Esher: Winter Valley Wolves #7 by V. Vaughn, Mating Season Read Free Book Online Page A

are industrial looking, with concrete walls painted various pale shades and galvanized steel roofs. The driver gets out and opens my door. He doesn’t help me out, and when I stand I get a good look at the guy. While Don is slender, this man has the thick neck and arms one would expect on a bouncer. He’s in a suit that makes me think of the TV version of CIA. I smile at him.
    He glares at me in return. I’m still playing dumb, so I raise my eyebrows at Don as if to say, “What’s up with him?” The three of us walk across the gray gravel toward a light-green building. The driver places his hand on a screen, and the metal door swings open automatically. I say, “That’s pretty high tech for around here. Nice.”
    We enter the building, and the technology stops. A bare bulb lights our way as we as we walk down a hallway. The sound of our footsteps on the concrete echoes off the walls, and the scents of urine and feces become stronger as we get farther along. Tiny hairs raise up along my body as adrenaline floods my veins. I’m not sure I want to see what’s around the corner.
    We turn left at the end of the hall and walk past bars that make me think of prison cells, but it’s too dark for me to see what is in the rooms. I guess that’s where the odor is coming from. At the end of the hallway, the driver places his hand on another reader to open the next windowless door. A buzzer sounds, and this time we enter a white room that appears sterile. The light is so bright that I squint as I glance around. It reminds me of an operating room, and I discover two tables with restraints are set beside each under what look like surgery lamps. This space is cold, and I wrap my arms around myself as I say, “It looks like you’ve got a nice setup here.” I wander over to the tables and walk around them as the driver stands like a guard by the door.
    The leather of a restraint is smooth under my fingers when I touch it, and Don asks, “Like being tied up, do you?”
    He and the driver both snicker, and I know the game is over. I ask, “Why am I really here?”
    A door from across the room opens, and Dr. Sand comes in. “Andi. How nice of you to join us.” Any ounce of warmth she used to have in her voice is gone.
    I glare at her. “Care to tell me what’s going on?”
    She sighs as she walks toward me. Her heels click loudly as she approaches. “I know you and Mia Maybee discovered werewolves last spring, and you both sabotaged my grant.” She squints her eyes and spits out, “ My career. You didn’t think I believed you would really agree to testing for me, did you?”
    I don’t reply, and she says, “No matter. You’re here now, and we’re going to discover the magic of werewolf blood together.”
    She does have a wolf. “You managed to catch one?”
    Dr. Sand smiles at me, and her bright-red lipstick reminds me of blood. “Yes. And I think you’re going to like the irony. Did you know Mia is now a werewolf?” She shakes her head. “What a scientist will do for research never ceases to amaze me.” She turns away from me and says, “She’s about to save you. Isn’t that grand?” She laughs, and the men join her, making me feel as if I’m in a horror movie.
    Dr. Sand says, “Don, Rafe, it’s time.”
    Fingers dig into my arms as the men grab me and drag me over to a table. At first I struggle, but I’m so weak, I realize it’s no use. I let them cuff my ankles and wrists to restrain me. Once they move away, I squirm to see what’s going on. Their feet clack as they walk away, and when the thud of the door sounds, I realize they’ve left me here, alone.
    It feels like hours before anyone returns, and I spend the time sorting out how I’m going to get away. I hope Mia had a chance to contact her alpha before she was taken. When Dr. Sand and the men do come back they have Mia with them. A strangled noise comes from her because she’s gagged, and her hands are bound behind her. I whisper,