19. Chapter 19
Chapter nineteen
“We should probably get up,” Mike whispered, pressing a kiss to the back of Lark’s neck.
“Five more minutes,” she murmured sleepily, wiggling her butt back against him and pulling a low groan from his throat.
He chuckled, tracing his lips across her bare shoulders and making her shiver. “As much as I’d enjoy staying in bed with you, your parents and brother are going to be here soon.”
“Okay, okay,” Lark grumbled.
Sighing, she rolled over in bed until she was facing him. Even in the early morning, her eyes full of sleep, she was still the most beautiful thing in the world to him. It reminded him exactly how amazing last night had been.
As he breathed in her intoxicating scent, Mike couldn’t help but once again thank fate, or whatever else was involved, for bringing her back into his life.
And to think, when she’d first shown back up, his initial instinct was to be angry with her.
He didn’t even want to think about how close he’d been to ruining a second chance with her.
“Last night was perfect,” she said softly, smiling at him adoringly. Like she considered herself lucky to be here with him. Which was crazy. Because it was clear that he was the lucky one.
They slipped out of bed a few moments later, taking their time in the bathroom cleaning up.
Mike brushed his teeth while Lark showered, and damn, if it didn’t take everything he had not to climb in there with her.
Only the knowledge that the rest of her family was going to be there soon held him back.
Mike picked up three new scents the moment he opened the bedroom door.
Lark’s smile confirmed her parents and older brother had arrived.
He guessed that being cocooned with his soul mate behind the closed door of her bedroom had deadened his senses to anyone but her. At least until he’d opened the door.
The living room and kitchen were filled with werewolves from both their packs, including Gage.
Kal sat at the island, devouring a comically large stack of pancakes.
His son gave them a big grin the moment they walked into the room, his expression telling everyone in the world how happy he was to see his mom and dad together.
Lark’s parents noticed they were holding hands, too, and from the pleased looks on their faces, they clearly approved.
“Larkspur! Mike!” her mother said, hurrying over to hug Lark first and then Mike.
“When did you guys get here?” Lark asked, giving her father a hug, too.
“About ten minutes ago,” her mother said with a smile. With the same periwinkle-colored eyes and dark hair, Isla Hayes was an older version of Lark and Violet.
“Good to see you again, Mike,” Corbin Hayes said, shaking his hand. Tall with dark hair, Lark’s father was the spitting image of his sons. “Thank you for bringing Kal back safely.”
“No thanks are necessary,” Mike said, returning his smile. “He’s my son.” He took Lark’s hand and added, “Our son.”
“Still,” Corbin murmured with a nod of understanding. “I can’t imagine that learning about everything the way you did was easy for you.”
“I admit I was caught off guard at first,” Mike said, glancing at Lark, his inner wolf sighing with contentment simply because she was near him. “But, in the end, it all worked out better than we could have ever hoped.”
Isla beamed at them. “I’m so happy the two of you are back together.”
Lark smiled, glancing up at Mike. “Me, too.”
“Me, three!” Kal said, face full of happiness as he paused in the middle of eating his pancakes to grin at them, making everyone laugh.
As Mike and Lark joined Kal at the island with their own breakfast of pancakes and syrup, they brought Lark’s parents and older brother, Everett, up to speed on everything that had happened since rescuing their son.
“I thought I knew how dangerous Roman could be, but I was wrong,” Mike said, sipping his coffee. “These supernatural abilities he’s discovered, along with the other supernaturals on his crew, are going to be hard for us to deal with.”
“And that’s before we add in Sentinel,” Gage said as he pulled a picture from one of the pockets of his uniform top. “Speaking of which, that’s why I came over this morning. We finally have an ID on another terrorist.”
Mike leaned closer to get a better look at the photo of the dark-haired man Gage placed on the granite island. “That’s the guy who tried to kidnap Xander yesterday. He’s also one of the men who tried to abduct Carter.”
“According to our sources at the FBI, his name is Nick Chapman,” Gage said.
“He’s a former Navy SEAL, and now makes his living as a soldier of fortune and an arms dealer.
He arrived in the Dallas area about a week ago, rumored to have been hired by Sentinel to run this operation.
