Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Kingston
Was I being an asshole? Probably. Did I care? Not one bit. I was in a rancid mood, and it was all because I was fucked up over this damn woman.
She had me by the balls, and I didn't quite know what to do with that. Getting close to anyone, let alone a woman, was something I never let myself do. There was too much risk involved since Marcos was disgustingly rich and could pay big money to make my life a living hell if he wanted.
And now he would.
As I ran through the forest for what felt like the hundredth time, I couldn't keep my mind from going through all the scenarios that could happen.
Marcos having my sister taken.
Him putting out the video.
Him taking everything from me.
I let the tears fall freely at how truly fucked I was. All I had wanted was to keep my family safe, but now everyone and everything around me was at risk of being hurt.
To make matters worse, now there were two dead bodies and a mountain of evidence I'd done my best to bury in the forest. It was the best I could do with the resources I had, but it wasn't an ideal disposal. They were rich, like Marcos, and people would wonder where they were.
We'd been running for a while, and I could hear the others close behind me. Wren was the quietest of the three, her breath not even faltering as we ran. She might have outwardly looked like a fox, but she was so much more, and I didn't understand why she couldn't tell me.
Zayn eventually caught up to me and nudged me as we ran. We didn't ever run together as wolves since my wolf was more dominant than his and he had the tendency to push my buttons. The one time we'd tried, he'd nipped at me playfully and I damn near ripped his throat out.
I could control my wolf to an extent, but since I didn't shift all that often, I let him take the reins when I did. Zayn running next to me didn't bother my wolf at all, and, in fact, was a comfort. The look in his eyes told me he was worried, and he damn well should have been.
He'd killed two men and didn't seem at all affected by it. Maybe it was from his upbringing, or maybe it was because he really wasn't mentally stable. But hell, were any of us?
The run back to Chad's house left me more on edge than ever. We had such a mess to deal with, and if the coalition found out Zayn had killed two men, he'd be locked away for the rest of his life.
Rule one of shifter club: don't kill humans.
I shifted as we reached the steps leading up onto the deck and the others were right behind me. The sun was already starting to rise and the worry someone would show up looking for Chad was swirling in my gut.
As far as I knew, Chad didn't have a steady girlfriend and hadn't had any women to his house recently from what I could tell. Except now it smelled like chemicals because of all the cleaning products I’d had to use to clean up the blood.
"You might not want to breathe. I'm sure there are still fumes from the toxic combination of cleaning supplies I used.
" As I slid open the sliding glass door, Wren pushed me out of the way and stood in the doorway, a growl leaving her throat.
It was single-handedly the sexiest and most terrifying thing I'd ever heard.
A man stepped into view at the end of the hallway leading to the front of the house. He was dressed in all black tactical gear with his arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his scarred face. It looked like someone had gotten him good with a knife.
"What are you doing here?" Wren stayed in the doorway, not moving an inch to let us through.
We should have been the ones in front of her.
My wolf did not approve of her sticking her neck out on the line like she was.
But I knew if I yanked her back outside, she would not like that.
Wren was different from other women. She was independent, a trained agent, and had skills I couldn't even begin to comprehend.
"You didn't check-in yesterday like we agreed on and then we found a burned-to-the-ground barn and went from there. We already cleaned up the mess at Marcos Delgado's property." The man, who I was assuming was a coalition agent, walked down the hall toward us. "Where's the body?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Wren hadn't moved an inch. "We just got here."
"If the human authorities stepped foot in this house, it would be blatantly obvious someone was killed here." The man stopped where the hallway opened into the living room and looked around. "There's evidence of foul play everywhere I look."
He gestured to the throw pillows and a shattered mess on the floor before walking over by the couch and looking at something with his hands on his hips. "Gun residue and blood."
Wren let out a frustrated sigh and her back stiffened. "I killed two men. Their bodies are buried in the woods."
"Wren-" Zayn tried to push his way past me, and I grabbed his wrist and shook my head. "But-"
"You're admitting to murder?" The guy moved closer, his eyebrow lifted. "Your status isn't going to give you any favoritism."
