Shifters Vignettes: Rose and Mason Read online

  Shifters Vignettes Rose and Mason

  A Louisiana Shifters Book

  Vivian Wright

  Contents

  Author’s Copyright

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  Louisiana Shifters Series

  1. Chapter One

  2. Chapter Two

  3. Chapter Three

  4. Chapter Four

  5. Chapter Five

  6. Chapter Six

  7. Chapter Seven

  8. Chapter Eight

  9. Chapter Nine

  10. Chapter Ten

  11. Chapter Eleven

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  About Vivian Wood

  Copyright Vivian Veritas Publishing 2014

  May not be replicated or reproduced in any manner without express and written permission from the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to author and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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  Louisiana Shifters Series

  Shifter’s Ascent

  Shifter’s Legacy

  Shifters Vignettes: Maddie and Jasper

  Shifters Vignettes: Rose and Mason

  Shifters Vignettes: Ian and Jeanne

  Shifters Vignettes: Emma and Connall

  Louisiana Shifters Super Collection

  1

  Chapter One

  4:54.

  4:55.

  4:56.

  When the white numbers on her antique alarm clock finally slid to show 4:59, Rose Prentiss sighed and flung off the oh-so-lovely embrace of her down comforter. She sat up, flipping the light switch beside her bed and turning off the alarm. It wasn’t set to go off for another hour, but Rose knew she couldn’t sleep another moment. As it was, she’d already been watching the minutes tick by on her alarm clock for what felt like a lifetime.

  Rose got out of bed, pulling her long, light blonde hair up into a ponytail. She felt strange, knowing that today was the day that everything would change. She padded barefoot over to the tall oval mirror in her bedroom, one of the few things left in her apartment. Examining herself in the mirror, she smoothed her hands over her second-favorite pair of pajama pants, over her second-favorite tank top, and over her messy mane of hair.

  Her favorite pajamas had been packed up and stuffed in a large duffel bag, which in turn had been stowed in the trunk of a car she’d rented under a fake name. She couldn’t afford any mistakes today, and she’d planned accordingly. How shocked her coworkers and supervisors would be to find that the timid little mouse among them had ruined all their plans.

  By this time tomorrow horrible Mr. Piccardly, Rose’s ill-tempered lab administrator, would be having an absolute fit. More likely, he’d be in an immense amount of trouble for not noticing what would undoubtedly and retrospectively be deemed Rose’s strange behavior of the past couple of weeks. Still, she had to get ready just like she would any other day. Absolutely nothing could look suspicious, or she’d never succeed.

  Rose smiled as she showered, closing her eyes and trying to relax under the steaming shower spray. She tried not to be nervous, but today was going to be really insane.

  After all, it wasn’t every day that you rescued a vampire and a werewolf from your evil laboratory and then disappeared. Rose had to laugh at that; it sounded incredibly crazy when she just laid it out like she were explaining it to a new acquaintance.

  Well, you see, I’m a doctor working in a highly experimental lab that captures and contains creatures that I used to think were just stories. But no, they’re real. And the company that I work for supposedly wants to find them all and cure them, but I’m pretty sure they’re lying about that last part. Oh, and I did I mention that they’ve ordered me to kill my own patients today?

  A bit of hysterical laughter escaped her before she could clamp her lips shut over it. For all she knew, the Umbrella Corporation had her whole house wired with microphones. Rose had done a little investigating on the subject of her mysterious employer, and the results had been entirely too illuminating for her comfort. After all the crazy stuff she’d dug up in the last week, finding out that routinely bugged their employees’ homes was the very least of her concerns.

  By the time Rose was dressed in a pair of linen slacks and a lilac-toned boatneck tunic, she’d gotten herself completely under control. She went through the motions of her usual morning routine; one packet of instant oatmeal microwaved with one teaspoon of honey plus a small glass of milk, then a quick check to make sure all the doors and windows were locked up before she left for the morning.

  The house felt strange, so bare. In the last two weeks, she’d snuck out all her favorite clothes and any baubles she’d felt she couldn’t part with. There would be no chance to return for anything else, not after what she was about to do today. Rose knew without a doubt that the day she went missing was the day the Umbrella Corporation would rip her house to shreds looking for answers.

  She’d seen it done to others over the past two years of her employment, but she’d never thought much of it. Funny how part of all the scientists’ salaries was a nice ranch house that technically belonged to Umbrella Corporation, only leased to the tenant. Also funny how each scientist that left the program supposedly released some kind of virus or contagion, giving UC a reason to swoop down and “examine” their property.

  Rose walked out the front door of her tidy little house in her tidy little planned community, making sure to wave at her next door neighbor Dr. Buttner as she got in her car. Brad Buttner absolutely loathed Rose because she’d turned him down for a date one too many times, and she knew he’d be ecstatic to have something to gossip about with Mr. Piccardly tomorrow.

  “She waved at me, like it was just another day,” Dr. Buttner would say. “I always knew she was untrustworthy.”

