In the dining room, everyone spoke at the same time, telling what happened from their own point of view. Sophia sat quietly, internally reviewing every interaction she’d had with the members of the lab for some clue as to who could be behind the attacks.

Everyone was staying the night. Chase and River thought it would be easier to keep the women safe with the security patrolling outside. Seff stayed in the room next to Riel’s, while Julia and River took the room at the end of the hall opposite Chase and Sophia.

Once inside their room, Chase pulled her in for a kiss. They removed their clothes slowly, moving their kisses and foreplay to the shower. First, he washed her and himself. After they’d both rinsed the soap off their bodies, he pulled her back into his arms. He nipped and licked every inch of her warm skin, branding her all over again.

Her hands glided over his muscles, her nails caressing his shoulders and biting into the hard planes of his chest and abs. She threaded her fingers in his wet hair and tugged, bringing him closer to her hungry lips.

He carried her to the bed where she watched him lick the drops of water clinging to her tightly puckered nipples. He devoured the tips, sucking them into the hot cavern of his mouth while she moaned her encouragement.

Her pussy throbbed with every bite on her skin.

His finger speared into her swollen cunt, doubling the pleasure already streaming inside her body. He kissed her stomach and moved down until his head was between her legs.

Electric currents ran through her, pooling heat to her sex and racking shudders down her body. His head lowered, and he licked and sucked his way up and down her pussy. He dipped his wicked tongue into her slick sex and fucked her mercilessly.

She pinched her nipples to increase the pleasure while he rubbed his lips over her engorged clit. She glanced down to see him watching her. Her breath hitched, and she bit her lip in a whimper while her fingers rolled and tweaked the tight buds harder.

She rocked her lower body on his face. He inserted two of his digits into her wet cunt while his tongue lapped at her. He curved his fingers to rub the upper wall of her channel, making her head roll back and her back bow as she tried to ride his face harder.

His lips clamped over her nubbin. He moved his fingers faster in and out while drawing circles on her clit with his tongue. Her legs locked in tension, her toes curled on the back of his shoulders, and she came screaming his name in a sob.

Her legs dropped to either side of him while she tried to catch her breath. He kissed his way back up her body. Her hands fisted in his hair and pulled him up for a kiss. She ran one of her hands down his front and grasped his cock, squeezing it and making him jerk in her hand.

She guided the hard length into her wet entrance and whimpered at the delicious feel of him filling her. He was so deep she could hardly breathe. She wrapped her legs around his hips, the balls of her feet digging into his muscled ass.

Thrusting in and out of her slowly, he kissed her lips, her jaw, and her neck, and sucked on the curve of her shoulder. Every slap of skin created a higher wave of tension inside her clenching sex. Her hands ran over his shoulders and down his back, pulling him in deeper.

“Chase, oh god, oh god, oh god…” she chanted as he increased the tempo of their mating.

“Oh, baby. You feel so fucking good,” he growled and ran a hand between their bodies to rub a thumb over her clit, roughly pinching the sensitive nub.

She licked the curve of his shoulder and clamped her teeth on him, marking him as her own. He jerked inside her when her tongue licked the tiny pricks of blood.

“Mine,” she growled into his neck.

She dropped back on the bed, still licking her lips. Her head thrashed as she curled her nails into his biceps. Her climax hit her in a giant wave of ecstasy. She was caught in absolute bliss and barely noticed her body trembling or the scream that tore through her.

When her mind had cleared from her pleasure-induced coma, Chase had curled her into his side and was raining kisses over her face.

“I love you. I never want to lose you,” he growled and held her tightly to him.

She smiled and sighed. Exhaustion dragged her down.

“I love you, too,” she whispered and let sleep claim her.

Chase stopped breathing for a moment. She’d marked him and told him she loved him. He wanted to shout it to the world, to wake her up and demand she say it again to his face, but most of all, he wanted to make love to her again and again. He ran his hand down the curve of her spine and smiled when she snuggled closer into him.

The following morning, he walked into the bedroom, aware he’d let Sophia sleep longer than he expected. He sat down by the bed and watched as she breathed evenly. He tried to rouse her from sleep.

After multiple attempts of trying to shake her awake only to get a grumble and then have her fall into a deep sleep, he became alarmed.

He called the pack doctor. The woman showed up sooner than he deserved, considering he had growled at her on the phone and demanded her immediate appearance.

She took Sophia’s vitals and told him his mate just needed rest. She stressed the need to allow Sophia time to recharge her energy. Her body was coping well with her change, and Sophia would soon be able to handle her new physiology without the need for so much sleep.

The doctor pointedly told him that if he exhausted her with draining amorous activities, she would need longer sleep.

* * *

Sophia knew she was dreaming. She looked around and couldn’t figure out where she was. There were flowers, rolling hills, and green trees as far as the eye could see, without a building or home in sight. Turning in a full circle, she didn’t see anyone else.

Giggles caught her attention. She smiled at the childish laughter. Walking toward the noise, she came upon a large tree. Crouching down, she peeked behind it and saw two toddlers, a boy and a girl, playing on the grass.

The little girl blew unsuccessfully at fat brown curls that kept falling over her eyes. The little boy grinned mischievously and used a small stick to dig a hole in the grass. Concerned for the children’s safety, she walked around the tree to ask the whereabouts of their mother. They looked up at her and smiled.

