Jackson's mouth made an "o" shape as he realized what she was meaning. He nodded, pulling his weapon from inside his jacket. She swallowed hard and tried to maintain her calm. Whoever is under there is probably more scared than you, she told herself. It seemed to take forever for Jackson to get to her.
He handed her the weapon and went to the side of the desk. Chloe wasn't sure what he was going to do, but she pointed the muzzle of the gun at the desk. She was glad to see she wasn't shaking too badly. Jackson walked quietly around the desk, lunging at the last second and hauling a very frightened scientist out and onto the desk.
Lab results went flying as Jackson pinned the small man to the desk. The man whimpered and whined, barely struggling under Jackson's hands. "Please, please don't hurt me."
Jackson picked him up by the front of his shirt and threw him into the chair. The poor scientist seemed dazed as he adjusted his glasses and nervously adjusted his shirt. He was a small man, barely taller than Chloe, with wispy brown hair that was combed to cover a bald patch on the back of his head. A pair of wire rimmed glasses perched precariously on an oversized nose, the lenses distorting his brown eyes and making them seem bigger than they were.
The man whimpered, his eyes going back and forth from gun in Chloe's hands to Jackson's fearsome stance. He sniffed the air and decided that Jackson was the bigger threat.
"You're a Were... like me," the man said nervously. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. Quent had stopped messing with the computer and had walked over to look at the scientist.
"What are you doing here?" Jackson asked. His voice was low and gruff. The scientist swallowed hard and his eyes focused back on Jackson.
"This is my lab. Please, you have to help me. I can't stop him."
Quent came alongside Jackson. "You did this?" The disgust and contempt was evident in his voice.
The man nodded vigorously, causing his glasses to slide down his nose.
"Good. Then you can show us how to undo this. Get them out." Jackson's voice was ice cold. The scientist dry-washed his hands for a moment before Quent growled. He then hopped to his feet, scurrying over to Blake's tank. Quent stood behind him, watching his every move as the scientist pressed buttons.
"I just need to disconnect the monitoring, then the hydro-system," the scientist murmured. The water tank gave a small chirp and the water started to drain. Blake settled gently to the bottom of the tank; when the water was gone, the lid opened with a quiet hiss.
"Blake!" Chloe cried out as she rushed to his side, pulling the ventilator mask from his face.
"Chloe, get back!" Jackson yelled, running to her side and pushing her away and taking her place. Chloe's face crumpled in confusion and anger.
Suddenly, Blake's arm shot up, the fingers clasping tightly around Jackson's throat. Blake's irises glowed golden through blood shot eyes and he snarled. Chloe gasped. His teeth were sharp and pointed. Jackson didn't move, his own eyes flashing golden for a moment.
Blake immediately released his grip, his head falling back into the tank as though his energy were completely drained. Jackson rubbed at the red mark around his throat before turning to Chloe.
"He's okay now. Let's unhook him," he told her quietly. She nodded, her skin pale and mouth thin. She could only imagine what would have happened if it had been her throat Blake's fingers had closed around. Jackson had his wolf strength to protect him; she would have been squished like a bug.
Her hands shook as she pulled off EKG monitor stickers and pulled out the various wires and tubes from Blake's arms and legs. He barely bled as his skin healed up over the holes as quickly as she took the tubes out. She was glad to see his teeth had gone back to their normal size and his eyes were their usual green again, though still bloodshot.
Jackson lifted Chloe's brother from the tank as soon as he was free of the tubes and monitoring devices. As soon as he was on the cold, white floor Blake started to shake. Chloe wrapped her lab coat around him, murmuring soft words and holding him to her. He clutched at her arm, his muscles tight as he slowly awoke from his drug-induced sleep.
Leaving Chloe to care for her brother, Jackson turned to face the scientist. They were about to get some answers.
Chapter 24
Jackson rubbed at the quickly disappearing red mark on his neck. He didn't know how he knew that Blake was going to wake up violent, but somehow he did. He didn't really care how he had known though, just that he had been able to get to Chloe in time. The image of her brother's fingers wrapping around Chloe's neck flashed through his mind and he shook it away. He had kept her safe.
Chloe had her white lab coat wrapped around her brother as she murmured gentle words into his ear. "It's okay, Blake. I'm here. I won't let anything bad happen to you. You're okay now..."
Jackson shook his head. They still needed to get the other two soldiers out of their tanks and the three of them somewhere safe. He turned to the scientist. Quent was looking at the trembling man as though he might rip him limb from limb. Jackson had seen that look before in the field. Some marines had once gotten a hold of a prisoner they thought had information. Jackson needed to get control of the situation before Quent injured the man.
Jackson stepped around to get between the scientist and Quent, then leaned casually against the machine. The scientist reeked of fear. "What's your name?" he asked politely.
"Herbert," the man whispered and licked his lips anxiously. "Dr. Herbert Hulsey."
Jackson gave Herbert a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you, Herbert." Behind him, he could feel Quent bristling.
