Henri - 28

 

Just as Taegan leaped to avoid the taser darts, another wolf attacked Xavier's assistant. The man fought back. Using his size and strength to his advantage, he caught the wolf's foreleg while avoiding its snapping jaws and cast the wolf aside as if it was a rag doll.

 

That gave Taegan a chance to regroup. He sprang, his jaws fastening on the man's shoulder from behind, his weight forcing the man to his knees. By then, the other wolf was back. It raked its claws down the man's side, tearing through clothes and flesh. The man shouted in pain but still managed to get to his knees, trying to shake Taegan off. That was all the other wolf needed. With one more swipe of its claws, it tore out the man's throat.

 

Taegan instantly turned to check on Henri. ::Is he dead?:: he asked, seeing Henri standing over Xavier.

 

::Dead and in Hell, I'll warrant. How are you doing?::

 

::This bastard is dead, thanks to our friend here.:: Taegan nodded toward the wolf standing beside him.

 

::Who…?:: Henri didn't get to finish his question as a loud howl of triumph filled the room.

 

Taegan looked toward the cages and gave the wolfish equivalent of grin. The last of Xavier's men had crawled into one of the empty cages and pulled the door closed behind him. Its former occupant, Taegan presumed, stood in front of the door. The wolf howled again, just before shifting. His companion shifted as well then Taegan and the others did the same—with the exception of Ransom, who was lying comatose on the floor.

 

Allyn hurried over to him, pulling the dart from his flank. "Next time, try to avoid being shot if you can," he muttered. "You missed all the fun."

 

Miranda, being female, eyed the two new men with interest, since they were totally naked, unlike the others. "Don't know how to come back dressed, I take it. Not that I mind. You're a pretty sexy set of male pulchritude."

 

The smaller, younger one dropped his gaze in embarrassment, while covering his groin with his hands. The other man shrugged, glancing at Miranda's left hand. "A married woman shouldn't be gaping at naked men."

 

"You have to be kidding."

 

"No, ma'am."

 

Before things could escalate between them, Taegan suggested that Henri should see if there were any lab coats in the other room. While they waited, Taegan asked the older man, "Why did you attack them, not us? Seems to me you'd be under Xavier's control."

 

The man snorted angrily. "That's what the bastard thought. Jimmy and I were just waiting for him to slip up, so we could take him out."

 

Henri returned, handing each man a lab coat. "Believe me, I can understand that. What's your name? And do you know who the wolf in the cage is?"

 

"Me? I'm Calvin. No clue about him." He thumbed toward the tranquilized wolf. "He was never awake enough to shift and talk."

 

"How long have you two been able to shift?" Taegan asked.

 

"About what? A week?" Calvin said, looking at Jimmy.

 

"Yeah," Jimmy replied. "Whatever he was injecting us with finally took hold. But—" he looked at the others, "—maybe it's not as great as he thought because he had to do it once a day, even after our first shift. The next day he didn't, and we couldn't change."

 

Allyn nodded, looking pleased. "Sounds like you're right, if that's the case."

 

"Do you think it means we won't be able to, now?" Calvin asked.

 

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Miranda said, striding into the lab.

 

Henri was right behind her. "Check the fridge. I'll deal with the cabinets. I want every damned thing in here destroyed. Everything!"

 

Taegan came in as well. Between the three of them, they collected everything, putting full vials and bottles into a large plastic bin Allyn found in a storage room. The rest of it went into a pair of heavy duty trash bags.

 

"He has to have notebooks somewhere, detailing his experiments," Henri said, going to the desk at the end of the lab. Every drawer was locked. Muttering, "Keys", he went back to Xavier's body to dig through his pockets. Once he found them, he asked Allyn, "How's Ransom doing?"

 

"He moved," Allyn told him, running his hand over the gray fur on Ransom's side, "so I think he's coming out of it. I can't say the same for the guy in the cage."

 

"The stuff the bastard used on him would knock out an elephant, I think," Calvin said.

 

Henri nodded. "Then he upped the dosage. I guess he learned his lesson from me."