Mark of the Wolf; Hell's Breed Read Online Free PDF Page B

went through the
vortex.”
    “ I don’t think it was a
planned part of the project,” Lucien agreed, “but we don’t know
that it wasn’t a side effect.”
    “ That never
happened before we went through the vortex,” Basil pointed out. “And they had
years to study us before they put us in the field.”
    Lucien frowned. “In which case it
might be reversed if we can ever figure out a way to go back
through. But since we don’t know, yet, if the vortex was created
naturally or if it’s some kind of weapon …. It could even be this
place for all we know. Maybe the guys that were us in this place
could do that and we can now that we’ve taken their
place?”
    Kane gaped at him. “So why did they
try to kill us when we shifted if they were used to it?” he
demanded, harping back to their arrival. “I wasn’t exactly thinking
normally, but it seemed to me that the ‘friendly fire’ we were
getting was because they didn’t know what the hell we
were!”
    “ Nobody really knows a
damned thing!” Basil snapped. “Give us a break, Kane. We’re just
kicking possibilities around, trying to figure it out. Not but what
I don’t agree with you on this one—I think we all do even though
it’s hard to swallow. The only explanation for what we landed in,
though, was exercises and, if that’s what it was, then they had no
business lobbing live rounds at us and trying to hit us. And I don’t think
they would have except that they weren’t expecting us to
change.”
    Lucien gave him a sour look. “I’m off
to bed,” he said, finishing his beer in one long draught and
getting to his feet.
    In retrospect, he didn’t
suppose he could blame the bastards for trying to kill them. It
had happened to
him and it had scared the hell out of him. It had scared him worse,
though, to think he might be stuck like that—a monster half human
and half wolf. Thankfully, they’d changed back before they’d had
time to worry about it too much. Any hope they’d had that it was
just a onetime thing was dashed fairly quickly, however—as soon as
the military tracked them down and engaged them again they’d
changed. It was definitely a permanent part of their new personas,
even though they’d discovered since their arrival that they could
not only change from human to half man half wolf. They could
transition completely from man to wolf and they could control the shift
change—mostly.
    A side benefit to that seemed to be
almost instantaneous healing from the holes the government/military
seemed determined to put in them any time they managed to get close
enough, but he couldn’t say he was exactly thrilled that they
weren’t just half man and half wolf on the genetic level anymore.
And he didn’t think he’d regret having to give that up if and when
they managed to make it back to their own world.
    It was bad enough
to feel like a
monster because that was the way the scientists who’d developed
them looked at them—and anybody else that discovered they were
genetically engineered—like the handlers they’d been given when
they were sent in to be trained as soldiers.
    Looking like a monster, even though he’d discovered he
could change back to a human form—in appearance anyway—had
destroyed his attempts to convince himself he really wasn’t, that
he was as human as the ones that considered themselves humans. He
was just more than human.
    His last thoughts just before he
dropped over the edge of the cliff into oblivion, though, weren’t
speculation over how they might reverse the situation and get home.
His thoughts were about how good it had felt to have Laurie pressed
so tightly against him, how good she’d smelled, and if there was
any way in hell she might be convinced he wasn’t a monster when he
felt like he was one.
    He’d never been able to reconcile his
lust for Lindsey with the personality she had. Laurie was nothing
like Lindsey, though, beyond the physical appearance. And he
thought he was going to