Pretty Baby(38)

       
           



       

"You are okay?" Tommy asked. "The dart didn't hit you?"

Elliot shifted in the blink of an eye then shook his head as he reached  for Tommy. "No, I'm fine. Dr. Banning stepped between me and the dart."

"Dr. Banning?" Tommy said out loud as he gathered Elliot up in his arms  and turned to look at the fallen doctor. He was being treated by  Zacarius and Devlin. He seemed to be alive, but in a lot of pain.

"What's going on?"

"Well, it would seem that there is more to the good doctor than meets  the eye." Zacarous pointed to Carl, who was growling and struggling  wildly in his chair. "I believe that Dr. Banning and Elliot's friend,  Carl, are mated somehow."

"What?"

"It's true," Dr. Banning wheezed. "Carl is mine."

"Carl? Attack us in the alley Carl?"

"He had no choice," Dr. Banning whispered. "Philip threatened to kill me  if Carl didn't bring Elliot home. Why do you think he had Carl tied up  before Elliot arrived? He was afraid that Carl would attack him."

"I can understand that," Tommy snorted.

"Please, let him … "

Tommy watched the doctor for a moment, seeing the pleading in the man's  eyes, then turned to walk over and release Carl. Before he did, he  leaned in real close to Carl so the man didn't miss a word he said.

"Touch Elliot in any way and I won't care what you were forced to do. I  will kill you faster than you can blink. Do I make myself clear?"

Carl nodded. Tommy snapped the ropes tying Carl down. He almost fell  back on his butt when Carl pushed past him, racing across the room to  kneel next to his mate, taking the man into his arms.

"Guess they are mates." Tommy chuckled as he climbed to his feet. "And  as happy as I am for you two, I still have questions and I want  answers."

"Can't that wait?" Carl shouted, a tear falling down his cheek. "Can't you see he's in pain? He could be dying."

"No, darling," the doctor said, patting Carl's arm. "It's okay. This  isn't the lethal stuff. I destroyed all of that. This serum will just  make me very uncomfortable for awhile. The effects should wear off in a  couple of hours."

"Just how many serums do you have?" Tommy asked.

The doctor chuckled lightly then started to cough. It was several  moments before he could talk again. In the meantime, Tommy watched  Bishop and Dr. Jones carry Philip out of the study followed by the two  guards, now bound, and a few shifted wolves.

"I developed two serums, one that was lethal to shifters and this one  that Philip shot me with. When I learned what shifters were, what they  really were, I destroyed the first serum and created this one."

"Why?"

"I didn't know what shifters were at first. All I saw was this  philanthropist who was willing to fund my research for years if I worked  for his company. It seemed like a dream come true."

"What research?"

"Genetics, mostly. I thought I could create some sort of miracle cure  for people with paralysis, give them back the life they had once before.  When Philip gave me data, wolf data, I began to really see the  possibilities. His scientist had some impressive stuff over the years."

"So you looked the other way when he tortured people?"

"No, I didn't look the other way. For a long time, I didn't know where  he was getting his data. It's only been the last ten years that I even  knew about shifters. Before that, he just gave me DNA samples and said  they came from anonymous donors with genetic anomalies."

"And you believed him?" Tommy snorted.

"I had no reason not to. All of my research was funded by a private  company. I didn't have the usual restrictions placed on those that  worked in public companies. I was allowed to do what I wanted, and I  didn't have some committee breathing down my neck, demanding answers."

"Sounds perfect, so what happened to change your mind?"

"Carl happened."

"Carl?" Tommy glanced down at the man that held the doctor in his arms. "What exactly does Carl have to do with all of this?"

"Carl came to work for Philip. At first, he was just an assistant but  after a couple of years, Philip made him the liaison between us. Carl  would bring me whatever new information Philip had discovered and I  would give my data to Carl."

"So, how did things change?"

"I changed." Dr. Banning's smile was odd considering the situation.  "There was an accident in the lab and I was infected with the wolf  virus."                       
       
           



       

"Dr. Banning," Zacarius said, "there is no wolf virus. Either you're born a wolf, or you're not."

"There is no wolf virus the way you think of it, but mixed with the vampire virus and genetically manipulated, there is one."

"Fuck me," Tommy whispered, "you created a werewolf virus."

"Not to worry, all of my notes and the lab samples have been destroyed.  After this last visit with Elliot, Carl and I were supposed to escape  and hide. I couldn't keep doing what I was doing after I found out how  Philip gathered my data. It just wasn't right."

"Great." Tommy waved his hand around in the air. "So, your work has been  destroyed. What about all the other facilities that have your data,  because you know that Philip Spencer would never put all of his eggs in  one basket."

"I've taken care of that," Carl said softly. "I developed a computer  virus and sent it to all of the other labs. Any data kept on them will  be erased and unrecoverable."

"And the data kept on disk?"

Carl grinned. "The minute they are placed in a computer or someone tries  to duplicate the disk, copy it, or in any other way make another one,  the disk will be destroyed."

"How?" Tommy frowned. "I thought once something was burned to a disk that it was for life."

"Technically, that is true, but the virus I installed will rewrite over  the disk, destroying any of the previous data. It's a nice little  program that downloads every dirty little thing that Philip Spencer ever  did."

Tommy blinked. "Your virus downloads a program that outs Philip Spencer?"

"Yep." Carl grinned again, sounding pretty satisfied with himself.  "Appropriate, don't you think? I also included a small tidbit about his  partners in crime and Philip Spencer's medical records, mainly his psych  evaluation. If he says anything to anyone about werewolves, they will  think he's nuts."

Tommy had to admit he was elated at Carl's words. It solved a lot of  their problems. He just had a hard time coming to terms with that fact  that those words came from Carl, a man he punched square in the face the  minute he met him.

"Why are you doing all of this?" Tommy asked. "You have to know that this information could make you millions."

"It could also put the life of my mate in danger," Carl said, "and there is nothing in this world worth that."

Tommy couldn't agree more.





Chapter 16


"So, you're saying that this full moon dealy happens every month?" Elliot asked.

"Yep," Nate replied. "And it's great."

"Let me see if I understand this. Once a month on the full moon, Tommy  and I will shift and become werewolves instead of four legged wolves.  We'll track each other through the woods then fuck like there's no  tomorrow, or at least until we can't walk properly. Do I have it right?"

"Pretty much," Nate snickered. "You might want to invest in a butt plug  like I did, get yourself ready to be claimed. They can't like, come or  something until we do, and they make sure we do, several times."

"Now wait a minute, I have a question. Joe shifts into this third form and chases you down, right?"

"Yep."

"But you're human, right, and you stay human."

"And that's the reason for the butt plug, hon. Shifters grow to be  pretty big and they are definitely proportionate body wise." Tommy heard  a small giggle. "Joe's hung like a horse."

"Eeeww, too much information." Elliot giggled right along with Nate.  "Seriously, though. If Tommy and I are both shifters, how does that  work? I mean, do we take turns chasing each other down or what? Does he  just chase me, or do I chase him too? Do you think Tommy will be upset  if I don't chase him? I don't know anything about this mating business.  I'm kind of flying blind here, man."

Tommy leaned back against the wall outside of the kitchen and listened  to Nate and Elliot talking. It was the first time since everything came  to an end two weeks ago that he had heard Elliot chatter. It was a  wonderful sound.

Ever since Elliot returned to human form from wolf, he hadn't chattered.  Oh sure, he had talked, but nothing like his usual nonstop questions.  Tommy hadn't realized until he heard it that it had been missing. He  also hadn't realized how much he missed it.