Page 45 of Feral Mates (Ruthless Instinct #1)

S avannah

“Thank you for everything, Mark. You have no idea how grateful I am, how grateful we all are for everything you and your friends did for us.”

I threw my arms around Mark’s neck. I hated goodbyes. Loathed them. I only hoped this wasn’t one that would need to last forever.

“Happy to do it, Savannah.” He pulled away and I noticed his eyes were glassy. He wiped them quickly, trying to laugh it off. He moved toward the dining room table, handing me an envelope. “You deserve a life, butterfly.”

“I plan on having one.” With the three men I adored.

“Okay, now here are the keys to the Cherokee,” Mark said, still with sadness in his voice.

“She’s old but recently serviced so you should have no issues getting to Montana.

The cabin has been maintained and I called the girl who takes care of the place for me.

She’s going to stock up on supplies. Including some clothes so you won’t need to go out for a little while until you get your bearings.

The house is fully furnished with a nice stone fireplace.

I’ve got forty acres so there’s plenty of forest for you to roam.

From the last time I was there, you should find stacks of wood to use, although it’ll need to be split.

My guess is you have three strapping men who can handle the job.

You’ll love Missoula. Beautiful town. People are friendly.

Oh, plus. There are four untraceable cellphones inside the envelope.

I’ve given your father the numbers. I figure you might be able to teach your men how to use them if necessary. ”

“Mark. You didn’t need to do that.” I had a feeling it would be a cold day in hell before three big, bad wolves used a cellphone. But who knew? Maybe I’d turn them around.

Or perhaps they’d spend more time in the surrounding woods being wolves. That wouldn’t bother me in the least.

He gripped my hand. “Trust me, sweet girl. We’re family. I want you safe. I have a feeling you will be with Apollo, Kai, and Roman. Now, you’ll find cash in there as well. That should help get you started.”

“That’s too much.” Running away hadn’t been what I’d wanted, but we needed time and a fresh start. I was excited and worried, eager and apprehensive, but being with the three men, the three wolves I was already falling in love with would make everything worthwhile.

We were in this together. The four of us.

The beginning of a larger pack.

Their bodies buzzed with electricity, eager to get me alone, including for very carnal reasons. In truth, I couldn’t wait as well, but… Not until we reached Montana. A girl had to control her men to some degree.

“Not nearly enough. Stay as long as you like. I was thinking about selling the place since I never go there. It’s just not the same after my wife died.

Just think of the place as yours.” He glanced toward my wolves, shaking his head as a smile crossed his face.

“You boys more than held your own. Very impressive last night.”

“We did what we needed to do to keep… Savannah alive.”

I almost laughed at Kai’s clipped answer. While Mark and even the other men in his tightly knit circle had handled seeing the wolves and other beasts fairly well, Kai knew better than to push the limit by telling him I was their mate. That would blow his mind.

“Yes, well, I’d have you on my team any time.”

“Your buddies weren’t so bad themselves,” I said, still aching inside. Not from physical pain, but from knowing that the lifeforms had realized exactly what was about ready to happen to them.

“You’re right. Not so bad for a bunch of old men.”

“You could be asked questions,” Roman said from across the room.

Mark lifted a single eyebrow. “You underestimate us, son. There won’t be any connections. The facility was left in tatters.”

This time I did laugh. “Let’s just hope it stays that way.

” At least with Thanatos’ death, I doubted the other scientists would dare try to continue and the board of directors was nowhere to be seen.

They’d likely refuse to come out of hiding.

Not after the news broke of what had occurred both at the refuge and at the laboratory.

My little gift to the world.

We’d be long gone when the news broke.

Once what Thanatos had done was exposed, then perhaps I would be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Perhaps.

“Get out of here. Montana is a long drive. I was thinking. Not a bad place to create a new pack. That is what you call it when a group of wolves get together. Right?” He was grinning. Of course he knew what it was called.

“Montana,” Apollo repeated. “We might be able to do that.”

A sudden blip on the television caught our attention. We’d wanted to hear what was being said about the explosion.

