Parker's heart jumped in her chest in shock when strong arms snaked around from behind and wrapped themselves around her waist. "Daniel, you scared me into next week." She had been so intent on her task, she'd failed to notice he'd entered the room.

A shiver ran up and down her spine when Daniel loosened his grip, swept her hair off her shoulder, and trailed light kisses down the side of her neck.

"Couldn't help it. You were too tempting to resist."

She closed her eyes and tilted her head. Daniel had the ability to turn her blood to molten lava at the drop of a hat. "I was making the bed."

He nuzzled his bristly jaw in the soft spot behind her ear, then gently bit her earlobe. "Just as well I stopped you before you finished."

Her legs nearly gave way, but she forced herself to remain upright. "Why?" How she kept her voice normal was beyond her.

"You don't need to make it twice."

She let out a squeal when Daniel twisted them around, and he fell to the bed, pulling her on top of him. They landed with a soft jolt, and in an instant, he reached for her shirt to undo her buttons. The garment was disposed of in record time and his hooded eyes flamed with desire as they fell on her exposed skin. He reached up and traced the outline of her red lacy bra. "I like these, pity they can't stay."

Desire rippled through her body when he slowly slipped one of the bra straps off her shoulder. His head came up to nip at the flimsy material, and he breathed her in. It was as if she were a fine wine and he was savoring every moment.

She frowned. He had too many clothes on. Two can play at that game. She stopped the path of his hand, pushed him back down to the bed and slipped the bra strap upwards into its original position. Her frown turned into a wicked grin. "This isn't coming off until I see some skin. Yours, to be more precise."

Daniel let out a low growl. "But I was enjoying the view."

She rolled off him, rested her elbow on the bed and held her head up with the palm of her hand. Her fingers trailed down the exposed part of her breast, and she played with the delicate lace. The material was soft under her fingertips. "Why should you have all the fun? How about you get a little more... comfortable."

Daniel jumped off the bed and quickly began to strip.

"Stop." She scrambled up into a sitting position. "You're spoiling my fun. You need to do it slowly."

Daniel raised an eyebrow but said nothing. His fingers slowed, and he carefully unbuttoned his dark shirt. A little too slowly, but she had started this, so she couldn't very well complain, could she?

She was mesmerized by his strong hands and agile fingers as they pulled at the buttons and slipped them through the small holes. Her brain took on a life of its own and projected images of what those fingers were capable of doing to her. The pure unadulterated pleasure they never failed to provide. Her gaze traveled to his firm chest, and her fingers itched to reach out and touch. To explore just what she knew lay beneath the material. Her face heated up and a shot of electricity shot through to her core. This was agony. Blood hummed in her veins, and she was ready to burst.

She groaned inwardly. This was not going how she expected it to. He was supposed to be tortured. Not her. From his expression, he knew exactly what this was doing to her. In fact, the needier she got, the slower his movements became. When his shirt finally came off, she breathed out in relief. Half way there.

His fingers traveled south and rested on the top button of his jeans.

When they failed to move any further, she frowned and her eyes darted upwards. "Why did you stop?"

He grinned. "Just making sure you wanted me to carry on."

Something snapped. She couldn't take it anymore and let out a ragged breath. She was burning for him, and he hadn't even touched her yet. Her eyes bore into his, and she reached up and slipped off a bra strap. "Play time's over."

Daniel didn't need to be told twice. In a heartbeat, he had shed the rest of his clothes, and they tumbled to the bed, entwined in each other's arms. His long, liquid kiss rushed lust through every part of her body, and she let out low sultry incoherent mews.

Oh my god, this is heaven.

***

When they finally came up for air, Parker made her second attempt at making the bed. "Did you come to bed at all last night?"

When she went to bed alone the previous evening, she hadn't expected to wake up the same way.

Daniel sighed and sat down in the oversized chair. "For a couple of hours. I was on the phone with Morgan, then Hardy in San Francisco most of the night. Hardy is checking on a lead, and we are due for another call in about half an hour. Murphy and Kaitlyn will be briefing us on the situation in Silver Lake."

"Are you any further on which Alpha is behind this?"

If Daniel's clenched jaw was anything to go on, things weren't going well. "No."

Parker managed a shower and inhaled two coffees before the call with Morgan, Hardy, Murphy, and Kaitlyn was due. She and Daniel were headed towards his office when he stopped and tilted his head.

"Alice and Petra are here."

