Free Winston (BBW Bear Shifter Wedding Romance) (Grizzly Groomsmen Book 3) by Becca Fanning

mostly. My cluster was from the round of experimentation with wolf splices. I’m told there were high hopes for us. We were promising until trainer Ramirez failed to follow protocol.”

    “So they made you, and they trained you to kill people, and they just send you out whenever they want?” Zosha asked, eyes wide. “That’s horrible!”

    “Not particularly,” Delphine said. “It just…is.”

    “What happened to the rest of you cluster?” Zosha demanded, her eyes shining.

    “I am the last one,” Delphine told her, a familiar cold sweeping through her. “The others were flawed.”

    “And you aren’t flawed,” Hyde said softly.

    “Of course not,” Delphine bit out. “I overcame my upbringing. My record is impeccable.”

    There was a moment of horrified silence. Delphine sat perfectly still, every nerve on edge. Custer’s smile was still on his face, but barely, and his eyes were distant.

    “Leo,” Annie said in a low, controlled voice, “I think this needs to become a discussion.”

    “What do you mean, a discussion?” Zosha burst out. “We can’t let them get her back!”

    “Agreed,” Hyde said, “but we also can’t take any chances. She’s flawless, you heard her, and she’s still on the job.”

    “She just gave us evidence that could shut down Mason permanently,” Rick pointed out quietly.  

    “Because she doesn’t think we’ll live long enough to do anything about it,” Dominic shot back.

    “I currently think trying to kill you would be a waste of time and energy,” Delphine volunteered. “Currently, I’m just waiting until Mason finds us and sends a squadron to kill us all.”

    “Yeah, thanks,” Hyde muttered. “Wait, all of us?”

    “Like you said, I’m evidence. Once the squadron kills you, the assignment will be completed and I will have failed it. This will mean I have a no longer flawless record and will have spent a significant amount of time with the enemy, none of whom I have managed to harm in any significant way. Combined with my history, a case will be made that I do not have the emotional capability to complete my job, and I can’t be allowed to live.”

    “And you’re just waiting for this to happen?” Annie asked.

    “What else can I do? I can’t run, and if I could, what would I do? I have a specific set of skills and that’s all.”

    “If you could get away from Mason, would you run?” Custer asked, never looking away from the patch of wall he was staring at.

    What a silly question. If she could get away from Mason, she would fly.

    “It doesn’t matter,” Delphine said. “I can’t get away. Neither can you.”

    “Historically speaking, we’re very good at doing what people say we can’t,” the captain said, entering the conversation. His fingers were steepled, his eyes serious. Suddenly, he was someone that commanded respect. “I see no reason this should be an exception.”

    “Oh, good,” Hyde sighed. “Congratulations. You just became one of Leo’s hopeless cases. I’ll go ahead and put her on the crew roster, shall I?”

    “Not just yet,” Ingram said. “We have to see if we survive first. I’ll assume that we universally agree that we should try and find a way to stop Mason from killing us. Any of us.”

    A murmur of assent rippled around the table.

    “Can we threaten them with Delphine?” Annie asked. “I mean, like she said, she’s evidence that they’re doing way more than smuggling. Creating artificial life, especially for combat, gets the death sentence.”

    “They’d still come after us. It’s basically the exact situation we’re in now, except now we have more information. It’s in their best interest to kill us either way,” Rick pointed out.

    “What about the other smugglers? Delphine, do you know what happened to the smugglers Mason used to get U4 to Lytos before we took over?”

    “Some,” Delphine said, wracking her memory. “The ship employed was the ITC Rabblerouser .