***

Reid stepped out of his flyer as the angel of destruction, with absolute clarity of his purpose.

He straightened out his suit, cracked his neck and narrowed his eyes. No one could hide from him. He was built for this. The street he was on was all but deserted and the remaining structures had seen better days—better centuries, even.

Gravel and dead grass crunched beneath his feet as he walked up to the front door. Reused metal, modified wood, and cement were the building materials of yesteryear. Wooden resources were scarce and when the world was fighting a war, infrastructure took a beating.

He scanned the interior and found two life forms inside. Both were in stasis, and only the subtle shifts of breathing and the heat their bodies produced suggested they were even alive.

Reid glanced down at the phone clenched his fist and let the shattered remains fall at his feet. The clacking sounds were soft to his ears. Even if he were discovered, it wouldn’t change their fates in the slightest, but he didn’t want to make a whole day of this.

He burst through the door, allowing the resounding crash to announce his presence as pieces of the doorframe scattered into the hallway. His eyes flashed as one of the lifeforms further in the house bolted upright.

Reid steadily walked toward his target.

A voice yelled down the hallway and he could hear the smooth sound of oiled metal sliding against metal. “What the fuck! Who the fuck are you?”

Reid ignored the ramshackle security feed and the taunts of the man he hoped was Santino. This was almost too easy.

“Fucking idiot! I have a gun!”

The man accentuated his point by appearing at the end of the hall, head ducked around the corner and shooting at him. Reid stopped and waited as every single one of the bullets missed him. Desperation and shock were not the keys to good aim.

Underneath the sound of gunfire and curses, he could hear the murmur and whimpering of fear. The second figure remained still in the room behind the man who fired at him.

Reid cocked his head, hearing the telltale signs of rope. She must be bound. That would be Marsha’s woman, I imagine.

He surged forward and turned the corner, throwing the man who was frantically trying to load a new clip backward and to the ground. Fresh sweat and fear filled his nose, mixed in with the stench of stale urine and cheap alcohol. It twitched with disgust as the shooter fumbled away from him and aimed his pistol at Reid's chest.

He plucked the gun out of his hand, crushing it before letting it drop on the his greasy head. Placing one foot on the shooter’s chest, Reid pressed him down to the floor. It wasn’t enough pressure to break a rib. Not yet anyway.

“Santino?”

“Who the fuck are you?”

Reid applied more pressure until the glaze of alcohol vanished from the man's eyes. “Okay, okay, okay! Hold up man.”

“Are you Santino?” He hoped not. He couldn't see Clara with a piece scum like this guy, scrawny and haggard and most egregious of all, with bad aim.

“No man, No.” The guy gulped under his boot. “I'm nobody, nobody! I'm not Santino. He ain't here. I'm just a hire, a paid hire.”

Reid's eyes flashed and it caught the shooter’s eyes. They widened with fear as the smell of fresh piss filled the room. Can’t fake that while maintaining eye contact. Reid sneered down at the miscreant with disgust.

“Where is he?”

“Don't know. I only know he's after revenge. I'm just trying to get paid. Please don't kill me!”

Reid lifted his foot, crouched down and raised the man up by his collar until he dangled in the air in front of him. He threw the husk of his body into the back wall, enjoying the sound of the man's head thumping against it and the way he fell to the floor, unconscious.

He straightened out his suit and approached the fear-stricken woman in the corner. Her eyes were almost as dark as his own. Her hair was a tangled mass around her shoulders and down her back.

He slowly lifted his hands, showing his palms, before he reached toward her face and removed the gag in her mouth.

“Are you here to save me?” Her voice was hoarse.

“Save you? No. I'm here to get you out. The rest is up to you.”

She nodded and visibly relaxed as he moved to untie the bonds around her legs and arms. Reid leaned forward and sniffed her hair and she drew away from him as if he punched her.

“They hurt you?” he asked, knowing they had, but didn't know to what extent.

