Bennett - Milly Taiden Page 0,36

is the head of the department. She’s been involved in some pretty shady shit before, so we’re trying to track her whereabouts.”

“Only Stuart tripped on a digital trap, and they shut down their online portal. We have to wait until they patch the security breach before we can create new code to see what their next move is.” Corey narrowed his eyes at his buddy in disappointment.

“That’s all you were able to find?” Bennett asked, knowing he was sounding like an ungrateful, surly sourpuss.

“Well, we know they ordered the hit on the house to get the serum. They thought the house would be empty. From what we gather, they know their men are dead. They also don’t seem to care.”

“This leads me to believe these are mercenaries. I think Winchester hired some dubious characters to be part of the department so that she could relive her glory days. You know the attack on Portcullis in 84? The one that was a trial run for biological warfare? That was her handiwork.”

Bennett shook his head. “How is she still employed by the military?” he asked.

“Because she gets shit done,” Corey answered. “She has been part of a lot of missions that have stopped attacks on US soil. She just seems to have wavering loyalty.”

“Which is to say that she is either loyal to herself or loyal to money.” Bennett knew that those two reasons weren’t mutually exclusive.

“Remember the perimeter forcefield we built with lasers that summer at computer camp? I want you to recreate it around the house.”

Corey’s eyes widened. “Do you know how long that took us?”

“A day. And we were dumb kids.” Bennett sat down, suddenly feeling odd. He grabbed a bag of beef jerky that was lying on the counter and ripped into it. He ate strip after strip, not comprehending how delicious the dried up beef tasted.

“Umm, fuck you,” Stuart shot back. “We were genius kids, and you know it.”

“Exactly,” Bennett said with a mouthful of jerky. “We were kids, and we made it work in a day. Now you’re grown men with loads more experience and intelligence. Get it done.”

“But we’re more medical researchers than tech dudes,” Corey pointed out.

Bennett stuffed another piece of meat in his mouth, suddenly feeling replenished. “Don’t care. I believe in you.” He walked down the hall, toward Dakota’s bedroom.

“He’s bossy now,” Stuart mumbled.

“Heard that,” he said before closing the door behind him.

Dakota was staring at the ceiling in nothing but her underwear. He wanted to look away to give her some kind of privacy, but he found he couldn’t. She was way too appealing for that. Bennett had to resist the urge to pounce on her and devour all of her curves.

“How is he?” Dakota sat up in bed.

“He’s fine. He’ll pull through, I think.”

He knew she was asking about Vance. It didn’t take a genius to know that much.

“Good,” she untied her hair, letting the loose curls the braid had created float around her shoulders like a perfectly soft halo.

“Vance didn’t do it on purpose, you know. He is so allergic, and he’s had too many incidents in his life. It seems that the older he gets, the worse the reactions are, and the shorter time he has to react. He would have died.”

“And all because he wanted to see that fucking serum. Gray should destroy it before any other shifters get created.” She gasped after she was done speaking. “I didn’t mean that you and Vance shouldn’t be saved. I just meant that in the wrong hands, that serum could create some insane soldiers. Can you imagine?”

Bennett shook his head. “An army of tigers? Of men and women who aren’t vulnerable to gunshots?”

“Whoa. We’re aren’t some immortal creatures. Bullets can kill us, just like other humans. It would just take more of them, and we would have to be stopped from shifting. That’s something important you should know. We heal faster in our animal shapes.”

“Noted,” he said.

He knew that he should bring up the pull and tug he felt for her. The loud voices in his head were incessant and kept on insisting that she was his. Bennett didn’t know enough about shifters to understand what that meant, exactly.

But he did remember something. The memory was foggy, but he had been in bed, fighting against death. Dakota’s voice had spoken to him with a heavy sadness. She had pleaded with him not to die. That she was his. That he was hers. That they were mates.

Mates.

That he did understand.