“Mommy!” they yelled and ran toward her. Their soft, chubby little hands pulled her down on the grass, and they climbed onto her lap.

The little girl’s gray eyes twinkled when she smiled impishly at Sophia, while the little boy lifted a chubby hand to pat Sophia’s face and pulled one of her long brown curls to play with. He leaned his head onto the curve of her neck.

The little girl, feeling left out, also grabbed a curl and twirled it in her fingers, copying her brother and leaning onto Sophia’s other shoulder. Love and joy filled her heart while she held the two precious bodies.

Sophia woke up with a strong sense of wellbeing and happiness that she couldn’t contain. She smiled and turned to look at Chase. Instead of seeing happiness reflected back from him, he was watching her warily.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, losing some of the contentment surrounding her just seconds before.

“How do you feel?” he asked her quietly, brushing her hair from her face.

“Good. Hungry, but good. Actually, not hungry, I’m starved. Why?” She sat up on the bed, noticing she wore a cotton sleeping gown. She clearly remembered falling asleep naked in Chase’s arms.

There was a knock at the door, and Chase moved to open it, letting Julia in. Her sister’s worried gaze increased the anxiety Sophia felt.

“Thank god, you’re finally awake.” Julia rushed to sit by the bed.

“Of course, I’m awake. What’s going on?” she demanded a little more frantically.

“Sweetheart, you were sleeping for a long time, and we were worried about you.” Chase moved to the other side of the bed and held her hand in his.

“What do you mean for a long time? How long was I asleep?”

Chase and Julia looked at each other. Then Chase nodded and Julia replied, “Two days.”

“What? That’s impossible. I mean I was…we were…” She turned to Chase for some help, knowing her face had turned red.

“Yeah, well after you fell asleep, we were unable to wake you up. We called the shifter doctor in, but all she said was to let you rest and that you would come around once you weren’t so worn-out.”

His eyes kept roaming over her face as if worried she’d keel over in sleep any second.

“Well, I’m not sure why I slept so long, but I feel incredibly rested. So where’s the food?” She winced at the cramping in her stomach.

She enjoyed the conversation around her while they ate, and thought of how she’d love to check out her blood under a microscope. Wondering what lay behind the bouts of exhaustion she was experiencing, she wished she could pick apart her cells and look at the impact the shifter gene had had on her system.

Once again, Chase, Seff and Riel went off to look for Tryx. After two days of searching, every clue they’d gotten had seen no results. They were starting to wonder if she’d been taken out of the state or if she’d been killed. Sophia refused to believe the sweet wolf was dead.

Julia went home with River after he made a comment over how tired she looked.

Sophia was on her own inside while two men secured the outside of the house. Because she was tempted to sleep, she decided to use Chase’s computer to access her work email instead.

The last thing she needed was to take a nap and wake up a week later. In her email, she found a request by one of the directors for their monthly meeting. Cringing at the fact the email was days old, she typed up a reply suggesting a date and time.

A new message arrived from a generic email address she didn’t recognize. Thinking of all the kinds of computer viruses she could give Chase’s system, she debated opening it. She gave in to temptation, took the risk, and opened it to find a web link. It clicked open to a site that showed a video that was being streamlined live.

There was a woman dangling from a set of metal chains in thick manacles. Her body was bloody, and her face showed her anger at being tied up. Sophia’s eyes watered when she realized the woman was Tryx.

Scanning the screen, she noticed Tryx was in a basement somewhere. Nothing stood out to give Sophia any inkling as to where they could be.

A small chat icon popped open on the screen, and her eyes left the image of Tryx to look down at the message.

User 1: If you give us the samples you can save her life.

She stared at the words for what seemed like an eternity and then used shaky fingers to type up a response.

Guest: How do I know you’re not lying?

The response came back immediately.

User 1: You don’t, but we don’t want to hurt a helpless female. We just want your work. You have two hours to decide if she lives or dies. Call this number when you’re ready to make a trade.

Be careful of sharing the information with your wolf, or the woman dies. We’ll know if you use your phone. The deal will be off, and she’ll die. Once you are ready, call. We know where you are and will take care of the two shifters guarding you.

Guest: You mean you’re going to kill the wolves?

User 1: Two hours.

The pop-up closed, indicating the other person had gone off-line. She paced around the office, wondering how to let Chase know what just happened.

She concentrated on the link she had used with him at the lab. Mentally picturing his wolf and hoping she successfully got through to him in human form, she screamed out to him.

* * *

Chase was in The Back Door talking to a group of men while planning a new search mission for Tryx. A nagging in his head made his wolf pace restlessly. He tried to take over his body, and Chase had to haul the animal back to keep the skin.

The wolf became agitated and fought his restraint. He’d never had this happen before. The animal knew who was in charge but was currently fighting for dominance.

He turned to River with a frown, and they stepped in one of the back offices.

“What’s going on?”

“I…don’t…know.” He clenched his teeth while rubbing his hand on his forehead and fighting the animal for control. His wolf must’ve been sensing something wrong. Breathing deeply, he focused on his link with the animal. There was something just beyond his reach, and it sounded very much like Sophia’s soft voice calling out to his wolf in the distance.

“Chase, just let him out and find out what he wants. It won’t do us any good to have you fighting to keep the skin. Release him,” River suggested.

Chase reluctantly let the animal have control over his body. As soon as he let the wolf loose, he heard Sophia’s call clearly.

“Chase? Chase? I hope this works. Chase…I need you.”