Cassius Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Title

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Author's Note from Madison

  Author's Note from Willow

  Also By

  Madison Stevens Author Bio

  Willow Hazel Author Bio

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents depicted in this work are of the author’s imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, locations, or events is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 2021 Madison Stevens and Willow Hazel

  No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Cover designed by Najla Qamber Designs

  Cassius (Luna Lodge: Alpha Squad #2)

  by

  Madison Stevens and Willow Hazel

  Hope accompanies a new enemy.

  The members of Alpha Squad now know they have a dangerous new enemy, but they also understand their fated mates are still out there waiting for them. Unlike his fellow hybrids, CJ tries to live a relaxed life, not worried about the enemy. He believes he's content with his hope for the future.

  When he's assigned to a intel-gathering mission in New York, he doesn't expect anything but a few weeks away from the Alpha Squad compound. One woman could destroy his relaxed approach to life.

  It's time to seize control of fate.

  Internet celebrity Kendra has come to New York City to appease her sponsors. Her career has become her life and little considerations like having a boyfriend have fallen to the wayside. She never thought she'd collide with a man who'd challenge her whole life focus.

  The true monsters hide in the shadows.

  CJ and Kendra try their best to focus on something other their fiery attraction, the same attraction that risks blinding them to the deadly enemy closing in. Finding each other is just the beginning of winning the fight for their love.

  Chapter One

  CJ crept through the dense undergrowth on his stomach, his rifle in front of him. Branches cracked underneath the weight of his large, muscular body. No one fired.

  He didn’t expect any shots. For such a small island, there were a surprising number of small animals. Anyone who fired every time they heard a small noise would be constantly shooting and mocked later.

  Practicing restraint, even when tense, was a useful skill for a soldier, especially a hybrid. When a battle began and their aggressive animal instincts surfaced, training was what kept them in control. Their creators had sought to unleash beasts in the form of men, but that didn’t mean the hybrids needed to act like animals.

  The dense trees around CJ swayed under the touch of the late summer wind, the gentle breeze nice and refreshing. Being tucked away in the far northeast off the coast of Maine, his new home of Port Winter Island never became unbearable during the summer, but constant training outdoors at the height of the season left him sweating. The price of being a genetically engineered hybrid was constant vigilance, and that included exercises like the one forcing him to crawl along the forest floor.

  “Pretty smart,” Cornelius shouted, his loud voice startling the curious birds gathered in the trees. They fluttered through the air as the other hybrid continued. “Not a lot of breeze, but you’re walking upwind, huh? That narrows down your attack angles. Every piece of information is useful tactical intel. Being clever won’t always save you.”

  CJ didn’t take the bait. The second he made any noise, Cornelius and Seneca would take him out. They’d already executed the trick against Decimus in an exercise the day before, but that was only because the other hybrid hadn’t taken the training seriously enough. That earned Decimus an ass chewing from Maximus and Cornelius over his attitude.

  Training didn’t have to be a headache. Today’s exercise was more glorified laser tag than full tactical encounter, even if Cornelius was taking it overly seriously. The guns sounded loud and realistic, thanks to their speakers, but they didn’t fire anything other than a low-powered beam. The current two-on-two exercise involved CJ and Tiberius taking on Seneca and Cornelius.

  It was a tough combo of opponents to pull. Cornelius might have a stick up his ass the size of a giant redwood, but he knew how to track and hunt. All hybrids could, and that was before CJ considered Seneca. The latter hybrid might not be using his preferred sniper rifle that morning, but that didn’t mean his trained sniper’s instincts and skills went away.

  More intense and realistic training might have been in order, but Alpha Squad still didn’t know who might be watching them, even when they were away from prying eyes on their island. Boats and the occasional drone strayed too close for comfort, and while their home looked like a mansion and cabins from far away, there were dangerous enemies out there looking for hybrids and their mates, the Vestals, including the mysterious organization known as Ouroboros.

  Men in camouflage running around the woods with guns wouldn’t be that hard to explain away. Their cover already involved claiming their leader Maximus was a reclusive rich man with a penchant for armed survivalism. The hybrids’ size made them stand out from the normal gun-toting sorts of humans who might infest the woods. The hybrids’ more aggressive and open military training took place in their underground training facility, but its location limited its usefulness for wilderness scenarios.

  CJ continued his low crawling. His cheek brushed against the grass and leaves on the ground. He changed direction as he sniffed at the air. The familiar scents of Cornelius and Seneca flowed with the wind. They were still close together. He had to hurry. There was no telling how long the wind would remain favorable.

  Taunting CJ was a mistake. He didn’t need his enhanced hybrid hearing to pick out Cornelius’s location when he was yelling. The scent clue only helped cement things. CJ didn’t need to win the engagement, just get close and distract them and let his partner handle the rest.

  Loud gunshots rang out. CJ’s heart kicked up. His natural instincts screamed at him to get to his feet for improved mobility, but he stayed on the ground. Cornelius was trying to flush out his prey.

