The Wolf in His Arms (The Runes Trilogy) by Adrian Lilly

wasn’t uncontrollable
instinct. She flipped from the translation page to the original document and
found that, even with her faulty faculties, she was beginning to recognize some
of the runes. Before long, she would have the alphabet memorized, and the
translations would take her no time at all.
    Lucy
cut her eyes from the page she was working on to the stacks of coded pages. She
sighed. Well, almost no time, she thought.
    *           *           *           *
    Steam
billowed in the air around Alec and Jared. Jared stood in the hot spray from
the shower, eyes closed, as Alec lathered his back, adding a shoulder massage
for good measure. He felt Alec nuzzle his neck, and Jared opened his eyes and
tilted his head for a kiss.
    As
Jared turned to face him, Alec dabbed his nose with lather. “Cute,” Jared said.
He reached around and smacked Alec’s butt playfully. The wet smack was
gratifyingly loud.
    “We
have a lot of history in this shower,” Alec said between kisses. Water rolled
down his bare skin and caught where his body pressed against Jared’s.
    “Uh-huh.”
    Alec
closed his eyes as Jared’s hands explored across his back and rested on his
hips, pulling him closer. “Good history.”
    “Yep.”
Lather slid down their bodies, collecting at their feet and washing down the
drain as they pressed their bodies together. Jared brushed a clump of wet hair
away from Alec’s forehead. Alec’s gaze met his, and Alec placed his hands on
either side of Jared’s face. He held Jared back for just a moment, then leaned
in for a long, deep kiss. He clutched tighter to Jared, working their hips together
as the water beat on their skin. “No harm in using up all the hot water.”
    Jared worked
his mouth across Alec’s wet skin, across his neck, down his chest to his
nipple. Alec tossed his head back with a sound that was half moan, half giggle.
Jared’s trail of kisses descended, each sending new shockwaves of pleasure
through Alec’s body. Alec winced as his shoulders rested against the cold
tiles, but he didn’t dare disturb Jared. He worked his fingers into Jared’s
hair, his eyes closed, as he floated away.
    *           *           *           *
    As Alec
and Jared walked into the room, Lucy looked up with a mildly bemused smirk, an
expression suggesting the older sister who would always, to some extent, enjoy
tormenting her younger brother.
    “Making
any progress with those?” Jared asked as he nodded to the translations.
    Lucy
extended a paper to him. Jared took it, and Alec looked over his shoulder. “Is
this a full page, translated?”
    Lucy
nodded.
    “That
was quick, Luce,” Alec said.
    “Jared
did the hard part of decoding it.”
    “No need
for modesty on my account.” Jared sat in a chair, and Alec took the chair next
to him so they could read the page together:

 
    The Gen5 Pack
    Project leader: Dr. Albert Morlock
    Project update: Dec-13-1995
    Report to: The Society

 
    Hypothesis: Through proper gene manipulation of the Lycan
retrovirus, we can develop a stabilized variation, which mutates under
controlled measures.

 
    While The Gen3 Pack trials had mixed results, The Gen4 Pack
trials yielded great success with four fetuses carried to full term. The
genetic alteration variant used in the successful Gen4 trials has been used in
The Gen5 Pack. A sixth fetus has now been carried to full term, completing the
test subject selection. All six pack members were born within seven years of
the first insemination.
    Human parapsychological traits that Lycans have deemed
“advantageous” have been identified as a genetic marker in each of the six test
subjects.

 
    Test subjects:
    Jennifer Blackwell; Bull Mountain, Oregon; boy, 1988
    Helena Demeter; Las Vegas; girl, 1989
    Marla Kincaid; Easton, Connecticut; boy, 1987
    Georgette Michaelson; Chagrin Falls, Ohio; boy, 1987
    Ilene Rune; Detroit; boy 1992
    Mary Snug; Lime Springs, Iowa; boy, 1994