Silent Embrace Book 3
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Hayley Cyrus
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Crackdown
SEASON 3
Produced by: Bethany Sharp
Written by: Cecilia Gigliotti & Ellis Stump
Sound by: Meaghan Bardwell
DELANEY
It was time for a crackdown.
Or, rather, it had been time. For two months.
But some of the features of Delaneyâs plan were just being implemented now.
Oh well, he mused, pacing his cocoon of a control room as he always did. Better late than never.
That was all he seemed to do these days. Pace. Mutter to himself. Pore over every last detail of this damned plan.
And it didnât even match the level of detail he normally adopted in planning things. In fact, as plans went, it was a rather hasty one.
He and his fellow producers had had to scramble to establish a new sense of order after the human womenâs video plea, which resulted in a PR nightmare that Delaney was still cleaning up.
Not to mention after Delaney himself had toâŚdispose of the Alpha.
âHadâ was the wrong word. Made it sound like Milo had forced his hand. It had become a necessity, and any blood spilled was a waste.
But still, Delaney had enjoyed it. The look on that pathetic dogâs faceâŚ
But the Shannon baby thing had truly been a debacle.
In so many words, Shannon had dismantled the exchange system and managed to turn the entire viewership against its own head producer.
He settled into a swivel chair, drumming his fingers on the sound panel.
What ingratitude.
What mutiny.
After all he and the production team had done for them.
Everyone, human and shifter, was accounted for. Everyone was safely ensconced in their own roomsâtheir own private building, for Godâs sake.
No one was being chased through a forested arena any longer.
And it wasnât as though the offspring had ever been mistreated once they were taken.
Quite the opposite: they were placed into extraordinary care so they could grow into the strongest killing machines possible.
Meanwhile, what did the producers request in return?
Only a modicum of surveillance and a say in how the children of Lazarus would grow up. Hardly anything unreasonable.
And their precious Killian was now Alpha. Won the election by a landslide.
What more did Shannon want?
Delaney would have had her head, too, if heâd had the chance.
But the more rational part of him knew that that wouldnât be possible.
Even if he got the opportunity to kill her, it would only make her a martyr.
Which, apparently, Milo had become after his unfortunate expiration.
A martyr for âLazarus Liberation,â or so this rebellious front was being called.
Well, with a name like that, it certainly didnât need any more martyrs.
Delaney slipped a headset around his neck and switched on the microphone.
âPaging Derek.â
A second of silence. Then a crackle.
A weary voice.
âYes, sir.â
âHow are the reinforcements looking?â
âJust fine, sir.â
âHow many have you collected there, by the way?â
The voice stalled, betraying a brain lost in counting. Delaney waved his hand.
âYou know what, donât answer that. Whatever youâve got, double it.â
A pause.
âDouble?â
âWe canât be too careful at this point. The last thing we need are any more of these humansâor shifters, for that matterâgetting another smart idea.â
âSir, I donât think we have the resources toââ
âOh, and before I forget, you are using the most extensive screening and background checks?â
âWe are, sir.â
The voice had an edge to it now.
âGood. Not that I expected anything less, of course. You know what youâre doing.â
Donât they?
âThatâs actually why it will be so difficult to double our ranksâthe selection process is time-consumingââ
âWell, then, work faster.â Delaneyâs tone teetered on the fine line between passive-aggressive and a snarl. âCut down on time. We donât have any more of it.â
A pause.
âDo you not respond to orders, guard? Is that how you operate now?â
âNo, sir.â
Two curt, staticky blasts.
âWell, then. Get your ass back to work. I want double your current number of troops compound-ready in forty-eight hours.â
Delaney switched off the headset before the voice had a chance to reply.
Come to think of it, he didnât remember appointing Derek himself. He seemed to make a decent enough head guard.
Or at least wise enough to know Delaney controlled Rowanâs safety and could pull it away at any moment.
Heâd have to keep an eye on the guy.
As if he didnât have enough people to keep an eye on these days.
If you couldnât rely on the people you employed on the basis of trustworthiness, who the hell could you rely on?
LEO
âShh, shhâŚâ
Baby Milo fussed in Leoâs arms.
âItâs all right, Momma will be here soonâŚâ
Leo rocked him, but Milo wasnât responding favorably.
âHushâŚrockâŚuhâŚâ
From what Leo had heard, there used to be practically an overabundance of lullabies. Songs to put kids to sleep.
Most of those songs were lost now.
He was no singer, and even if he were, he couldnât think up anything for the life of him.
Milo was crying. Again. For the third time in the past hour.
Leo held him gingerly against his shoulder, bouncing and moving as steadily as he could. Shannon was out on Council business.
She had taken to motherhood quickly; she had recovered quickly, too.
Once that was out of the way, she had been anxious to show her comrades in arms that she was no down-and-out breeder.
That she was ready to come back with ten times the strength to throw behind Lazarus Liberation.