"I'm not asking for favoritism. It was either kill or be killed." She shrugged. "These men are bad news, Trevor. They had a female wolf locked in the basement that had been bought. There's a vet involved, but we don't know in what way yet."
They stared at each other for a long minute before I finally couldn't stand it any longer. "She didn't kill them, I did."
Her head swiveled around, and she pinned me with a glare and a look that said to shut the hell up.
"I did too." Sullivan shoved his way through the door and looked Trevor up and down. "Since your agency isn't doing its job, someone had to."
Zayn pulled his wrist away from me and shoved in to stand next to Sullivan. "I killed them. Ripped their throats out for hurting my sister and taking my Wrenny."
Trevor ran his hand down his face and let out a heavy sigh. "Jesus Christ, Wren."
"Did you bring a team? We didn't do a good job of burying the two bodies or of cleaning." Wren finally moved into the house.
I didn't like that she was trying to take the fall for something Zayn did, but it also made my heart feel full that she was willing to do that for him.
"The team is dealing with the man in the basement." He looked amongst us. "I'm going to need to take all of you back to headquarters for questioning."
"Absolutely not. There is way too much at stake to follow procedure on this." Wren walked right past him toward the hallway. "We're going to go clean up, regroup, and go to every damn vet in the entire valley if we need to."
"You quit. You have no jurisdiction to act on behalf of the coalition." Trevor followed her as she marched down the hall.
I looked at the others and rubbed the back of my neck. "We can't let her take the fall for this."
"It's my fault. I should be the one dealing with the consequences. You always warned me that you wouldn't be able to protect me from the coalition." Zayn sighed and walked into the kitchen. "I need some ice cream."
"Don't touch anything!" Sullivan lunged in between him and the freezer. "Now is not the time to be looking for snacks."
Zayn looked over at me. "Can you believe this guy?"
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "He has a point."
"Wow. Way to stand up for me, BFF. I'll remember this!" Zayn marched out of the kitchen and headed down the hall.
"He's not serious, is he?" Sullivan joined me as we followed him to the entryway, where Wren was standing in a huddle with about six men. "I don't like that she's naked with all those men around her."
Wren was facing us in the circle and gave us a soft smile before turning her attention back to the conversation she was having. None of them were looking at her body, but I didn't like her standing there naked either.
"I'll go grab us some clothes from the back of my SUV." I always kept plenty of spare changes in the back. It was an old habit from when I lived in a pack, and you never knew if you were going to need to go deliver clothes to pack members who were stuck somewhere naked.
My SUV was right where I'd left it, my keys still in the cupholder. I grabbed them and popped the trunk. I nearly jumped out of my fucking skin when I turned around and Sullivan was standing there.
"What the fuck, man?" I shoved past him and rounded the back of the vehicle. "You're lucky I didn't deck you."
"You didn't hear or smell me follow you out here?"
"I'm trying not to smell anything at the moment." I opened the tote that I kept spare clothes in and rummaged through it for a pair of shorts. "Because now all I smell is her."
He took the pair of shorts I shoved at his chest. "Does that bother you? That Zayn and I were with her last night?"
"No." I shoved my legs through a pair of shorts and pulled out a shirt. "We can all drink our sorrow away when she eventually leaves."
"I don't think she's going to leave." He snatched the shirt I was about to pull over my head. "She lied to the coalition to save Zayn's ass."
"I'm aware of that." He was pissing me off and I didn't even know why. "I guess it wouldn't bother you, seeing as you're here temporarily anyway."
He pulled his shirt on and ran his fingers through his messy hair. Had she run her fingers through his hair while he was fucking her? I tamped down a growl and shut the trunk, taking two more shorts and shirts in my arms.
"Might not be able to go home now if the coalition locks us all up," he muttered as he headed back toward the door.
As he reached for the handle, Wren opened the door with Zayn hot on her heels. She was pissed and grabbed the clothes from me, yanking them on.
"What's wrong?" I didn't like that her face was starting to turn the same shade of red as her hair. She didn't wear her emotions on her sleeve, so the sight was concerning.
"They are deciding if we have to go into headquarters." She huffed and yanked hard on the drawstring of her shorts. "They want to question each of us individually and come up with a plan to deal with the situation."
