Charming the Beast (Purgatory #3)(31)
Author: Cynthia Eden

And if he didn’t…if his beast took over and the guy went feral, then Eric would deal with him. But Eric would not take out this agent without giving Harris a fighting chance.

“I’ve been where you are,” Duncan said to Harris. “There’s a choice other than death.”

But Duncan had been an alpha, and Harris…Eric didn’t know how much fight the guy had in him. He’d been one tough cop in Atlanta, and he’d transferred, aiming hard and fast to move into the FBI and up the ladder there. The guy had popped up on the Para Unit’s radar because his parents had been killed by supernaturals, and…well, he’d seemed properly motivated to join the group.

Now they would wait and see. Either Harris’s human side would win this battle, and he’d keep the baser instincts of the werewolf in check…

Or I’ll have to put him down.

***

Connor typed in a code and opened the heavy, metal door. It squeaked on its hinges as it swung out, and Chloe saw the glitter of stars. She hurried outside, but stopped short. The entire area—Connor had called it a courtyard—was enclosed in a large fence. A fence made out of what looked like—

“Silver,” Connor said. “So, just to be on the safe side, don’t touch it, baby.”

She walked to the middle of that area. Tilted her head back and stared up at the sky. The moon was up there. Big and bright, but not quite full. Not yet.

“The full moon is close,” Connor murmured. “You know that’s bad for a werewolf.”

Because the beast inside got stronger then.

“You scared the hell out of me.”

She glanced over at Connor. His gaze wasn’t on the stars or the moon. It was totally on her.

“I thought I’d lost you.” He closed the distance between them. Reached out to touch her, but then stopped. “I was terrified.”

Chloe shook her head. “No, not you, you don’t fear anything.”

“I can’t lose you.” Then he leaned forward. He pressed a light kiss to the curve of her neck.

Her heart gave a little jump.

“I’ve lost too much in my life. Some things I can’t ever get back.” He kissed her neck again. “I don’t want to lose you.” He eased back and stared into her eyes. “I’m not your jailer, Chloe. I’m here, with you now, because I want to do everything within my power to keep you safe.”

“Connor—”

“It felt like my heart had been ripped out,” he confessed gruffly. “And, baby, I didn’t even know I still had one. Figured I’d lost it years ago when my old man was cutting into me.”

Her gaze searched his.

“You got to me, Chloe,” he said. “You’re making me feel things that I shouldn’t.”

Her lips pressed together, then she made a confession of her own, saying, “I’ve wanted you from the beginning.” But she shook her head. What she felt for Connor was more than just desire. So much more, and she didn’t fully understand it. Or him. “What’s happening between us?”

“Do you know how mating works for werewolves?”

She shook her head. Not really. She knew where the mating bite was given, but…not much else.

“We can mate with those who are a match for us. Genetically. Physically. We can scent the connection there, and we know that we can have children with potential mates.”

Children? No, she couldn’t think that far ahead. She couldn’t—

“I’ve never wanted to mate with anyone before. When I was with you, I couldn’t stop myself from marking you. I did that, and I should’ve had control. I should’ve held back.”

“It was just a bite.” She said the words to convince herself. And him.

He shook his head. “It’s more, and you know it already, don’t you?”

“Keegan…he freaked…said he knew I’d mated with you.”

His face hardened. “And that’s when he broke your neck. Because of me.” He whirled away from her.

“No!” She grabbed his arm. Swung him right back around. “He hurt me because he’s an evil bastard. That’s the same reason he hurt Harris. The same reason his pack came after us all so hard. You didn’t do it. He did.”

And Connor was nothing like Keegan.

Her shoulders sagged as the moonlight fell down on her. “What am I going to do? I-I don’t…I just don’t know what’s coming. If the silver sensitivity returns again, that means the wolf is still inside me. But I could never fully shift. Will I just get stuck again? Trapped in limbo?” Trapped in that hell forever?

“Holly will help you.” He sounded so confident of that.

She wanted to believe him. Chloe stared up at him. “Is it really true what they say about vampires?”

“People say plenty about vampires, and I’m not exactly a normal vamp.”

No, he wasn’t. “Can you control people?” Eric had wanted him to control her, but Connor had refused.

The idea of that much power…the idea that someone out there could do that…

He nodded. “I can.”

Goosebumps rose on her arms.

“And we’ve got a big damn problem on our hands, because that guy out there—Keegan? I think he’s like me, Chloe.”

She stumbled back a step.

“Silver didn’t hurt him. It didn’t slow him down. So I think he’s changed, too. As far I know…well, as far as I knew…Duncan and I were the only two cross-overs.”

“A cross-over? Is—is that what you are?”

“That’s what Eric has been calling us. A crossed mix of vampire and werewolf. A super beast.”

Her body seemed to have iced. “How did Keegan change?”

“It’s not easy, but maybe the senator helped him. We already know the guy was doing a lot of experiments, so maybe Keegan was one of the senator’s projects. Maybe he amped up his power. Maybe—” Connor stopped. “Shit.”

“Connor?”

“Maybe that was the plan all along. The senator wanted the paranormals to come out, to show the humans just how strong they were, but what’s stronger than a werewolf? Stronger than a vampire?”

He was running back toward the building.

“Connor!”

He looked back at her. “Cross-overs. A vampire can’t be made into a werewolf, but a werewolf can become a vampire…all of the strengths, and none of the silver weakness. It’s not supposed to happen. But Eric figured out it could happen, if the werewolf was an alpha. The alphas are strong enough to last through the change. They’re strong enough—”