Tears streamed down her face and she looked away. It was enough of an answer for him. Her clothes weren't torn, but that didn’t mean anything.

“I'm a doctor.” Why he told her, he wasn’t sure. The last thing he needed was another woman in his life. “I can help you...”

“My girlfriend—”

“Marsha?” He started by helping her stand.

“You know her? Is she okay?”

He nodded. “She’s safe.”

“Can you take me to her?” He kept his hand on the woman's arm as he helped her walk out of the room and through the house and into the passenger side of his flyer, where he leaned down and buckled her in.

“You need medical care.”

Her nostrils flared as she continued to wipe the tears off of her dirty cheeks. “You don't know what I need. For all I know you could be doing to Marsha what that man did to me.”

Reid stepped back and looked at the sky with a sigh as he tried to suppress his anger. The more he offered to help, the more she seemed to distrust him.

This is why I stay away from people. This is why I don't get involved. But then he remembered Clara's violet eyes and his cock stiffened. He remembered the way her arousal smelled as she brought herself to climax feet away from him. One fucking hour ago.

He looked back down at the girl in his passenger side seat. “I'll take you to her,” he relented.

She sniffled and rubbed her nose. Her eyes remained deadened, staring at her lap. “Thank you.”

“Were you raped?” The question startled her but she still didn't look at him.

The woman looked away from him but didn’t answer.

Reid gritted his teeth. “Stay here. I'll be right back.”

He turned on his heel and stalked back into the house until he stood before the scum trying to get himself off the floor. Before he blubbered out his next words, Reid pulled out his gun and shot him point-blank in the head.

***

HE FOUND CLARA SEVERAL hours later wandering the halls of the facility. She didn't know it was him as he quietly padded up behind her. The cement floors muffled the sounds of his claws. The first thing that hit him was the smell of berries and then her deep, annoyed sighs.

The perfected scent of her arousal early that morning was gone. It brought him relief but it also brought him frustration.

Reid nuzzled her thigh with his snout, startling her, eliciting a drawn in breath, followed by a self-deprecating laugh as she turned and set her eyes on him.

“You.”

Yes me. Always me, Clara dear. Reid couldn't resist nuzzling her thigh again and stealing a chaste caress over her jeans. She reached out to run her hands over the smooth metal of his head.

“Where do you keep going off to?”

It was little moments like these that he loved. The companionship, the bubble he created that was only between him and the one other person that had his full attention. These moments were rare and never lasted long, but he savored them.

Clara reached out her hand and he moved forward to sniff it, unable to deny himself, freely reading her emotions. Her scent flooded him with happiness, excitement, anxiety, and a deep-seated contentment. But underneath it all, he smelled the same frustration he currently felt, the kind of frustration that could only be fixed with a good fuck.

She pulled away from him and glanced around. He sat back on his haunches, lazily watching her and happy to do so.

When her eyes met his again, he flashed his with dark light before he could stop himself.

“Do you know... where the doctor is? I don't know your tech...”

Her features swiftly muddled with puzzlement.

Oh, I know where he is...

She continued speaking while her fingers glided over her belly, “I healed faster than I thought was possible. Now I'm at a loss for what I’m supposed to be doing and I can't find him.”

His ears twitched, the plated metal shifting in his head. He stood and pushed his snout back into her leg before he traipsed forward. Reid looked back at her in hopes that Clara would follow. She did.

“I guess I'm going to follow you...” she mumbled softly to herself after a self-deprecating laugh.

I'd rather follow you. He shook his head trying to stop those thoughts from forming. He focused on the goal at hand but it became increasingly difficult the longer he stayed in Clara's presence. Or when Clara stayed in his.

They were on the other side of the empty facility, but he didn't take her back to her room; instead, he led her to his office. The door opened as he neared, registered to do so whenever he was close. They moved further into his personal space, where, the night before, he had painstakingly ventilated and cleaned so he wouldn't be haunted by her smell.