We were alone, the agents still inside the house, but they were wolves and would be able to hear us if we talked too loudly.
I lowered my voice. "So, we get our story straight and we'll be fine. Right?"
She shrugged. "I've seen men crumble once taken in. If they suspect we aren't being truthful, they'll wake my father, and then it won't matter. He can get answers from anyone."
"What do you mean they'll wake your father?" I knew she wasn't going to answer me truthfully, but I at least had to pry.
She stared at me for what felt like an hour but wasn't more than a minute. "He goes into a restorative sleep often to replenish his magic stores and maintain his youth."
That left me with even more questions than if she hadn’t shared it. "And what about you? Do you sleep like that?"
She snorted. "No. I have no desire to live for eternity."
My head was spinning, and Zayn's head ping-ponging back and forth between us distracted me momentarily. "Wait, wait, wait. Foxes can live forever?"
"No, they can't. I'm only half fox. My dad is... a magic user of sorts." I could tell Wren was uncomfortable talking about her father, but that didn't change the fact that she wasn't being truthful.
"Like a sorcerer?" Zayn still hadn't put on shorts and reached down and grabbed his dick, waving it like a wand. "Expecto Patronum!"
Sullivan gasped, his hand going to his mouth. "It's a flea! Everyone, stay calm!"
Zayn turned and wagged his dick at Sullivan. "Crucio!"
Sullivan stumbled backward, his hands going to his chest. "No, not that one!"
Wren laughed watching Zayn hit Sullivan with imaginary dick spells. She was beautiful when she genuinely laughed, her eyes glossy and her cheeks rosy. I couldn't stop a smile from spreading across my face despite my annoyance at her withholding information from us.
"What the hell is going on out here?" Trevor stood in the doorway, a look of horror on his face.
Just because he was an agent didn't save him from Zayn turning toward him, dick still in hand and chanting a curse. Wren quickly grabbed his arm and shook her head.
Trevor moved to the side as two men came out with Mateo between them, a black bag over his head. My smile vanished as they moved to an SUV and shoved him in the back.
"Wren, a word?" Trevor's face had turned red, which made the scar he had cutting across it stand out even more.
With a sigh, Wren went out of earshot as the three of us stood waiting next to the SUV. Zayn was at least putting on pants instead of waving his dick around. For just being inside the house where he'd killed a man, he was acting like it hadn't even happened.
I didn't know what concerned me more, that he had killed two people or that he was acting like nothing had even happened.
A few minutes later, Wren rejoined us. She didn't seem to be upset, but she could have been hiding it.
"They're going to take Mateo and the other guy you locked up at Marcos's house into headquarters for questioning.
While they're doing that, we need to lie low together and wait for orders on how to proceed.
Right now, they aren't going to take us in because you three have a connection with the men behind all of this. "
"What about Marcos?" I crossed my arms over my chest, not liking the idea of being sitting ducks.
Trevor came to join us. "Marcos is a nonfactor at this point. Several agents are currently stationed within the hospital. He had his arm amputated and then went into sepsis. He's currently in a medically induced coma, so he is low on the priority list."
Fuck. That was the last thing I needed to hear. "He can't die. He has things in place and-"
"We are aware of the orders his attorneys and associates have in the event of his death. We're assessing how damaging the material is." Trevor flipped his keys in his hands. "This should have been brought to our attention immediately."
I nodded because I didn't disagree. I was a fucking idiot for thinking I had it under control.
While there weren't a lot of humans that knew about us—luckily, most of the men that attended the events thought it was a wolf fighting ring—there were still enough who knew that it wasn't going to be easy to silence them if things went south.
"Wren will fill you in on the rest later. Let's hope Marcos doesn't die before we’re ready." Trevor nodded at Wren and walked toward the waiting SUV.
"Fuck." I rubbed my forehead, a headache starting to bloom. "What are we going to do?"
"Right now, we need to leave the rest of the agents to clean up the mess here and get some rest. It's been a long few days." Wren put her hand on my back. "Let's go home."
Home.
As excited as that word coming from her lips should have made me feel, it only made me even more worried about what was to come.