Eric called in the pizza order as he left work. Same process as before, and again, Dare was already waiting for him in the bathroom.

"Change of plans," Eric said without preamble. "We need to get everyone out as soon as possible."

Dare kept his calm, which frustrated Eric. Couldn't he see how worked up Eric was? Couldn't he see something had gone terribly wrong?

"Tell me," Dare said. Eric closed his eyes and took several long breaths. Dare wasn't a mind reader. Eric had to tell him before he could know.

"I think they suspect me, but even if they don't, they're going to know in a few days that I'm the one who infiltrated the system."

"How?" 

Eric envied Dare's calm approach. "One of the first things I was able to figure out was the genetic markers that identified shifters. I held on to it for a while, but I gave it to them in order to get more access to the prisoners. [Double check he hasn't told him this before.] They're using it to scan everyone who works there. I could have as little time as tomorrow or as much as a week. I suspect they'll be running samples around the clock as intense as their focus is."

Dare finally reacted, lifting his phone to dial a number. "We'll pulling you out now. You'll have to--"

"No." Eric snatched Dare's phone away, wilting under the alpha pressure as the man reacted, but his wolf wouldn't let them keep him away from his mate.

"Give me back my phone." The command was overlayed with Dare's power, and Eric handed it back immediately, thankful the other alpha didn't just start dialling again. 

"Please, don't."

"Why?" Dare was impossible to read.

"I can't handle leaving my mate without any of our eyes on him. I know I can't do much from the inside right now, and I know realistically that I will be safer, but he won't."

Dare nodded. "You're aware of the consequences if you're caught?"

Eric nodded. He probably understood the consequences better than Dare, having been the one to see them with his own eyes.

"We'll do our best to speed things up. But I can't make any promises."

Eric wanted promises. He wanted to know he would be able to get his mate out of danger by tomorrow. But he knew that wasn't realistic. Dare looked at his watch. "We should go soon. But first, let me get a better lay of the land."

It was another twenty minutes before they left. Dare asked detailed questions on the numbers of guards, types, confirmed information Erichad given them before. [build that in to the last couple meetings.] And then Ericwas on his way home with his pizza, which he tossed into the garbage, uneaten, before he lay awake most of the night, waiting for day to come again.

* * *

Eric found it impossible to focus on even his thought project the next day. Instead, he found himself retreating to the employee break room, filling mug after mug with coffee, participating shallowly in office gossip. How could everyone seem so calm with the internal investigation going on? Even when Eric knew he had nothing to worry about, he was always stressed during any kind of internal audit. Though the break room did seem busier than normal. Maybe everyone else was just better at hiding their nerves than Eric thought he was.

His ears suddenly perked as he caught the edge of a conversation somewhere to his left. He kept his eyes on the speaker of the small group he was standing in, but his attention was completely captured by the other speaker.

"...the last subject that escaped allowed themselves to be captured on purpose?" It was the voice of a woman, one Eric didn't recognize.

"I doubt it." Eric recognized that voice as belonging to a tech who he'd had lunch with a few times. "As far as we know, we were flying under the werewolves' radar until they took the wrong person."

"Why would Dr. J keep interviewing one of the current subjects, then? They've had no outside contact."

"Unless someone here is a mole." The man dropped his voice and Eric strained to hear him. "Rumor has it, the electricity failure was an inside job."

"So they think that [describe Victor] might have had something to do with it?"

They continued talking, but Eric had frozen. They were interrogating Victor? He had to do something. What if they hurt him?

"What are your thoughts, Dr. V?" the speaker in his group turned to him.

Eric had no idea what the conversation had about anymore, and he had no time to find out. "I'm sorry, please excuse me."

With so little sleep, his wolf took over easily. Logic was tired. Logic wanted to give in to instinct, and so he did. He let his wolf take over, to sniff, to track and find his mate. His gums and fingers itched and his vision sharpened. He should care that his eyes were probably glinting yellow, that his teeth were elongating and his nails stretching. But all he cared about was ensuring that Victor was safe.

In the sterile environment of the labs, it was easy to catch a whiff of Victor's scent and follow it. He was definitely pregnant. That knowledge spurred Eric's wolf on. The door he needed to enter was guarded by two of the new SWAT looking guys. Eric needed to get past them, but if there was any chance of maintaining his cover, he needed to hold on to that. His mind scrambled, looking for a way to get in without revealing himself yet.

"I need to talk to Dr. J."

The guards glared down at him impassively.

"It's urgent." Eric tried to project as much confidence as possible, along with the superior attitude many scientists took toward... well, everyone. 

"Dr. J is occupied," one of the guards finally said.

Eric hated to give up any information, but he'd do whatever he needed to get in that room. "Tell him I've pieced out other genetic markers in the subjects." He slipped into an overly technical definition of the designation markers he'd found. The guards' eyes glazed over. 

"Stop," the guard commanded. "I will ask if Dr. J wants to see you."

Eric held his breath. If this didn't work, he was going to have to shift. It was the only way he'd get past these two giants.