From Alice's pensive expression when they turned the corner and headed towards them, their visit this morning wasn't her idea. When Petra thrust her hands on her hips as she stood in front of Daniel with a grim expression, Parker knew something was up.

"What's your link to that bloodbath in Silver Lake?"

Parker's eyes flew open wide, and her head snapped to Alice's. How had the CDC doctor joined the dots? As far as they knew, none of the victims had survived the attack, and none showed any indication of the tell-tale signs of infection."

Alice's shoulders lifted. She was as much in the dark as any of them.

Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. His expression was devoid of any emotion. "Are you accusing me of mass murder?"

Petra thrust her hands into the pockets of her white lab coat and narrowed her eyes. "You know I'm not, so don't deliberately manipulate my words to deflect the question." She waggled a finger at him. "You know exactly what I'm asking. So far, each of the victims we've tested has come back with the additional gene. I would lay odds that the rest will too. Ever since the news broke, this entire valley has been acting stranger than usual. Which is saying something. Not to mention half the population has suddenly upped and disappeared."

"Perhaps that mystery gene you are fixated on is more common than you thought?"

Parker held her breath. Dr. Baghust didn't look convinced, which only increased her concern. Christ, this day had started out so well. I should have known it wouldn't last.

"Dr. Baghurst, at your insistence, I agreed to allow you to work with Dr. Hayes. I take exception to your accusation. Besides, weren't you supposed to be headed back home already?"

Petra's mouth compacted into a thin line and her face turned a light shade of angry red.

Parker's stomach dropped. They really couldn't afford to have the doctor dig any deeper into the situation with the massacre of Rossi's pack.

"I suggest that you get me some answers soon. It turns out that we have three more mystery cases of flesh-eating bacteria in Boston. The bodies are on their way to the CDC."

Parker gulped. What if the bodies were Werewolf? Not only that, but Boston was far too close to Philadelphia for comfort. Daniel's stoic mask dropped. He too was surprised at the revelation.

Petra tapped her foot. "If you want me to get to the bottom of this I need more information. While the dead can tell me a lot, the living can tell me more. You all know a lot more about what is causing this. Especially O'Neill. Yet, you are more than willing to keep quiet and allow others to die a horrible death."

"Nothing could be further from the truth, and you are out of line," said Daniel.

"Then why can no one tell me what sort of animal is attacking these people? O'Neill knows, but just avoids the answer every time I broach the subject."

"Murphy told you everything he can," said Daniel.

Alice shuffled from one foot to the other. Her face had turned pale. "He said it was too dark and stormy to really see clearly," she said, "and, as soon as it started to pelt down, whatever attacked him ran off."

Petra closed her eyes and breathed out. Her shoulders dropped, and she shook her head from side to side. "There's only so much I can do to keep you all out of this...whatever this is." She looked up at Daniel, then to Parker. "These secrets are the reason I haven't found answers yet. Not only that, every death is now on you. You might not have killed them, but their blood is on your hands."

Daniel ran a hand through his hair, and his face etched with pain. "Don't you think I know that?" His voice came out thick with emotion. "Every time I close my eyes, all I see is the loss."

"Then why these games?"

"Because I took an oath. And because it's the only thing that will keep you safe."

Petra patted her pockets and mumbled, "I need a damn cigarette." Not finding any, she pulled out a stick of gum and shoved it in her mouth. "Look, I've gotten as far as I can here. Maybe these three new victims will give me some more clues. That is...provided the bodies don't suddenly disappear before I can get to them. Not that you lot know anything about that."

Parker grimaced. From the doctors pointed expression, she had a fairly good idea Daniel was behind the missing corpses. Perhaps her working from Alice's infirmary hadn't been such a good idea. Thank goodness she was headed back to Atlanta. Although, she wasn't sure what Petra would think of the shadow that would be going with her. Even if Daniel hadn't ordered Joshua to stay with her, there was no doubt he would have done so anyway.

Petra snorted. "You lot will be the death of me. Between your secrets and your lies, you are making this situation worse than it needs to be." She turned to head back down the corridor but stopped. "Don't ask me why I'm doing this, but I can only involve my team in a limited capacity on this before they start getting suspicious. Alice is coming with me."

Parker wasn't sure what she was more surprised with. Dr. Baghurst's demand or Daniel's instant agreement.

"Don't look so surprised," said Daniel as they watch the two woman disappear down the corridor. "Alice was going with her whether she liked it or not. I am not leaving anything to chance. This way, the good doctor thinks she has one up on me."