But the feds have no idea how Chapman and Sentinel are involved with Roman and his criminal organization.
Or why they’re interested in Carter and Xander. ”
“I think we may be able to help with that,” Everett announced, grabbing a soft-sided messenger bag from the floor. “We got this information from a trusted source right before we got on the plane down here.”
As Everett spread a dozen photos across the island, Mike leaned over to see a picture of a fancy glass-fronted office building at least ten stories tall, as well as some separate shots of men and women in suits and lab coats.
“You’re looking at the corporate headquarters of the Carlyle Medical Research Group,” Everett said. “They’re an international collection of doctors and scientists who are well-known for their groundbreaking research into various diseases.”
“But that’s not the only thing they do,” Corbin added. “Behind the scenes, Carlyle runs a covert research cell, focusing on ethically gray areas. We’re talking bio-agents for targeted assassinations, genetic manipulation, cybernetic enhancements, and most recently, supernatural experimentations.”
“We’d heard rumors about a group of medical types offering supernatural upgrades to humans,” Mike said, remembering what Davin had told them. “Mind if I ask where you got your information?”
Everett exchanged looks with his father, who nodded.
“For obvious reasons, what we’re about to tell you can’t leave this room,” Everett said, glancing around the kitchen.
“But our pack has had someone undercover with Carlyle for years to make sure we have access to any information that could have a negative impact on us. Like a group of unethical scientists acquiring genetic material from a broad range of supernaturals by any means necessary, and then using that material to create supernatural modifications—or MODS as they’re calling it—for profit. ”
Mike wasn’t sure what stunned him more. That there was a group out there selling supernatural supplements to humans, or that Lark’s pack had someone on the inside for years.
It kind of boggled the mind. The idea that Roman was buying who-knew-what kind of abilities from these Carlyle people was simply the top of a very tall mountain of surprises.
“Any idea where Carlyle gets this genetic material they use for the MODS?” Mike asked, a shiver running up his spine as his mind went to the worst possible places.
“According to our undercover agent, Carlyle isn’t too particular where they harvest their genetic samples,” Corbin said.
“While they occasionally accept volunteer donations for money, most of the genetic material is taken from supernaturals they’ve kidnapped.
A couple years ago, Carlyle even made an appearance at a supernatural trafficking auction in Greece and took samples of each of the supernaturals before they were sold off. ”
Mike’s gut twisted, the pancakes he’d eaten feeling like lead in his stomach.
He wasn’t naive. He knew the world was filled with horrible people doing horrible things.
But kidnapping supernaturals to steal samples of their genetic material was next-level wrong.
Not to mention selling those same supernaturals at an auction.
“After the two run-ins we’ve had with the man, is it safe to assume Roman and his crew are repeat customers of Carlyle?” Gage asked
“Understatement there,” Corbin said. “You’ve heard of people who become addicted to plastic surgery?
Well, that’s Roman, only he’s addicted to these supernatural modifications.
He’s been burning through millions of dollars every month buying MODS for him and his men.
Speed, strength, improved vision, hearing, and sense of smell, along with enhanced aggression.
But lately, his drug of choice has been vitality MODS. ”
“Vitality MODS? What the heck is that?” Mike asked, not sure if he really wanted to know the answer to that question.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed Roman looks younger than he should?
Maybe even younger than he did when you worked undercover in his organization a decade ago?
” Everett asked. “Well, there’s a type of vampire called the vita lamia that survives off the life force of other creatures.
In addition to making them live forever, it also makes them look way younger than they are.
Based on the intel, Carlyle has created a way to extract the vitality they possess, and for lack of a better word, inject it into their customers. ”
Mike cursed silently. Trey had gone up against a vita lamia a little while ago. Not only had the thing been dangerous as hell, but also nearly impossible to take down.
“What are you saying?” Xander asked with a frown. “That Roman is immortal?”
“Hardly. Although, I’m sure he wants to be,” Isla said with a snort.
“It seems that Carlyle’s MODS, the vitality one in particular, comes with a shelf life.
That’s where most of Roman’s money is going.