  Rose rolled her eyes as she walked the short distance to her lab building. Her phone chimed as she walked, popping up a message from Dr. Reszen that said, “Everything good2go on today’s project??”

  Rose grimaced internally as she thought about the “project” she was supposed to complete. Two weeks ago Mr. Piccardly had pulled her into his office and made a big announcement: it was time to run the beta test of the so-called supernatural antidote that Rose’s team had concocted. Mr. Piccardly informed the whole team of their imminent promotions in salary and title, proclaiming their two years of hard work a success.

  The only problem was that the antidote wasn’t a success. Not yet, anyway. They’d done nothing so far but maim and kill hundreds of lab rats by dosing them with the serum in different ways. So far not a single biopsy of their furry patients had showed the kind of genetic and molecular changes they needed to see in order to call the antidote successful.

  “Morning, Dr. Prentiss!” The cheerful voice startled her out of her thoughts. Rose looked up to realize she was standing in front of the lab building, staring vacantly while several security personnel gave her curious looks.

  “Ah! Uh, I think I just had a breakthrough on m
y project!” Rose bluffed, pretending embarrassment at her momentary lapse.

  “Well, somebody’s gotta be a genius around here, am I right?” the short-haired brunette security guard chirped. “Now if you don’t mind, you know the routine.”

  Rose came forward through the metal detector and stopped on two big footprints, spreading her legs and arms for a brief pat-down.

  “Right, there you are! Good to go,” said the woman, waving Rose through.

  Rose gave her a weak smile and pretended to go back to her brainstorm or daydream or whatever the guard thought Rose was doing. She entered the main lobby of the lab, a plain white room that led to a bank of elevators. Rose passed by the elevators and headed for the stairs, as she did every day. Taking the stairs every day had actually given her the idea that someone could escape the lab, and eventually that idea had blossomed into her current plan.

  Taking the gray concrete stairs two at a time, Rose quickly reached the fourth floor landing. She pressed her palm against the fingerprint scanner next to the entrance, letting out a little woosh of breath when it chimed, “Welcome, Dr. Pretiss.”

  She didn’t usually come into work this early, but she didn’t think it was particularly suspicious. Doctors were in and out at all hours, checking on patients and experiments that were time-sensitive.

  She must be the first one in today, though. As she entered, the overhead lights flickered on from her spot and spread outward to the rest of the large room. The area was lined with various refrigerators and freezers, plus many storage bays for equipment and supplies. Desks and lab stations were scattered throughout the room, dotted occasionally by printer stations and water coolers. Everything was white, black, gray, or chrome. Perhaps, Rose thought, to remind everyone that serious business was done here.

  But not murder, if she could help it.

  Rose should have headed straight for her desk, but since she was alone she allowed herself to be pulled toward the back of the room. Scanning her prints again, she opened the door that led to the containment cells. Biting her lip, she paused. It anyone asked why she’d been back here alone, which no one would, she could just say she wanted to check on her patients. It was the truth, after all. Just not the whole truth.

  Slipping inside the hallway, she pulled the door closed behind her with a soft click. She ran her hands over her hair and smoothed out her shirt and pants, suddenly nervous. Silly, she knew. What did two supernatural creatures care about her appearance? What did she care for their opinion, anyway? One of the two men openly despised her, and the other seemed more amused by her than anything else.

  Admonishing herself, she walked down the hallway until she came to the two cell doors. Each was a massive titanium number, built in such a way that in order to take it down without proper clearances one would have to take out a whole wall of titanium armoring. The doors were fashioned like grates, with many fine gaps that allowed a reasonable amount of sight and speech to pass through the door while still keeping the occupant confined.

  Rose started to say, “Good morning”, but stopped herself in time. She should be showing her emotional distance from her subjects in case someone might be listening. So instead she merely activated the lights in the two cells and stood between the two grated doors.

  “Ah, Dr. Prentiss,” came a silky voice from the right cell. “Come to torture us some more? Or will it just be the usual needle sticks and withholding of food?”

  The vampire emphasized the last word, drawing it out like an indecent proposal. His tone completely belied the fact that the “food” he mentioned was a living, breathing human being. She’d put him on a diet of animal blood, but it didn’t seem to satisfy his cravings in the least. If she were honest with herself, the animal blood was barely keeping the vampire alive… if you could call a vampire that, she mused.

  Rose stepped forward and looked in on Ian, narrowing her eyes. Even in his weakened state, he was certainly a sight to behold.

  A smoothly-waved head of dark hair and the most incredibly piercing blue eyes, all atop a tall, sleekly cut frame that would make most women faint with desire. He was slender and stoic, and definitely knew precisely how he affected the opposite sex.

