Wolf Born by Ann Gimpel Read Free Book Online Page B

closed around him.
    * * * *
    The chime of his wrist computer dragged him from sleep. It was still dark outside, but he’d set his alarm for five-thirty to give himself time to shower. By the time he stepped out of his bedroom, ready for the day, briefcase in hand, it was a couple of minutes past six. Johannes would have a full breakfast laid out because he, too, liked eggs and toast and bacon.
    Succulent smells intensified as Max worked his way down two flights of stairs to the main floor where the kitchen and dining room were. He pushed the swinging door into the kitchen aside and saw Johannes, back to him, working at the stove. “There’s fruit and French toast on the table,” he said. “Omelet coming right up.”
    “You’re chipper this morning.” Max laid his briefcase on a chair, shrugged out of his suit jacket, and sat at his usual place in the kitchen eating nook. In the grand tradition of country kitchens, this one could have housed a small family. Glass fronted walnut cabinets lined three walls. Stainless steel appliances gleamed in the incandescent light from a Swiss chandelier. Max poured orange juice and dished up fruit, French toast, whipped butter, and raw sugar.
    “Not exactly.” Johannes set two plates on the table and sat down. “Ryan called me about an hour ago.”
    Max sucked in a breath, batting back annoyance. “Why didn’t you get me?”
    Johannes shrugged. “You were still asleep. I thought that was more important. Let me fill you in, and then we can call Ryan. He’ll be expecting us.”
    “Well?” Max set down his fork. Suddenly he wasn’t particularly hungry.
    “The short version is the State Attorney General’s office is interested in you. They’ve been tracking you for quite some time now.”
    Max’s brows drew together. “I wonder why.”
    “Maybe because the AG is as conservative as they come, and you’re the most liberal governor California’s ever had. Anyway, that’s not relevant. Ryan thinks they’re looking for criminal activity, or anything they can dig up to discredit you.”
    “And they found something better than their wildest expectations.” Max’s jaw tightened.
    “Not exactly. Ryan doesn’t think—”
    “Get him on the vid feed,” Max barked. “I need to hear this from him.”
    The screen mounted between two banks of cabinets flared to life. A grim-faced Ryan appeared moments later. “Morning, boss.”
    “Spill it.”
    “What did Johannes—?”
    “Never mind. Start at the beginning.”
    Ryan nodded. “The AG’s office has been watching you since before you took office. This last little go-round in Berkeley where the entire tracker task force for the city police department quit en masse piqued their suspicions, more specifically the suspicions of the investigator assigned to you—”
    “Holy, fucking shit. You mean to say that I’ve had my own personal asshole tracking me the whole time I’ve been governor?” Max slammed a fist on the table. “He must be damned good. I never knew.”
    Max turned an ear inward, but his wolf was silent. Maybe he was ashamed someone had gotten that close to them without him realizing it. “I’ll just bet the Berkeley mess got their attention,” Max went on. “The city hired those guys to track down shifters and kill them. To have most of the task force turn into shifters because of a serum the brass forced on them, and then to have them defect right along with the human members of the force, must have come as quite a shock.”
    “It was long overdue,” Johannes muttered. “We’ve needed a break ever since they amped up their efforts to wipe us off the face of the earth.”
    “Anyway,” Ryan went on, “we took care of your own personal asshole . He had shifter blood, so we shanghaied him and gave him a whopping dose of the serum, enough to force him into a shift. You can bet he’ll lay low from here on in.” Ryan made a sound between a snort and a grunt. “In case you’re interested, he’s a