Untamed Hunger Read Online Free PDF Page B

imagining. Besides, she was right, their agreement had been for him to supply the information.
    Skimming his fingers along the outer swell of her breasts, he settled his hands on her waist. “As you said, there have been stories of shapeshifters for as long as there have been humans, but the origin of my species is far more recent and far more specific.”
    Her dark eyes narrowed and her tongue quickly wet her lower lip. “What are you talking about?”
    Would she believe what he was about to tell her? She’d been indoctrinated with lies and half truths. Like that toxic cum nonsense. Why would she believe his word over what she’d been told, what she’d believed for years?
    Even if he failed, he had to try.
    “Ninety-seven years ago an ambitious team of scientists decided to incorporate specific characteristics of various animals into the DNA of humans.” She didn’t laugh or roll her eyes, so he went on. “The first generation of hybrids was so successful the scientists disregarded the program parameters and secretly created a series of species unlike anything that had ever existed before -- at least outside the realm of fantasy.”
    It took her a moment to make the connection; then her eyes narrowed and her body drew back from the possibility. “They created… morphs?” Her disbelief was understandable. She was one of them. Part of the government-funded conglomerate responsible for… He had to stay on task, stay focused on the issues at hand.
    “My grandparents’ generation was the first.”
    “But… are you saying every morph in all of the colonies were born in captivity? That they’re the result of these experiments?” She shook her head, braid whipping about her shoulders. “That’s not possible. I’ve been on raids. I’ve --”
    “You’ve located renegades who dared to escape from the colonies.” He stepped back from her helpless body, fists clenched at his sides. His anger had no place in the activities he had planned for tonight. He would use his strength to control her, but never would he touch her in anger.
    She didn’t know the truth. He’d known her long enough to understand that she believed their web of lies and had acted accordingly.
    “That’s not what we were told,” she said. “Morphs refused to register, to submit to DNA testing and --”
    “The morphs you captured had assimilated into society. They dared to live free, away from the ‘protective reserves’ the governments so kindly provided for my kind. So, teams like yours hunt them down and drag them back to the prisons where ‘we belong.’ My parents lived free for eleven years. They turned themselves in when complications arose during one of my mother’s pregnancies. My father sacrificed his freedom and my mother still died.”
    Her breasts jostled with each ragged breath, distracting him from his anger. She was not responsible for the wrongs done to him or his people. She had never been cruel, never treated anyone unfairly -- within the structure forced upon her.
    Her only sin was ignorance, and they were changing that right now.
    “Were you the only cub to survive? Do you have brothers and sisters?”
    “Let’s keep things general for now. I only used my parents as an example of a much larger problem.”
    “I’m still incredibly sorry for your loss.” Sincerity rang in each word, and her eyes were tear-bright and filled with sorrow.
    It wasn’t a new wound. Grayson had been dealing with the events his entire life.
    “There’s one thing that doesn’t make sense to me,” Sasha said.
    “Only one?” The corners of his mouth quirked. Sasha never had just one question.
    “Why create so many if all they planned to do was lock you away on primitive reserves?”
    “They didn’t intend to create so many, but evolution has a strange sense of humor.” He clasped his hands behind his back, not wanting her to misinterpret his tension. He wasn’t angry with her. He was frustrated by all that had gone before and