The Altered (3 page)

“Where are you
going?”

She looked
over at the door as Matt slipped through it and then back at
Jordan. Charlie stood next to her, appearing to watch the fight,
but Jordan knew he was also paying close attention to the two of
them. Charlie and Keira may be together, but he kept well out of
her and Jordan’s disagreements.

“Out—”

Keira leaned
into Jordan, her voice barely more than an urgent whisper next to
his ear. “No, Jordan. I don’t know or care what that was earlier,
but he recognised you, and you know what that makes him. Stay
away.”

Jordan shook
her hand off his arm. “
Nothing
happened earlier.”

Keira huffed,
obviously about to argue with him. He didn’t need one of her
lectures right now.

Jordan shoved
her back against the bar, ignoring Charlie as he watched them.
“Stop.” Jordan bared his teeth, his back to the rest of the room so
no one could see, and Keira immediately stiffened. “And you can’t
know for certain that’s what he is.”

Jordan’s
senses had been off all night. He’d felt a shiver ripple through
his body when Daniel had looked at him, and he thought he’d heard
Daniel gasp and his heart stutter, but Jordan’s head had felt fuzzy
for those few seconds, and he couldn’t be sure. “There’s something
happening out there, and seer or not, he’s still human. I can’t
stand here and do nothing.”

“It’s not our
fight,” she protested, but Jordan was already moving toward the
door.

Something
pulled at him, urging him forward, and he couldn’t ignore it any
longer.

“Jordan.”

Keira radiated
frustration and anger, but Jordan grinned as she and Charlie fell
in step behind him. She might not agree with him this time, but
they always had each other’s backs.

The street out
front was busy with people not watching the fight any longer, but
neither Matt nor Daniel would be there, so Jordan didn’t stop to
look. They followed the snarling and hissed words coming from the
narrow alleyway around the corner, and Jordan struggled not to
shift at the scene that met them.

All three
shifters turned to look at them—Matt standing protectively in front
of Daniel where he leaned against the wall for support, with two
others in front of them.

Jordan flexed
his hands, his claws sliding smoothly out. “Everything all
right?”

He let his
fangs come down too, baring his teeth so there was no mistaking his
intent. Keira and Charlie flanked him as he took a few more steps
into the alley.

“None of your
fucking business, Jordan,” one of them spat at him, but he was
already backing away from Matt. Jordan didn’t flinch at the use of
his name. Plenty of altereds knew him from his gym. The two in
front of him were only part-altered—no match for him, Keira, and
Charlie, and they knew it.

They craned
around Matt to point at Daniel. “We’ll be watching you.”

Matt snarled,
backing up farther to shield his friend, but the others had already
melted back into the shadows and ran down the alley out of
sight.

Daniel
coughed, the sudden movement obviously caused him pain, and he slid
down the wall clutching at his side. Matt spun around and dropped
to his knees in front of him, and Jordan was moving toward them
before he registered it.

“Jordan?”

Keira growled
his name, but Jordan held up his hand, not bothering to turn round
or answer, too focused on the laboured breaths coming from Daniel
and the need to get closer.

Matt had his
hands on Daniel’s jaw, tilting his face up and running his thumb
over the beginnings of a bruise. “Where does it hurt?”

Daniel managed
a wry smile, and some of Jordan’s tension eased as he watched
them.

“Everywhere.”
He grabbed on to Matt’s shoulder with one hand, the other still
clutched to his side, and slowly Matt helped him to his feet.

Jordan took
another step closer, itching to help and just
touch
.

Matt’s gaze
snapped to him, a low rumble building in his chest as he glared at
Jordan. “Back the fuck off.”

Jordan bared
his fangs in response, his body’s natural reaction to the animosity
rolling off Matt in thick waves. “You look like you could do with
some help, that’s all.” It came out slightly slurred, his lips
struggling to form the words around his elongated teeth.

“I got it,
thanks.” Matt hauled Daniel’s arm around his shoulders, making him
hiss in obvious pain.

Jordan
snarled.

