Exposed: Secret Blood

By Emma Weylin

Serena Macon can’t live with the knowledge that the pills she takes to stave off a mysterious illness cause the death of innocent shapeshifters. There is only one option left for her. Knowing that her death is certain, she makes the decision to take out Jenson before killing herself. But everything goes wrong, and she ends up locked in a cell with an enormous Kodiak shifter who volunteered for Jenson’s breeding program.

Maddox Beirne is a Kodiak shifter with a Dark. Guilt is his constant companion. When the witch’s card indicates he’s the only one capable of rescuing a mysterious woman from the clutches of the evil scientist, he knows he has one shot at redemption.

Just when Serena knows her life can’t get any worse, a seven-foot werebear destroys all her fears and shows her what love should be. Only, the love she shares with Maddox has finally produced the one thing Jenson has always wanted.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emma Weylin
• Release date: Jan 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781542826273

Book preview

Prologue

His mate was dying.

Maddox Beirne worked his jaw as he stared down at the witch’s cards. She’d asked her deck one simple question. Who is the missing woman’s mate?

Senica, the witch, had one card turned up. A giant Kodiak bear dominated the image.

Maddox was the only werebear in the county.

He growled.

All eyes turned on him.

Well, shit. He sauntered to the empty chair across from Senica at the table and sat. How do we find her?

Senica brushed a raven lock away from her pale blue eyes. I don’t know.

Demetri, the nightwalker who had pulled the information about the Macon woman out of her brother’s head, stood by the door, his ominous expression going darker. I don’t think I have the correct name.

How in the hell is that possible? Senica snapped. We’ve been working off your reading of Philip for months.

I know, Demetri snarled as the tribal tattoos of his nightwalker state glowed. But that’s what I have. Maybe Jenson found a way to fuck with memories along with everything else.

Maddox snorted and then shoved up to his feet. For months, everyone believed Demetri and the woman—an October Macon—would end up romantically attached to each other. But for as long as he’d known Senica, her cards had never been wrong. The woman, trapped in a hell only a mad scientist could create, might be the one woman with whom he could hope to find the same everlasting love his parents had. He knew how to settle this problem. He crossed the kitchen, opened the door to the basement, and walked down the stairs. The little bastard who discovered how to lie to a nightwalker would not lie to him.

Philip Macon sat on the floor in the center of a cage, reading a comic book. The team working the Shifter Shelter kept Philip around for the intel Demetri could extract from him, which proved right most of the time. It was Kenzie, the human mate of the weretiger running the Shelter, who refused to let anyone hurt this worthless human.

Maddox leaned against the bars. What’s your sister’s name?

Philip lifted a brow and then laughed. October.

His days of not talking were done. Maddox grabbed two bars of the steel cage, and with little effort, bowed them enough for Maddox to reach in and pluck Philip off the floor. Maddox slammed the asshole against the bars and then pulled Philip’s head down. He bent the bars back into place, trapping Philip in the awkward position where he’d strangle himself if he didn’t keep standing.

Care to share now? Maddox leaned against the bars.

Kenzie won’t let you keep me like this, Philip whined. Let me go.

What’s her real name? Maddox yawned as if he were bored. Don’t think Kenzie will have her mate try to intimidate me. I’m bigger than he is.

Philip refused to give the information while he struggled, but Maddox had patience. He could wait until Philip grew tired. He yowled and screamed, but no one came. No one would dare piss off a Kodiak shifter who needed to get to his mate before she died.

Philip’s knees shook, and he pushed at the bars. Serena, he said after two hours, tears streaming down his face. Her name is Serena. Her birth month is October. Jenson said I couldn’t let any of you know her real name because you’d kill her to stop the drug trials. He helped me train my thoughts to keep her identity secret.

Maddox patted him on the head. Good boy. Where do I find her?

Philip gave him an address.

Thanks, said Maddox as he sauntered toward the stairs.

Hey, aren’t you going to let me out of this? Philip yelled.

Maddox laughed. Sure. Just as soon as I check the name and address you gave me.

Maddox ignored the pitiful yowls as he walked up the stairs and back into the kitchen.

Kenzie stood there with wide eyes filled with horror. What did you do to him?

Nothing Ty can’t undo. He pinned her with a look. The girl’s name is Serena, and I know where to start looking for her.

He didn’t bother to wait for anyone else as he walked out of the house and got into his truck. He entered the address into his GPS. At least what Philip gave him was located on a map.

Senica opened the passenger door. What are you doing?

Maddox lifted a brow. I’m going to get my mate. Isn’t that what you wanted?

You’re gonna need help, she said as though she hadn’t been the one to declare Serena’s mate might be the only one capable of finding her.

