Free The Recruit (Book Three) by Elizabeth Kelly

Lycans. In fact,
it’s my understanding that my job here is on the chopping block and
you’re the one holding the axe.”
    “It is my job
to ensure that the facility runs smoothly and I will be keeping a
close eye on each of the instructors, Will. Richard was the head of
this facility for a very long time and we are well aware of how
close you two were. He considered you a very good friend and while
that is admirable, I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to run
the facility. If that means making difficult decisions regarding
the employment of some of the long-term instructors, then so be
it.”
    “Let me guess –
the first instructors to be accused of not doing their job will
just happen to be Lycan.”
    “I don’t have
the hatred for Lycans that you believe me to have, Will.” Jordan
said quietly.
    “Do you not?”
Will asked skeptically. “Then perhaps you need to do a better job
at controlling the rumours about your dislike for my kind.”
    Jordan sighed
loudly. “About ten years after Richard created the program, he and
the Board of Directors decided to bring other Lycans into the
program. He’d had nothing but good things to say about you and
while the Board was initially hesitant, they knew how effective you
were at killing the leeches.”
    Will stared at
him in disbelief. “Richard never said anything to me about
this.”
    “No. He
wouldn’t have. The decision was made to keep it quiet, in case it
didn’t work out as well as it had been working with you. Lycans are
volatile by nature and while there is a certain amount of peace
between us and them, at that time they were still mostly regarded
to be as dangerous, if not more, as the leeches themselves.”
    He cleared his
throat. “Richard’s success with you, however, and his unwavering
belief that Lycans could be taught to destroy the leeches for us,
prompted the Board to – “
    “Taught?” Will
interrupted. “We are not dogs for you to train. If this is how you
approached them, I can only imagine the response.”
    Jordan sighed
irritably. “You’re deliberately twisting my words, Will. Just
listen, would you?”
    Will grunted
softly as Jordan continued. “They approached a pack of Lycans
living in California and although initially they were resistant to
the idea of working with humans, after a few weeks two of the
younger Lycans agreed to it. They were brought to the LA training
facility. I was a recent graduate and I worked quite closely with
them, Lafen and Marco were their names, in training the newest
batch of babies. It went well for the first few months. Both Lafen
and Marco proved to be excellent leech killers and although their
training methods were crude, they were effective.”
    Richard and the
Board began to discuss the possibility of bringing in more Lycans
to the other facilities. They even arranged a meeting with another
pack of Lycans. Two nights before the meeting, Marco and Lafen
shifted and systematically hunted down and murdered the entire
batch of babies they had been training.”
    “Jesus.” Will
muttered. “Was it a full moon?”
    Jordan shook
his head. “No. Marco had fallen in love with one of the recruits.
Our understanding was that she returned his affection for a while
before deciding to move on. In retaliation, the Lycans murdered
her, her new lover, and seven other innocent people.”
    “You can’t base
all Lycans on their behaviour.” Will said. “Just because they
lacked the control doesn’t mean that others do not.”
    “Perhaps.
Richard did speak highly of your ability to control your wolf side.
However, even he could not deny that only a few months ago you put
your entire team in danger on a regular basis by refusing to
exercise proper protocol during the hunts.”
    “I thought the
woman I loved was dead. I was grieving for her. It’s hardly the
same as being spurned.” Will said angrily.
    “Yes, that’s
true. The Board did take that into consideration and that, along
with Richard’s