“What the fuck
is your problem?” Matt asked, pulling Daniel closer in to his side.
And
fuck
, Jordan would love to know the answer to that
too.

He had no idea
what was wrong with him. His body doing things without his
permission was starting to freak him out. Jordan closed his eyes
for a second and rolled his shoulders in an attempt to release some
of the tension running through him.

“Seriously.
Thanks for the offer,” Matt said, eyeing him warily and looking as
though it pained him to say it. “And for turning up when you did.
But I can take it from here.”

Jordan glanced
from Matt to Daniel, surprised to see Daniel staring back at him.
“Fine,” he muttered, not taking his gaze off Daniel’s. Daniel
didn’t appear shocked by anything that had happened. If anything,
he looked resigned and thoroughly pissed off. He’d already known
they were shifters, no doubt about it.

Of course
he would if he was a bloody seer
. Jordan could almost hear
Keira saying as much in his head. He moved out of the way, as Matt
half-carried Daniel back toward the street. Daniel’s eyes slipped
closed as they walked, and Jordan felt the loss of connection like
a sharp stab in his gut. It only lasted a second, but it made him
want to run and shake off the faint unease.

He joined
Keira and Charlie, where they stood near the entrance to the
alleyway, and watched Matt and Daniel until they went round the
corner and out of sight.

Jordan counted
the seconds before Matt would be out of earshot, knowing full well
what was coming.

Keira rounded
on him, her dark eyes narrowed and her anger barely restrained.
“Care to explain what the hell just happened?”

“Keira.”
Charlie’s soft soothing tone did nothing to calm her down,
though.

“No, Charlie.
I want to know what he thought he was doing helping a
seer
.”

Jordan had
already shifted back, but Keira had so much anger focused on him
that he struggled to keep himself in check. He clenched his fists,
took a few slow deep breaths, and resisted the temptation to rise
to her challenge.

“We should’ve
helped
kill
him,” she hissed, getting right up in his face.
“You heard what that shifter said, and he was right. There are
people out there right now who want to dissect us to see how we
work, and you want to save a seer so he can report us to them
whenever he feels like it.” She was halfway to changing—claws and
fangs out—and her body trembled in readiness.

She might be
his friend—his
second
if they believed in pack structure—but
Jordan had had enough of her attitude. He didn’t understand what
had happened to him tonight, why he’d felt such a strong need to
help out this seer in particular, but he would have done it for
anyone in trouble like that. And Keira should’ve known that about
him, they’d been friends long enough.

“I know you
have good reason to hate them, but not all seers are the same,
Keira. I won’t just stand there and watch someone get murdered
because of what they
might
do.”

“But he’s
dangerous.”

“And so are
we,” he spat back. “Should we be killed too? If that’s what you
believe, then why are we bothering to hide? We might as well turn
ourselves in to be registered and get it over with.”

They glared at
each other, neither willing to back down.

“Guys.”
Charlie stepped between them and pushed them apart with a firm hand
on their chests. “Not here.”

Jordan shook
his head to clear it and stepped back, only just noticing how close
they were to the street.
Shit
. “Yeah, you’re right.” With
the noise they were making, someone was bound to spot them soon.
“Let’s go home.”

He walked out
onto the street, knowing that they’d follow.

They shared a
large three-storey town house, two Tube stops down from the bar.
The area was quiet and one of the nicer parts of London, but about
fifteen years ago it became known for housing altereds and their
families. The house prices dropped considerably when the government
programs shut down and altereds became less than desirable to have
as neighbours. They’d gone up since, with new families moving into
the area, but the values had never reached their original
level.

Which was
fortunate for Jordan, Keira, Charlie, and Sam. The house was much
bigger than they could afford elsewhere, a necessity when the four
of them needed space, but the garden had been the clincher. Trees
lined the back and sides, shielding them from their neighbours, and
making it about as private as they could get.

Keira unlocked
the door, pushing inside but not speaking. Jordan sighed as he
kicked off his shoes and hung up his jacket.

