THE COMPUTER DATA stares at me and I stare back. It’s a pointless contest. The computer wins.Shaking my head, I roll my chair across the lab to my microscope, but no, nothing’s changed there either. “That can’t be right,” I mutter and rub my eyes. I’ve been peering through the microscope or at a screen all day, seven days a week since starting this job. Maybe I’m starting to hallucinate. “Something wrong?”I gasp and whirl, hand to my chest. “Dr. Johnson, you startled me.”The man at the door inclines his white blond head but doesn’t apologize.“Nothing’s wrong. Just talking to myself. I do that sometimes. Um.” I clear my throat. “I finished with the preliminary tests with the cells the Alpha team rushed over. There have been some rather spectacular results.” My boss walks in like he owns the

BECCA’S frightened breathing haunts me as I propel her in front of me, one hand caging her wrists. After standing up to me to make an impassioned speech, I half expect her to try to make a run for it. But she keeps her head down and does what I order. Maybe she’s in shock. Or biding her time. She’s obviously smart.Dr. Becca Smith. Becca. Her name jingles through my head like a melody. She smells sweet, like jasmine. Apparently it’s been too long since I’ve hooked up with a female, because my wolf went nuts when I grabbed her, flooding my mind with images of dragging her down to her hands and knees and taking her hard from behind.Christ. I’m losing control. I can’t let the moon madness take me again. I can’t. If I want to shut this operation down, I need to maintain my humanity. I can’t let the darkness take over.I hustle her down the hall, swiping