Berserker: Second Rare Wolf (Rare Wolves Book 2), page 1
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Author's Notes
Other Books By Author
Berserker
Second Rare Wolf
K J Carr
Copyright © 2020 K J Carr
All rights reserved.
Thank you for purchasing and/or downloading this book. It is the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and/or distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes without express written permission from the author.
Your support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales, is purely coincidental. The characters are creations of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Cover Art by SelfPubBookCovers.com/ FrinaArt
Prologue
Koran
Drip!
Drip!
Drip!
I looked up at the ceiling, into the floors above me, exposed through huge holes in the sheet rock.
Amazing what that Pack had done.
My eyes focused on the cracked pipes, where liquid spilled in even drips.
Drip! Drip! Drip!
I hoped it was water for the sprinklers and not water from the bathrooms. Or something more toxic.
I moved away from the pool growing near my feet.
Dust swirled up as my boots scuffed across the floor.
I coughed, the smell of toxic fumes permeating the air. I didn’t want to stay here long. In and out was the plan. Except it was hard to find anything here. Those damn werewolves had destroyed everything, ripping it apart before blasting it with explosives.
I carefully looked around what had been a laboratory. Bare lengths of steel crossed the ceiling, their ends falling to the floor in places — a skeleton of an area that had once been pristine. Sheet rock laid in large pieces on the floor, wet and broken. Exposed live wires sparked in the walls, near ruined computer and lab equipment.
I looked around, disgusted. Stupid me. I knew the information wouldn’t be out in the open, but I still thought it would be easy to find. I grunted. I forgot this was Edward Black. He couldn’t make anything easy. He was a sneaky, paranoid bastard. He never showed all of his cards to anyone.
I ferreted out all the hiding places Edward had. He wasn’t in any of them. He hadn’t even been in his house for days, his mail piling up in his mailbox. He must have gone into hiding.
Unless the wolves had gotten him first.
I didn’t really care. I only needed his research. Our employer had paid good money for that information and wanted what he knew. That was his worth at this point.
I was betting on the fact he hadn’t already returned for his research. That either he hadn’t had a chance or was dead. What he had discovered was worth millions. Billions even. I had heard something about a government contract for super soldiers. But that was only the beginning. There were others willing to pay even more for this research.
Standing in the middle of the room, I placed my hands on my hips and looked around. Where would he hide the good stuff?
My eyes were drawn to a door on the far wall. That was promising.
I made my way over to it, stepping over equipment and going around piles of debris.
Not for the first time I wondered why Edward had built his lab in a basement. Snorting, I shook my head. Perhaps it made sense to him. With the whole structure ready to fall down into this room, though, I just didn’t see the logic.
Then again, given the fumes filling the air, there wasn’t any place safe in this building. Reminder to get moving.
Creak! Crack!
I flinched at the sound before steeling myself, stepping over an downed beam. Moving into the doorway, I turned, shielding my face from the dust that filled the air as a section of the ceiling fell into the lab, close to where I had been standing only moments before.
I wiped my face with one hand, turning to look into the room I had entered.
It wasn’t large. It held only a desk, two wooden guest chairs and an old red plaid couch. There was an ugly orange and red rug on the floor in front of the couch, but no table.
I walked towards the desk, my eyes wandering back to that rug. Something about it bugged me.
I exhaled, sitting at the desk, shifting through the contents in each drawer. I even pulled them out and looked at the bottoms, searching for hidden spaces in them. It wasn’t until I was searching the middle one that I found a key taped to the bottom.
Bingo! But what was it a key to?
I continued searching, finding an USB stick taped under the bottom drawer. I pocketed both the key and the USB stick, before sitting back in the chair, tapping a finger against my lips.
My eyes were drawn back to that rug.
Okay, time to determine what was bothering me about it.
I made my way over to it and flipped it up, causing dust to fly everywhere. Coughing, I covered my eyes.
Once the air cleared, I knelt, studying the floor. No obvious openings.
I tapped the oak planks, listening to the sounds. As I drew closer to the couch, the sound changed, sounding a little more hollow. I grinned. The man was not as smart as he thought!
I shoved the couch, almost falling on my face when it slid back easily. Fuck!
I rose to my feet and pushed it sideways towards a wall.
And there it was. The outline for a trap door showing in the wood planks of the floor. Hot damn.
An ominous creak sounded above me. Was someone else in the building? Or was this place finally going to come down?
Dust wafted down on me as I stilled, listening.
Shit. No matter the reason, it was time to get out of here.
The trap door pulled open easily, the hinges quiet. Stairs led down into an ominous darkness.
Well, no time like the present.
