Page 50 of The Enforcers: KANE

“I don’t care what you believe.” Noah was growling now. He kept pulling on the chains, as if he wasn’t even aware he was doing it. Bang. Bang. Bang. “It’s not me.”

Kane watched him. He looked almost like…

He looked like an addict whose latest fix was wearing off.

Kane stood up and hit the button on the intercom. “Get that healer in here now,” he said. “Sedative and blood sample.”

If Noah had been given some kind of drugs, they had to get a blood sample before his shifter metabolism blew through them.

Suddenly, Noah stopped banging. “You have to believe me, man,” he said. “I didn’t do this.” He was staring at the video rolling across the screen. “That can’t be me,” he whispered. “How could I do something like that and not remember it?”

Kane shook his head. He really didn’t sound like he was faking it. “What do you remember? Walk me through your shift.”

Noah began giving him a report. It started out clear and succinct, normal for a military man who was trained to give reports.

Until he talked about going outside to do the midnight perimeter check. As soon as he started talking about it, he started pulling on his cuffs again. Gently at first, as if he once again didn’t realize he was doing it. And then harder. Bang. Bang. Bang.

“Noah,” Kane said, putting some alpha authority into his voice. “Focus. I need your report.”

Noah calmed down, but his arms were trembling. “I was doing the perimeter check,” he said. “And—and I thought I saw someone in the woods. So I went in to check. But…I didn’t…”

His body jerked involuntarily.

Bang. Bang. BANG.

Noah stilled himself with an obvious effort. He closed his eyes briefly, took a deep breath and then went on.

“I tracked them into the woods but I lost them. And then you drove up and I saw your truck, and I came out. And you threw me on the hood, and there were all these cars and lights...”

He frowned. “How could all those cars have gotten there while I was in the woods? I was only in there a few minutes.”

BANG. BANG. BANG. Kane could see raw abrasions on his wrists from the friction of the cuffs.

Kane pulled the laptop back and gently closed it, his gut churning. “What time is it, Noah?” he asked.

Noah’s brow wrinkled. “I don’t—I don’t have my watch.”

“Estimate,” Kane said.

Noah took another shaky breath, and his arms jerked. “I went out at five to midnight,” he said. “Like always. I walked halfway around the perimeter, which is ten to eleven minutes. Then I pursued the subject into the woods, for approximately two to three minutes. And then you drove up. I’ve been in custody for about an hour, so…ten after one?”

Kane gestured at the clock on the wall behind Noah. He twisted around and looked at it. It showed three forty-two a.m.

Noah stared at him. “How the hell…”

“You lost two and a half hours.”

“No.” Noah shook his head. “No. No.” His eyes went wild again, and he began pulling on his chains. Bang. Bang. BANG. The skin at his wrists tore, and blood ran down his hands. His eyes flashed gold, and a furious snarl ripped out of him. His skin rippled and fur sprouted, but he seemed unable to completely change. His bones broke and rebroke as he oscillated back and forth between wolf and human.

Wolf woke up inside Kane and started snarling, clawing to get out. Wrong. This is wrong…

“Medic!” Kane yelled. “Get that fucking medic in here now!”

The door burst open and a dark-haired woman hurried into the room. Kane grabbed Noah’s flailing arms and held him down while the healer stuck a syringe in his neck. He passed out almost instantly.

She pulled out a small plastic case with several syringes. “Keep holding him in case he comes to. I need to get these samples before that sedative gets all the way into his bloodstream and messes up the results.”

She expertly took three syringes full of blood and stored them carefully. Kane got up.