Suddenly, I felt her intense stare from the distance, searching for the very creature she’d fought to accept. I studied her form as a shimmer of sunlight danced across her face, and I realized something incredible.

  She had no fear of the beast who’d stalked her, the creature who would change her life forever.

  Her hunger was just as significant, delicious images that given our close proximity, I was finally able to see.

  Soon, my little mate. Soon.

  First, I needed to finalize everything I’d learned, going to the scientific laboratory that Luca had mentioned. Then I would know the truth. As I backed into the trees, she moved closer to the banks of the river, still searching.

  Tomorrow she would become mine.

  I was just another human walking the darkened streets. One aspect about being an alpha was the fact I could mask my scent. Certain humans seemed to be able to detect our kind. I also had been made aware that an instrument had been developed enabling our detection as well. Fuck them all.

  I studied the groups of people as they walked, unable to detect anyone with weapons. However, I knew the laboratory was likely secured. As I rounded the final corner, I noticed there was a single light remaining on. I would be forced to wait. There were two vehicles parked near the building, notable given the majority of humans who lived within the city limits took the rail system everywhere they went. After ensuring no one was watching, I moved closer to both.

  One was nothing more than a beaten up old truck, likely driven by the person inside.

  The other was more of an old-fashioned box truck, the few windows blacked out while the panel was nondescript.

  A growl surfaced from the pit of my being, another harsh instinct kicking in. The truck was operated by the government.

  I shifted into the shadows, walking around the perimeter of the building. There were no obvious guards of any type, but my instinct told me to remain careful. The stench of humans was entirely too strong.

  When I walked back around the side of the building, I detected something I hadn’t noticed before, an entirely different scent. The stench was almost overpowering, my nostrils flaring from the offensive smell. What the hell?

  That’s when I noticed two men leaving the front of the building. Soldiers. In their hands was a body bag. A human was inside, one who’d died at their hands. Of that I had no doubt.

  There was no way I could get inside, at least not tonight. While I didn’t want to extend my time away from the Streak, it might be necessary.

  I shifted closer, able to catch their conversation.

  “Where the fuck are we supposed to take the body?” one of the soldiers asked.

  “The crematorium. The director doesn’t want anyone finding him,” the other said as he struggled to open the side door of the truck.

  “This shit is getting old.”

  “Yeah? Well, from what I understand, it won’t be long until all these freaking science labs are shut down.”

  The first soldier snorted as they tossed the body inside, dumping the bag on top of at least three others. “How the hell do you know?”

  The second soldier wiped his gloved hands, slamming the door before turning toward the other asshole. “Because the end is near. Soon, we’ll be rid of the fucking animals.”

  As they both laughed, my skin crawled.

  It was time for the Breeds to take control.

  What the humans couldn’t understand is that we would prevail.

  We were kings of the jungle.

  Chapter 6

  Akuma

  Deaths.

  There’d been at least six additional murders during the night, all of different Breeds, all bearing marks as if they’d been hunted for a length of time. I’d been able to hear their cries in my mind, could sense the hunt in several locations. Blood was in the air, their deaths weighing heavily on my mind. There’d been no way I could save their lives, not without risking mine. They’d all been rogues, but it was only a matter of time before the villages and camps were overrun with dissidents.

  There were hundreds, maybe thousands walking the streets of Savannah, none of them fearing detection by any law enforcement officers. It was quite possible the city and its government had already been overthrown, the dissidents more organized than originally thought.

  I had to get back to my people. There were enough of the bastards that there would be no way we could defend ourselves.

  I’d heard enough during my visits to the city limits to also learn that the fresh kills of the men who’d slaughtered the lion had made the local news.

  Of course, there’d been no mention of whoever had disappeared from the laboratory.

  What I’d determined was the person the soldiers had taken was likely someone who’d fought the government system, refusing to succumb to their tyranny as well as their desire to eradicate the Breeds.

  However, there was an entirely different type of hunt going on, law enforcement officials attempting to find the murderer. Of course, they knew a Breed was responsible. There was no other explanation. While my DNA had likely been found on their bodies, it would take some time to sort through their unorganized system to determine the beast who’d done the carnage.

  By then, I would be gone, returning to my Streak in an effort to protect them.

  But not without my mate.

  First things first. I was determined to get inside the facility. I’d waited until the wee hours of the morning to return, the darkness allowing me to remain hidden. I’d surveyed the building after the soldiers had left, finding a way into the basement of the building. While I was risking a silent alarm system, the possibility of gaining additional information about what they were studying was a risk I needed to take.

  I crawled inside the small window, able to see everything clearly. The area had likely been used as storage, although there was little more than dusty boxes and rusted-out appliances from decades before. The building still showed signs of decades of wear, although the structure itself was solid.

  After listening for any signs that I’d breached an alarm, I walked up the stairs and into the main part of the building.