“In late breaking news, we have a confirmed report that the headquarters of Blackwell Industries was destroyed in a massive fire late last night. While it is still under investigation, early reports indicate a surge in the power grid was behind the massive structure fire. In addition, the Serenity Wildlife Refuge was burned to the ground only hours later. The police are investigating whether the two incidents are connected. We’ll keep you updated when we receive any other development. ”

“The refuge burned?” I asked and glanced at my wolves.

“Not by our hands.”

Mark grinned. “Let’s just say there were some very upset soldiers when they heard about what was happening to animals in that facility.”

Shaking my head, I actually breathed a sigh of relief. I was worried that Thanatos would prove he’d become a full-fledged vampire and come back to life. Now we didn’t need to worry.

Vampires weren’t immune to fire.

“You’re too good to me,” I told him and squeezed the envelope.

“Keep the clothes, boys. The ladies might like to see you in the buff, but it’s not polite behavior.”

For the first time since I’d known him, Apollo broke out in a smile. I acted shocked and without thinking or any hesitation, he smacked me on the bottom. Right in front of Mark. I could only imagine what he’d tell my father.

My father, my first hero and he always would be.

Yet, I had three more. Big, buff, rough wolves who just happened to be the sexiest men I’d ever laid eyes on.

A little over two days later, we arrived in Missoula. Mark was right. The town we drove through was quaint and people waved. They didn’t care who we were or that we were new to town. They acted as if they were happy to see us there.

The boys had done most of the driving, encouraging me to sleep while we’d mostly driven straight through.

I heard a little blip on my new phone and glanced at the screen. It was from my father. Excitement surged through me even though the tug of sadness remained.

“What are you doing, little mate?” Apollo asked.

“Oh, just finishing what we started.” I flipped on the radio, trying to find the station my father had directed me to. While the Cherokee was an older model, Mark had equipped it with satellite radio, which I’d been grateful for on the long trip.

“Do you have a feeling she needs to be controlled?” Kai teased. The wolves were finally starting to relax.

Roman fisted my hair and growled. “She needs a stern spanking.”

“Not going to happen.” I found the station and held my breath. True to form, in five minutes as my father instructed, a new report surfaced on Blackwell Industries.

“This is Carter Pughes of CNN. We’ve received verified reports that the board of directors of Blackwell Industries has recently been indicted by the Justice Department based on information received from anonymous sources presented to the Scientific Research Government Oversight Committee.”

Apollo laughed. “You’ve been keeping a secret from us, little mate. I’m not sure how.”

“Women have their ways, Apollo. That’s something for all three of you to keep in mind.”

“As I said before,” Kai chortled. “She needs a spanking.”

“Not going to happen,” I repeated.

As the reporter went on to describe the unusual activity, they neglected to mention lifeforms had been discovered or that several of these beings had escaped.

At least they mentioned the horrific experiments performed on several animals.

With the copy of my research and Carl’s, including his incriminating letter written to me, the committee had been able to piece together the truth about what Blackwell Industries had been doing.

And permanently shut down the project.

“The investigation continues into the explosion that severely damaged the facility as well as the total destruction of the refuge involved in the criminal activities. It is now believed the fires were intentionally set by Marcus Blackwell in an effort to hide his heinous activities. Fortunately, there were no human casualties, no animals injured or killed in the horrific fires.”

As soon as the reporter took a breath, the four of us looked at each other.

“What if Thanatos is still alive?” Roman mused.

We took a beat to reflect his question before Apollo snorted. “Not possible.”

While I agreed with him, my skin was suddenly crawling, the heebie-jeebies taking over.

He made a turn down the driveway, pulling up to the house.

What a beautiful setting, the A-frame home nestled between acres of woods, the clearing with bright green grass lush.

The mountains peeked over the roof, providing a perfect backdrop.

From what Mark had told me, there was a small lake fed by a clean, swift river behind the house.

I could see spending the rest of my life here.

“In addition, all charges against Dr. Savannah Morgan have been dropped based on security cameras furnished to the FBI.”

The reporter’s last statement provided a sense of relief as well as closure.

Kai gripped my shoulder. “It’s over.”

“I know.” But was it?

As soon as we stepped out onto the gravel driveway, the reality of everything we’d been through in less than a week hit me.

Hard.