  A familiar laugh followed a loud buzz in the distance, and CJ’s jaw tightened. The laugh was too easy-going, and that meant only one thing.

  “You got me,” Tiberius called out. “Nice shot, Seneca. I didn’t see it coming.”

  “You were moving too fast,” Seneca shouted back. “Plants don’t move that fast. Worst-case scenario, I laser an animal who wouldn’t even notice.”

  CJ grumbled under his breath and continued circling toward Cornelius and Seneca at a snail’s pace. So much for the big plan of him providing a distraction for Tiberius to take out the other two. Knowing plans failed didn’t do anything to cut his annoyance.

  He glimpsed movement out of the corner of his eye. Cornelius and Seneca must have gotten impatient. Taking out Tiberius meant they had the advantage, and th
e rules of the exercise only stated that one member of a team had to survive for victory.

  CJ didn’t want to consider the implications in real-world scenarios. Hybrids didn’t throw their lives away.

  Staying on the ground, CJ kept perfectly still, turning his body toward the earlier movement. He scanned the area, looking for clues. Birds left branches. Squirrels ran up trunks. They might not be fleeing in terror like they had during the earlier shouting, but it was clear they were worried about predators in their midst.

  CJ smiled. The wolves were coming, but there was more than one way to hunt. He waited, watching the trees. Large shadows cut through them, and only the faintest hint of footfalls sounded. Cornelius and Seneca were creeping toward him rather than charging and trying to flush him out. They’d kept more patience than he’d anticipated.

  He continued to lay there, taking shallow, quiet breaths. His opportunity would arise if only he kept his cool. The hybrids knew for all their strength and speed, sometimes the best way to win was to wait for the perfect opportunity.

  Cornelius emerged from behind a tree, a smug look on his face. He was walking closer to CJ, but at an angle. Did he know CJ was there?

  CJ didn’t jump up. He held his breath, knowing he could maintain that for minutes. His gaze cut back and forth, looking for some sign of Seneca. There was no way Cornelius would expose himself so directly unless he was confident his partner could pick off CJ.

  The wind changed direction. Cornelius sniffed at the air. A smile grew.

  “We’ve got you,” he said, and crept forward, his gun at the ready.

  CJ needed to figure out where Seneca was and fast. The other hybrid had to be close enough to help pin CJ in but far enough away that he wouldn’t be picked off by a quick reaction.

  A bird squawked and flew from a nearby tree. CJ jerked up his rifle and fired at a shadow near the branch before sweeping to his side and shooting Cornelius. The buzz of two vests overlapped.

  CJ hopped up and shouldered his rifle with a grin. “It looks like I got you.”

  He enjoyed the looks on Cornelius and Seneca’s faces as they marched toward him. Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat couldn’t be beat.

  Tiberius popped up from where he’d been “killed” and headed their way. He wore a lazy smile, but he didn’t look all that much more satisfied than he did on most days. CJ admired the man’s ability to take everything day-by-day. With their lives, it helped keep things sane. CJ tried to live his life that way, but Tiberius took it to the next level, approaching almost Zen-like contentment.

  CJ stared down at his rifle. It was the right weight and shape and made the correct sound, but it wasn’t real. Something bothered him about that.

  When they trained in the underground facility, everything was real, and he had a harder time ignoring the implications of why they were training. They weren’t out there having fun. They were keeping themselves prepared for attacks against and from mysterious enemies who possessed abilities they barely understood.

  “Powers,” CJ said.

  “What?” Cornelius asked with a frown.

  The disappointment had vanished from Seneca’s expression, replaced by amusement. “Is that how you beat us?”

  CJ shook his head. “We blow it off like it’s nothing, but what Maximus did in that fight against Dr. Quinen is next level different from anything we’ve ever seen from hybrids.”

  “Is that what you’re talking about?” Cornelius let out a quiet scoff. “It is what it is. Quinen admitted they did something special to the twelve of us. You’re still on about that?”

  “It doesn’t mess with your head a little?” CJ looked between Cornelius and Seneca, then over to the approaching Tiberius. “What Maximus did was a lot more than just being faster and stronger than normal people. It’s superhuman.”

  “We already are superhuman.” Seneca shrugged and grinned. “Normal scientists couldn’t have made hybrids. So what if Quinen did something special?”

  Cornelius cupped his chin. “I see what CJ is saying. It goes beyond Maximus’s flaming fist. Dr. Quinen had powers, too. Ouroboros is a threat unlike any we have faced. It’s annoying that they had to come when we thought everything was finished.”

  CJ regretted bringing the subject up. He’d been more curious than worried and the last thing he needed was falling into Cornelius’s paranoid way of thinking.

  “That’s why we’re training,” Tiberius added as he finished his approach. “That’s why we’re not pretending like it’s all over.” He held up a fist. “And now we know that no matter what they throw at us, we’ll be able to win.”