Reid bumped his head into the chair across his desk and looked at her. Clara graced him with a beautiful smile before sitting down.

“Thank you.” Her eyes darted around, questioning. “I guess I wait here then?”

He barked again and headed toward the door.

“Wait! Please stay with me.”

Reid stopped.

“You make me feel safe, protected. I like you nearby.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. He closed his eyes in consternation, debating. Reid wanted to stay but he needed to shift back and distance himself from her.

He was about to ignore her plea and head for the door when he heard her rise from her seat and walk across the room. His curiosity won out. Reid turned around and sat, watching her as she invaded his privacy... Like he had with hers.

He looked where she looked and registered what she saw... which was very little. His office was the throne room of his territory and having her in it did things to him. Things he didn’t like. First being, he wanted to pin her over his desk and bury himself between her legs. Reid shook himself.

She wouldn't find much, only a few wayward items, as everything about him was embedded in his hardware and coding. And not in reality.

Clara didn’t touch anything but as she moved through his space quietly, she was also marking it with her scent. He let loose a growl before he could stop himself. Her eyes shot to his, violet and deep, and with a sheen of guilt.

“Sorry,” she gasped lightly as her lips twitched up into a quirky smile. “I won’t say anything if you don't.”

He canted his head.

“You let me in here without the doctor, so my snooping is as much your fault as it is mine.” She laughed but went back to her seat anyway. “Thank you for staying.” Her fingers entwined in her lap.

Suddenly, her face softened and her eyes lowered. He measured her, reading every twitch and tremble, every sigh she gave. The weak joy she had experienced before was gone, replaced by something close to melancholy.

Reid padded back to her and laid his head in her lap. It was natural for him. Her hand immediately lifted up to pet the spot between his ears.

“I always wanted a dog, a family. I guess we always want we don't have,” she said wistfully. “I've been alone... a product of the foster care system. The sad thing is, my parents are still out there. They didn't die, they just didn't want me. How is that even possible?” Her voice grew husky and her words seeped into his heart. “If I had a kid, I’d cherish them, give them everything I never had. I damn well would make sure they knew they were loved every day of their life.”

He smelled the tears before she removed her hand to wipe them from her eyes. Her confession made him sad but also hardened his resolve.

He lifted his head and sat back. When he was first created, he was consumed by one of his basic instincts: the need to lead a pack—to have a pack. And because of that, he would grow attached to anyone and everyone around him in a subconscious effort to create one.

There was no pack mentality among Cyborgs. Those he had bonded with during the war broke apart with the ease of shattering glass as the death count rose each passing day.

Back then, he neither needed nor wanted children. To bring children forth during the war was a crime to him. But now, as he watched Clara, having succumbed to her soft beauty and forceful nature, he could see himself with children—many of them. He could see himself again as the alpha male and Clara as his alpha female.

His fabricated heart raced wildly in his chest.

I could have that. I could have that right now. His eyes darkened again and he was lucky that she wasn't looking at him as they roved over her curvy frame.

She sniffled, wiping tears from her eyes as she leaned back in the chair. He knew he should leave her and come back as Dr. Reid but he didn't want the moment to end.

Clara looked at him and smiled, breaking the haze of his thoughts. “You're a good companion, a good dog.”

No, dear, I'm not. You should've heeded the warning.

“I wish Reid would get here,” she mumbled. “I just want to get this process over with. I'm ready,” she said, saying it with determination. “I hope the process is a good one.”

Reid couldn’t take it any longer and moved toward the door before she could say another word, leaving before her next damning confession. If he had it his way, the breeding process would be an entirely different one than what protocol dictated. His process would leave her with bruises on her knees.

He barely made it back to his locker room before he shifted. He slammed his fist into the wall over and over again, crushing the stone. It was the only relief he had and he wouldn't take it for granted. Straightening himself out, he dressed in a fresh suit as his last one was covered in blood, and readied to face her.

Reid hoped it would be enough.