“Just let her
cool off.” Charlie rested his hand on Jordan’s shoulder, squeezing
once before heading down the hallway toward the kitchen.

Jordan stayed
where he was, breathing in the familiar scents of home, until he
felt calm enough not to snap at anyone. He and Keira were too
alike—stubborn and fiery. Not a good combination, especially
considering everything else they had to deal with. Thank God
Charlie was there to keep the peace. Jordan loved Keira like a
sister, but sometimes she pissed him off so much, he could
cheerfully toss her across the room.

He followed
the smell of coffee and smiled in thanks when Charlie handed him a
steaming mug as he entered the kitchen. “Where is she?”

Charlie turned
and nodded at the patio doors leading to the garden. “Where do you
think?”

The lights
were low in the kitchen. Their eyesight was good enough to see
without much light, and Jordan easily picked out the two figures in
the garden. He smiled sadly at the sight, some of his anger
slipping away. “Of course.”

Keira sat on
the patio steps, her hands and face buried in the thick fur of the
wolf who sat beside her.

“Do you think
she’s right?”

“About
what?”

“All the
rumours.” Jordan sighed, and set his cup down. “That the facilities
never properly shut down, that they were taken over instead, and
that there are still people out there using altereds as lab
rats?”

“They’re more
than rumours, Jordan. Even when the facilities were still
government run, they were carrying out tests. They said it was to
find a cure, but that was bollocks. They were shut down because of
that leaked report, and if you’re trying to tell me you think they
let all that research go to waste then you’re a fool.” Charlie set
his own cup down and met Jordan’s gaze. “Twelve years after the
last facility was shut down and people are still disappearing.
Someone out there is trying to make their own version of a super
soldier—whether it’s the government or some private weapons company
is anybody’s guess. But it’s happening.”

“Yeah, you’re
right. I know you are, I just…” He scrubbed a hand over his eyes,
feeling older than his years. “I’m tired of hiding what we are.” He
felt guilty saying it. At least they had the option to hide. In the
early days, when the government had insisted all altereds register
themselves as soon as the change took place, parents had been eager
to take their children in and sign them up to get help. But after
everything fell apart, people were scared. No altered wanted to own
up to what he was, the fear of what might happen was more than
enough to send them into hiding,

Jordan and his
friends were lucky—plenty of others weren’t.

He picked his
mug up and watched Keira and Sam through the window for a while,
sipping his coffee, the silence heavy in the room. Jordan was more
than happy to let the subject drop. The thought was always in the
back of his mind, but he’d never get through the day if he dwelled
on it too much. They were as careful as they could be while still
having a life, and they had plans in place should the worst happen.
Worrying constantly wouldn’t help anyone.

The silence
lasted another five minutes until Charlie shuffled to lean back
against the counter and face Jordan. “So, are you ready to talk
about what happened tonight?”

No
.
Talking about it was the last thing Jordan wanted to do. Thinking
about it wasn’t too appealing either, but the whole episode kept
playing out in his mind, making it impossible to get away from.

“Look, I know
you don’t like it when that sort of stuff happens. But that guy you
saved wasn’t
just
a human, and you have to admit you acted a
little strange. Even by your standards.”

Jordan huffed
out a laugh at that. “Thanks.”

“You know what
I mean.”

Jordan rubbed
a hand over his eyes, trying to collate his thoughts into something
that made sense. “I just… I felt him… in the bar.” He looked up and
caught Charlie’s eye. “It was weird, not unpleasant or anything,
just odd.
Christ
, I don’t know, Charlie.”

“When I first
met Keira, it was the same for us. Maybe—”

“No.” Jordan
slammed his mug down on the counter, harder than he’d meant to, but
he was sick of hearing this old argument. “I don’t believe in all
that
mates
bullshit, so don’t start.”

“I’m just
saying….”

“Well,
don’t.”

The patio
doors opened, interrupting their conversation, and Jordan breathed
a sigh of relief. He’d had enough talking about whatever had
happened back at the bar.