"Now, Herbert, what my friends and I would really like to know is why that man over there smells like a Were?" Jackson nodded in Blake's direction.
"I activated the Lycan gene. Using the formula, I activated it," Herbert stuttered. Jackson could smell the fear coating the man. He didn't want to push too hard, or the scientist was going to break down and panic.
"Why would you do that?" Quent roared, lunging forward for the man. Jackson caught Quent by the shoulders and held him for a moment before letting him go. Herbert looked ready to mess himself with fear, if he hadn't already.
"Quent," Jackson said calmly. "Would you please go help Chloe and her brother?"
Confusion washed over Quent's face, but Jackson just raised his eyebrows and pointed his head toward Chloe.
"Fine," Quent growled, giving Herbert a dirty look as he passed him. Jackson made a small noise to get Herbert's attention again, and then smiled.
"Now, then. You said you activated the Lycan gene." Jackson let his eyebrows come together in a friendly question. "Why would you do that?"
Herbert glanced nervously at Quent, swallowing hard and then inching closer to Jackson. "Our population is dropping. We keep interbreeding with non-carriers and having non-shifting children. It's only a matter of time before the blood line runs out," he explained, his eyes pleading with Jackson to understand.
"I see. You thought you were helping the Were species," Jackson replied. The scientist nodded emphatically.
"Yes! I had to do something to keep us from going extinct!" Herbert pushed his glasses back up on his nose. "I have never been a very good wolf, but I thought I could help my species out this way."
Jackson made an understanding noise in his throat. Herbert was possibly the most bottom-of-the-rung, omega wolf he could have imagined. Jackson felt a bit of sympathy for him; he was the lowest of a wolf pack, but he had still wanted to help his people. It was misguided, but Herbert had only wanted to help.
"How exactly did you turn them?" Jackson asked softly. If Herbert had been in wolf form he would have been rolling on his back and showing Jackson his stomach.
"The serum. I perfected it using my own Were DNA." Herbert pointed to the red substance in the IV bags. "It took years of effort, but it's a success."
Jackson gave Herbert a slight frown. It was just disapproving enough to convey disappointment, but not strong enough to scare the man. Jackson needed information more than he needed to frighten him. "And you sold it to the government?"
Herbert shook his head vehemently, his glasses sliding down his nose again. "No, no, no. They were the only ones who would fund me. I didn't realize they were going to give them so much serum... I didn't think they were going to make them more than just Weres who happened to be soldiers."
"What did you think was going to happen?" Quent snapped, standing from Chloe and her brother. His eyes were golden and angry.
Herbert crouched lower, his shoulders hunching and his face crumpling. Jackson glared at Quent; they still needed information from the man. With a kind smile, Jackson put his hand on Herbert's shoulder, feeling him flinch at his touch.
"I understand. You didn't mean for any of this to happen. You were just trying to help. And now you can," Jackson said.
Herbert looked up, his eyes full of hope. "I can?"
"Yes. First, I need you to help Quent here get these other two soldiers out." Jackson nodded his head toward the other two tanks where the other soldiers floated in their liquid cages. "Then we need to get them off the base."
"Yes, yes! Of course!" Now that the man had a purpose, a new energy filled him. He went quickly to the computer of the nearest soldier and began to shut them down. This time Quent was ready for the soldiers' reactions and waited far enough away not to be caught in their grip.
Chloe set her brother up against the tank, walking carefully over next to Jackson.
"Dr. Hulsey, was it?" She smiled shyly. "Do you know where their clothes might be? It's awful cold outside, and I think it would be nice to have them in something more than a lab coat."
Jackson wished he could kiss her right then. She had caught on to his tone and technique, using kindness to get the man to open up instead of threats.
"Oh, of course!" Herbert beamed at her. "They're in that storage bin over there. I'll get them for you!"
"Thank you, but I'll get them myself. I think that he has some more questions for you," Chloe responded quickly. She gave him a friendly smile before turning and hurrying to a bin along the wall. Jackson watched her for a moment, and then turned back to Herbert.
"Herbert," he said, making sure he had the scientist’s attention again. "This is important. How many times have these men shifted?"
"Twice. They weren't conscious for it though. They've never been awake for a shift." Herbert's face dropped as though he had done something wrong.
Jackson let out a quiet sigh. His own transformation had been terrible and deadly. Now, he was going to have three, highly-trained soldiers, shifting into a primal state. Tomorrow night, they were all in for a brutal evening.
"I hate to be a bother, but are there any other uniforms?" Chloe interrupted as politely as she could. "These seem to have shrunk in the wash."
Jackson looked over at Blake. The man was barely contained by his uniform. Muscles pulled at the seams and his pants were an inch too short.
"What have you been feeding them?" he said softly.
"Growth hormones. Per the Colonel's instruction," Herbert answered. Jackson gave him an incredulous look. Herbert blushed, shame filling his face. "In addition to activating the Lycan gene, I was to make them more effective in combat."