Chernobyl Werewolf, Team Greywolf Series, Book 2 Page 6

  Rachel sighed and brewed another batch of coffee. The only deaths were three men who had been on a boat near the explosion. The suspect apparently had been a terrorist with ties to ISIS. A lone wolf being held in the hospital with broken ribs and a concussion.

  The reporter took interviews from witnesses who described the Good Samaritan as a big muscular man who ran with the speed of a horse. Rumors of a man in the special forces surfaced. A man who sacrificed his life to save others. No sign of him anywhere. No business associate claiming to know the missing hero. She furrowed her brow. Who meets with a client during the New Year’s holiday? Or had he been here looking to stop the terrorist? But why go after him singlehandedly? Did he work for the FBI or some special anti-terrorist task force? Still, if they’d known a lone terrorist lurked in New Orleans, they would have monitored all celebration events.

  Rachel sipped her coffee. No. She got the impression Lev had not expected a terrorist in their midst. After all, their choice of venue had been hers and entirely random.

  Rachel wished she had known which hotel he had stayed in. She called several expensive French Quarter hotels, but none had a registration or reservation under his name. She could call every New Orleans hotel, but why bother? If he survived, he hadn’t bothered to call her to tell her he was okay. Even if he saw her as a casual dinner date, he’d let her know. Freakin’ common courtesy.

  Guilt overtook her resentment. She’d been left. Not stood up like a bride at the altar. Worse. Not knowing. Lev was gone and it was her fault.

  Yet her sorrow was more than guilt. It felt as though a part of her had died along with him. Dang. She’d been infatuated by the drop dead gorgeous and charming macho man. No, there was more. She’d become obsessed with Lev, since meeting him while she recovered from Ebola so many months ago. Men never made her lose her mind. Lev had been so different. He turned her mind into a giddy fan girl.

  Geez. Why am I so love sick?

  Maggie and her boyfriend Jim, who wore his hair in a man-bun, walked in. “Rachel, are you okay?”

  “No. I think I might have lost the love of my life.”

  Maggie hugged her. “I’m so sorry.”

  Rachel sobbed, but then broke away. “I’m sorry. I sound like a bumbling idiot.”

  “Of course, you don’t.” She offered Rachel tissue. “Did you reach your father?”

  “No. Howard’s phone is no longer in service. And his email bounced.”

  “That’s odd.”

  Jim poured a cup of coffee for Maggie, warmed up Rachel’s mug and brought them over. “I bet your dad works for some underground black ops group.”

  Earlier, she’d told Maggie and Jim, about Howard’s mysterious calls and how he never mentioned where or rather who he worked for. Most telling, Dr. Howard Becker had no internet presence. Were medical staff that worked for the secret services listed anywhere? “If that’s true, I might forgive him.”

  Maggie turned to Rachel. “Yeah, and from what you told me about Lev, he might have come to NOLA to find this mad bomber.”

  Rachel blew over the hot coffee. “It was my idea to go to Jackson Square. He looked surprised on spotting the bomber.” Unless Lev manipulated her into thinking it was her idea to watch the fireworks?

  Jim adjusted his hair-bun. “Or it could have been a false flag and Lev was part of the operation to ensure no one got hurt.”

  Rachel rolled her eyes. Jim believed every terrorist activity including 911 was a false flag in order for the government to take away citizen’s rights and start some nefarious one world order.

  “These men in black are convincing,” retorted Jim.

  Maggie frowned. “Chill.”

  Jim winked at her. “Oh, sure.”

  Rachel noticed the engagement ring on Maggie’s finger. “Are you two engaged?”

  Maggie smiled and lifted Jim’s wedding band. “At the stroke of midnight, Jim proposed and we decided to get married. Immediately.”

  “And you didn’t invite me?”

  “We didn’t invite anybody.”

  Jim nodded. “A friend of mine is a minister and performed it while his wife and mother in-law witnessed it.”

  Lost a possible lover, father and now a BFF roommate. She forced a big smile. “That’s great. So where will you live?”

