Introduction
Stefan’s getting married for the good of his family, because if he doesn’t, the local werewolves will run them out of town.
He’s not exactly happy about it, but it could be worse. His bride is quite beautiful when she’s not completely off her canine leash. As beta for her pack, she’s used to giving orders and has a bite to go with her bark. However, if she thinks he’s giving in to the beast within, then she’ll be waiting a long time.
Stefan’s spent the last decade keeping his tiger caged. Past experience has shown him he can’t lose control. Yet, when he’s captured by the company that created him, he’ll realize he doesn’t have a choice.
He’ll have to learn how to growl if he wants to protect those he loves.
Growl and Prowl, the series.
Prologue
Smuggling a child from a secret lab in the bright light of day required nerves of steel.
Nanette Hubbard—Nana to her close friends—did her best to fake courage as she drove white knuckled out of Alberta, expecting at any second to see vans with dark-tinted windows come screaming out of nowhere, hemming her in to take back what she’d stolen. A secret they would kill to keep.
The boy she’d rescued spent the first part of that almost twenty-four-hour drive—which she’d driven fueled by caffeine and fear—stretched out on the backseat asleep, his slight frame under the blanket she’d tucked around him. A drug administered by her own brother had put him in a deep slumber, giving her time to get them far away. She stopped only to gas up, and she paid cash while wearing a full three-quarter medical facemask left over from the pandemic and still in use by the more cautious of the population. Given many remained fearful of the virus, no one would question her wearing it or the sunglasses and hat.
The mud on her license plate changed the look of the letters subtly enough to pass basic scrutiny. As an added precaution, she wouldn’t be driving the rental much longer.
When the boy stirred, she knew it was time to finally take a break. She chose the next motel she saw along the highway, the single-story kind with concrete walkways lining the long, skinny building with brightly painted doors. The brackish pool with its chain link fence had caution tape around it. The only other entertainment? A poor excuse for a park.
The motel also included a clerk who really didn’t give a hoot who rented a room from him and handed her two almost threadbare towels with a warning she’d be charged for them if they went missing.
Returning to the car, Nana noticed the boy no longer lay on the seat. Panic fluttered at her breast.
Oh no! I’ve lost him.
As she opened the rear passenger door, she sighed with relief upon seeing him huddled in the footwell.
“Thank goodness you’re still here.”
He didn’t seem as pleased. He eyed her warily.
“Hello, little guy. Remember me?” He might not, given the drugs had already started circulating in his system during their previous brief encounter.
No reply, and that was okay. The world had to be a scary place for the small red-haired boy with an arm in a cast. The breakage was part of the reason he’d been cast aside a little sooner than usual.
They had other excuses, too.
Too puny. Too weak. And his most damning mistake of all? Not being able to shift.
The huanimorph project—a stupid play on words that no one could pronounce—was about making humans into something more. And apparently, they had succeeded in some cases.
Those that failed to transform received termination orders.
ST11 was slated for death when her brother, a doctor working under duress, smuggled him out to Nana. She’d loved him the moment she set eyes on him. The feeling wasn’t yet mutual.
Nana crouched by the open rear passenger door and held out an apple. Nothing fancy or chock full of preservatives, and yet, his eyes widened. He licked his lips as he stared.
“Would you like to come out of the car?” she asked. She didn’t demand. This child had only ever been commanded his scant three years of life.
He didn’t reply, and looking into his face, she saw the bruise high on his cheekbone. The wariness in his gaze.
It broke her heart. After living with Dominick—another rescue and her first smuggled child—she knew better than to cry. Adopting Dominick, and then a year later Pamela, had taught her so much. And broken her, too.
These children had been made to suffer. Knew nothing of love or kindness. Something she could change. Rather than sob and pity them for what they’d endured, she acted and showed these children not everyone was the same. Helped them realize kindness and love existed in the world.
“I’ve rented us a room,” she said, placing the apple on the seat within the boy’s reach. She had no intention of using it as blackmail to get him out of the car. He should have the apple because it was the right thing to do.
He eyed the shiny red fruit then her, suspicion causing a crease on his brow.
“I know you won’t believe me, but I don’t want to hurt you.” But she would like to maim the people who’d harmed a child. The first time they met, the boy had been in so much pain, his arm clearly broken and not cared for.
Her brother, Johan, was beside himself. “Mr. X told us to not bother setting the bone.” Mr. X being the money and brains behind the secret lab experiments.
“What kind of monster does that?” she’d hissed, dropping to her knees in front of the child, who flinched from her.
“The kind of asshole who says why bother wasting resources when the subject is only a month away from his third birthday.” Johan’s voice thickened, upset at the fact this child was supposed to be killed.
In that moment, she wanted to murder her brother. He was a part of this evil, never mind he’d saved Dominick, Pamela, and now this boy. What of all the others kept hidden away? What about the other children?
“I figured that was the case that when you called me.” She remained eyeing the boy, who stood without crying despite the lines of pain on his face. His solemn gaze met hers. Resignation in their depths. At three years old, did the boy understand what they planned for him?
“Listen to me, ST11.” Her brother knelt in front of him. “You have to go with this lady. She’s going to take you away to somewhere safe.”
“Away?” The word whispered from the child.
“Yes, far away. And you must keep me, this place, your brothers and sisters, a secret.”
The boy pressed his lips and nodded. She wanted to scream in frustration. Talk about a heavy secret for one small child to hold.
She stood and glared at Johan. “How can you stay here?”
“They’ll kill me if I leave and whoever replaces me might not care.” He went to stroke the child’s hair but stopped himself.
No affection allowed. It was a rule. One she broke the moment she gained her first two children’s trust. Now she had ST11 to convince.
“There must be a way to stop them.”
Resignation in his tone, Johan mumbled, “How do you stop something government sanctioned?”
And how to do it in a way that didn’t harm the children? They both knew this Mr. X wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate them all to cover his tracks.