JURASSIC WORLD:TAINTED

Chapter 15

Now Owen was crawling around Delta's belly and adjusting the harness, ignoring sharp claws and teeth.

"I want them to record where they go," Owen had told Alan. "It's a good way to see other sides of the restricted area."

He had cobbled together a harness that didn't hinder the raptors in their movement and wouldn't catch in the branches of a low tree or a bush. There were two cameras attached to the shoulder harness, left and right, just in case one was torn off or malfunctioned.

Delta craned her neck and watched her alpha work. Owen pushed against her curious nose and Alan felt his hands clench around the metal bars.

Blue looked away from Delta and Owen, meeting Alan's eyes. Her expression was not human and hard to read, but despite that she had no real facial movement, her exasperation was almost clear to see.

It was one thing Alan had learned quite quickly: there was a lot more to the pack beta than he had ever thought possible. She was more than a raptor. Her connection to Owen had expanded her mind... and whatever else Dr. Wu had done to her DNA.

If Alan was talented, he suspected he would be able to feel her attempt to communicate. But that razor-sharp expression was more than enough.

Owen had repeatedly told him that Blue couldn't talk and the communication was not in words. Owen's brain simply translated it. Still, the raptors were so much more than animals. While Charlie, Delta and Echo didn't interact with their alpha the way Blue did, they weren't different. They simply accepted their lower ranks.

Blue snorted, shaking her head. Her fingers twitched, almost impatiently.

Alan forced himself to breathe, though he couldn't get used to such dangerous predators moving unrestrained around a human being.

One bite.

Just one swipe of a claw.

Blue's nostrils blew open wide and she shook her head again. Her eyes were fixed on Alan, the intensity frightening. She looked like she was scowling at him, berating him for his negative thoughts. There was a touch of exasperation and a lot of disgust.

Yes, Owen was the alpha and the pack respected him, but still... the past was hard to shake off.

"Done," Owen announced, straightened from where he had secured the harness under Delta's belly.

Blue turned her attention back on her alpha and Alan found himself breathing easier once more.

"And it looks good." Owen patted Delta's neck. "Fashionable, too. For being stitched together from scrap."

Delta blinked and shifted her a weight a little, like testing the new addition to her body.

"She doesn't even really feel it," Owen told the professor as he walked over to the fence. "I did my best to soften it up. It's an old horse harness, for pulling wagons, and I had to take out some parts to make it smaller and more flexible for them. Shouldn't bother her scars. She knows what it's for, too."

"Why Delta and not Blue?"

"Blue's keeping an eye on things when they're out there. Delta is regular pack, so she can run wherever she wants. If this works I'll add more harnesses. The cameras have GPS, so it helps in mapping the island, too."

Alan nodded. Blue had silently come closer, stopping behind her alpha, regarding Alan like she was trying to bring something across. Grant wouldn't trust her even if she could talk and swore she was a harmless, fluffy bunny.