  “Actually, we are staying here, but don’t feel like you have to leave, because you don’t.”

  “I know, but still, I can’t stay.”

  “Sure you can. We insist.”

  Jim nodded his head so enthusiastically it looked like his bun would come undone.

  “All right, but not for long. I might return to Doctors Without Borders.” Her idea of joining Howard at his practice was a bust.

  “Take as long as you want.” Maggie smiled. “Maybe find a job here.”

  “ I thought about that, but after what happened to Lev, I just can’t.”

  A knock on the door seemed unexpected. Jim went to open it. “Can I help you?”

  Two men dressed in suits stood at the entrance. “FBI, here to talk to Dr. Rachel Becker.”

  Lev’s helicopter landed at LIA headquarters. As soon as he stepped down, Jesper, the archivist and assistant to Rylee, met him on the helipad.

  “Sir, Rylee wishes to see you immediately.”

  Lev glanced at his watch. “It’s 3 a.m.”

  “We are in a crisis situation, sir.”

  “Very well.” Lev followed Jesper into the ranch house and then into the elevator to their underground headquarters. Was it because of New Orleans? He cleaned the mess. No werewolf evidence. He shouldn’t have meddled into human affairs without her permission, but better he be disciplined than have done nothing. There would have been heavy casualties. Including Rachel. He’d do it over again if it meant saving lives.

  This would be a good time to tell her he didn’t wish to be part of Team Greywolf, except on a case-by-case basis as a fangs-for-hire. Yet, guilt needled him. Rylee was as close to family as he’d ever known. Years before his father took a mate, he and Rylee had a passionate affair. She had worked for her father at the LIA, while Arkady Volkov had worked for both the LIA Eastern Block division and the KGB. After Rylee refused to return to his pack’s home base in Belarus, Arkady, though broken hearted, took another mate. Of course, he’d loved Lev’s mother, but if Rylee accepted him as a mate, Lev may or may not be sitting here. After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, he had been the only pup to survive the radioactive fallout. Arkady buried his mate, his other children, and the rest of his pack. After his father’s murder, Rylee found Lev, and, on occasion, he’d provided intel for her. It had never been his intention to join her pack or any pack. He preferred being a lone wolf.

  Lev and Jesper walked passed weres working on computer consoles. Normally at this hour, only a skeletal crew remained. Something of great importance happened or was happening, and by the looks of it, not about his venture to spend time with a forbidden woman. Something of epic consequences.

  Jesper opened the door and lowered his head. “Lev, ma’am.”

  Lev stepped into Rylee’s state of the art technology office. “Ma’am.”

  She sniffed three times in greetings and he did the same. Rylee turned to Jesper. “Have the report ready for tomorrow’s meeting.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He left.

  She turned to Lev. “Have a seat.”

  Lev sank down on the large comfortable leather chair.

  Rylee walked to the bar. “Vodka?”

  She acted calm, but he sensed her nerves on edge. “Sure, as long as you will join me.”

  “My very intention.”

  Rylee handed him a glass and raised hers. “To your astonishing recovery.”

  Lev stood, clicked their glasses and drained his drink. He wiped his mouth and sat back down.

  Rylee finished hers and sat behind her desk. “I’ve read Dr. Becker’s report on your physiology. Amazing.”

  What was she holding back? The casual conversation while
her team was on high alert didn’t make sense. There were many secrets about his mutations he never wished to share. Had the king found out and wanted him snuffed? Lev kept his composure. “What happened to doctor patient confidentiality?”

  “As the alpha of Team Greywolf, I am familiar with every member’s background and unique proclivities.” She smiled, bearing her fangs. “Dr. Becker, as my human, holds no secrets from me.”

  “I suppose the packs know I’m a comic book-like mutant.”

  She smiled. “Comic book implies hero.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Your senses are over the top, not to mention your strength and speed. I could only imagine what damage a single mutant werewolf can do, even when outnumbered. Perhaps, even convince everyone of a lion attack. An attack that killed an army of Boko Haram terrorists. During that time, you went dark, off our radar. Not that it’s unusual for you to go dark, but most coincidental. ”

  Rylee raised a brow.