  The area had been designated as offices and I found nothing of real use. The laboratory itself must be on the second or third floor. Another search of the second floor revealed the basic testing that had been reported in the news, the same experimentations on DNA that every other facility in the country was working on.

  Finding a cure for the humans.

  My time was running short, daybreak only thirty minutes away. Frustration continued to mount as I made my way to the third floor. What was interesting was the additional security methods that had been used, especially on several of the doors. There was no way for me to breach the system. However, I found one of the laboratories completely open. As soon as I walked inside, I realized the area must have been where the scientist had been working before being killed.

  Strings of blood remained on the vinyl floor, beakers and other equipment smashed by either the victim or the assailants. Drawers had been yanked and left open, paper files strewn over the floor. And it appeared the Netscape computer systems had either been taken or broken. The soldiers had also wanted to send a message, although I was surprised at their level of violence as well as carelessness. That meant neither the faction from the government nor the dissidents gave a shit about their work being found. The full-scale attack appeared imminent.

  Crouching down, I scanned the papers, finding nothing but basic formulas and little more than cliff notes. When I noticed one file in particular had either been shoved or kicked under the desk, I slid it toward me, rising to a standing position. While the papers contained additional formulas just like the others, the notes were entirely different.

  “The group of subjects hasn’t experienced any sign of rejecting the serum. However, increased senses have been detected in several, although it’s too early to determine this is a direction correlation to the inoculations. If the calculations are correct, the DNA is rapidly changing, the alteration unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed. Additional testing must be done on a broader scale in order to present the formula as a viable option. While far too early within the process, I’ve also noticed destruction of several of the mutations within both humans as well as the Breeds. Additional notes to follow.”

  Snarling, I flipped through the other pages, my curiosity piqued. If this was the truth, had the bastards just destroyed possibly the only method of stopping the ultimate demise of both species?

  A single noise caught my attention.

  A vehicle pulling up outside.

  There was little time to react, but the file would remain with me.

  Growling, I moved quickly down the stairs, shifting past the front door seconds before the automatic click of the security system indicated entrance. I heard two voices as I moved into the basement.

  “You know what to do,” a male voice said.

  “Shame,” the female said. “We might have gotten a reward for the find.”

  “We do what we are told.”

  Bastards. I wanted to tear them apart, but that could bring an attack on the encampment before I could return. They’d returned to finish what they started, destroying whatever the scientists had been working on.

  The second I left the building, I realized by the stench that there were additional humans keeping guard outside. A massive fencing system surrounded the rear of the facility, the thick steel a recent addition. I would be forced to return the way I’d come, moving toward the front.

  “Stop right there.”

  There was no mistaking the sound of a laser ray as it was being readied to fire. Turning sharply, I lunged toward the soldier, tackling him to the ground and allowing a portion of my beast to rush to the surface. I was able to stifle his ability to make any sounds by clamping my hand around his throat and squeezing until the asshole lost consciousness. While my beast longed to rip him apart, I couldn’t afford to have any additional blood on my hands.

  I crouched low to the ground, able to hear the footsteps of the other soldier moving closer. I pulled the weapon from my back, shoving the file in its place. I’d need to remain human for a while longer. The only chance I had was using the gun.

  As the soldier came into view, I took aim and fired. As the soldier fell to the ground, a slight growl from a distance caught my attention.

  A tiger.

  As I took a deep whiff, rage settled into my system.

  I did everything I could to push the ugly events aside. My hunger was far too significant, the need to protect my mate increasing with every passing hour.

  Ni-co-lina.

  Just thinking her name brought delicious and very filthy thoughts as always.

  My body vibrated, humming as if electrified. Her scent remained in my nostrils, creating a wave of energy that I hadn’t felt in years, if ever. She was vital to my Streak and it was time to have a frank discussion with her. While I longed for her easy acceptance, I doubted she would come with me willingly. Everything that Luca had told me was proving to be true. I could also feel unrest increasing in the encampment, the concern in their minds easily read. I didn’t need to feel the angst to know that Mika had taken control.

  As I knew he would.

  The attack on our encampment had been far too sudden. We’d taken very careful precautions to hide where we lived. While the attack on my father had been close to the small village, he would have never allowed the dissidents to get close.

  The only way in my mind for the dissidents to know the exact location was if someone had told them.

  Mika…

  I would deal with him upon my return.

  Snarling, I forced my thoughts to drift to Nicolina.

  I licked my jowls as desire roared into my body, my thoughts jumbled with longing and urgency. Another aspect that couldn’t be explained. Of course, I’d heard about other Breeds mating with humans, taking what they believed belonged to them without hesitation. The stories were now considered legendary, hope for every beast in the forests and towns, those still living as humans because they’d been unable to shift.

  I’d known that other beasts had mated with humans in an effort to continue their species, but so many of their efforts had failed.

