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“I don’t believe you.” He gently separated their bodies and righted his clothing. Rolling her over, he brushed the hair back from her face. He lay on his side staring down at her. “Why is it so hard for you to admit what you’re feeling?”

She chuckled, feeling satisfied and sleepy. “I’m the therapist. That should be my line.”

“As soon as you let us claim you, you can take on new clients.” Isaac handed Jon a wet washcloth as he continued. “I know you enjoy counseling people, but you can’t build a practice until you’re protected by our claim.”

She started to sit up, but Jon placed one of his hands on the center of her chest. With the other, he cleaned her pussy and ass.

She squirmed and complained, but he ignored her and completed the task with humiliating thoroughness.

“I could have just gone and taken a shower,” she concluded when he went into the bathroom to recycle the washcloth.

“I wanted to make sure I didn’t hurt you,” Jon admitted. “I was rougher than I intended to be.”

“You could have simply asked,” she pointed out.

“I will always take care of you, even when you’ve been very bad.” Then Jon motioned toward the bathroom. “I’m going to go clean up.”

Isaac and Kyle undressed and crawled into bed with her. Surrounded by warm bodies and naked limbs, Tara was content and sleepy. Still, Isaac’s comment wouldn’t leave her mind. “What else would change if you claimed me?”

“You’d have complete freedom within the village,” Isaac told her. “Outside the walls, you still need an escort, but inside you could go wherever you want.”

She knew that was true because Lexie no longer required an escort when she went places inside the village walls. “Which bedroom would be mine? You each have your own space, but I’ve always just imposed on one of you.”

They looked at her impatiently, and Kyle insisted, “You’re not an imposition. If you want your own bedroom, I’ll bunk with Jon.”

“Like hell you will,” Jon called from the bathroom. He appeared in the doorway, a towel wrapped around his lean hips. “I need my alone time.”

“I’m the coalition leader,” Isaac reminded. “I also have the biggest bedroom. I think you should keep your clothes in my bedroom and the rest can remain fluid.”

Tara thought about the arrangement for a moment, then nodded. “I’m okay with that, as long as it won’t feel like I belong to you and the others just borrow me.”

Jon and Kyle laughed. “No borrowing,” Jon promised. “You belong to us, and we belong to you.” He smiled and moved deeper into the bathroom to continue with his shower.

“I should probably join him,” Tara said. “I’m not sure a sponge bath is adequate.”

“Relax,” Isaac urged. “We love it when you smell like us.”

She was exhausted and feeling lazy, so she didn’t argue.

She snuggled back into the warmth of their arms and released the tension in her muscles.

“Lexie told me about the psychic link she shares with her mates. Can you claim me without a soul bond? I’m not sure I’d like having all three of you in my mind all the time. ”

“A true claiming requires a psychic link,” Isaac told her. “But there are several kinds.”

“There’s the basic transfer link,” Kyle explained.

“That simply allows us to pass thoughts and emotions to each other. It must be accessed intentionally. The next level is called an empathic link. Thoughts and images must be passed across the link, but emotions flow continually. If you were ever threatened or afraid, we would know and come running.”

She smiled sleepily. “That sounds nice, and a little less invasive than the soul bond.”

“We can start with a transfer link,” Isaac offered. “That would give you a chance to see what it’s like to have direct access to our minds.”

“But you would have direct access to mine too, wouldn’t you?”

Jon sauntered out of the bathroom, hair wet from the shower. “We can access your mind now, but we choose not to. We told you that the day we met.”

She nodded as everyone rearranged a bit, making room for Jon on the bed. “I’d like to try the transfer link, but not tonight. I’m still processing all the things you guys made me feel. I need some sleep.”

“Fair enough.” Isaac leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Sleep well, my love.”

The following morning, Isaac circled Elias, continually scanning his mind.

The wolf leader was secured to a chair in one of the unused cabins.

His wrists were bound in magnetic cuffs and his throat was encircled by a choke collar.

If he attempted to shift, the collar would strangle him.

It was a simple but effective deterrent.

The wolf’s hostile gaze followed Isaac for as much of the orbit as possible.

Elias yanked against the restraints, but Isaac had never seen anyone break free from the magnetic cuffs.

Even so, the cabin was surrounded by armed guards.

The precaution was probably overkill, but Zion wasn’t taking any chances with this sonofabitch.

Jon and Kyle had gone to meet with the raptor scout and continue the search for the human females. Isaac was hoping to provide them with detailed information that would assist with the search. Which meant Elias needed to start talking.

“Your only hope of surviving your captivity is if you cooperate with me right now,” Isaac told him.

Elias scoffed. “You’ll kill me either way, so go fuck yourself.”

He was right. Elias was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of lives.

He’d also beaten, cut, and burnt Akari, and then left her for dead.

Elias would breathe his last the moment Isaac finished this interrogation.

“Where did your beta take the women?” Isaac knew Elias would never speak the words, but he waited for the answer to appear within his mind.

“Their location is irrelevant,” Elias insisted. “Every one of those females is now a wolf’s mate.”

Isaac scanned more aggressively. “That’s impossible and we both know it.

Wolves require genetic compatibility to breed just like we do.

The women will need to be tested and then matched with compatible males.

That takes time.” Babcock’s craggy face flashed through Elias’ mind.

Isaac focused on the image and probed deeper.

“Unlike cats, wolves can sense their mates,” Elias muttered. “My entire pack will sniff the females until they find the combinations that work. That takes minutes, not days.”

