“Take a seat, Thorne.”
I do as I’m instructed. The little black privacy box on his desk blinks green, indicating it’s active. Probably a necessity after the recent theta plot to overthrow the alpha ruling caste. Whispers of them colluding with the Uncorrupted are now unequivocal facts. No one knows how far and wide it spreads yet. But Victor hasn’t dragged me in for a chat about that.
“You’re familiar with the events surrounding my daughter’s abduction by the Uncorrupted?” he says. “That she was experimented on.”
“I am.” Her mates, Ethan Black and Ryker Sherwin, are close associates of mine. I worked with Ethan on several undercover operations before he mated Brach’s daughter. Both her mates went off-script to get her back… which was swiftly covered up on her return.
The last time I spoke to Ethan, he’d just returned from another op. One that had likewise gone off-script. He hadsubsequently been pulled from field work. Maybe his daughter had been in daddy’s ear. Or maybe Ethan had done something. Something that made even Victor Brach cautious.
“An opportunity has arisen,” Victor says. “One you’re uniquely qualified to deal with.”
I nod, waiting.
“It’ll mean going behind enemy lines. You’ll be assuming the role of an alpha.”
“Of course, sir. Whatever you need.”
At least he’s not asking me to play a theta. I’ve done it before and it nearly broke my mind. Not sure I could stomach it again. An alpha, I can handle. “That won’t be a problem, sir.”
He gives a sharp nod. “Good. You’re aware their alphas are… different?”
Their alphas?Here comes the catch. The Uncorrupted, a faction born of hatred for the Copper Virus and the thirteen dynamic mutations it created, had begun experimenting with it themselves. But they modified the virus before they administered it—some bullshit about purification—and their alphas came out warped. “Yes, sir.”
“Physiological differences. Subtle, but important, I’ve been told. I’ll have the full breakdown sent to you. You’ll need to blend in. Be indistinguishable from their kind. Can you manage that? The transition will need to happen in real time while you are in the field.”
“I’ll need contact with one of their alphas. It will help with the cloning process.”
Cloning can be done in two ways. The first is more generic, playing a particular dynamic, taking on just enough traits to blend in and fool an inspection.
Deep cloning is when I replicate someone exactly, their voice, their face, their mannerisms. It’s all there in their DNA. To dothis, I need direct contact with the person I’m replicating… who may or may not be dead.
“We have prisoners. You’ll get access.”
I nod. This shouldn’t be too hard. I’ve played our alphas before, so it will just require some minor tweaks. “The mission?”
He shifts. Not much. Just enough to set my gut on edge.
“Someone needs to be eliminated.”
I stiffen.
“She heads up their experimental program: one Solen Jenda.”
That lands hard. I blink, letting it sink in.
“I’ll give you a full briefing with everything we have. However, in summary, the target is located at a hidden base where their experiments are still ongoing. We’re launching a rescue mission to get our people out. You’ll go in as part of the operation. We’ve gotten close to her before, but in every case, she’s slipped away. We can’t take that risk this time. If she leaves, you will leave with her. Infiltrate, get close, and kill her.”
“You want me to question her first?”
He shakes his head and his eyes shutter. “No, just make sure the bitch is dead and get back out.”
Well, no ambiguity there…
I’ve heard through my sources what the female Uncorrupted alpha, Jenda, does to the dynamics captured and given over to her sick experiments… And what she did to Lillian Brach.
Killing her will be a pleasure. “Yes, sir. I’ll get the job done.”
Chapter Five