Maddox snorted. I’ll text you the address once I’m sure that little bastard isn’t sending me on a wild goose chase.

Senica fisted her hands. If she’s in as much trouble as we think she is, you might not be in any condition to help her if she really is your mate.

Maddox reached over and gently pushed her away from his truck. Trust me. She’s gonna need an enraged Kodiak if she’s where I think she is.

He pulled the door closed and hit the locks before firing up the engine. This nightmare with Jenson Pharmaceuticals was his fault. If he’d been in the lab with Tiberius and Godric the day Dr. Harrison Butler had been murdered, the eight-year reign of terror Jenson and his minions inflicted on shifterkind would have never started.

Chapter 1

Three Days Later

Time ran out. Serena stared at the lone pill in the bottle. If she didn’t take it, she’d be dead inside a week. If she did take the pill, she was no better than Jenson. She covered her mouth with her hand. Last week, right after she had dosed herself, Jenson himself told her where the magic pills come from and then took her on a tour of his nightmare facility.

Shapeshifters died for her chance to live. The tiny pill held in it a shifter’s ability to regenerate.

A year ago, she’d have thought the doctor was mad, but today she knew he was insane. He’d given her the pills. One a week, he’d said, would keep her alive until he could find a cure for her mysterious illness.

But that had been months ago—when she’d held out a small hope her brother wasn’t a complete bastard and hadn’t sold her health to the devil for drug trials she’d never agreed to be a part of. She’d learned so much since then. Shifters—hell, every type of magical creature and person imaginable—were real.

She’d witnessed what Jenson did to those men and women. Animals, he’d called them, but Jenson was the monster.

Serena drew in a deep breath and picked up the bottle. To take the pill was using someone else’s life force to save her own, but to throw it away was wasting that life, too.

She had let Jenson subject her to pills and blood draws every week because she hadn’t known Jenson himself had been the one to make her sick. She’d gone to the doctor Philip had recommended to her when she’d moved back to Philadelphia. She’d had what she’d thought was the flu. But the doctor Philip suggested told her she needed a specialist. He sent her to Jenson. From then on, she could only have a normal life if Jenson continued to feed her the pills.

A tear slipped down her cheek. She didn’t want to die, but she couldn’t—wouldn’t—be the reason Jenson continued to torture shapeshifters.

They are people.

And Philip hadn’t called her in months.

She brushed her tears away and walked out of the bathroom and headed right for the kitchen. Her little apartment had been her haven during the last few months—that was until she realized armed men were constantly watching her. She grabbed a steak knife from the block next to the microwave. There wasn’t another choice for her. How many people lost their lives to provide her with medicine? She turned her free hand and stared at the artery on her wrist. One slice and it would all be over. She wouldn’t be tempted to go back to Jenson Pharmaceuticals for another bottle of pills. There wasn’t anything special about her. She worked retail to pay for her soap-making addiction. She wasn’t needed in this world. Not really. Hell, no one would even notice she was gone.

Her phone chirped to alert her of a text message, and she dropped the knife. She turned to the table and picked up her device.

Demetri Korbel.

He wanted to help her. Each time she thought she’d found the courage to let him know where she was and what was happening to her, one of those armed men pretended he needed a cup of sugar or another common household item. Her phone was bugged when she’d wanted to live. But she didn’t want help. Not anymore.

Taking those pills had turned her into a murderer.

She slapped her phone on the table and retrieved her knife when her cell rang. For a moment she wanted to ignore the ringtone—the one she used for Jenson’s office. But then she cursed and snagged the phone. What do you want?

Jenson laughed. Right about now you’re thinking of killing yourself. Pity. I had arranged for a magic healer to come in this afternoon for you. No more pills. No more blood draws. One more trip here, and you’re free to live your life however you wish.

Serena set the knife on the table and padded into her bedroom. She pulled open the drawer of the nightstand, where she kept her gun. The one she’d been told to use on shifters if one ever broke into her apartment. She forced a smile on her face, hoping Jenson would hear it in her voice. Of course I’ll come in for that, Dr. Jenson.

Great. Can you get here in an hour? There was too much glee in his voice.

She picked up the gun and checked the chamber. I’ll be there.

She disconnected the call. Serena put the gun in her purse, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, grabbed her keys, and headed out the door.

If she was going to be a murderer, she was going to make the last death count. She got directly into her car and drove straight to the main headquarters of the pharmaceutical company. A black van followed. The one that always followed her since she’d started taking the pills. After parking, she walked briskly to the building, which was set in a rustic, rural area surrounded by trees. She gave the guard at the door a pretty smile as she walked by. She’d been in this building once a week for the last six months. The guard didn’t stop to check the contents of her purse. When people described you as being sweet and kind of a doormat, others tended to think of you as nonthreatening.

