Page 88 of Savage Mates

“Extra fuel.”I still used our mental tethering, avoiding making any noise. The tank was large enough to suit our purposes.

“That’s perfect.”Thor chuckled, watching me with fascination as I torched the fabric.

“Get ready to shift and run.”

As soon as I tossed the piece of clothing I’d found, the whoosh of flame reached the top of the canopy of the surrounding trees. Vibrations now came from everywhere and not just from us shifting once again to our lion form.

Boom!

“What the fuck!” a human called.

The fire roared, following the trail of gasoline and liquor used as an accelerant. The lions were left to fend for themselves.

They were still murderous predators.

Screams permeated the night sky, the heat searing my fur as we raced through the jungle.

Gunshots.

Lion roars.

We wasted no time.

Now we would save our mate.

CHAPTER 19

One hour earlier…

Lauren

The DNA test results told no lies.

A strange sense of foreboding had fallen as soon as I’d read them. Enough so, I’d had them run again.

I’d also initiated a test with my previous data regarding the two most prevalent and life-threatening diseases plaguing lions throughout the world.

I was minutes away from a final conclusion although my gut already provided enough answers.

The experiments performed two years before had at least in part created an altered state of creatures. Likely more than one.

A strange, even edgier feeling rolled through me. It was as if I was standing on the cusp of a glimpse into the future. Proof that intelligent alien lifeforms existed, creatures capable of helpingthe human race. I was both excited and terrified, the what-ifs too much for me to comprehend.

Yet I’d be lying to myself if I said I wasn’t eager for the truth to surface.

What I did know from reading about how Blackwell Industries had managed to make so many advances in their discoveries was that there would be other evil people determined to take control. They’d exploit the research, spinning the information for their own good. Even if the use of animals was no longer needed, what did that leave?

Experimenting on humans? Kidnapping them off the street or just using test subjects who were dying. Maybe then they could justify what they were doing.

Then again, if the lifeforms could create new life, what was to say they couldn’t do so without using a physical host? Why couldn’t they create monsters or replicate other alien creatures in different galaxies?

The moral dilemma far outweighed the possible achievements. Not without rules being created. That wouldn’t bode well for men like Marcus Blackwell. What about Walter Zimmerman? Where did he stand? How deep was he into the fold? Had he been lured by the possibility of significant wealth and extreme power?

And there was power with the project. Just imagine what could be done by controlling new species. I shuddered from the thought as I moved toward my equipment, pressing my fingers on the spacebar of the laptop.

With thoughts of my lions in the forefront of my mind, I finally found the courage to study the findings.

I studied the various screens, moving back and forth from one to the other. Was it horrible to admit that I felt some level of excitement along with a heaping dose of apprehension? Yes, but in seeing the results, in studying what they meant, several aspects of what we were dealing with were made perfectly clear.