Sword of Mercy (15 page)

“What if the packs moved until we fix this?”
Asia asked the question they’d discussed before. “Explain the prior
agreement to Ulric, let him see the document so he’ll understand
the pups in his pack are targeted. I’m not saying move forever,
just move for a short period of time.”

“If you can fix the problem in ninety days
they can move,” Chacal said returning to the room holding papers.
“Any longer than that and the Liege can claim it as abandoned and
reassign the land to another pack. Which we know they’ll give it to
Alphas, they control like Verrick.” Chacal sat in his chair and
continued reading. Niall walked in eating a sandwich.

Hawke’s stomach growled in
anticipation.

“After what I saw today, I’m sure my brother
and his mate can have this fixed within three months.” He looked at
Hawke with a large smile. “Right, bro?”

Hawke growled, took Niall’s sandwich and
popped it in his mouth.

“Hey!” Niall yelled. “That’s rude.”

Asia chuckled and left the room.

“So is lying, yet you continue to do it so
well.” Hawke swiped his lips with his tongue.

Niall left the room, muttering as Asia
returned with a tray of meat and sandwiches. “Here, eat this,” she
said and left again. He’d finished one sandwich when she returned
with a liter of water.

“Thanks baby
.”

She nodded and chuckled. “
You know Granira
is wondering what you see in this short, average looking
man.”

Hawke grabbed her lapel and pulled her closer.
His lips brushed against hers and tasted like ambrosia to him. He
would never grow tired of her taste. “
I don’t give a damn what
anyone says about you. I love you in every form
.”

“Seems like the Liege took the suggestion of
helping shifters to a whole new level with LOBO.” Chacal said
flipping the page of the documents.

“LOBO? What’s that?” Asia asked in between
bites of food.

“Liege Organized–”

“Behavioral Optimization,” Hawke finished with
a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He glanced at the
document in Chacal’s hand and then at Asia.

“What
?” she asked into the cool silence
in their link.

“I created that plan or large
portions of it. But it was to help adult wolves grow stronger,
better. Not pups. Pups cannot survive the things I put into that
manual. Oh shit… what the hell was I thinking?”

“You weren’t. The computer chip, programmed
by the Liege, did all the thinking for you
,” Asia
stressed.

“But if a pup survives training in
LOBO, they’ll be little more than machines when they leave. It
calls for numerous surgeries, including all metal limbs, metallic
layered skins, sharpened fangs, everything.”

“In other words, they’ll be like you
?”
She looked at him and touched his hand. “
From where I’m sitting
that’s not a bad thing. Once they find their mates the Liege’s
influence dies over them and they can help the
pack.”

He shook his head and looked at his hands in
disgust.
“The Goddess sent you to me, it could be decades before
they find their mates and until then they’ll destroy whoever the
Liege tells them to destroy. It never entered my mind to resist,
not until you came along.”

“How’d you know that, Hawke?” Angus asked.
“Have you seen it before?”

Hawke looked at Angus. “Something similar,
behavioral optimization is code for absolute obedience. In the mind
of Lancaster and his cronies, that is the golden
standard.”

“Were you obedient?” Granira asked.

“How do you know about LOBO?” Asia asked
Angus, ignoring Granira.

“Yesterday we checked out two locations,”
Angus said. “One was a lab from Hawkes’ list. That’s where we found
the pages on LOBO and another smaller building not far from here.”
Angus explained the bar, their impressions of the surrounding area
and the building. He paused and stared at Asia.

“There was another location purchased by the
same corporation the Liege used for other transactions within
thirty minutes from here.” He met Hawke’s gaze. “It wasn’t on your
list. Once we got there we understood why. The charred remains of
animals, including wolves, filled a large incinerator, filthy,
stacked cages lined three rooms. Based on the smell of things, the
deaths were fairly recent, the place stank. We didn’t check all the
rooms, but the ones we saw were bad.”

Granira gasped and covered her
mouth.

A bitter taste hit the back of Hawke’s tongue
as if he were in that room with Angus. His nose itched from the
imagined smell. This could not continue. Whatever role he needed to
play to correct the damage he’d unwittingly created, he
would.

“Let’s just say, it was bad enough that Chacal
changed his mind about remaining on the sidelines,” Angus said in a
low voice.

“The things they are doing… it’s inhumane and
not allowed per this agreement. If they feel they are operating in
the gray areas, they’re wrong. They have violated everything these
pages stand for.” Chacal placed the papers on the table next to his
chair.

“What I saw in the camp wasn’t science, or
behavioral modifications. It was murder, bordering on genocide of
our people. No one should stand on the sidelines and allow
outsiders to destroy them. I certainly cannot,” Chacal said with
more heat and emotion than Hawke had seen in the month they’d
stayed in the man’s home. Hawke glanced at Asia’s stunned
expression and touched her arm.

“Well, damn, someone found the
button to his conscience.”

Hawke shrugged. “
Yeah, I guess so
.”
Once everyone discovered he wrote most of the LOBO manual that
animosity would be turned toward him. He and Asia could move to the
hotel in town or to Alpha Radoff’s pack lands to finish this job.
He exhaled beneath the heavy weight of shame. Not once had he ever
considered the experiments wrong. Quite the opposite, learning new
things, perfecting his body, stretching his abilities had been the
nourishment that kept him going. Now, sitting on this side of the
fence, he saw, understood why the test wolves hated him and thought
of him as a butcher and a quack.