  Even with Luca’s success in mating, his Pride now stronger than ever, I remained uncertain of the future. I’d been born into this world, one where animals were able to shift. That’s all I knew, but my internal instincts had always remained the same.

  We were wild animals and nothing more. We belonged in the wild, not living in concrete and steel structures. If only we could return to our former lives.

  While my desire gnawed at my insides, igniting the embers I’d attempted to extinguish, a part of me wanted to ignore my carnal needs. What good would it do? How was I supposed to save our people when so many of them had already succumbed to the mutation, their deaths unavoidable? The hope Luca had issued seemed farfetched in my mind. It felt as if our days were numbered. Hell, maybe both humans and beasts were supposed to have been killed all those decades before.

  I’d read the report more than once. Other than the notes, the formulas meant nothing to me.

  Did the medical experts actually know what they were doing? What about those in our Streak? Could they provide any help? I almost laughed at the thought. Two of our Streak had even gone to human medical schools, attempting to learn about their anatomy. While so many had applauded their efforts, providing near hero status, I’d remained wary that even a remote portion of what they’d learned could actually matter to our kind. How could it? Humans and Breeds were entirely different, no matter the chemicals altering our lives or those of the humans.

  Everything seemed unreliable.

  Yet my deep-seated longing for Nicolina was undeniable.

  I’d returned to the safety of the forbidden zone, remaining watchful to ensure I hadn’t been followed, shifting once again to my tiger just in case. Even before I’d left the city limits, I’d heard the blaring sirens indicating a breach in security. My handiwork had been discovered.

  Hunger.

  Utter anguish.

  Both surfaced in my loins, keeping me on edge.

  I could read her thoughts, the confusion remaining heightened. Yet she’d returned to the same location by the river, her curiosity increasing as well as her own level of desire.

  The realization of what we were all about to face struck me like a sledgehammer, causing an ache in my heart. I’d pushed hard against whatever destiny I was supposed to live, fighting for freedom, when the truth was there was no such thing. Every Breed was a prisoner one way or the other.

  There were decent humans, but the monsters outweighed the others. They needed to pay for what they’d done.

  To all of us.

  The gnawing in my gut was more pronounced than the day before. I could also smell her fragrance covering every inch of my body. As I lifted my head, the shadows from the trees were a welcomed sight, the afternoon sun creating a golden halo around her.

  My thoughts drifted to Mika.

  Was he working with the same men who’d killed a scientist? Had he been providing details of the location of Breeds all along?

  My father had fought for years to ensure our people didn’t buy into the political bullshit handfed them by the various officials who’d pretended to be our friends. Our Streak had been lucky in that we’d been able to live out our lives without being forced to follow every human rule.

  However, we had suffered just like every other Breed, the inability to bear cubs culling our numbers as our elders died off. Rampant fear remained within the community.

  The thought of moving every member of our Streak to another location was daunting, but necessary. What the fuck were we going to do in Washington, DC?

  As I inched closer, my keen eyesight able to make out her lithe form, I thought about what to tell her. She seemed relaxed as she painted, humming softly to herself.

  Paintings.

  I remembered the beautiful pictures I’d seen in her house, images of my likeness created more than once. I moved to a different location, far removed from what I knew would be watchful eyes. She was waiting for me, searching for the man who’d fucked her savagely.

  Only I wasn’t a man but a true beast of the forest.

  As I dipped my head toward the water, I could still hear her lilting voice above the other sounds, every syllable creating a wave of desire even more potent than the night before. After lapping my fill, I studied the area, taking a deep whiff. Fortunately, our sanctuary remained peaceful, no intruders that I was able to detect.

  Still, I knew it was only a matter of time.

  The nagging remained in my gut, a knowing that there would humans coming.

  I’d felt another calling from my Streak, voices that remained inside my head. They needed my guidance, my leadership. I shifted once again toward the trees, realizing that I would soon need to feed. My energy was very low, the possible exertion from the night before the reason. Sadly, I feared contracting the same ugly disease that so many of the other Breeds had fallen prey to.

  The mutation of the chemicals used by the ancestors of the current humans was just as vile as the original infliction.

  Hundreds of Breeds had succumbed, more every day. Once the sickness had taken hold, they’d gone mad then spiraled into the hunger for blood.

  Human blood.

  How many tigers had been lost to the crippling disease? Enough that the numbers of our Streak had been severely affected given the tough decisions I’d been forced to make. Killing my own kind had never been something I’d signed on for even as the alpha. I’d also experienced the same taste for blood more than once. That wasn’t acceptable on any level.

  As I slowly made my way to within sight of her, a surge of electricity almost forced a growl from my loins.

  She was so damn beautiful, the shorts and tee shirt she was wearing accentuating her long legs and rounded hips. While she wore no makeup on this beautiful afternoon, there was no need. She was simply the most incredible creature I’d ever laid eyes on.