Savage Betrayal: Savage, Book 2 Read Online Free Page A

and matching chairs seem frail with the way his tall, dark, muscled body was stationed around it.
    “These are good.” He nodded and took another bite. “How come you never bring us some of these? The guys would love you.”
    “Oh let’s see… Pretty much so I don’t have to deal with reactions like this. I’d rather be known for my ability to save your ass than bake cookies for it.”
    “Damn good point.” He grinned and polished off the cookie. “I’ll keep your baking life a secret, but in exchange I’ll need you to keep one as well.”
    “Sorry, I don’t do blackmail.” But the minute her glib words were out, she realized what complete bullshit they were and swallowed a bitter laugh. Clearly she wasn’t immune to blackmail, not if the stakes were high enough.
    Hilliard leaned back in his chair and his expression became uncharacteristically somber. “Look, I didn’t show up here today just to get you to talk.”
    A shiver of premonition raced through her. It wasn’t going to be good. Whatever it was. Still standing, her grip on the chair in front of her tightened.
    “I never thought you did. So just tell me.”
    His gaze didn’t waver from hers. “Thom Wilson is dead.”
     
    She needed to sit down. Now. Desperately. Before she ended up in a heap on the floor. Or threw up on it.
    Almost blindly, Grace sank down onto the wooden frame of the chair she gripped.
    Thom was dead? No. Oh dear God. No.
    She closed her eyes as images from not long ago flashed in her mind.
     
    “We’ll get through this,” Thom vowed as he gripped her hand.
    The cement walls seemed to be closing in on them. The floor beneath her was icy cold against her nearly naked skin. The smell of urine and feces coated her nostrils. Some of the shifters couldn’t even control their bowel movements anymore, let alone their ability to shift.
    Pretty soon she’d be just like them. They were about three injections ahead of her. It wouldn’t be long now.
    She shook her head, fighting the desolation. The terror.
    What the hell had she gotten herself into?
    “They’re coming back for us. There will be another round of injections. Don’t you see it’s getting worse with every one?”
    Thom cast a nervous glance at the other shifters. “Not necessarily. Everyone reacts differently.”
    “Jesus, Thom. You know just as much as I do that it’s bullshit. We need to try and get out of here.” She glanced around, trying to figure out if there might be a way out of this holding cell. “They’re not going to let us go if we ask nicely. Not at this point.”
    They’d been told it was for their own protection.
    “We only have to finish out the week, Grace. Just a few more days! We committed to it. We’re getting paid a heck of a lot of money.”
    She watched as the man across from her began to shift again. Fourth time in the last minute. She saw the anguish in his eyes as his mouth opened on a silent scream.
    And then his body morphed. Skin retracted, claws came out, and his growl of pain shook the walls of the building.
    “This is too high of a price to pay,” she said savagely. “I don’t even need the money.”
    “But I do,” Thom pleaded and grabbed for her hand. “I can’t leave. I need money for college for my kids. Janie is heading off to UCLA in the fall. Shit, I have a mortgage I can’t afford. Don’t fuck this up. We’ll be okay, the contract promised it.”
    Words on paper. That was all it came down to. Another shifter began vomiting against the wall.
    Grace shook her head and whispered, “I don’t think so. In fact if we don’t get the hell out of here, some of us might not make it out at all.”
    A loud, metal door slammed somewhere down the hall and dread coiled her muscles into heavy ropes.
    It was too late. They’d already come back.
     
    She dragged herself out of the horrific memory and forced her gaze to meet Hilliard’s.
    “I don’t believe it.”
    The middle-aged, pudgy, genuinely nice—and a little