just faced off with a bunch of gang members who killed my uncle…” She swallowed hard. “… and then had to deal with my zombie neighbors.”
The brittleness of her voice gutted me. I should have been here to protect her.
Dom’s gaze softened. “Sounds like you’ve had a morning.”
I’d never seen him look at anyone with that kind of warmth. Not me. Not his soldiers. Not even his wife.
The reminder of Jen’s fate made my throat ache.
Lee glanced over Dom’s shoulder at the driveway. “Can I bring my uncle’s body back with us?”
“No.”
“But I need to bury him.”
“That won’t be possible.” Dom’s expression turned to stone.
She wasted her breath arguing with him while he brought her to the transport vehicle and set her down next to her sister and Reed.
“Hostiles inbound,” Darcy shouted, bringing my attention and Dom’s to the lurching figures at the end of the street.
“Let’s move out,” Dom ordered.
As I stared at the back of his close-cropped hair, I debated my next move. Jen was dead, and I’d successfully completed her last order. That made me free. Free to search for my brother. Free to take my mate somewhere safe where we could start a life together. Free to avenge the genocide of my family.
Yeah, let’s start with that. A simmering rage churned inside me as I slowly crept up behind Dom.
He paused in the middle of opening the vehicle door and spun around. “Enough with your games, Hunter. Where’s Sergeant Brooks?”
I made myself visible. “Dead. Like you’re about to be.” With a snarl, I extended my claws and raised them over his head.
Dom spun around.
The moment I met his icy black gaze, unwanted memories slammed into me. Years of training missions, covert operations, and battles we’d fought together flashed in my mind. We’d been the deadliest handler-beast team in military history. Over the years, our working relationship had developed into mutual respect, then friendship, if such a thing was even possible between our kind. It’s what made his betrayal that sweltering morning three years ago even more gut-wrenching.
Like a flash, he yanked up his sleeve and tapped the device grafted onto his forearm. “Activate handler pairing.”
The connection snapped between us so quickly there was no time to react. Unlike my link to Jen, which had been thin and narrow, this bond was vast and all-encompassing. It felt as if titanium steel cables, forged in blood and war, now anchored me to him.
I howled in fury, trying to fight the recalibration of my body and mind. But it was impossible. In a flash of clarity, I realized I hadn’t been left unmonitored earlier because of any scanner upgrades. It’d been because they were preparing to re-pair me to Dom. Fuck. Jen knew. This must’ve been the reason for her guilt back in the desert.
Dom’s emotions rushed through our new bond. I felt his regret and his ironclad determination.
But our bond went both ways, and I allowed him to feel my rage and hatred. “I will kill you,” I promised.
A burst of agonizing pain drove me to my knees. I clutched my head in my hands, remembering too late my programming would automatically punish any aggression toward a handler.
Something that felt a lot like shame rippled through our bond. Dom offered me his hand.
Refusing to take it, I pushed myself to standing.
“You follow my orders now,” he said, looking up at me.
I wanted more than anything to shift and slash that grim smugness off his face, but my programming forced me to bow my head to my new master. “I follow your orders.”
“Tell me what happened to Sergeant Brooks?” Dom demanded. I felt a flicker of something that might have been sadness coming from him.
“Sarge, the infected are almost on us,” Darcy shouted from inside the vehicle.
Dom held up one finger.
“Is that Hunter?” she asked, peering out. “Is Jen here?”
Ignoring her, Dom repeated his question to me.
“Alpha Diaz of the Calaveras faction executed her at the urging of Dr. Hurran.”
Dom clenched his fists, anger and pain seeping through our bond.
Maybe he’d cared for Jen after all.
“Why didn’t you protect her?” Dom’s tone wasn’t accusatory, but it still stung.
“She didn’t allow me to. She ordered me straight to you.”
The rattling moans of the infected grew louder.
Dom straightened his shoulders. “I want a full report when we get back to base. Now make yourself invisible and clear our path to the school.” Without waiting for a response, he jumped into the driver’s seat and pulled the transport vehicle out into the