Page 22 of Anders (The Sunburst Pack #2)

That’s why they chose you, Anders said, his voice tight with controlled anger—not at her, she realized, but at the people who had used her. Your skills as a journalist would transfer well to intelligence gathering.

Etta turned the page and froze. There, in her precise handwriting, was a detailed report on Anders himself.

A. Hamilton demonstrates exceptional tactical awareness. Former military background provides advanced training beyond typical pack enforcer. Attachment to territory substantial—unlikely to retreat if threatened .

Weakness: overextension of protective instincts. Will place pack safety above personal survival, creating exploitable vulnerability .

They were planning to kill you, she whispered, horror turning her voice thin and strained. All of you. And I gave them the blueprint for how to do it.

Anders took the notebook, scanning the pages with a grim expression. This confirms what we suspected. They’re using you to gather intelligence for an attack.

But why? Etta demanded, grabbing another notebook. What do they want with wolf shifters?

The second notebook contained fewer observations and more technical notes—chemical formulas, dosage recommendations, neural pathway diagrams. Most of it was beyond her understanding, but certain phrases jumped out: Subject integration stable at 97 percent.

Asset deployment successful. Group C operating at optimal parameters.

Trigger phrase responsiveness meeting expectations .

Group C, she murmured. There must be other groups. Other…people like me.

She flipped to the last page with writing, dated just a few days ago—the day before her breakdown in the basement. What she read made her blood freeze.

Chemical suppression failing at accelerated rate. Asset showing signs of self-awareness. Epsilon Protocol may be necessary if degradation continues at current rate .

Epsilon Protocol? Anders read over her shoulder.

As if triggered by those words, a searing pain shot through the back of her neck, radiating outward through her skull. Etta screamed, dropping to her knees as agony consumed her.

Anders was beside her in an instant, his arms supporting her as her body convulsed.

Another wave of agony hit, and with it came a flood of memories—not fragments this time, but a torrential deluge that threatened to drown her.

Her real parents, their faces clear now. Her mother’s white-blonde hair, her father’s kind eyes. Running through forests as a family, shifting together under the moon .

The attack. Men in tactical gear surrounding their small house. Her father shifting to defend them, her mother hiding her .

Don’t make a sound, her mother whispered, tears streaming down her face. No matter what you hear. Remember we love you.

The gunshots. Her parents’ deaths. Being dragged from her hiding place, terrified and alone .

The labs. The tests. The endless, endless pain .

Other children—wolf-shifter children—undergoing the same procedures. Some surviving. Some not .

Conditioning. Being unmade and remade. Having her true nature suppressed, her memories stolen .

And finally, being placed with human parents —agents of the program tasked with maintaining her cover until she was old enough for deployment.

The truth crashed through Etta—everything she thought she knew about herself was a fabrication. Her childhood memories, her human parents, her career trajectory—all carefully orchestrated to position her for this mission.

She wasn’t just a victim. She was a weapon—one that had been aimed directly at the Sunburst Pack.

I remember everything, she gasped, clutching Anders’s shirt as the pain began to recede, leaving her trembling and drenched in cold sweat. I remember who I am. Who I was.

Tell me, Anders urged, his voice gentle despite the urgency of their situation.

My parents were from the Silverleaf Pack in northern Montana. We were targeted because my father was their alpha. They killed my parents when I was five. Took me to a facility called Chimera. Experimented on me. Changed me. Her voice dropped. Stole everything from me.

Anders helped her to her feet as her legs threatened to give way beneath her. We need to get you out of here, he said urgently.

No, Etta said, suddenly calm despite the terror coursing through her. Not yet. There’s one more thing I need.

She staggered to the archive room door, forcing herself down the stairs despite the pain still radiating from the back of her neck. In the basement, she went directly to a filing cabinet she didn’t remember examining before.

The drawer slid open smoothly, revealing folders labeled with pack names. Stardust. Ironwood. Cross Timbers. Blackthorn. Sunburst.

These are all shifter packs, Anders realized, his voice tight with anger. They’ve been targeting multiple communities.

Etta grabbed the Sunburst file, flipping it open to reveal detailed profiles of every pack member—including Anders.

They have definitely been planning this for years, she said, her voice hollow. Long before I ever came to town.

Something caught her eye—a small notation in the corner of Anders’s file: Potential mate-bond match for Asset E5—98.7 percent compatibility. Monitor for attachment formation .

They knew, she whispered, a new horror dawning. They knew we were potential mates. They counted on it.

What? Anders asked sharply, taking the file from her trembling hands. His eyes widened as he read the notation.

My placement here wasn’t random, she said. They chose Sunburst specifically because you were here. Because we might form a mate bond. They want to use that connection against you—against the pack.

The enormity of the betrayal threatened to crush her. Not only had they stolen her identity, her memories, her very nature—they’d planned to weaponize what she was beginning to realize was the most sacred bond shifters could form.

Another wave of pain shot through her, stronger than before.

She couldn’t suppress the scream that tore from her throat.

We have to go. Now. Anders gathered the files, shoving them into a bag. They’re ramping up whatever they’re doing to you.

Etta nodded, but as they turned to leave, her legs buckled. The pain from the device on her neck was spreading, racing through her nervous system like wildfire.

I think maybe they’re trying to kill me, she gasped.

Not while I’m alive, Anders growled, the sound more wolf than human. He scooped her up in his arms, his face a mask of fury. I won’t let them take you.

As he carried her up the stairs, Etta’s vision began to darken at the edges. The device at the base of her skull throbbed with malevolent energy, sending waves of agony through her with each heartbeat.

Her last conscious thought before darkness claimed her was a name—her real name.

Eliana Thornwood .

Not an asset. Not a weapon. A wolf shifter with a pack, a home, a history.

And if she survived this night, she would reclaim everything that had been stolen from her.

Starting with my freedom .