  Good thing Rose didn’t have much of an interest in cold-blooded, ice-hearted vampires. If Rose had to guess, Ian had never even conceived of being turned down for anything… blood donation or even more intimate things. Yes, it was definitely good that the man held zero interest for her. His friend, however…

  “Just checking in,” Rose said, trying to be casual as she looked over into the left cell. Before she even slid her gaze all the way over she could feel heat suffusing her cheeks, flowing warmly out to her fingers and even her toes. Her heart picked up the second she saw the occupant, her green eyes instantly finding his molten brown ones.

  Just like every other time, a soft electric fission skittered from her tailbone all the way up her spine. It was like she’d been caressed by a bolt of lightning. Every hair on her neck and arms stood on end, waiting. Waiting for what, though?

  For the wolf, of course.

  Sandy brown hair flecked with a bit of silver-blond, his cheeks covered in several days’ growth, and built like Adonis himself. Tall, leanly muscular, and those broad shoulders… it could only be Mason. Her werewolf.

  Clearing her throat, she blinked. THE werewolf. A werewolf. Not HER werewolf.

  “Good morning,” Rose said quietly, blushing at her own thoughts. Mason just grunted in response, which was normal. She’d probably only got a hundred words out of him altogether, and even those had been painstakingly wheedled out of him. Too bad, because he had a wonderfully deep voice. It made the current running over her skin even stronger, like she could feel every little vibration of what he uttered.

  On second thought, maybe it was a super good thing that he hardly ever spoke. His standoffishness was a huge deterrent against ladies flinging themselves bodily against him, Rose assumed. It worked on her, at least.

  Mason didn’t flinch from her quick inspection of his physique. Rather than turn away and head for the corner of his cell like he usually did, the werewolf pushed off the wall and sauntered straight toward her, making Rose’s heart rate pick up suddenly.

  His hulking 6’4 frame came right up to the grated door and he leaned his arms against the top of the cell’s doorway as he looked Rose over. Rose tried not to stare at his incredible arms, easily visible since he wore just cotton pants and a simple white t-shirt. His arms were luscious, though. Heavily muscled but not bodybuilder-freakish, and he had those veins that stood out when he moved…

  Mason inhaled deeply, baring his teeth a little as he slowly released the breath. It was an obvious play, pure intimidation on his part. No matter, though. Rose stepped back as quickly as if the man had swung a fist at her. He’d never approached her like this before, but today she couldn’t investigate. Everything had to seem as normal as possible.

  “Um, yes. I have a lot of work to do. Today, I mean.” Rose tried to keep her expression as blank as possible. She didn’t need Mason or Ian knowing her plans quite yet, lest they somehow give it away. Besides, she was a little embarrassed by her reaction to Mason. Ian was gorgeous too, but for her there was no comparison. Mason was just a big, skulking caveman. Not what Rose usually went for, but…

  “Don’t let us keep you from it, docteur,” Ian said, rapping his knuckles on the door of his cell. Rose jumped, visibly startled. Her face flamed brightly, although the moment before she could have sworn every drop of blood was already in her cheeks. Rose ran a hand of her hair, backing away from the two cell doors.

  “Er, no. Right. I’ll be checking in on you both later in the day, as per usual,” Rose stammered, ripping her gaze from Mason.

  Mason grunted, pushing away from the door and standing up straight. At his full height, he was actually quite frightening.

  Rose had to control her instinct to run back down the hallway. How could someone so terrifying be so attractive? It probably di
dn’t bear thinking on, she decided.

  She really needed to get over this weird crush. In a few hours she’d release the two men from their cages and make a break for it. After they got outside, all bets were off. In her planning she’d decided that the pair would most likely vanish into the woods, after which Rose would never see them again. Thus, any emotional attachment was just a setup for heartache. She was the bad guy here, sort of. She’d do well to remember that.

  She left the hallway, content to appear deep in thought as she returned to the main office area.

  Sitting down at her neatly ordered desk, Rose shuffled mindlessly through some paperwork for a few minutes. The main door buzzed, and Rose looked up to see another woman entering the area. Rose’s breath stuck in her chest, the blood drained from her face. Dr. Hafsteader was the last person in the world she wanted to see right now, probably the person most likely to spoil her whole plan.

  “Counselor Hafsteader,” Rose said, rising from her seat and giving the older woman a polite bow of sorts. Dr. Hafsteader’s eyes narrowed for a moment, two blue laser points against the parchment of her skin and the steely gray of her hair. Dressed in a conservative tan suit, the Counselor pursed her lips as she approached.

  “Dr. Prentiss. I am surprised to see you here so early,” Hafsteader said.

  “Me too,” Rose said, trying to make a joke. Hafsteader only frowned, seeming perplexed.

  “It’s just as well. I wanted to catch a quick session with you before you start your work today. It’s a big day for you, isn’t it?”

  “Oh, um. Yes. The big day,” Rose said, gesturing for the Counselor to pull up a chair and returning to her seat. Rose was certain that her heartbeat was loud enough for the other woman to hear. Taking a breath, she steeled herself. Rose couldn’t afford to show fear in front of Counselor Hafsteader, who had clearly been sent to make sure Rose was up to the task of “debugging” her subjects.