  She knew. He blew out air. “Is that what Dr. Becker told you?”

  Her brows knitted. “Yes, but Howard is why I need to see you.”

  “The doctor saved my life, so no reason to be surprised I returned the favor by freeing his daughter of danger.”

  “Lev, we know Rachel has Stallo’s blood, and like Mia, Dominic’s human wife, can be a mate to an alpha werewolf.”

  “I understand Howard does not want her to live amongst our kind.”

  “Lev, that’s not the issue. The reason I called you at this god awful hour is Howard was shot a few days ago at our lab facility.”

  He stiffened. “No. Is he…dead?”

  “No, he is in critical condition, but Dr. Mark says he will pull through.”

  “So he is in our hospital?”

  “Yes. He’s received blood and is in a coma-induced state.”

  “What the hell happened?”

  “We had a mole.”

  Lev growled. “The Keep, as agents Cricket and Slade suspected.” The secret society of humans known as The Keep controlled world affairs and had a hand in wars and the economy. Conspiracy theorists referred to this shadow group as the Illuminati or the Secret World Order. The Keep knew of lycan kind and must have sent a specially trained human to fool them and infiltrate their society.

  “No. The mole was not human, but a beta. A female.”

  “What?” Who would betray their kind?

  “I’m hoping you can enlighten us. Debra McLaren had a British accent and joined the medical staff as a research scientist.”

  “Nik thinks she might have been a sleeper, but not sure for which pack.”

  “Did not anyone run a background check on her?”

  “We did. All checked out, until Jesper went deeper. Everything had been falsified by a hacker. The real Debra went lone wolf and her pack lost contact. She moved to Australia years ago.”

  “If she’s not with our enforcer Dominic, I’ll get the truth out of her.”

  “She’s dead. Howard caught her snooping around his secret files and confronted her. She shot him, but as she fled Selene in a fit of rage, charged her. The woman wounded her, but Selene ripped her throat out before collapsing.”

  Selene loved Howard and she probably went mad with rage, seeing her lover shot. “It can’t be Svetlana and members of the Chess Piece werewolf gang. Their submarine was torpedoed. None could have survived.” The human woman, Svetlana was Anton’s blood mistress. She was just as evil as Anton, the alpha who murdered Lev’s father.

  “None survived. Yet, there is a remote possibility she might not have been onboard. After Team Greywolf was called back, a severe storm hit the arctic area. Even if she had not been onboard, no way she could have survived.”

  “The bitch was always resourceful, but is it possible one of our own would work for The Keep?”

  “We’ve been keeping an eye on The Keep and we don’t think it was them.”

  “So we have a plant within The Keep?”

  “Let’s just say we have our nose and ears on them.”

  “So what now?”

  “Jesper and Selene think the mole might have gotten into secret files on our genome. Maybe information to sell to some biotech company.”

  “Has Howard said anything?”

  “No. He has been out since being shot.”

  Had he known about New Orleans? The distraction might have caused Howard to be careless. “I see. Did he mention anything else about me?”

  “You mean New Orleans? No.” She winked. “But I knew you stopped the ISIS bomber at the New Year’s event. You were checking on Rachel and good fortune for many. You saved lives. You did an even greater job of werewolf cleanup.”

  “Apparently, not well enough to stay off your radar.”

  “Dr. Rachel Becker has Stallo’s blood and when you met her at his home, Howard worried you had already claimed her. So, yeah, you are on our radar.”

  No use lying. “My wolf desires her…no…he’s made her his.”

  Rylee narrowed her eyes. “Have you bitten her?”

  “No. Of course not. I respect Dr. Becker’s desire she remain in human society and not be forced to live with our strict rules and restrictions.” He hated such lycan restrictions. He would never force them on Rachel.

  “We cannot coerce a woman to join our lycan society. It is against our law. No matter how much she is needed to help our bloodlines. I understand her father’s wish to keep her out from under our claws.”

