“Pack your shit. He’s on his way to fire you.”

Belinda stood. “You―”

“What?” Ellie shouted, totally pissed off.

Green eyes glittered with anger. “You’re going to get yours.” Belinda stormed down the hallway.

Ellie tried to force back her temper. She glanced at Tiger. He leaned against the front door, away from her, and the tense expression on his face made her frown. She stared at him as he hung up.

“Are you all right?” Ellie was concerned since Tiger actually appeared a bit pale.

“Ellie, come with me now.” He opened the front door wide.

She glanced down. “I’m not going outside in my nightgown. Why would you want to talk to me out there? That woman is packing and can’t overhear us from her room.”

Tiger stalked toward Ellie quickly. “Damn it, woman. Don’t argue with me. You need to get out of the house now.”

Ellie retreated a few feet. Tiger stopped and sniffed at her with a frown. “I smell blood on you. You told Justice that Fury didn’t harm you.”

“He didn’t.” She held up her palm to show off the pink bandage wrapped around the curve of her hand. “I sliced it a little getting out of the shower. Fury would never hurt me.”

He sniffed again. “I don’t smell much of your blood.”

“That’s because it was just a scratch. It didn’t bleed much.”

“We need to leave right now.”

She backed up more. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m not even dressed and if you think I’m leaving Nurse Bitch alone with Fury, think again.”

“Ellie,” Tiger hissed, “they pumped Fury full of our healing drugs to help him recover faster. We have been assessing him for signs of threat but now he’s acting hostile. You’re in danger here and need to go to safety.” He glanced at his watch. “He was given his medication about fifteen minutes ago, correct?”

Ellie glared at him. “Belinda told me she would give him his meds when I headed for the shower. Fury did say she gave him a shot. Why would I be in danger?”

Tiger moved quickly and grabbed Ellie around her waist, spun her, and clamped his hand over her mouth. Her feet left the floor. Tiger strode quickly toward the front door with her struggling, caught inside his arms. They were outside in seconds.

“Quiet,” Tiger growled next to her ear. “And don’t be afraid. He’ll smell it. You said he took your scent. Just take some deep breaths and I’ll explain it all to you, okay? You have to keep your voice down. Promise me?”

Ellie was furious, not afraid, when she nodded against his hand. The body holding hers relaxed as he lowered her to the ground and released her. His hand left her mouth. Ellie spun to glare up at him.

“What was that for?” She hissed.

“Don’t you realize how injured Fury was?” Tiger frowned. “A human would have died. It’s been just over a week but he’s walking around. He’s been healing really fast. Didn’t you wonder about that?”

“You guys just do that faster. Fury told me it’s normal for New Species.”

“We do to a certain degree but not as fast as Fury has, without help. This is classified but as Fury’s mate, you’re considered New Species. You need to be told. Not all of the records were destroyed when we were discovered. Some of the doctors hadn’t kept all their notes and research on the computer systems they destroyed when the testing facilities were breached. In some cases we were even able to get the formulas and exact chemical compositions of some of the drugs they used on us.”

The news surprised her. “Why keep it a secret?”

He hesitated. “Did you ever wonder why the President and the United States was so eager to hand over a military base to us for our home? To be so agreeable with whatever demands we made? We had some humans who were very sympathetic, very happy to give Justice advice. They told him about sovereignty. We demanded equal human rights and were given them as well. New Species govern themselves on American soil, on the land we were given. We were also extended diplomatic immunity in many ways for New Species. We’re considered American citizens but given special concessions.”

“Of course you’re Americans. You were born here. It’s only right you are given a safe place to live. There are so many hate groups out there that it wouldn’t be safe for any of you to try to merge with regular society right off the bat.”

“Mercile Industries were given billions of dollars to help fund drug studies and research for decades. The President signed off on the last six years of the money given to Mercile. It came from military funds.”

Ellie stared at him, confused. “How does this apply to Fury right now?”

“Mercile promised to create drugs that would make the armed forces stronger, better fighters, heal faster after battle, and even heighten their senses. A pharmaceutical advantage that other countries wouldn’t have. They vaccinate our fighting forces to prevent them from catching diseases when they send them to other countries. Imagine giving them a shot that would make them stronger, faster, and harder to kill in battle situations. It would win wars easier, quicker, with a lot less casualties. No one knew Mercile had crossed moral and legal boundaries to gain the advancements they were promising to develop. Every dollar they were given helped enslave us and paid for blood, sweat, and torture.”

People would be outraged if they discovered their tax dollars had been sunk into something so vile. Every human rights organization on the planet would be up in arms and some countries might accuse the government of horrific crimes.