“Hawke, don’t do this
,” Asia said,
lacing her fingers through his. “
There is always another side to
consider.”

“Don’t you understand? The reason
they’re stealing the pups is because of me. I gave them that damn
manual.”

“What I understand is you’re the
only person who knows what those assholes are doing and how. I
understand that you have the blueprint for their weaknesses as well
as strengths in that incredible brain of yours. Where you see
failure, baby, I see success and that’s what the Goddess is talking
about. You know those bastards and can guess what they’ll do next.
We need you to guide us into the dark paths of their minds and game
plans. So don’t be upset by the things you’ve done, I’m not. We’ll
use your knowledge about them, against them and destroy
them.”

Hawke stared at her and checked their link.
She was serious. Interesting. He did know how the Liege thought, or
at least how they thought when he’d been under their domination.
Most of the plans he worked on were stored in his personal cloud.
Even if they made changes, he still had the core. Could that be
what the Goddess meant? Between him and Asia, they knew enough
about the Liege to shake that organization, and possibly bring it
to its knees.

He smiled and squeezed his mate’s hand.
“
Thank you. As usual, you are right. The image of Lancaster on
his knees feels good
.”

Chapter 15

The transmission of the fight wasn’t as good
as those transmitted through the cams embedded in the eye, but
since Damian lacked that device, the one mounted in his sunglasses
had to suffice. Boris Lancaster watched the screen until it went
blank. Inwardly he battled pride, sadness, loss and anger at the
scene he’d just seen. Hawke looked good. His pet protégé appeared
to be thriving outside the castle. Boris had hoped to see a
weakened and confused Hawke which would spell disaster for their
research, but would have soothed the ache of loss in his
chest.

The bleep on the monitor pulled him from those
ridiculous thoughts. Even without the computer chip in his brain,
Hawke operated with clear thoughts and excellent movement of his
limbs. Throwing the motorcycle had been over the top, but it
allowed Boris to see the quality of their work.
Superb
. He
saved the video to the cloud and sent a copy to Lord Roderick.
They’d share a glass of champagne later over the successful
implementation of their technology.

He’d have Lord Phineas, Griffin’s former
assistant, cut segments of this tape for a promotional piece for
potential clients. There were a few bugs that would need to be
worked out and information to be omitted, such as what happened if
the product came into the proximity of its mate. But overall, LOBO
proved successful.

Rubbing his hands together, he re-watched the
footage and stopped on the image of the other shifter. Angus,
Hawke’s mate. Zooming onto the face he looked for signs of the
black wolf. After long, frustrating moments, he admitted failure.
Roderick might be onto something with that chameleon
bracelet.

He tapped his fingertips on the desk while
staring at the monitor. The power they could wield by taking over
the bodies of men and women in high places. It tickled his
imagination to think of sitting in Buckingham Palace or the White
House. Oh… to be able to show all those people who teased and
taunted him when he was a young lad with speech problems. His chest
expanded with imagined pride. For a moment he basked in the glory
of being the leader of the world.

They could control or topple kingdoms and do
things that left a mark in history without a hint of identity
theft. The more he thought of the possibilities, the more he wanted
that bracelet. Then, they could leave the wolves behind without
fear of retribution from that damn contract. He’d be the first to
admit over the past two decades, they had been skating on thin ice,
and there had been times he’d been certain Konstantin would blast
them from wherever he rested in eternal bliss with the damn curse,
but so far luck favored them.

But if he could discover the secret of the
bracelet he could change his fortunes and destiny. Roderick hadn’t
said much about the bracelet other than Angus Black Wolf was the
key. Lancaster rubbed his chin and stared at the face on the
monitor. Perhaps he could seek more answers while bringing Hawke
down. Catching one would bring the other and before he turned Angus
over to Roderick he would set about securing his fortune. It was
something to consider after watching Hawke.

The door opened and Damian walked in. Boris
turned off the monitor and faced his new protégé.

“Report.”

“I watched the confrontation. The hybrids are
still slower than the black wolf. I timed his blows and they were
always faster and more precise than the hybrid. The addition of the
metal around the face to protect the chips seemed effective.
However, the steel rings around the neck did not prevent
decapitation. The sword severed the head from the body and did
nothing to stop the twisting of the head. Since there is no
regeneration after decapitation, I suggest researching that
area.”

Lancaster nodded. They’d spent millions
already on research. Hawke’s report had been clear and concise.
Unless you placed body armor around the neck there was no way to
protect it. But the armor would prevent the wearer from fluid
movement and cause their death against an opponent.

“What did you think of Hawke?”

Damian frowned. “Hawke?” His face cleared.
“The one who threw the cycle?”

Lancaster noted the sparkle in his eyes as he
mentioned the bike. “Yes.”

“He is very fast, strong and level-headed.
Even when angered he didn’t bother to charge instead he acted in a
manner that would give him information about an unknown. No matter
if the bike hit me or not he would’ve learned something of my
nature. I applaud his thinking.”

“Good. I am sure the two of you will meet
again.” Lancaster watched to see if there were any signs of
recognition and was pleased with what he saw.