Blood Mate: The Project Rebellion, Book 2 by Mina Carter Read Free Book Online Page B

different. Turning again, he followed his patrol partner into the forest.
    Even barefoot and laden with heavy holdalls, the run back to the pack’s base camp deep in the forest covered mountains was nothing arduous for the two wolves. As soldiers, they’d been used to carrying more weight over rougher terrain and their conversion to something more than human—to Lycan—had only made them stronger and faster. Between them they could have carried a small car back to camp if it would have fit between the trees as they dodged and wove through the closely packed trunks.
    The sky lightened while they ran, the sun making its way higher above the horizon. It was fully raised by the time they neared the camp. Sanders once again brought up the rear. The breeze ruffled his hair, blowing it back from his face as he scanned back the way they’d come. It was a habit—a holdover from the days when he’d been human. These days sight wasn’t his strongest sense, but with the wind behind them, he knew they hadn’t been followed.
    A dark shadow moved in the undergrowth. Leaves parted on a whisper of sound to reveal the glint of an amber eye deep within the shadows, focused on them with an intelligence and perception not found in the animal kingdom. Movement rustled in the undergrowth, releasing a wave of damp earthiness. A set of hulking furry shoulders became visible through the leaves before the huge wolf settled again.
    Sanders squinted, trying to make out more detail. But while the LY infection had cured him of the need to wear glasses, it hadn’t given him the vision of a hawk. The early morning sun didn’t penetrate all the way through the thick leaf canopy overhead and the male had hidden himself well, like he’d been trained to do.
    Another shift. Sanders’s eyes narrowed, piecing the slight variations in shadows together. The male was tucked under a fallen log next to a large outcrop of rock, just his eyes visible…if you knew what to look for. Members of the pack were masters of camouflage. A human could walk right on by and never know that a creature from a nightmare lurked in the shadows. Watching. Waiting.
    From the size and coloring, it had to be Thom or maybe Blake. Only the Lieutenant and Captain were bigger, but the fur color was wrong for it to be either of them. One way to be sure. Sanders took a deep breath to catch the scent. Thom. The other male’s familiar scent filled Sanders’s sensitive nostrils. He nodded at the wolf while Nic stomped past without acknowledging the well-hidden guard. They stepped from the trees into the small clearing currently serving as the pack’s impromptu base of operations.
    “Please tell me you got something decent to eat,” a voice begged.
    Sanders swept a glance around the clearing, empty apart from the two of them and the tall man rising to his feet to greet them. They hadn’t started a campfire, but he wouldn’t expect them to. With the Project out looking for them, they couldn’t risk the smoke giving away their position. They didn’t need another couple of gunships on their case, especially without the backup of the heavy weaponry on the hummers they’d had to ditch in the foothills. Which was a bitch because Sanders had sure enjoyed that show. Even if he’d had to be careful Richards didn’t catch him looking. Acres of naked male skin and muscles and…
    Sanders suppressed the shiver trying to roll down his spine at the thought.
    Blake—Thom’s patrol partner—was across the clearing and rooting through Nic’s bag as soon as it hit the dirt.
    “Meal bars and protein packs. Tastes like shit but they’ll keep us going for now,” Nic commented, watching Thom with amusement.
    Sanders kept his own bag firmly looped across his body and looked around. “Where is everyone?”
    “Richards and Palmer are out on Recon, following the Blood bitch who took Foster. Apparently they split off, didn’t meet up with the rest of the Project forces.”
    Blake sat back on