The Recruit (Book Three)

By Elizabeth Kelly

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Copyright 2015 Elizabeth Kelly

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to
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imagination and used fictitiously.

Adult Reading Material

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Chapter 1

“He’s avoiding
me, Douglas.”

The old Lycan
sighed and sipped at his cup of tea. “He’s ashamed at what he’s
done, Hannah. He needs some time to figure it out.”

Hannah stared
into her own cup of tea. “He shouldn’t be ashamed. He saved my
life. If he would talk to me for just one damn minute, I’d tell him
that myself. I’d tell him how grateful I am for what he did and how
much I love him. But he won’t even step foot in the facility.”

Douglas reached
out and squeezed her hand. “Generally speaking, it’s frowned upon
by other Lycans when one of our kind turns a human. Will is
reacting to that. He knows you love him.”

She gave him a
curious look. “Why is it frowned upon?”

He looked
decidedly uncomfortable and she pressed him further. “Douglas? Why
is it frowned on?”

He stood and
poured them both more tea. “They, and trust me when I say that not
all Lycans feel this way but a great majority of them do, believe
that humans are weak. And humans who have become Lycans through a
bite are thought to be, well, unpredictable and dangerous.”

Hannah didn’t
reply and Douglas sat down next to her. “Centuries ago, it was
common practice for Lycans to turn humans. They did it for a
variety of reasons – sometimes it was just for sport, sometimes
they had no choice, and at one very dark time in our past, they did
it to keep the bloodlines going.”

“What do you
mean?”

“There was a –
a type of Black Plague that swept through the Lycan race many, many
years ago. It took out sixty percent of our population and in
desperation, Lycans began turning humans.”

“So why is
there such a problem with it now?” Hannah asked.

Douglas gave
her a hesitant look. “There is some truth to the belief that humans
who have been turned are unpredictable and dangerous. There have
been many documented cases of them turning on other Lycans and
humans. They can have a difficult time controlling their Lycan
side, especially during the full moon, and many of us who were born
Lycan began to worry that their inability to control their wolf
would expose us to the humans. There were more than a few who were
afraid of these – these hybrid Lycans for lack of a better
word.”

Hannah stared
thoughtfully at him. “Are you afraid of me, Douglas?”

He shook his
head. “No. You’re strong and have a good heart. You won’t hurt me
or anyone else.”

She gave him a
small smile. “Truthfully, I don’t feel that much different.”

He nodded.
“That’s because it’s only been a few days, Hannah. Over the next
week or so you’re going to start noticing changes. Your sense of
smell will heighten, your eyesight will improve and you’ll be
faster and stronger.”

She gave him a
look of doubt and he patted her hand gently. “It’s true. I know
it’s hard to believe, but it will happen. Some humans just take
longer than others. I knew of one human, years ago, who took nearly
six months before he shifted for the first time.”

He took a sip
of tea. “When you do shift for the first time, it can be painful
and disorienting. You shouldn’t expect to have full control of your
Lycan side immediately. Constance and I, and Will, will teach you
how to control it. You’ll be fine. I promise.”

“Will won’t be
able to help me do anything if he won’t even talk to me.” She said
moodily.

He cleared his
throat nervously. “There’s something else you should know, Hannah.
There are quite a few people in the facility who believe that Will
turned you because of his issue with humans and Lycans mating. They
– they think he did it on purpose so that you could be together
without any of the stigma attached.”

She gaped at
him. “Are you kidding me?”

He shook his
head. “I wish I were. There’s been enough talk about it that the
Board of Directors has become involved. They’re considering firing
Will as an instructor and asking him to leave the facility. The
rumour is that when the new head of the facility arrives, he’ll be
evaluating Will’s performance closely and making a decision on
whether to keep him or not.”

“They can’t do
that!” Hannah stood up abruptly. Her hands clenched into fists and
knocked her cup of tea off the island counter. It shattered on the
floor but she paid no attention to it as she glared at Douglas. Her
eyes were fading from brown to green and Douglas held his hands up
in a soothing manner as her body began to swell and hair sprouted
on her cheeks.

“Calm down,
Hannah.”

“Calm down?”
She arched her eyebrow at him and then growled. “You want me to
calm down, old man? The man I love – the man who saved my life and
countless other lives – is going to be thrown from the very
facility that he’s spent half his life defending and you want me to
calm down?”

“Yes.” Douglas
said firmly.

She was panting
harshly and the seams of her t-shirt were beginning to rip. She
glanced down at herself and then gave Douglas a look of fear and
confusion. “Douglas? I feel so strange.”

“Take some deep
breaths, Hannah. I know you’re upset about the situation with Will
but your anger and your fear is bringing on your first shift. This
is neither the time nor place for it. If you relax, it will
stop.”

She shook her
head, her eyes wide with a combination of fear and anger. “I
can’t.”

“You can.” He
replied.

She made a soft
moaning noise that turned into a low growl. “I won’t let them hurt
Will. He turned me to save my life, not because he had some hidden
agenda. If they even try to accuse him of that or kick him out of
the facility, I’ll make them pay. All of them.”

“Enough,
Hannah! Pull yourself together and focus!” Douglas said
sharply.

She snarled at
him as her teeth turned to fangs and her nails lengthened to sharp
points. “Don’t tell me what to do, old man.

