She’s not here and she left a note saying she was going to it. Why?”

“I can’t get a hold of her, and I really need to.”

Sy didn’t like the desperation in Erika’s voice. While he was technically an outsider, he decided to ask, “What’s wrong?”

She paused, and he thought she wasn’t going to answer, but then she let out a breath and said, “I don’t think I should tell you, but since Kaya told me to call you if I can’t get a hold of her this morning, I have no choice.”

He’d think about the importance of that statement later. For now, he fell back on his training in both the army and as his brother’s second. He steeled his voice and said, “Then tell me.”

She huffed a little into the phone, but he knew she’d give in rather than disobey her clan leader. “Several of our clan members have started showing symptoms similar to the infected wolf-shifters.”

“How many?”

“Five so far, but it won’t be long before their families and friends start displaying the same symptoms since the virus is airborne in living wolf-shifters.”

“Did you find any connections between the five infected shifters?”

“Yes. They all work as cleaners for the research labs. If that wasn’t enough, they haven’t seen one of their co-workers since the infected wolf pup disappeared. The woman’s name is Jenna and she recently lost her pup to an accident. If she decided to use this new one to replace it, she’s probably already attached and would most likely forfeit her life before giving up the infected child.”

Just as he’d suggested earlier. “Okay, so we have a suspect, which is great, but what about a cure? Have your researchers been able to use the cougar-shifter blood to concoct something?”

“I hadn’t gotten that far yet. But yes, they’ve narrowed down some of the cougar-shifter antibodies that offer protection against the virus. This morning a test on some samples was promising, but not yet definitive. It could be weeks before they have something they can be sure will kill or protect against the virus.”

They didn’t have weeks.

But then Sy had an idea. “Medical research is not my strong point, so shoot me down if need be, but what about transfusing a cougar-shifter’s blood into one of the wolves? Would that offer the necessary protection since none of the cougar-shifters have shown symptoms despite direct contact with the infected?”

“Giving a wolf-shifter cougar blood is risky. From past experiments, we know it could kill them.”

“Well, all of the infected will die anyway. You should at least give them the option.”

The line went silent again. He hated having conversations over the phone. At least face-to-face he could read facial cues and body language. His inner cougar wanted to assess where Erika was on the dominance scale so the cat could plan his attack.

Thankfully, Erika’s voice came back on the line before he snapped at her. “Fine. I have no idea if it’ll work or not, but I’ll consult with some of our specialists and if they think it may have a positive effect, then we’ll give the infected people the option.”

“Good. Does my brother know about the pup’s disappearance?”

Erika sounded irritated when she replied. “Of course he does. Look, I’m only talking with you because Kaya said I had to do it. You really don’t have any sway over what happens within GreyFire, so stop pretending you do.”

His instincts told him she wasn’t telling the whole truth. “What did Kaya say exactly? And don’t lie, as you know as well as I do that she won’t tolerate it.”

Erika growled. “Cougar, you’re pushing my limits.”

“Just tell me, wolf.”

“Fine. She declared a temporary power share with you.”

Sy blinked, not expecting that answer. When a clan leader declared a power share it meant the person they shared it with could make decisions on behalf of the clan if they became incapacitated.

Frankly, he couldn’t believe Kaya had done it since it was a tremendous responsibility. The fact she had, told him volumes about how she was starting to see him.

Although, truth be told, Sy had a small niggling that she’d done it to ensure the truce between GreyFire and DarkStalker would continue to grow closer in the future. Not everyone shared Kaya’s vision on the three shifter clans of the Cascade Mountains working together.

Of course, he doubted he’d ever need to use the power share to take charge. Kaya would be back later today.

He said, “Okay, then. For now, you’re right; you don’t have to listen to me. But you do have to keep me in the loop until Kaya checks in. If anything—anything at all—happens, let me know.”

There was a pause before Erika said, “You’re sleeping with her again, aren’t you?”

His inner cougar growled. “That is Kaya’s business and has nothing to do with the situation in your clan. Go talk with your specialists about the cougar-shifter blood transfusions before the infected get any sicker.”

He clicked off his phone before Erika could argue any further. He doubted if he was a wolf-shifter she would’ve held the same reservations about Kaya declaring a power share with him. And right now, he didn’t have time for that species-bias bullshit.

He glanced at the clock on his computer. Damn, the call with Erika had taken up his free time. If he was going to make his eleven a.m. appointment, he needed to start getting ready.

Sy headed for his room. If the blood transfusions worked, that would buy both the GreyFire researchers and Kaya some time.

He really hoped Dave succeeded in hacking into Markgen’s network and discovering something that would lead them to a cure. True, finding incriminating evidence might lead to Kaya sneaking into Markgen and putting her life in danger, but he knew he couldn’t stop her. One of the reasons he cared for Kaya was because of her take-charge attitude and her ability to follow through.

He really hoped she asked for his help. He wanted to support her, but he couldn’t be a submissive male who did whatever she asked. He wanted to be able to act on something without forever checking in with her. A break-in to Markgen might force him to share that fact sooner rather than later.

But he only wanted to help Kaya because if anything happened to the GreyFire wolves, it would destroy the woman he was starting to care for again and that thought made his cougar snarl. Both Sy and his cat wanted her to be happy.

