The wolf’s growl filled the air—louder, longer.Two sets of flashlight beams fell on it immediately and, lying trapped under the grotesque and hideously aroused Trev, Regan watched the animal contort.Twist.Somehow grow bigger.The tubes poking from its neck quivered as, with an audible pop, they tore free, spurting black liquid all over the wolf’s steel-grey fur.Regan’s heart stopped.Oh, my God…
There was a low snarl, a sharp creak and the leather straps imprisoning it in the cage snapped.Just like that.
The rookie let out a yelp.
Trev stared at the snarling wolf, too stunned to get to his feet.“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” he whispered.With a howl of brutal rage, the wolf burst through the bars of its cage.As if they were made of tin foil.
The rookie screamed.Blue Eyes stumbled backward.“Fucking hell!”
“Shoot it, shoot it!”squealed Trev, trying to scramble upright and grab his gun at the same time.
He didn’t make it.
The wolf smashed into him, driving him across the floor of the lab in a screaming blur of flailing arms and legs.
Regan scurried backward and stumbled to her feet, Trev’s screams and the wolf’s low, savage growls punching at her ears.
“Trev!Oh, fuck, Trev!”The rookie continued to wail, Glock completely forgotten.
“Shoot the wolf, you dumb fuck!”Blue Eyes shouted, throwing the rookie a murderous glare.
For a split second, Regan stood frozen, staring at the chaos around her.The smell of blood and piss stung her sinuses—What in the name of God is going on?—before primitive self-preservation kicked in and she turned and bolted for the exit door.Hot disgust rolled through her.She hadn’t saved one single animal tonight.Not one.
Trev’s screams, raw and wet and gurgling, rose above the rookie’s wails and the chimp’s screeching.Regan heard blood in the guard’s throat and an image of the wolf’s long teeth flashed through her head.Bloody hell, she’d caused this.Her feet faltered.She’d caused it all to?—
A gun went off.Twice.
Trev howled.As did the wolf.
“Get the fucking bitch!” Blue Eyes screamed.
Regan didn’t need any further prompting.Guilt bubbling like acid in her gut, she fled the room, the image of the dead German Shepherd haunting her.I’m sorry, boy.I’m so sorry.
Another scream pierced the terrible cacophony and the chimp screeched, manic and insane.A third gunshot rang out, a fourth, and the wolf howled again—long, loud and deadly—as Epoc Industries’ high-tech security system finally activated, a shrieking Klaxon squeal shattered the chaos.
Regan tore along the corridor, bleached in flooding white light.All around her, she heard the sound of metal cages rattling and shaking as the animals inside squealed and howled and tried to break free.She ran, their terrified calls drilling into her head, her heart.Another gunshot sounded behind her, a high-pitched scream rent the air, the wolf howled one more time…
And she burst from the building, wrapped immediately in the warm night air of an Australian summer.
Blinding spotlights swam across the surrounding walkways, slashing through the darkness like blades.Regan sprinted for the back entry gate, the same one she’d used to gain access to the secured grounds what felt like a lifetime ago.If someone had discovered it ajar, she was screwed.There was no way she could scale the twenty foot razor-wire fences enclosing Epoc’s labs, no matter how loud the egging voice of her brother in her head.She looked over her shoulder, convinced she would see Trev, the rookie and Ol’ Blue Eyes coming after her.
Nothing.
Except the stripping, swirling spotlights and the ear-piercing wail of the building’s alarm, killing the peaceful stillness of pre-dawn.
Regan kept running.Until she cleared the perimeter, she was in danger.Even then, she couldn’t relax.The black smudges on her face may have hid her true appearance in the lab, but it made her conspicuous as all hell out on the streets.An early morning jogger may wear all black—astupidearly morning jogger—but they wouldn’t cover their faces in black shoe polish.If Epoc’s men found her, they’d know who she was.
Run faster!
Her car was parked three blocks away, tank full, engine tuned to perfection.All she had to do to get away was get through the?—
“Freeze, cunt!”
SHIT!Ol’ Blue Eyes.
“Stop or I’ll fuckin’ shoot you down and fuck you as you die!”
Regan ran harder, the gate coming into sight.Theopengate.Yes!
