Galen

Things really do happen for a reason. Why else would Kendra have tripped over a mad scientist's feet?

When Kendra decides to attend the local high school football game, a mad scientist who plans to hold her for experimentation snatches her. She’s not sure what to think when a tall, dark, and handsome stranger comes to her rescue.

Imagine Galen's surprise when he finds the attractive red head he's sent to retrieve from Dr. Thornton's newest lab is more than he bargained for. What are the odds of finally finding one's much-anticipated mate naked in a lab?

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Galen

Copyright © 2013 Tianna Xander

ISBN: 978-1-77111-76
1-6

Cover art by Angela Waters

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by eXtasy Books

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Galen

By

Tianna Xander

Dedication

To my readers, as always, I wouldn’t write if it weren’t for you.

To Jay, thanks for always being there and laughing at the parts I hope are funny.

Chapter One

Kendra sat on uncomfortable bench overlooking the football field and watched the band play. At this precise moment, she wanted nothing more than to sit here and watch her neighbor’s daughter march across the field, slamming her cymbals together. Goodness knew she’d heard it enough over the last few weeks to last a lifetime. However, she hadn’t heard it the way it should be heard—with the rest of the musicians.

The sound of the two brass platters crashing together didn’t seem so annoying now. The band brought its final half-time number to a close and Kendra stood. She didn’t mind the first half of the game. After all, it had been a means to an end. However, she hated football enough that she definitely wasn’t hanging around for the second half.

“Excuse me,” she said as she bumped against someone’s legs.

“Certainly, miss. Please excuse my large feet. They are always getting in someone’s way.”

Turning, she glanced at the owner of the sexy, but cultured, English voice. She’d half-expected to see a hot European type sitting there, not a middle aged balding man with a comb-over hairdo, potbelly and a leering grin.

Yech! It’s so not happening, gramps.
Kendra gave him a false smile and kept on moving. Whatever he had on his mind was something she would rather not think about. His oily smile gave her the creeps.

Quickly, she moved through the crowd. Being a home game, the school was packed. It was probably a good thing she was leaving now. Otherwise it might have taken forever to get out of the packed parking lot.

Kendra reached her car and sighed. Surrounded by four large SUVs it was blocked in from every side. They didn’t even give her enough room to open her door and sit down.

She bit her lip and glanced back to the stadium. A large cheer went up from the home side and she smiled. At least it seemed as though they might win. As she remembered, it was rather disappointing for the players to lose a game played on the home field.

“Is there a problem, miss?”

Goosebumps rose on her flesh when she heard that misplaced sexy voice. She suppressed a shudder. Had the man followed her, or was it merely coincidence? “I’m blocked in.”
Just state the obvious, Kendra.
She stared at her car helplessly.

“What a shame.” The man didn’t sound at all sincere. The way she saw it, he wasn’t attempting to sound anything but smug.

That was when she realized the man wasn’t alone. He had friends and they surrounded her. All of them wore black suits like government men. Three of them were of a normal size. She figured she could take them, given her training. She’d gone up against men their size in class. However, the big one gave her pause. The hair on the back of her neck prickled. The man was huge. Body builder huge and he looked mean with a scar that ran from the corner of his right eye to just below his ear. His jacket bulged on the left side where she could only assume he wore a shoulder holster. He appeared to be ex-military, or maybe he was just a mercenary. Whatever he was, his eyes were empty as though he felt nothing for anyone, even himself.

Looking around, Kendra noticed that there was no one in the parking lot but her and the five men who surrounded her.
Well, hell. Here we go.

Slowly, Kendra took stock of the men, wondering if she had a chance. After five years of martial arts classes, she should at least be able to do some damage and buy herself some time—she hoped.

“Kendra Mortensen,” the Englishman said. “We have come to give you a gift.”

“A gift?” She turned her head slowly, trying to get a feel for everyone’s position. “If you wanted to give me a gift, you could have just given it to me in the stadium.”

How does this guy know my name?

“It’s not that kind of gift, dear girl.” He chuckled, softly.

The sound gave her the creeps. Somehow she would have felt better had the man threw his head back and tried to sound maniacal. Instead, the low chuckle made him sound just that much more sinister. “This is a magical gift. It will give you the ability to shift your shape into that of a wolf.”

Okay. This guy is nuts.
However, knowing that didn’t make her feel any better. “Someone’s been watching way too much TV.” Slowly, she flexed her knees and shifted her weight onto the balls of her feet. She let her arms hang loose at her sides. There was no sense in alerting them to the fact that she planned to defend herself. “You’re stuck in some sort of fantasy world if you believe that.”

