In a future where the United States is slowly rebuilding itself, Omega Travis Danten is a big city cop sent to a seemingly desolate city on the edge of the Waste. This desert is full of undesirables, and it’s only a matter of time before they wreak havoc. But, Omegas are always assigned Alphas, and his new partner’s job is to protect him.<br><br>But SdAI Alpha Virgil is not at all amused with the partner who chose him. Travis is willful and naive to the dangers a homicide detective faces here, and it makes Virgil’s job that much harder. And Travis, of course, is human and develops feelings, feelings that go beyond the rules about Omega/Alpha partnerships.<br><br>Travis and Virgil have to find common ground, find a killer, and find space for each other in their own hearts, even if one is artificial.

Artificial Heart

Wolf hunched over as the cracking sounds started, pops and grinding followed like the sound of a car wreck. Looked like it too, even with clothes obscuring the sight of the killer’s body. In a macabre waltz, Wolf jerked and groaned in a short bark of pain, and then it was done.


A wet, black nose made its way out of the drab rags bundled on the filthy floor. As soon as it found the opening in the shirt, the rest of the man slid out in a rush of gray-black fur and powerful form. Big as a dire wolf from a far distant past and seemingly just as lethal.


Those intelligent eyes bored into his own for an endless time before Wolf shifted where he stood on four massive paws. Another whistle split the silence between them. Whatever Wolf had been about to do, he abandoned that plan as far as Travis guessed, because he spun in place and disappeared farther into the gloom of the building.


Chapter 36