Page 60 of Wolf Revealed

“Hand over the book,” Roman ordered.

Mike was surprised to realize that Roman was gasping for breath from the sprint after Chapman. Roman was sweating profusely, too, and the acrid odor of it made Mike’s nose burn. The man had pushed himself to chase down Chapman, that much was obvious. With his supernatural modifications, he’d never shown even the slightest hint of exhaustion in any of their previous encounters. Why now?

Mike was still trying to come up with an answer to that question when Chapman reached into his back pocket and came out with the journal he’d gotten at the paint factory.

“I guess you really are addicted to those MODs,” Chapman said with a laugh. “You’re already starting to shake from the withdrawal symptoms, and it’s been what, only five or six hours since your last dose? You’ll need to spend all the money in those crypto accounts on your new drug of choice.”

Roman cursed, moving closer to Chapman, trying to snatch the book with the same hand holding the envelope of flash drives. That’s when Chapman made his move.

And so did Mike.

Slipping around the tree trunk as silently as a wraith, he charged forward in a four-legged sprint at the same time Chapman pulled a small-frame automatic pistol from inside his jacket and fired four rounds point-blank into Roman’s chest.

Mike got there just as Roman began to fire back at Chapman. Mike launched himself into the air to close his fangs down onto Roman’s hand. The one holding both the envelope and the journal. Roman let out a shout as Mike’s fangs tore into paper, plastic, bones, and flesh.

The envelope of partially destroyed flash drives, along with a torn and blood-smeared book, fell to the ground as Roman turned his handgun on Mike and began to fire.

Mike released Roman’s damaged hand and bounded to the side to avoid getting hit before leaping forward to slam into his chest. Roman’s gun went flying from the impact. But that didn’t mean the man wasn’t still dangerous. He tore at Mike’s throat and shoulders with the claws from his undamaged hand like a man possessed.

Mike fought back just as hard, his fangs flashing as he lunged for Roman’s throat over and over. He missed his target, but was still able to inflict serious damage to the man’s arms and shoulders. Unfortunately, nothing he did seemed to have any effect on Roman. The man kept coming at him, hatred and anger roiling off of him like excess body heat.

From the corner of his eye, Mike saw Chapman hobbling away toward the perimeter wall, the tattered remains of both the envelope and the journal clutched in his bloody hands. Mike had no idea if there was anything usable left after he’d chomped them, but he still didn’t like the man getting away with any of it.

But going after Chapman wasn’t an option, not with Roman charging at him in a rage, claws and fangs insanely long now, like he was becoming more creature than human.

Mike didn’t hold anything back as he fought, knowing Roman intended to see him dead. Lunging forward, he tore into Roman again and again with his fangs, even as the other man’s claws tore into him. They both gave as good as they got, and for several long moments, Mike had no idea who would come out on top.

And then, between one heartbeat and the next, Roman simply collapsed, falling to the ground gasping for breath, one clawed hand pressing to his chest. At first, Mike thought it was all the blood coming from Chapman’s earlier gunshots, or the various lacerations his fangs had inflicted, that was finally slowing Roman down. But then he heard Roman’s heart suddenly beating way too fast and too erratically.

Mike made sure Roman’s handgun wasn’t anywhere nearby and then shifted back into his human form. This shift only took a few seconds longer than the previous one, and hurt way less.

Mike gazed down at Roman, still lying on the ground and looking worse by the second. It was then he realized the gunfire going on around the property had ceased.

“Is it the MODs?” Mike said, not sure why he was asking. If the situation were reversed, he doubted Roman would care why he was the one lying there.

Roman glared up at Mike even as he let out a hoarse cough. “The Carlyle Group lied. When I bought my first vitality MOD, they implied it was long-lasting. I was already on my third MOD—enhanced strength to go with my enhanced speed—when the first MOD started to fail. Carlyle claimed they were close to a breakthrough that’d ensure their MODs were permanent. That they just needed a little more time and money.”

Roman coughed again, blood coming with it this time as his heartbeat became even more irregular. Mike knew calling an ambulance wouldn’t help even if he had his phone with him.

“That was five years ago,” Roman continued, his voice barely more than a whisper now. “The MODs don’t even last a week. Carlyle said it’s my fault for taking so many, but I didn’t have a choice. I needed those MODs. And when I couldn’t bring in enough cash, I had to come back to Dallas to find the flash drive.”

Mike wondered if Roman realized he sounded exactly like a drug addict justifying anything to get their next fix. He didn’t know why, but part of him felt bad for the man, even after everything.

“Well, the crypto account information—if the flash drive is even still in one piece—is long gone now,” Mike said. “Chapman has it.”

Silence met his words, and he realized Roman was dead. The man wouldn’t be coming after him or his family ever again.

Mike was still standing there when Lark showed up a few seconds later. He looked around worriedly for Kal and saw him standing a few hundred yards away. Lark must have told him to wait there until she made sure it was safe. While their son was still in his wolf form, Lark had already shifted back and was wearing his uniform top. The thing hung down nearly to her knees, covering all the important parts, and looking sexy as hell while doing it.

She was carrying Mike’s uniform pants and his boots, which he quickly slipped into. He had no desire to answer the questions about why he was completely naked when other members of the Dallas PD finally started showing up.

After he was dressed and it was clear it was safe, she waved Kal over. He immediately bounded to them, stopping beside Lark.

“It’s really over?” she asked, gently weaving one hand into the ruff of fur at their son’s neck as Kal leaned against her. “We’re finally safe?”

Mike wrapped his arms around Lark, resting his forehead on hers. “It’s over. With Roman gone, his organization will fall apart. And after how many of their people we took down, I think it’s safe to say Sentinel and Carlyle won’t be back for more werewolf DNA samples any time soon.”

“Thank goodness,” Lark murmured, raising up on her toes to press her lips gently to his before continuing. “I was so scared when you were fighting that supernatural, and then again when you went after Roman and Chapman. I was worried Kal and I would never see you again. That you would never know how much I love you. How much we both love you.”