I quickly moved down the first few steps until I was even with the floor. Reaching up, I closed the door over me with a thump. In the next moment, a crash caused the door to tremble.
It had sounded like tons of steel and debris fell on top of it! I stared up at it in horror, coughing.
Damn it! I hoped that the door wouldn’t fail and all that crap would come through on top of me. I suspected this was Edward’s secondary escape route. Which would be good, because there was no way I could go back out through the lab.
Another bang sounded and I smelled fuel. Time to get out of Dodge. I ran down the stairs, praying I had time before the fuel ignited. Remembering the live wires near the computers, I knew combustion was inevitable.
The temperature began to rise. Talk about damn Murphy’s Law! I scrambled further down the steps, escaping the chemical fire that appeared to be starting above me.
Reaching the end of the stairs, I glanced up. The trap door wasn’t burning yet, which was a good thing.
Sweat beaded on my face as I looked down the tunnel in front of me. Time to move forward.
The tunnel stretched out, lit by small purple lights at my feet. I took several steps, watching as the lights came on and then flickered off behind me. Huh. Power for them must come from someplace other than the lab.
I hurried down the hall, my fingers dragging on the wall for guidance. About five hundred feet from the stairs, one of my fingernails caught on a spot of roughness.
I stopped, putting my finger into my mouth. Tasting blood, my eyes searched the wall to determine what had ripped my nail.
The lights blinked out.
I growled, moving my other arm around at my side. The lights blinked back on. Damn motion sensors.
Pulling my finger out of my mouth, I ran my hand lightly over that area of the wall, finding the place that had caused my injury.
The lights went out. I waved my hand again, exhaling in frustration. The lights came back on again. I pulled out my phone and used its flashlight app. I couldn’t rely on the damn runner lights.
There was something here, something that Edward must have hid. And I wanted to find out what it was.
I reached out and pressed around the rough spot. A slight snick of a catch sounded in the quiet. A section of the wall slid open.
Ah, Edward, you bastard. What do you have here?
A locked safe stood in front of me, on a shelf, at chest height.
A drop of sweat rolled down my nose. The temperature was still rising. I couldn’t hear anything, but time was growing short.
There was a dial and a small key hole in the front of the door. There was no way I would figure out the combination via the dial. I pulled on the safe itself, but he had bolted it in.
Damn that man!
More sweat ran down my face and I pulled up my shirt to wipe it off. If I couldn’t figure this out….
The key.
I took out the key, directing my phone’s light towards the door of the safe. I held my breath and inserted it into the hole, my skin starting to flush.
“Come on. Come on.” I mumbled. I turned the key and then pulled on the door. Nothing.
“Damn it!” I pushed the key in further, hearing a slight click. I froze.
All I needed now was for this to be a bomb. Please, God, let it not be a bomb.
I pulled on the door. It swung open, the insides dark.
No bomb.
I slumped in relief. Reaching in, I pulled out a notebook and another USB stick. There was money inside, but I didn’t need that. I turned away.
Well, hell. He owed me. Turning back, I scooped up the money, shoving it into a pocket.
Whoosh!
My eyes went wide. That was never a good sound to hear in a tunnel. Not when it was getting hotter in here by the second.
I turned and ran, betting on Edward’s paranoia. The whooshing sound got louder, and I sprinted, the sweat now pouring into my eyes, blinding me.
“Damn it, Edward. Where is your exit?”
A cool breeze touched the left side of my face and I slid to a stop, my hand slapping against the hot wall to keep me from falling. I scrambled around to enter a side corridor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bright reddish-orange light coming this way.
Fireball. Shit!
My hair lifted on the nape of my neck and I sprinted down the smaller tunnel. There was an opening in the floor and I didn’t even hesitate. I slid to a stop and jumped down blind, my legs jarring when I hit the floor. Staring up, I felt the hot air pour down from the other tunnel. I shook out my legs, glad to see I hadn’t broken anything, and ran, appreciating the cool breeze blowing into my face.
I came out at a lake, surrounded by rock walls. There was what looked like an exit on the far side. Great.
On a normal day, this hidden lake might have interested me, given it was well underneath the building. But this was not a normal day. I needed to get away from here.
Hesitating for a second, I wondered if I should jump into the water. Of course, if the fireball ended up here, that might boil me alive. I looked for another option.
There! A boat. Tied up to a wooden pier. I sprinted towards it, noticing that it had a motor. I hoped it also had a tank full enough to get me out of here.
I leaped over its side, dropping the notebook on a bench, before moving to the motor. Lowering it into the water, I pushed on the gas button before pulling the rip cord.
Nothing.