“You are mistaken, my dear.” He pulled a small, square black case from his pocket. Long and thin, it almost looked like a bracelet box. “This is all too real, as you will soon see.”

The man took his time opening the long box. Like watching a train wreck, Kendra could do nothing but stand and stare.
Why didn’t they teach me that when some lunatic accosted me in a deserted parking lot that I would stand gawking at them with some kind of stunned incredulity?
Kendra wanted to do nothing more than run, but her legs just wouldn’t comply. It was as though she had some vague desire to see what it was he planned to do. Why couldn’t she run?

Kendra gasped when the man pulled out a syringe. She wasn’t stupid. She’d read about men drugging and raping women. There was always the fear of being kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery, as well.

Bringing her arms up, she waited for them to attack. Her instructor had always taught her defense, not offense, so she waited for them to make the first move. It didn’t take long. Two of them moved at the same time. Each of them grabbed an arm. First, she struck out with her feet. She knocked the third man out while the other two struggled to maintain their grip.

The crowd cheered in the stadium, drowning out her screams as the balding man stepped forward. “Just a little sting.” Madness shone in his eyes as he reached out and stuck her with the long needle and depressed the plunger.

White-hot pain sliced through her arm as whatever it was entered her body and she screamed again. It burned like hell. If she didn’t know better, she would swear that he’d set fire to her arm. She stared down at it, wondering what the hell he’d just injected her with that could burn so much. She continued to scream as the pain shot through her blood, burning like molten lava beneath her skin.

No one heard her. How could they when the crowd at the football game cheered at every play? Kendra sobbed as the men dragged her into one of the SUVs. They pushed her into a seat and secured a seatbelt around her waist. Whatever the madman injected her with kept her immobile and powerless. For years she had studied the art of self-defense, only to have her hard-won knowledge and experience fail her the moment she needed it most.

Chapter Two

Galen looked up as two of the men assigned to his detail approached his window. Pressing the switch, he rolled it down. The mist of the light rain hit his face, cooling his skin.

“We have new intel on Doctor Thornton, sir.” It was Jackson who spoke. The man was a bit of a nerd with mousy brown hair and glasses that kept sliding down his skinny, adolescent nose. It didn’t make sense that the boy even wore the damned things. He was a werewolf. Werewolves didn’t need glasses. It was absurd—almost as absurd as their leader, Bastien Sinclair, insisting that Galen bring along the MacDonald brothers.

The MacDonald twins were human, for God’s sake. Who gave a shit that they were retired Special Forces? They were human. It was a condition synonymous with weak. The last thing he wanted to worry about was the two men dying on his watch, damn it.

Galen shook his head and sighed as he thought of his unlikely team of shifters and humans alike. “What’s the news?” He sat back in his seat and folded his arms behind his head.

Jackson pushed his glasses up with his finger and leaned closer. Galen couldn’t look at the idiot with those water-covered glasses he didn’t need. Instead, he stared out through the windshield. Rain dotted the glass. The wipers swiped across his line of vision, clearing the mist before resting just above the cowl.

“Dimitri found another of the crazy doctor’s labs.”

Dimitri was Bastien’s chief of security. He was also mated to the MacDonald brothers’ sister, Charity. He was an old Russian agent who moved to the United States long ago, though you wouldn’t know it by listening to the man’s thick accent.

Galen sighed at the news. “How many fucking labs does that madman have?”

“According to the woman who used to be his assistant, the crazy asshole has labs all over the world. Luckily, this one is in the Nevada desert.”

“Luckily?” He glared at the pup. “What’s so lucky about sand and heat?”

The boy turned red and swallowed. The boy’s very prominent Adam’s apple bobbed in his too-thin throat. “I thought maybe we could hit the casinos while we were there.”

“Hit the casinos?” Galen shook his head. “Look, Jackson. I know that this is exciting for you, being a new agent, and all, but this is business. What about this information gave you the fucking idea we would have time to
hit the casinos?
”

Jesus
! God save him from the ignorance of idiots and humans.

“I—I just thought—”

“Thinking was your first mistake. Leave that up to those of us who are good at it.”

“Yes, sir.” The boy pressed his lips together and turned away.

Galen wasn’t sure, but it looked as though the idiot was about to cry.
Damn it. Damn it all to Hell!
Sighing, he took off his seatbelt, opened the door and followed the boy.