The phone rang just as Parke and Daniel reached his office. Murphy and Kaitlyn were the first to join the conference call, with Hardy, Morgan, and Clara joining soon after.

"What's the update from Silver Creek?" asked Daniel once Simon finally sauntered in.

"Sorry," Simon mouthed silently and took a seat on the Chesterfield.

"We're trying to keep it as contained as we can, but we may need some help from Parker," said Murphy.

Parker leaned forward. Finally, something she could help out on. "Consider it done," she said.

"The bad news is that they've worked out there are at least fifty others missing," said Murphy.

"There's a wave of anxiety in the FBI team. They know the missing are mostly women and children," said Kaitlyn. Her voice sounded exhausted. The last conversation she had with Kaitlyn was after they had been to the crime scene. Kaitlyn had been affected by the number of children who had been slaughtered on the streets they had considered safe.

Daniel rubbed his forehead. "What do they think happened to them?" he asked.

"At this stage, they are a little stumped," Kaitlyn said. "They don't believe it's an abduction. There are too many for that, and there is nothing political about the situation. While they are hoping the missing escaped and are hiding somewhere, they are under no illusion, and are expecting a second location full of bodies."

Parker's chest tightened, and a wave of anguish overtook her. They would never know just how right they were. She hardened her resolve. She had already cried too many tears over the tragic loss of good people. They needed her to be strong and stop it from happening to anyone else.

"Rossi was smart enough to not leave anything that would indicate they were not what they appeared to be," said Murphy. "But a warrant is being sought for all of their phone records. We'll need Parker to remove any numbers we don't want on that list before they get the data."

Parker reached for her iPad. "I'll get the team right on it."

"We might need you to get at the autopsy records as well," said Murphy. "With the sheer numbers, the bureau has enlisted out of state support."

After they had caught up on the rest of the situation in Silver Lake, Daniel turned his attention to Office Nigel Hardy. "Hardy, did you manage to get in touch with your contacts in Philadelphia?"

Hardy cleared his throat. "Yes, and I don't think you're going to like what I found out. The situation in Philly has the PPD stumped. Gang violence in North Philadelphia, Fairhill, and Kensington is practically non-existent, and they are finding it hard to even find half the gang members or their leaders. Violent crime is at an all-time low in the inner city."

Parker glanced across at Daniel who had remained quiet. There was no question of who was behind this. Elise was moving in and throwing out the trash.

"What's the general feeling at the coal face?" Daniel asked Hardy.

"Instead of rejoicing, everyone is running scared. The locals pretty much barricade themselves in their houses after dark." Hardy sighed. "It looks like Elise's making sure she controls every aspect of that city. No one is willing to talk."

An uneasy feeling churned at the bottom of her stomach. "But won't the sudden change draw attention. Even someone as psychotic as Elise has to know that." She bit her bottom lip and considered the ramifications. "Perhaps the police are just counting their blessing that parts of their city are being cleaned up?"

"If only," said Hardy, "it looks like it has the opposite effect. It's got the authorities on high alert. They know something is wrong, just not what. It's a powder keg just waiting to blow."

Morgan let out a long breath. "It's now just a matter of time before our existence is discovered," he said.

"We can't let that happen," said Clara, "but what can we do?"

Daniel thrummed his fingers on his desk considering the options. "We need to take the fight to her."

Simon shot forward on the couch and scratched the back of his neck. "That's a suicide mission. Firstly, we don't' have the manpower. And secondly, even if we did we have her Lycan's to contend with."

"I agree," said Murphy, "Right now, that's not an option. We are going to need all the packs to take her on."

"That's why we need to find who the traitor is," said Daniel. "It's going to take the entire Alliance to take her out."

"How do you suggest we do that, considering we've broken all contact with the other Alpha's?" asked Morgan.

"It's simple. We need to flush him, or her, out."

Parker's gaze was fixed on Daniel. The hint of a smile behind his stern exterior a sure sign he had a plan. The silence drew out, and Parker was ready to burst waiting for him to shed light on how they were going to find the Alpha behind this.

Simon, however, had even less endurance. "For pity's sake man, out with it."

❧ ⚛ ✺ ≋ ≋ ≋ ≋ ≋ ✺ ⚛ ❧

📎A/N.  Eeek!!! What's Daniel's idea??? Any guesses??

I NEED YOUR HELP!

Masked will be published and available to purchase in both ebook and paperback on the 31st of October.  The published version is a little different than the one on Wattpad and a lot more polished. 

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