I caught a flash of anger in the general’s eyes. Maybe a Sloan heart was still buried somewhere under the military medals pinned to his chest.
His eyes narrowed. “Why don’t we let your Alpha decide?”
“Adam is our Alpha.” I added with a touch of sarcasm, “
…
Since it was clear that the general had close ties with Nero, we were careful to keep the twins away. Adam suggested we talk in the barn. Miller followed us down the driveway on foot. I kept expecting him to ask how Malcolm died, but he didn’t. In fact, he didn’t say anything at all.
Adam leaned back against a stall door, and I took a post beside him, my muscles taut. I had worked with my father every day for years. Why would he let me believe his brother was dead all that time?
“Why are you really here?” Adam asked. “If you knew where Malcolm’s Pack was, why didn’t you ever contact him?”
Miller glanced at the horses and back to Adam. “I was respecting my brother’s wishes.”
I frowned. “He asked you not to contact us?”
“His actual words were more like ‘If you stay with these madmen then you’re dead to me.’”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “And you chose Nero over your Pack.”
“My brother wasn’t my Alpha. He disobeyed our Alpha by leaving us. Our country needs us, now more than ever. I saw the mission through.
“You don’t know the first thing about our father.” Adam straightened up, stepping toward the general.
“I didn’t come here to argue with you. I came to collect my soldier.” His gaze moved between Adam and I. “I was the leader of the Lycan Squad before it disbanded. When I got word Fonthill had gone rogue in my brother’s territory, I thought I could help talk him down.”
“You’re his leader?” I frowned, struggling to contain the rage that smoldered deep in my belly. “You watched your men die at the hands of the Nero Organization and you did nothing?”
“My men understood the risks.” His jaw clenched, and he raised his chin. The stern gesture probably made men in uniform hop to and salute or something, but it made me want to punch the elitist bastard. “They volunteered to help their country.” His eyes narrowed. “Don’t judge things you don’t understand.”
Adam raised a brow. “Did they understand they’d be juiced up and mutated until they went insane?” His gaze locked with Miller’s, baiting him. “Or was that in the fine print?”
“Impudent, short-sighted—” He lunged for my brother, but I knocked him back hard enough to get his attention.
It felt good, too.
“Damn, you are a fucking cold-hearted bastard,” I spat. “No wonder our dad never mentioned you.” I almost hoped he’d make a move, but he didn’t. “Don’t you even care what happened to Malcolm?”
A shadow of emotion clouded the man’s gray green eyes, and as quickly as I noticed it, it was gone again. “My brother and I chose different paths. I’m sorry I let time slip away like I did.”
Adam’s cheeks were flushed with color, like a volcano about to blow. “You let time slip away while you worked for the bastards who experimented on werewolves and made them into monsters.” He took a step toward the general, but the older man stood his ground. “You let time slip away while Nero waltzed in here and murdered your twin brother, you son of a bitch.”
Miller’s brow furrowed, and for once the emotion didn’t fade away from his features. “Nero killed Malcolm? That can’t be. He’s never been part of the mission.”
“He wasn’t their mission—Adam’s mate was.” His gaze shifted to me. I crossed my arms over my chest. “They sent their own private army to Lake Tahoe. Malcolm died in the fight.”
His confusion morphed into denial right before my eyes. “Impossible. Nero works for the government to enhance soldiers. Your brother’s mate wouldn’t be a target unless she was in the military or a part of our program.”
“That’s what Severino would like you to believe.”
Silence blanketed us while I watched the general. I wished I could glean something more about him, like his real agenda. I could see Severino calling in a favor and sending our own flesh and blood to betray us. This could be a smokescreen to finish Fonthill’s mission and kill Sasha.
Adam glanced at me, then Miller. “Thanks for the offer, but we can handle this.”
“This soldier you’re after is trained in guerilla warfare and his wolf senses are enhanced.” Pride infused the general’s voice. “He’s stronger, faster, and has more weapons training than any of you. Plus, he can shift anytime.” He opened his hand in front of us. “I’m offering to help. No strings attached.”
Adam shook his head. “If dad didn’t want anything to do with you, why would I?”
“Then you’ll get what you deserve,” the general growled as he turned to go.
I ground my teeth. “Wait.” He stopped and looked back at me. I wished I could tell him to go to hell, but as long as his whacked-out soldier was out there, Sasha and Nadya were in danger. “If you think you can stop Fonthill, I’m willing to listen.”
His eyes moved from me to my Alpha. Adam gave him a sullen nod. Good enough for now.
“I think I can get him to stand down from this mission,” Miller said, “but I need to find him in order to make that happen.”
I shook my head. “Good luck with that. So far he’s been the one finding us. He’s already shifted in broad daylight and killed one of my employees. Then he attacked a guy from a gas station. If we knew where he was we would have already ended this.”
“Nero has sent someone here to neutralize Fonthill,” Adam added. “Do they know you’re in Reno?”
“I don’t work for Nero, if that’s what you’re really asking. I work for the United States Army. Fonthill was discharged years ago, but Nero contacted me after the gas station incident. It is in the company’s and the government’s best interests to bring him back before our program is exposed.”
Miller slipped a hand in his pocket, his gray-green eyes reminding me so much of my father that my chest constricted. But even with his familiar looks, he was a stranger. How could we believe anything he had to say?
As if the distrust was written all over my face, the general sighed and went on.
“I know you don’t approve of the project.” Miller watched my brother. “But if America had a unit of highly trained Green Berets who could shift into wolves anytime, without waiting for a full moon, our country would be stronger for it.”
Adam shrugged. “Tell that to the people Fonthill’s attacked in the last few days. Having a crazed lunatic on the loose that can shift anytime seems like a bad idea to me.”
“Let’s get this back on track.” Truthfully, I wanted to get some time to digest that we had blood my father never mentioned. Getting rid of General Miller Sloan was just a perk. “Since he was caught on security cameras running from a gas station after attacking that attendant, the police are on a manhunt for him, the government wants to protect the program from exposure, and Nero also sees him as a liability. You sound like you want to take him out with a chat instead of a bullet, am I right?”
“I owe the last of my men a chance at surrender instead of assassination.”
At least he had a thread of integrity left.
“Then I suggest we come up with a plan to lure him out of hiding.” My gaze moved between Adam and Miller. “You can try to talk to Fonthill, but if he makes a move, we’ll end him.”
The general nodded. “Fair enough.”
…
Adam didn’t invite Miller inside the house. I didn’t blame him. Blood or not, General Sloan had worked with Nero and had no business being anywhere near Lana and the babies. As far as we could tell, he didn’t know the twins existed, and we were going to do our best to keep it that way for now.
We moved our planning meeting up to the general’s Hummer. He produced a legal pad and a pen and I started writing down the few things about Fonthill, adding in points he offered up.
“Even in his over-stimulated state, Fonthill won’t repeat an error.” Miller stared at me now. “You’ll need a new tactic to draw him out.”
Miller turned toward Adam. “He’ll also be able to smell a trap, so you shouldn’t bring your Pack. With some tactical planning, we could probably post three or four of your men at a distance and keep them under Fonthill’s
