Page 125 of Crossed Fates

“Gloria?” I asked, hopeful.

He nodded. “Yeah. They’ve already notified her pack, and her wolves are on the way. She was just unconscious, not yet experimented on. Her file said they were waiting on her mate’s capture. The sick fucks intended to test their mating bonds.”

My stomach soured at the thought, aware of what that implied. It made me want to kill them all over again. But Marc had taken care of HJ and Bortex, and my brother had taken out Bendy. I guessed that Jude had handled Cuntcake, which I allowed since he’d been tortured by him. Which reminded me… “You healed very fast,” I told the E.V.I.E. director, glancing at his hands.

He took in my working thumbs and smiled. “As did you.”

“Yeah, but I’m a wolf. I should heal fast.” And having the pack tied to my psyche certainly helped with that, too.

“Hmm” was all he said before sharing a long, knowing look with Nathan. “Well, I think we can start wrapping up here. We have several other sites to hit, according to the drives my men are going through.”

“Do those drives confirm his goals?” I wondered out loud.

Jude studied me for a minute, his arms folding in a similar manner to Nathan’s. “The auctions were a smoke screen for the experimentation. They took girls, tested their blood for viability, then sold the ones they couldn’t use. It helped give them a profit to continue their science projects, which involved super-soldier technology that E.V.I.E. is confiscating.”

“Confiscating,” Nathan repeated. “How fortuitous for you.”

“Nothing about this situation is fortuitous,” Jude shot back. “But I will be figuring out that shock wave tech, just like I’ll be taking one of your helmets that miraculously protected you from it.” The statement was pointed and resulted in a smirk from Nathan.

“I make it a habit to prepare appropriately for my opponents,” he drawled in response.

“I know,” Jude replied, a measure of respect in his tone. “Which is why I’m borrowing your helmet.”

Nathan didn’t argue, but he did appear amused.

“Super soldiers,” Alaric repeated, bringing the conversation back to Bortex’s apparent goals. “Was that what he considered those humans to be out in the woods?”

Jude unfolded his arms and slipped his hands into the pockets of his dress pants. “It appears so, yes. They were under orders not to kill.”

“Yes, I know. They wanted to take you alive for questioning.” A note of suspicion underlined my mate’s tone.

“Fascinating how it all worked out, isn’t it?” Jude asked, a dare lurking in his question. “They try to kidnap me for questioning, yet I end up with all their tech. Almost like fate put me in the right place at the right time. Similar to you and Makayla ending up in the city together. Just imagine what life would have been like had you chosen to follow your alpha path a decade ago? You might not have ever met. And your pack would still be plain old Bitten wolves, too.”

His statement reminded me a bit of Sapphire and her proclivity for altering destinies.

She’d deliberately set me on Alaric’s path.

But it was our decisions in life that had truly crossed our fates, placing me in the right place… at the right time… just like Jude had said.

And because of my ties to Alaric, his pack was stronger,immortal, and forever enhanced. I’d finally accomplished what I’d originally intended to do—I’d helped those who were weaker than me, by literally giving them my strength and improving their chances for survival.

I almost smiled.

Fate could be twisted and fucked up.

But in the end, it always served a purpose.

And I’d finally served mine.

Alaric

An onslaughtof voices prickled my mind, growing louder as we entered Silver Lake Pack boundaries.

Those voices reached a crescendo when we pulled into the narrow driveway in front of my cabin.

I took in the crowd, my heart in my throat. “How do I…?” I trailed off, uncertain of how to phrase my question. I should have spent more time with Nathan this morning. He could have told me how to handle the hive mind.

Or he would have told me to buck up and figure it out on my own.