He’s paying for the vita lamia treatments that have been keeping him young and strong.
And if he wants to keep them up in the future, he’s going to have to keep paying, which will cost him hundreds of millions in the long run. ”
Mike shook his head. “I guess that explains why Roman risked coming back to Dallas. He needs the flash drive to give him access to his crypto accounts to pay for these MODS.”
When Corbin, Everett, and Isla looked at him in confusion, Mike quickly explained what they’d learned about Roman’s cryptocurrency accounts and their theory that the account numbers, as well as the access keys, addresses, and seed phrases, were on a flash drive that had somehow been misplaced.
“How much money are we thinking Roman has in these crypto accounts?” Everett asked with a frown. “Because while a few million would be nothing to sneeze at for us, it wouldn’t pay for more than a few months’ worth of MODS.”
“We think there was around twenty million in the accounts a decade ago,” Gage said. “Depending on which cryptocurrency Roman invested in, the account could be worth a lot more now. I’m no expert, but if we’re talking about Bitcoin, those accounts could be worth a billion dollars.”
“Whoa,” Trey murmured. “No wonder Roman is so determined to get that flash drive.”
“And Roman expects you to find this drive for him?” Isla asked Mike, clearly worried. “Or he’s going to keep coming after your family?”
“Pretty much,” Mike said. “Unfortunately, I don’t know where it is.”
“Well, while this stuff about Carlyle explains why Roman is doing what he’s doing, we still don’t know why Chapman and Sentinel are trying to kidnap Xander and Carter.”
“Actually, we might,” Corbin said thoughtfully. “Chapman and Sentinel were hired by Carlyle and are here for their own purposes that have nothing to do with Roman. Xander and Carter were simply targets of opportunity.”
Mike exchanged confused glances with his pack mates and was about to ask what exactly Corbin was trying to say, when Lark interrupted.
“They weren’t after Xander and Carter,” she said in a tone that suggested she’d just figured something out. “They were after the first werewolf they could get their hands on.”
“Not the first werewolf,” Everett corrected. “The first hybrid werewolf. Our agent on the inside says Carlyle somehow got their hands on a small sample of hybrid DNA several months ago. We aren’t sure who they sold it to, but it was extremely profitable, and now they’re looking for more.”
“Crap,” Trey muttered. “Carlyle is the one who stole my DNA from the bio-waste disposal facility.”
Everett did a double-take. “How did your DNA end up in a bio-waste facility?”
“Long story,” Trey said, then quickly gave Lark’s family the CliffsNotes version.
Corbin shook his head. “I’m not sure if Carlyle stole it or had someone do it for them, but it definitely sounds like they ended up with it.
They used the DNA to create some kind of MOD for a highly classified customer.
On the downside, they had to use all the material they had on hand to do it, so they paid Chapman a lot of money to get more. ”
Mike cursed silently. As if Roman wasn’t enough to worry about, now they had an international terrorist group trying to kidnap them and harvest their DNA.
Effing great.
“Okay, now that we all know what we’re up against, what’s the plan?” Isla asked. “Roman is after Lark and Kal, and Chapman and Sentinel are after your whole pack. We can’t simply sit here and wait until they make another move.”
“Unfortunately, we’re limited in what we can do at the moment,” Gage announced.
“We don’t know where Roman and Chapman are hiding.
Wayne and the department are still working to find Roman’s hideout, but they’re limited in the resources they can dedicate to the task, since most of their officers are dealing with the fallout of Roman’s ongoing gang war. ”
“Until Roman gets that flash drive, he’ll still need the money he has coming in from his criminal activities,” Mike added. “That puts everyone in the city in danger.”
“What about luring Roman and Chapman into a trap?” Corbin asked.
While the idea was a good one, nothing they came up with over the next couple of hours seemed like it would work.
Which meant all they could do was wait and hope to turn the situation to their advantage when Roman and Chapman finally did make their move.
Until then, Lark and Kal would be in constant danger.
Gage’s cell phone rang, interrupting Mike’s thoughts. His boss stepped outside to take the call, then came back a few moments later.
“That was Wayne. He thinks they know where Roman’s hideout is.”