Douglas stood
up and backed away as Hannah’s body continued to swell. She growled
again as she fell to her hands and knees. She glanced up at him and
gave him a look of agonizing fear. “Help me, Douglas.”

“Control it,
Hannah. Take deep breaths and clear your mind.” Douglas slid around
the counter.

She ignored
him, her entire body rippling and shaking, as she lifted her head
and howled. She shifted completely into her wolf form, her clothes
ripping apart, and snapped her teeth before leaping to the top of
the island. She stared at Douglas, growling deep in her chest, and
he swallowed thickly as he stared into her eyes.

“Don’t do this,
Hannah.” He said softly. “Remember who you are.”

She grinned at
him, her large teeth flashing in the lights above her head, and
fear rippled through him. The Hannah he knew had been swallowed
completely by the wolf within her.

Douglas took a
step backwards. His ass hit the fridge and he swallowed thickly as
his own body began to swell. He didn’t want to shift. If he did,
this night would end in either Hannah’s death or his own. But as
Hannah crouched down and growled softly, he could feel the shift
happening.

“Hannah,” he
growled, “stop. Do not make me – “

There was a
loud knocking on his apartment door and Hannah whipped her head
around as the door opened and Selena stepped into the room.

“Professor? Is
Hannah in here? Chen is – “

She stopped and
stared wide-eyed at the dark brown wolf crouching on the counter.
Its green eyes glowed at her and it barked loudly before leaping
off the counter. It stalked toward her and Selena pulled her gun
and aimed it at the wolf.

“Professor?”
She strained to see around the advancing wolf.

“Selena, get
out of here!” Douglas shouted. “It’s Hannah! She’s not – “

With a loud
snarl, Hannah leaped at Selena. There was the sharp bang of gunfire
and Hannah yelped in pain and surprise as her body was knocked
backwards. She hit the floor of the apartment with a muffled thud
and Douglas, his ears ringing, staggered toward her.

She was
shifting back to her human form and he grabbed a blanket from the
couch and threw it over her naked body as Selena dropped to her
knees beside her.

“Hannah? Honey,
I’m sorry.” She peeled back the blanket and examined the bloody
wound in Hannah’s shoulder. She breathed a soft sigh of relief when
the bullet pushed out of Hannah’s flesh with a wet plop and landed
on the floor.

“You shot me.”
Hannah whispered hoarsely.

“I did. I’m
sorry.” Selena gave her a faint smile and stroked her hair back
from her face as Hannah struggled to sit up.

“Lie still,
Hannah.” Douglas said sternly. He pushed her back to the floor and
used the edge of the blanket to wipe the blood from her shoulder.
“Give your body time to heal itself.”

They could hear
the muffled shouts of the others in the facility and Selena glanced
at Douglas. “You should let the others know that everything’s
fine.”

Douglas nodded.
“Right. Of course. I’ll just, uh, tell them it went off
accidentally.”

His hands
trembling slightly, he left the room as Hannah stared up at Selena.
“I shifted.”

“Yeah, I saw
that.” Selena replied. She frowned when Hannah began to cry and
stroked her arm soothingly.

“It’s okay,
honey. Don’t cry.”

“I almost
killed Douglas and I tried to kill you.” She whispered
brokenly.

“You
didn’t.”

“But I tried. I
– I couldn’t control it. I knew what I was doing was wrong and
there was a part of me that tried to stop but there was a bigger,
stronger, part of me that liked it. I wanted to bite you, I wanted
to – “

She stopped and
squeezed her eyes shut as Selena stroked her arm again. “It’ll be
alright, Hannah.”

“Will it?” She
whispered without opening her eyes. “What if I never learn to
control it? Douglas said that humans who are bitten can’t always
control their Lycan sides. What if I’m not strong enough to stop
from hurting people? To stop the shift?”

“You will be.”
Selena said firmly. “You just need time. For God’s sake, Hannah,
you were just bitten three days ago. You can’t expect to have full
control right away.”

“Will that be a
good enough excuse when I hurt someone?” Hannah asked softly.

“You’re not
going to. Will and Douglas will teach you how to control it. They –
“

“Will won’t
even speak to me. He hasn’t been back to the facility since that
night.” Hannah said miserably.

Selena snorted.
“Yeah. I know he saved our lives and I know you love him but God,
that guy can be a real idiot sometimes.”

A faint smile
crossed Hannah’s face and Selena squeezed her arm before examining
her shoulder. She gave a low whistle of appreciation. “It’s already
starting to heal. How does it feel?”

Hannah moved
her shoulder gingerly. “Fine.” She cracked one eye open and stared
at Selena. “You knew that shooting me wouldn’t kill me, right?”

Selena
hesitated before grinning at her cheerfully. “Mostly. I mean, I
figured it wouldn’t but…”

“Cold, Selena.
Really cold.” Hannah replied.

Selena laughed.
“Let’s not forget you were about to try and rip off my face.”

Hannah winced
and Selena shook her head. “Sorry. Listen, it’s going to be okay, I
promise. Here, sit up.”

She helped
Hannah into a sitting position before glancing over at the torn and
ripped clothing that littered the floor of the kitchen. “You’re
gonna need a bigger wardrobe. Or just walk around naked.”

“Don’t joke,
Selena.” Hannah frowned. “I – I’m dangerous and the state of my
clothing is the least of my worries right now.”