  So many young wolves had died during the change. Dr. Becker understood a little cross breeding would increase the chances of their kind surviving the change. As long as his daughter was not one of the chosen breeders. Lev too would not bear that. Due to his exposure to high levels of radiation, she-wolves would never consider him mate material. He would be the last person allowed to take Rachel as his mate. “Then we agree.” He thought about how Howard had left his research to take care of his daughter and how she would want to know about his condition. “Should Rachel be told about her father?”

  “He made it clear long before he was wounded his daughter would only be contacted upon his death. We hid her connection to our kind.”

  “I see.” Rachel had the right to know, but he understood it was for her own good.

  “Go home and rest. In four hours, I’ll debrief Team Greywolf before we search where the mole originated from.”

  He released a slow breath. “Ironically, I was going to tell you I don’t wish to be a regular member of Team Greywolf.”

  “What? You are our best warrior. Our weapon of mass destruction.”

  “I planned to work on a case-by-case mission, but remain a lone wolf.”

  “Consider this case top priority.”

  Lev nodded. “Absolutely. I will not rest until we find out who is behind this breach.”

  “Good. Once we solve this case, we’ll discuss your reasons for leaving my team.”

  Chapter 6

  Finally, Rachel slept through the night. She sat on her bed and checked her texts. Nothing. Two days had passed since the FBI paid her a visit about Lev. They believed her story about not really knowing Lev Volkov, who they called a person of interest. Not as the terrorist’s accomplice, but as a mystery hero. Likely, never to be found. When the bomb exploded, he was too close to the detonation site and became fish food. MIA. No one under his name had registered at any of the hotels. Lev must have used an alias. The FBI had handed her their card and told her to call if she heard anything. Being this was New Orleans, rumors of a ghost, a vampire or even an angel helping save people from the bomber surfaced. At least there weren’t more sightings of a large wolf.

  She donned her robe and went down stairs. Something smelled good.

  Maggie smiled at Rachel as she made French toast. The smile showed the world she was in love with the man of her dreams. Not that she wanted to rain on her parade, but Maggie’s cheery disposition brought her down. Had mysterious Lev been the man of Rachel’s dreams? Not likely. Lev in his badass
black leather coat hadn’t looked like the settling type. “Pull out a chair and come eat.”

  “Where’s Jim?”

  “He is borrowing a truck to move in the rest of his stuff.”

  “Cool.” She did her best not to frown. Great. Being here with newlyweds is not going to work. Better to go back to her old life. Dedicated doctor in some third world country where it didn’t matter she had no love life. No family to come home to. And no reminder she’d been obsessed with some drop dead gorgeous man who was either dead, or skipped out on her. He must have seen her as a dinner date he’d no intention of getting serious with. A date and possibly one-night stand to enjoy New Year’s Day, nothing more. Such a tryst would have satisfied her fantasies about him. Until she met Mr. Right. Actually, more like Mr. Almost Right.

  “What’s wrong? You love my killer French toast.”

  Rachel poured herself coffee. “Sorry. I just can’t get Lev out of my mind.”

  Maggie brought the plate to the table and sat next to her. “Sorry, hon. Orange juice?”

  “No, thanks.” She tasted a slice of French Toast. “Yum.” Still, she found it hard to enjoy food, after all that had happened.

  “No word about him—or your father?”

  Ouch. Maggie always got to the point. “Not a word about what happened to Lev and definitely nothing from Howard.”

  “Your dad must be off the grid without television or internet. The bomber news had gone viral.”

  “Only three people died, four if you count Lev, and all men. I suppose Howard can’t be that much of an insensitive ass.” She stabbed another slice of toast. “Okay, maybe just an ass.” Maggie’s friends and family had been calling the last few days. Most of Rachel’s friends were still stationed in Africa and they had texted or emailed her to make sure she was okay. No relatives, though. Sucked being an only child of only child parents. She did have some second cousins who lived in New York, but they’d never touched base.