  “Do we know that?” Cornelius asked, his eyebrow cocked. “Maximus hasn’t been able to use that ability since the fight against Quinen. It might have been a lucky punch.”

  Seneca laughed. “A lucky punch is getting the guy in the side of the head when he isn’t looking, not your fist glowing with magic flames and blasting through a bastard who can regenerate.”

  “It’s not magic,” Cornelius snapped. “Now you sound like all those idiot humans who think we’re werewolves.”

  Seneca pointed to his amber eyes. “We’ve got these, and we growl. Pretty damned close if you ask me.”

  CJ found a nearby fallen log and sat on the edge. “I don’t care if it’s magic, science, or luck. We know now that we could have powers, and from the way Quinen was talking, it’s not guaranteed they’re the same.”

  Tiberius inclined his head toward a bird watching them from a branch. “Maybe I’ll get the power to talk to animals. That could be useful for missions.”

  Seneca snickered. “I want to fly.”

  “I know it’s not going to be like that.” CJ chuckled. “But we might not all end up with flaming fists.”

  “Who cares?” Cornelius shrugged. “A weapon you can’t use at will when needed is a useless weapon. We can’t train to improve the use of these powers nor guarantee their activation. That isn’t just useless. It’s worse than useless because it distracts from what we know works. Relying on miracles makes for crap strategy in a battle.”

  CJ shook his head. “We do know how to use it.”

  Cornelius gave him a stern look. “We do?” He motioned around the forest. “Go ahead and show us. Try to not burn the forest down.”

  CJ stood, squared his shoulders and locked eyes with Cornelius. He might not be as obsessed with status and respect as others, but that didn’t mean he needed to take Cornelius’s crap when they weren’t on a mission.

  “You know damned well I can’t do that,” CJ replied. “We need our Vestals. They’re the key to unlocking our powers. I don’t care if it’s something that only shows up when we need to protect our Vestals. That’s good enough to know I’ll have that edge when it counts.”

  “Just because we now know that we can—”

  “Stuff it.” CJ snorted. “Come on. We do know, and that’s all we need to know.”

  “Don’t be so naïve.” Cornelius narrowed his eyes and stalked toward CJ, growling. “Maximus got lucky. You’ll be a lot happier in life if you don’t buy into that destiny bullshit about perfect mates. You think there’s some all-powerful fate out there guiding us? After everything we’ve been through?”

  CJ stood his ground. “I didn’t say that. But I’m not saying there isn’t either.”

  “I can’t believe you.” Cornelius scoffed. “Where was fate when we ended up being lab rats for psychotic scientists? Where was fate when we could have had a normal life?”

  “Is that what you want? We finish off Ouroboros, we can have that, and until then, I’m going to hold out hope. Maximus found Selena. We can find our Vestals.”

  “Lightning doesn’t strike twice,” Cornelius barked.

  Tiberius shook his head, still wearing the same calm, lazy smile as before as if oblivious to the tension. “Sure, it does, especially if you’re a lightning rod, and what are we but that?”

  Seneca nodded his agreement. “What does it hurt to b
elieve in our Vestal chance?”

  “We should be focusing on Ouroboros,” Cornelius said. “Not pining away for women.”

  “We can do both,” CJ said. “Especially since we know they’re looking for Vestals.” He smiled, enjoying his own thought process. “Hey, probably a better chance of finding our Vestals if we go after them. Then everyone wins.”

  Cornelius stepped back, the earlier tension in his body and shoulders gone, replaced by exasperation. “You can do what you want as long as you keep your focus, but I think it’s a big waste of time.”

  “I don’t,” Tiberius said.

  “Me neither,” Seneca added.

  “You’ve got me all wrong, Cornelius,” CJ said.

  Cornelius’s brow lifted. “I do?”

  “You think this is about believing in fate for me.” CJ shook his head. “Nothing like that at all. It’s about allowing myself something I almost let slip away, that we all did.” He slapped his chest twice. “We can have some hope.”

  “Hope won’t stop the enemy. Bullets will.”

  CJ grinned. “And flaming fists.”

  “Or lightning eyes,” Seneca said.

  “Mind control sneezes!” Tiberius shouted.

  Seneca, CJ, and Tiberius all burst out laughing. Cornelius groaned and walked away with a dismissive wave.

  CJ didn’t care. Cornelius had a stick up his ass and probably would forever. All CJ needed to remember was there was a woman out there for him, the other half of his soul, his destined Vestal. He’d messed around a little in the past, but now he thought about waiting until he met her.

  He peered into the forest, the trees blocking his view of the ocean. Maybe the Vestal was waiting for him on the mainland, sitting in some small town in Maine. She could be far away on a subway in Tokyo for all he knew.

  She was out there. The hybrids would finish tearing Ouroboros apart, and then they’d find their other halves.

  Chapter Two