Marie Harte - Hale

Hale didn't like the building tension among them, but he didn't know what to do to stop it. Paige had no ideas, and Hale didn't want to distract Doc with his minor worries—compared to developing a cure to save rogue Circs. He didn't want to ask the guys, afraid Robbie might think he sided with them. Nor did he want to discuss his team with Robbie, afraid of alienating men he considered his brothers.

He was caught in the middle with no seeming way out.

Derrick joined Hale in their makeshift gym. “Yo, playboy. We set for that meeting with the G-man?” The G-man. General Mike Shields, Robbie's friend and boss.

Hale set down the dumbbells he'd been lifting and took a swallow of water.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he nodded. “Roane has already met and discussed a few things with him, but meeting anywhere is a risk. You know the PPA monitors us here.”

“Yeah.” Derrick shoved several plates of iron onto a bar. “You know what gets me the most? That Diego was working for our own government all this time. Hell. He acted like he was tight with Doc, you know? He sat with us, laughed with us. And the whole time, he was scheming.” Derrick slapped another weight on the bar. “If I was Doc, I'd want his balls for breakfast.”

“Bloodthirsty, D. Must be why Sabrina tolerates you. God knows, it's not because of your charm.”

Derrick grinned at him, told him to kiss off, and began bench-pressing over three hundred pounds with ease.

Hale sat and took another drink of water. He'd wondered about Diego as well after Robbie had shared information about him with the squad. It almost made it worse to think of Diego as a good guy. He played for the right team, and he'd still crushed Doc. Why all the subterfuge? Why couldn't he confide in the man he supposedly loved?

His perfidy made Hale twitchy. What if Robbie was doing the same thing? Hale trusted that his mate—it still surprised him to consider Robbie in those terms—meant none of them harm. But what if Robbie had an agenda none of them knew about? So far, General Shields corroborated Robbie's and Paige's accounting of how things were at the labs. They'd been building a solid case against everyone involved in the new Project Dawn for years, and now that they'd found new evidence, courtesy of Dr.

Eckles, a Circ named Hawkins, and Robbie, they were ready to go forward. To take down the labs.

Still, Hale's beast sensed something was not quite right. And his unease had to do with Robbie, not Paige.

“How's your girl doing?” Derrick grunted and set down the bar with a resounding clang . “Sabrina really likes her.”

“That's a first.”

Derrick slugged him in the arm.

He scowled. “What the hell?”

“You starting in on my mate?” D grinned. “Come on, you know 'mean' can be a turn-on.”

“You're just saying that because you can be a real dick.”

“True enough.” Derrick paused a moment, looked around, then motioned for Hale to move closer. He said in a low voice, “Playboy, something's wrong with your man.”

“Beyond the obvious?”

“Shut up and listen, smart-ass. McKinley, Robbie, whatever the fuck you call him.

It's like he's afraid of Caitlyn. I heard Roane and her talking about it with Doc. They think McKinley may know something he's not telling us, something Caitlyn would know from her years spent being treated by Elliot Pearl.” Hale scowled. “Why haven't they said anything to me about it?” At Derrick's stare, he flushed. “Oh, right. Because I'm screwing the suspect.”

“Keep it quiet, playboy. I'm just giving you a heads-up. They didn't say anything to me, Sabrina, or the threesome, either.” The “threesome,” what the rest of them had begun calling Ace, Zack, and Kelly.

“Okay. Thanks.” He went back to his free weights, and after another set, he stopped. “So what do you think of him?”

“Of McKinley?”

Hale nodded.

“He's big. He has eyes that seem to look right through you.” Derrick turned on his bench to look Hale in the face. “He kicked my ass that day at the labs. Annoying but impressive. From what Sabrina says, she really thinks he helped her save Kelly. He could have hurt us bad a few months ago, but he didn't.” He'd also been right about flushing Sabrina's system with Derrick's blood. By mixing their Circ cells, Doc had somehow stabilized Sabrina. She no longer had to worry about turning murderous or into a mutant, thanks to the control drug she'd once unknowingly ingested.

“You could do worse.”

Hale acknowledged Derrick's approval with a smirk. “I have. I did you.”

“Dick.” Derrick stood and shoved Hale off his bench.

Angling for a skirmish that didn't involve choosing sides or harming his mates' psyches, Hale threw himself into the brawl.

They made use of the blue mats in the center of the gym, where they did most of their training. They started in human form, fists and feet flying. Gradually they changed , their claws and quickened reflexes providing a real challenge. Just as Hale was about to defeat Derrick for the first time ever, his friend sank to the mat, his head in his hands.

Derrick groaned and rolled onto his back.

“What the hell?” Hale waited for Derrick to get up and slam into him but grew concerned when he realized this was no ploy. He turned to run for help when he caught sight of glowing eyes in the shadows. “ Dammit . Robbie, ease up. We were sparring.” Robbie strode forward. He glanced from Hale to Derrick and back again. “Oh. My bad.” He narrowed his stare at Derrick, who sighed with relief.

“Shit. That hurt.” Derrick glared up at Robbie and said to Hale, “Put a leash on your guard dog, playboy. Because psychic or not, I'm seriously going to kick his ass the next time he tries fucking with my head.”

Derrick refused Robbie's hand and stood on shaky legs. He mumbled under his breath as he left, changing back into his human form as he went.

Hale turned and changed back too. “Well? Want to explain that one, guard dog ?” McKinley flushed. “I, ah. I'm sorry. I reacted to a perceived threat.” Hell, his cheeks felt on fire. He hadn't planned on screwing up yet again. For the first time since arriving at the compound, he hadn't offended anyone or caused undue harm yet today.

He'd intended a harmless session with some weights to relieve stress. Paige was spending time with Doc, and the others were playing cards in the main house. He'd needed a break.

Then he'd seen a larger, stronger male attacking his mate. He hadn't thought about it. He'd simply reacted.

“It's okay.” Hale sighed. “You know, as much as it goes against the grain to have one of these estrogen moments, I think we need to talk.” McKinley grinned. Hale had a decent sense of humor. Around his mate, McKinley either found himself laughing or growing uncomfortably hard. “Lay it on me.” He took a seat on a nearby weight bench and waited.

Hale raised his arm to run a hand through his hair, distracting him. Damn, the Circ had muscles. Though leaner than McKinley, Hale clearly possessed the strength of a warrior in his normal form. His biceps bulged, his chest heaved as he sighed again, and the sweat beading on his naked chest had McKinley wondering how he'd taste. Too bad he still wore shorts.

“I want to know how you became a Circ.”

“What?” He focused on Hale's tight abs, trailing his gaze farther down, centering on the fabric molding to his thick cock.

“Hey, Robbie, my eyes are up here, bud.” Hale chuckled. “You know, that would sound much better if I was a chick with huge breasts. You know, like Paige.” They both grinned, before Hale grew serious once more. “Tell me how you became a Circ.”