The air here was getting hotter. Damn! Shouldn’t the explosion have died out by now?
A thought crossed my mind. Edward was paranoid. He might have had a failsafe rigged to blow his whole compound so no one could profit from his research. The asshole would definitely have done something like that.
I pulled again, and the motor caught. Directing the boat towards the slice of light on the other side of the lake, I looked over at the tunnel I had come from. The rock walls there were glowing a dull red.
Worry filled me as I sped across the underground lake towards the opening. “Faster! Faster!”
Boom!
Rocks started falling down into the water, splashing me as I zig-zagged around them. I slipped out the opening as the cave ceiling fell, filling the lake.
I was out!
On another lake.
A wave of water pushing me straight towards a waterfall.
Fuck you, Edward!
I grabbed the notebook, shoving it into my waistband before maneuvering the boat closer to a walkway near the drop. I jumped, my hands catching on a metal railing, my body banging hard against the rock that made up the path. I pulled myself up onto it and turned my head back towards the cave I had left. The water beneath me churned as the cave collapsed.
I heard the boat as it went over the drop, the motor stopping as it hit the bottom.
I took in a deep breath, the dust in the air filling my lungs. I coughed for another few minutes as my body tried to purge itself of the foreign particles. I closed my eyes, breathing shallowly, my head resting on the metal walkway. I just couldn’t move yet, adrenalin still causing my heart to pound.
This had better been worth it.
Fucking lycanthropes.
Chapter 1
Loneliness has a scent, and I reeked of it.
I sniffed, turning to stare out the window.
My sister had left me here. Here alone. While she went back to her Pack.
True, she would plead for my case. Because Baron, her mate and Alpha, had been livid to find out I had been working with Edward.
I sneered. Edward Black had caused all of this. He had approached me, talking about how he knew lycanthropes existed and how he needed help to get access to some. He had told me how he planned to make us better, that he could get me any mate I wanted.
And I had wanted Shane Loren.
I also needed help. Help from someone who could keep my secrets.
There was more than just me and my wolf inside my body. I wasn’t sure what else there was. But that other part of me scared me. I had wanted to talk to Edward about it, but I hadn’t been sure I could trust him.
Well, that had been a bust. He was not worth my reputation, which I lost anyway. The Pack would kill me for what I had done.
I froze.
That could literally be true. I wasn’t sure what the punishment was for aiding someone like Edward, but I suspected it just might be death.
I shook my head, standing up and walking over to a window to stare out into the trees. I crossed my arms over my chest and rubbed one hand on my upper arm.
My sister wouldn’t allow Baron to kill me, would she? She was the Alpha female. She could influence my punishment. Mira loved me.
Oh, please, let her have enough influence. I wasn’t ready to die yet.
What if I was like Mami? What if I changed into a beast? Would Miranda be able to get me to change back? She knew how Papi did it with Mami. But then she would be my anchor.
I snorted. It would be a disaster if Mira was my anchor!
I blew on the window, my breath making a fog there. I ran a finger through the condensation, a slight squeak disturbing the quiet.
Winter was coming. And I didn’t want to spend it here in this cabin, all by myself.
I doubted the Alpha would forgive what I did. I didn’t want to become the low wolf – lower than even Maggie. I would die if they ranked me at the bottom of the Pack. If they made me fight to even stay in the Pack. Then again, perhaps that was better than dying or staying out here alone.
No. I would leave before they humiliated me like that!
I listened on the Pack bonds. Nothing. No whispers of people talking, no feelings leaking through. Baron must have cut me off from the Pack.
I still had my bond with Miranda, but even that felt muffled. My wolf could hear nothing more than whispers.
That other part of me rose, allowing me to somehow hear her thoughts, working around the block that was put on our bond. The whispers got louder, the words clearer. I didn’t care how I could hear her, though. I had to know what was going on.
“Our parents weren’t part of a Pack, Baron. They were…... a pair of lone wolves that had gotten together to have pups. Tessa and me. We all kept to ourselves and they spoiled us rotten. When I had met and mated with you, my parents had been so angry with me. They had tried to stop all of my communication with my sister, but we somehow got notes to one another. When Tessa had shown up, telling me that our parents had died, I knew I had to take care of her. I had left her with them, and then she had no one else to turn to.”
Miranda was talking with someone, perhaps Baron, her mate. She was telling them about our family. She was begging for me. Good.
But then I felt a numbness come over her mind. What was going on? What were they saying to her?
“I am sorry that she caused so much disruption to the Pack.”
Darn! It didn’t sound like anyone would let me off. I don’t think anyone knew I had lied to Miranda about our parents being dead. I could go home.
