And his team made up the warriors enslaved to serve it for eternity.

Putting aside fanciful ideas about doomed pirates and bespelled ships, he grabbed his bag. The second Aric pulled the plane to a stop inside the hangar, Jaxon jumped out, careful to put his weight on his good leg, and offered Kira a hand before anyone else had the chance. As she placed her smaller hand in his, he caught a knowing smirk from Zander and chose to ignore it.

“Now what?” Kira asked, glancing around the vast space. Unlike their hangar outside Las Vegas, this one housed not only the jet, but a big military-style helicopter and a variety of vehicles—all armed to the teeth.

“Now we get you settled into a room, and we’re all going to get some sleep. Everything will be better in the morning after some rest, lots of coffee, and breakfast.”

She shot him a dubious look. “Sure. Nothing like a plate of scrambled eggs to make me forget that I’m homeless, jobless, and on Dr. Jekyll’s hit list. Not to mention that I’m feeling a lot like Red Riding Hood realizing that grandma’s nose is just a bit bigger and hairier than it should be.”

“Ouch.”

The young woman shrugged and crossed her arms. He couldn’t help but notice the nice things the action did to the pert breasts pushing against her blouse. “If the muzzle fits. You can hardly blame me for being . . . hell, I don’t even know the right word.”

“Scared? Out of sorts?”

“To put it mildly.” She sighed. “I doubt I’ll sleep much, but I suppose I should try.”

Jaxon could think of one foolproof way to make certain both of them slept like babies. His cock twitched in agreement and he shook himself out of his dirty thoughts. The last thing either of them needed was a messy complication. Even if she was willing. Which she wouldn’t be, if she knew what was good for her.

“Come on, I’ll show you where our quarters are located.”

If she noticed his now-pronounced limp, she didn’t mention it as she fell into step beside him. The others had gone ahead and disappeared one by one through the door at the back that connected the hangar to the corridor leading to the main building of the compound. When they reached the entrance, Jaxon held the door open and ushered her inside.

“Wow, this is nicer than I imagined,” she said, gesturing to the decor. The hallway was done in dark green carpet, the textured walls painted a warm beige. Tasteful sconces were placed at intervals, the bulbs just bright enough to allow them to see, but not so bright as to glare.

“You were expecting sterile hospital white walls and ugly industrial tile?”

“You called it a compound, not the Hilton.”

“True. But we have to live here, so there’s no reason for the place to look stark and gloomy. Besides, there are several women on staff who enjoy sprucing up the common areas whenever Nick allots them more money. They wouldn’t let us guys get away with plain and ugly even if we wanted to.”

“Nick?”

“Our boss,” he reminded her.

“Oh, right. When will I get to meet him?”

Raised voices ahead—one in particular a deep rumble above the rest—answered the question sooner than he would’ve preferred. “Shit.”

“Guess that answers my question.”

The trepidation on Kira’s pale face made him want to growl at whoever came too close, including Nick. As they reached the end of the corridor and entered the recreation room, Jaxon saw that the head Alpha wolf had met their group and was grilling them intently. He did not appear to be thrilled by what he was hearing as Zander tried to explain why they’d returned mere hours after they’d left.

“We had no choice, Nick. These two assholes were attacking the woman, and Jax had to step in.”

The older man’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “Fine. And you all had to bring her here, why?”

Wasn’t this going to be fun? Jaxon stepped up, angling his body so he was mostly between her and the semicircle of men. “The men had guns, and I had to shift in order to take them down. She saw the whole thing.”

Nick’s stormy blue gaze stabbed him like twin daggers. “Let me get this straight. You let your wolf out in fucking downtown Las Vegas, killed two men, and brought home their intended victim who witnessed the entire fucking episode. That about it?”

“Yes. I wouldn’t do anything different, and I don’t believe you would have, either. They were going to murder her, and I had about two seconds to decide.” He stood unflinching in the face of the man’s formidable anger. His actions had been the right course and he wouldn’t apologize, nor would Nick respect him for doing so.

They stood regarding each other for several long moments. His three friends moved slightly toward Jaxon in unspoken support of what he’d done, even Aric. It was a gesture not to be taken lightly. Jaxon had broken a hardand-fast rule by bringing a civilian into their world, a world precious few could comprehend—or could be trusted to keep quiet about once they knew.

Nick’s stance relaxed, just a little. “No other witnesses?”

“No. We would’ve scented them.”

Their leader studied each of them at length before his expression finally softened, replaced by weary resignation. “All right. Jax, I want to speak with you and our guest in my office. Now.”

After he turned and strode off, Ryon muttered, “Well, at least he’s not going to rip your throat out.”

Jaxon managed a small smile. “Yet.”

“Good luck, bro,” Zan said, wincing in sympathy. The others chimed an agreement, and they took turns butting knuckles with Jaxon before wandering to their own quarters.

Beside him, Kira watched them go, unconsciously biting her lower lip. In his opinion, she’d held up pretty well in spite of everything, resorting to humor-tinged sarcasm when she was afraid or feeling unsure instead of going off the deep end like many would have. Even so, she was quickly reaching the end of her rope for tonight.

“Come on,” he said, placing a palm on her lower back to gently guide her forward. “It won’t take him long to grill us and lay down the law. Then we can hit the sack.”

She was silent for a few moments as they walked. When she spoke, her voice was tired. “I don’t have anything to wear. All my stuff is at my apartment in Vegas.”

“I’ll loan you a T-shirt to sleep in tonight. In the morning, I’ll borrow some clothes from one of the ladies until we’re able to replace your things.”

“Thank you.” She paused. “I gather that sending someone to pack my belongings is out of the question.”

Looking down at her, he nodded. “Too dangerous, at least right now, and the risk of leading more of your pursuers here is too great. You don’t have any pets, do you?”

“Unfortunately, no. I like dogs and cats, but I’m not home enough to have one. It wouldn’t be fair to leave it alone so much.”

Admirable, and advantageous. He would’ve gone after her beloved pet, but was glad they had one less worry. Another thought occurred to him. “Is there any evidence you might’ve left behind that could clue in whoever’s after you as to how much you know?”

“No. To tell you the truth I don’t know anything, but I never put my suspicions in writing. My laptop is at home, but I never dared to use it to research gene splicing. Instead I accessed different ones in the common areas at work, where it would be hard to prove who was online.”

“Whoa, hold up.” Halting outside Nick’s office, he frowned at her. “Gene splicing? NewLife does medical research, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then what’s so unusual about genetic testing, or whatever?”

“It wouldn’t be remarkable, except—”

Nick interrupted. “Why don’t you both come in and we’ll get the answers we need?” He turned, expecting them to follow.

Jaxon steered her inside, shutting the door behind them. They seated themselves in a couple of chairs in front of Nick’s desk, while the man himself parked his rear on the edge of the desk and folded his arms. Gripping the armrests, Kira spoke first, eyeing his boss nervously.