He was full of shit and they both knew it, but arguing with him was a waste of time. “Show me where they are,” Isaac commanded.

Elias’ gaze flew toward Isaac and then he squeezed his eyes shut. A litany of information flooded his mind, random locations, faces and names, even the lyrics to old Earth songs.

Isaac had encountered the technique before, and it was effective, for a minute or two.

Inevitably, the person ran out of filler and their mind focused on whatever they were attempting to hide.

“They disappeared in the forest. How did they do it and where did they go?” As he expected, an image flickered and then disappeared.

Isaac had seen enough to delve deeper. “How is the opening disguised? Is there only one entrance to the tunnels?”

Elias’ eyes widened and fear helped clarify his mind. “You’re a fucking Shadow, aren’t you? I should have realized.”

“Tell me what I need to know, or I’ll start digging. One way or the other I will get to the information I need.”

Elias hissed. “It’s too late. Every one of those women spent the night with a wolf buried deep inside them.”

Years of discipline allowed Isaac to suppress the surge of emotions triggered by Elias’ claim.

Remaining calm was crucial for a successful interrogation, and Isaac was determined to learn what they needed to know before the guards ended Elias’ miserable life.

“Did you discover an abandoned mine or a series of connected caverns?” This planet was supposed to have been uninhabited. Why would there have been either?

Elias glared at him. “What makes you think we discovered the tunnels? Who’s to say we didn’t dig them?”

Isaac chuckled. Elias had just confirmed that the tunnels existed. His tendency to run his mouth was making this easier. “The timbers were milled. And there’s the holographic entrance. Even the raptors couldn’t have programmed something like that.”

“You should see what else is down there,” Elias bragged. “It’s unbelievable.”

“Tell me where it is. I’ll be happy to look around.”

Elias just made a rude noise and averted his face.

“If all the females have been claimed, there’s no reason to hide their location.

Show me where they are.” For a millisecond Isaac saw a massive room beyond the winding tunnels, but the image blinked off before he could discern any of the details.

Elias wasn’t succeeding in keeping the thoughts from his mind, but he snuffed them out as quickly as they formed.

“Show me the entrance. How does your pack find it?”

“Fuck. You!” A song played loudly within Elias’ mind. He was basically screaming the lyrics to keep himself from picturing anything.

Often surprise questions would trigger a reaction, so Isaac switched subjects.

“Who tortured Akari?” Another widening of Elias’ eyes indicated that he was struggling to keep the information out of his mind.

Not giving him time to refocus, Isaac pressed onward, “We know it was you and Armando, but who else was there? Show me their faces.”

The younger wolf Elias had been talking to in the shelter flashed through the wolf’s mind and then a burly male with long auburn hair and a tattoo that wound around his neck.

If Diego didn’t know their names, Travis the wolf spy certainly would.

“She was your captive for six days. Was it just the four of you?”

Elias glared at him and started silently screaming the song again.

Despite Elias’ efforts, a flash of memory provided more information. Elias stood at the edge of a large room. The room was filled with ruckus wolves, and Elias shouted, “Juan, get your ass over here.” The young wolf looked up and waved at him and then made his way across the room.

So the new beta’s name was Juan. That just left the wolf with the neck tattoo.

The sudden topic shift had worked before, so Isaac used it again. “How can you tolerate working with Babcock after all that fucker did to you?”

The singing stopped and hate ignited within Elias’ hazel-green eyes. “Zion left us no choice,” he snarled. “We have just as much right to survive this as you do. Babcock will ensure that there’s a next generation and then I’ll slit his throat.”

Despite Elias’ claim, a scene surged into his mind.

He was fucking a human female from behind while Juan roughly used her mouth.

The image suddenly shifted, racing forward.

The female thrashed on the bed, snarling and screaming while her features twisted and her body contorted, transitioning from one mutated shift to another.

“How many women has Babcock killed? Is that why you raided the shelter? Does Babcock need more test subjects?”

Elias squeezed his eyes shut and shouted, “You goddamn freak, get out of my head! Get out!”

Without explaining his actions, Isaac stepped out onto the small porch and telepathically pinged Zion.

Any luck? Zion responded.

There’s some sort of mine or a series of tunnels situated under our forest , Isaac told the pride leader. The entrance is concealed by a holographic image, but Elias won’t explain how they find it.

Where the fuck did the wolves get a holographic projector?

Damn good question , Isaac agreed. He’s resisting, but I’ll keep at him.

After a thoughtful pause, Zion asked, What else were you able to learn?

His new beta’s name is Juan, and he was one of Akari’s attackers.

Juan is Armando’s younger brother, so that makes perfect sense , Zion told him. Was there anyone else?

There was a fourth wolf. I didn’t get a name, but his appearance is unique. I’m hoping Diego will know his name.

Good work , Zion praised. You’ve made remarkable progress.

There’s one more thing, and it’s seriously disturbing . Isaac sighed. He wasn’t even sure how to explain this. The injections Babcock is giving the women are causing fatal side effects. Elias stood there and watched while his lover transformed to death.

Transformed to death? Zion sounded aghast . What the hell does that mean?

Just what it sounds like. She shifted and shifted, over and over until it drained the life from her body.

Fuck , Zion muttered. Sounds like we need to go get Babcock sooner than later. We can’t let him get his hands on the new captives.

Agreed. Which meant he needed to find out where the wolves had the women stashed. I better get back in there.