Unfortunately, Leo was pretty sure he wasnât nearly as gifted at the parenting thing.
He was trying, of course he was trying, but Shannonâs services were needed just as badly on the home front.
For starters, Leo could never quite tell why the baby was crying.
Like now, for instance: he didnât need changing, heâd been fed an hour ago, and he had slept pretty soundly.
The thought crossed Leoâs mind to take him out for a stroll along the corridor when the key turned in the lock.
Oh, thank goodness.
âHi,â he said with obvious relief as Shannon stepped in.
Her brown hair had grown out a little, and she was as beautiful as ever. She tugged at the high neckline of her sweater.
âGosh, Leo, itâs warm in here.â
âYeah, Iâ I think we both were feeling a little cold.â He patted Miloâs back; the child had stopped wriggling so much and was beginning to quiet.
Even her just walking in puts things at ease.
âYou donât have to overkill it on the thermostat,â she murmured but she was already gesturing for Leo to hand him over, which he did gladly.
âShh, shh, baby Milo,â she cooed, and twirled him around slowly, using her hips to propel the two of them in a concentric circle.
Not totally unlike what Leo had done, but much more effective.
âI donât want him to freeze,â whispered Leo.
âHe wonât, he wonât.â
Her volume was so low she was essentially just mouthing, but her gesticulations were emphatic enough that Leo hopped over to the thermostat and nudged it down a couple degrees.
âDone.â He looked at her, looking for her approval.
Over the babyâs shoulder, she gave a thumbs-up.
âSoââ he settled on the bed, keeping his volume lowâ âhow was the meeting?â
âNot an official meeting. More of a discussion. About the message.â
âAgain?â
She came over to sit beside him, and they both heard the crack of her shin on the wooden leg of the crib.
âAh, fââ Her lips formed a curse, but she was an expert at reeling herself in. Leo helped her sit beside him.
âThis room is too damn small to raise a child in,â she whispered.
He wrapped his right arm around her shoulders. âAt least we have a child to raise,â he replied without hesitation.
She glanced at him, looking exhausted and briefly exasperated, before giving in to a sweet, soft smile and pecking him on the lips.
âYeah. Youâre right.â
BLYTHE
For nearly two weeks now, Blythe had been feeling sick.
Here it was, mid-morning on her day off, and she had yet to get out of bed. When she sat up, she was overtaken by one hell of a headache.
It wasnât unheard of for shifters to get the flu. They werenât immortal, after all. But Killian had never known a shifter to stay sick for this long.
He initially wanted to stay in from his Council meeting this morning, but Blythe insisted that he go. His duties as Alpha shouldnât wait, sheâd insisted.
So Blythe was left to her own devices for the morning, sitting up in bed with the company of her own thoughts.
We hear you. We stand with you. We are coming to set you free.
What did that mean? Who had sent it? And when exactly were they talking about?
Well, it was someone on their side, of course. Someone on the inside, in factâwho presumably had the means to rescue them.
Annie was the one who had relayed the message. Does that mean sheâs involved now? Does that mean she stands with us?
That was Blytheâs growing conviction. But it scared her.
There was a real possibility of all this coming to fruition.
Freedom. And more carnage along with it.
Anyway, that was enough to make any liberation-minded Lazarus dweller a nervous-slash-overexcited wreck.
Is this sickness stress-related? Blythe thought to herself.
There were certainly more stressors around than usual.
Maybe it was an aftereffect of the turning process.
That had certainly been a nerve-racking environment, when Killian had turned Blythe.
It had been for the best, and they both knew it.
She was now a tiger. But she hadnât expected it to come with so much physical discomfort, especially weeks after the fact.
But all she could do was try to ride it out. There wasnât much medication in Lazarus these days.
Still sitting up, she was just beginning to drift off againâŚ
Creak.
âHey, sleepyhead.â
Killian stood in the doorway.
âOh.â She lifted her headânope, that hurt like hell. And made her dizzy. She dropped it back against the headboard. âOhâŚow.â
âHow are you feeling? Any better?â
âIâve got the worst headache.â
Killian came and sat at the foot of the bed but on her side.
âHow was the meeting?â she asked.
âWasnât a meeting. But no one knows what the hell to do anyway, so I guess it was the best we could manage.â
His hand found hers.
âIs that all? A headache?â
âNo, Iâveââshe gestured with her free handââIâve been so tired and thirsty, and I still havenât been able to keep any food down since yesterdayâŚâ
She heard an intake of breath. Very slight, but she noticed.
âKillian?â
His hand pulled away.
âBlythe, before I turned you, weâŚâ
âWhat?â
She lifted her head. Okay, she could lift her head. That was it.
âWeâŚhad sex not long before that, right?â
Her eyes darted away from him and then back.
âRight.â
âDo you thinkâŚâ
They stared at each other. The result of turning a human woman was sterilization 100% of the time, but what ifâŚbefore she was turnedâŚ
ââŚyou might be pregnant?â