And they would do anything to make that happen, provided they could do it together as a team.

~~~

Kaya sat inside Markgen’s main building at a long conference table inside one of the meeting rooms, her two GreyFire researchers on either side of her. Security for the parking lot and the main building had been much laxer than she’d anticipated. Of course, that made her a little nervous. Anytime something was too easy, there always seemed to be a catch.

While her inner wolf paced inside her head, Kaya kept up her cool, collected mien; her black pantsuit and hair pulled into a bun screamed business professional. Since too many people liked to dismiss shifters as animals, over the years Kaya had learned that a good suit and heels could unsettle a human just as much as baring her teeth.

It also helped Kaya to maintain her composure since the suit was like a costume for one of her many roles inside GreyFire.

She glanced to the clock on the far wall. Dr. Wesley Smith was now thirty minutes late. Kaya understood the power of keeping someone waiting, but it was starting to border on ridiculous.

Another ten minutes passed before a young woman in a gray skirt and pink top came into the room and said, “I’m sorry, but something has come up. Dr. Smith needs to reschedule the meeting for a different day.”

Shit.
Maybe someone had discovered Sy’s contact hacking into their network and Markgen needed to implement some kind of security protocol. She had no way of knowing if that had happened or not, so she acted as if she were a little bored and irritated. “Did he say when?”

The woman shook her head. “No, but if you could call back tomorrow, we can try to reschedule.”

She raised her eyebrows and tapped one of her forefingers on the table in front of her to display her irritation. “Dr. Smith does realize how important this meeting is, doesn’t he? Besides, it’s a three hour drive from my land to here. I can’t just drop everything and come running.”

Kaya could smell the woman’s anxiety. The human swallowed before she said, “I’m just delivering his message. There’s nothing I can do.”

Kaya decided she’d put up enough of a fit to put off any suspicion that she was here for more than just a meeting. She stood up and her researchers followed suit. “Next time, Dr. Smith will have to come to GreyFire’s land. You have my office number to set it all up.”

The woman nodded and Kaya moved toward the door. The human jumped out of the way so the security guard on stand-by could escort them back to the entrance.

Ten minutes later, Kaya was inside the minivan they’d borrowed for the visit. One of her researchers was driving it, and soon they turned out onto the main road that led to the freeway. She tried calling Sy, but all she got was his voicemail. He must be doing his routine visit at DS Engineering.

She sent him a quick text message and instantly received a reply.
I’ll be done in a few hours. Call Erika.

Okay, that made her a little anxious.

Since she didn’t want anyone in the car to overhear her conversation, Kaya reviewed Erika’s emails, but they were vague. Obviously, her second didn’t want to risk someone hacking her account. She’d just have to wait until she reached the safety of Sy’s apartment to call her second. If it were a “call me this instant” type of situation, Erika would’ve given the emergency code word.

As the minivan sped down the freeway, she decided they were now far enough away from Markgen and it should be safe to question and see how Sy’s contact Dave had done with hacking Markgen’s network. She turned around in her seat and asked Dave, “How did it go?”

Dave looked up from his computer. “Their security was pretty lax and parts of it were probably done by a fresh college graduate. The company is even backing up their email over the cloud.”

Kaya vaguely knew what he was talking about, but she wasn’t afraid to ask for an explanation. “Explain why backing up to a cloud is important.”

Dave nodded. “Well, the cloud is basically like sending your files over the internet to a virtual storage space. Just like with a physical storage space, if you don’t have a good, strong lock, someone can break-in and steal all your stuff.” He jerked his thumb behind them. “Whoever is in charge of Markgen’s security hasn’t put a very strong lock on some of their information. The proprietary documents were well guarded, but not their emails. I downloaded as much as I could, mainly from the last month or so, and saved them. If you and Sy sift through them, I’m sure you can find something.”

Although she tried not to get her hopes up, she wanted him to be right.

Kaya took a good look at the human helping them and said, “While I appreciate all of your help, why are you willing to risk helping shifters? If you’re caught breaking the law, sentences are twice as harsh if it’s shifter-related.”

Dave shrugged. “Sy saw my potential in the company and wasn’t afraid to promote me despite my less than clean legal past. I owe him my second chance.”

Yes, that sounded like Sylas. Taking well-calculated chances seemed to be his thing. He’d done the very same thing with her, after all.

Kaya nodded. “Well, you also have my thanks. You are welcome on GreyFire’s land anytime, and if you ever need a favor, I can’t promise anything, but I’ll see what I can do.”

Dave nodded. “I doubt I’ll make it up to the mountains as I like it here, but thanks all the same.” He removed something from his computer and held it out. She saw it was a flash drive. “I hope you find what you’re looking for on here.”

Kaya took the small, rectangular drive. “I hope so, too.”

But as they drove back to the dummy location where they would switch cars before heading to Sy’s apartment, Kaya had a feeling things had gone a little too smoothly. She only hoped this wasn’t the calm before the storm.

Even if it were, she liked the fact she had Sy to help her if she needed it. She’d managed to lead GreyFire by herself over the last three years by sheer force of will, but she was starting to understand that if she ever wanted to achieve a balance between her duties and her happiness, she would need help. The only question was whether Sy would be that person or not.

Chapter Twelve

Sy unlocked the door to his apartment and entered to find Kaya sitting at the dining room table with his laptop. He’d given her the password last night, but now that he saw her using it, he wondered if she’d seen the surprise he was working on for her. He hoped not.