The guard knew he protected a man who tormented good people in the basement of the building. She held her purse like she normally did, hoping not to draw attention to herself, and made her way to the elevator that would take her up to Jenson’s personal office. The attendant, who had a gun at his hip, hit the buttons for her.

Thank you, Serena said as cheerfully as she could. The elevator stopped, and she walked into the main lobby on the top floor. This was it. She was going to do this, and whatever happened next, she’d deal with it until she died next week. She strolled past the receptionist.

Serena, the woman called. You can’t just walk back there.

I don’t care, Serena said. She quickened her pace when the guards started toward her, and she bolted into Jenson’s office.

He was on the phone.

She closed the door and locked it before she pulled her gun and dropped her purse. It’s time to hang up.

Jenson laughed. Oh, Serena, you won’t pull the trigger.

Her hands shook. Why not? People have already died for me.

Jenson hung up the phone and stood. Yes, they have. It’s why you have all the lovely freedoms you do in this country.

I’m talking about those shifters. A tear trekked down her cheek. How many of them did you kill to make my pills?

You’ve never met a shifter, Jenson said in a dark tone. They are animals.

I saw people! Serena yelled.

I know you think you did, but sweetheart, they aren’t human. He took a step to move around his desk.

Serena fired the gun, hitting his high polished desk right in the center. Sit.

Jenson sat.

She moved in closer and put her back to the wall. What are the names of the men who lost their lives to cure me of a disease you created?

I don’t know, Jenson said in a subdued tone. What does it matter?

Where is my brother? Her whole body trembled with rage.

The shifters killed him. Jenson’s gaze met hers. They are monsters.

I don’t believe you, she snapped.

Jenson looked at the camera in the corner and nodded.

Serena’s brow furrowed, and she dropped the gun. Something sharp bit her neck. She stumbled and landed hard on her knees. Light-headed and woozy, Serena plucked a dart from her throat and stared at it before she slugisly reached for her weapon.

Jenson was up and over the table before she could retrieve her gun. He snatched up the weapon and shoved it into his pocket.

The door opened and several men with firearms filed into the room.

Jenson stooped. He grabbed her hair. You ungrateful little bitch. I think you need to know what kind of monsters they really are. He yanked her up to her feet and shoved her at one of the guards.

The man caught her and had to hold her up because she couldn’t maintain her balance with whatever had been in that dart.

Take her downstairs, Jenson said. And give her to the big one they just brought in.

The guard shoved her out of the room and dragged her down the hall to a bank of elevators. She shook her head and tried to make her double vision stop as the elevator car dropped into the sub-basement. The guard shoved her out into a sterile, white corridor with no windows. He dragged her down the hall while she struggled to get free. The guard pushed her into a room, empty except for one chair and a white hospital-style gown, only it had a back.

The guard looked her up and down. Put that on. You have five minutes. If you’re not changed when I get back, I’ll put it on for you.

Serena sank to the floor as the door closed. It took her a minute, but her balance was starting to come back.

Fuck.

She should have just shot the bastard. She did as the guard told her. If he had to dress her, she was sure he wouldn’t keep his hands to himself. And now she was a damn test subject. At least she’d be dead by this time next week.

The door opened and a man in a white orderly’s uniform grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. This way.

She stumbled as she tried to keep up with the man’s long stride. He stopped by the door and grabbed a clipboard. Lucky you. You’re going in with the new volunteer. Maybe we’ll actually get a viable breeding to happen.

Breeding?

Serena yanked her arm out of the man’s hold as her heel slammed down on top of the orderly’s foot, and she ran as fast as she could toward the elevators.

The guard tackled her. Her head bounced off the hard tile floor. The guard bound her hands behind her back with what felt like zip ties, and then he yanked her to her feet by her hair. Just keep being stupid, sweetheart. That makes this much more fun.

Both the guard and the orderly held on to her as they dragged her down the hall. They stopped at a large door. The orderly used a key card and punched in the code.

A low growl rumbled from the other side of the room.

The orderly pulled her head back. This was the woman you wanted?

Yes, the giant said with a deep, rumbling voice. She’s precisely the one.

Enjoy fucking, the orderly said and shoved Serena into the room.

She landed on her butt and screamed when the door closed. The giant stalked toward her. Although she couldn’t stop the whimper of fear, she did her best to scoot backward on her butt to the corner, not that it would do any good. The man was gargantuan, and she had no place to hide.

He crouched down next to