Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Wren
It nearly killed me when Zayn got shot in the arm as I watched helplessly from the top of a container. I'd almost let my emotions rule and lunged from my hiding spot before the opportune time but had reminded myself that I was no good if I had a bullet between my eyes.
Everything had happened so fast that my brain was still catching up. Or maybe it was because there was a great white shark just chilling right in front of one of the men who had jumped in the water to save Zayn.
The shark was all sharp teeth, remnants of blood still evident, but that didn't seem to faze the man. Nope. The man reached out and stroked the shark between the eyes.
"You three aren't human." I couldn't take my eyes off the scene in front of me as the shark nuzzled into the man's chest like a fucking puppy.
"No. We're not. I'm Morgan." He held out his hand for me to shake.
"Wren." I was almost certain they were tritons, which explained the scent that was wafting off them. I didn't know what I had been expecting, but it wasn't three very attractive men wearing suits or playing shark whisperer.
"Your friend here passed out." Morgan squatted down and shook Zayn's shoulder. "His arm is still bleeding from taking a hit."
Tucking the blanket around me, I knelt next to Zayn and rolled him onto his back as Sullivan came to join me. Someone had freed his hands, but he still had the collar around his neck.
"I have some extra clothes on the boat. Let me grab them." Morgan jogged toward the boat, disappearing onto it.
"Can we trust them?" Sullivan whispered, smoothing the hair back out of Zayn's eyes.
"I think so… unless they were really planning on buying wolves." I didn't trust them enough to let them see me heal Zayn, but I didn't have a lot of options. "Make sure the blanket covers us."
I lay down on top of Zayn, and Sullivan helped me adjust the blanket. Grabbing Zayn's arm, I let my touch begin to heal him. It wasn't as severe a wound as Sullivan had, but it was still going to take a lot out of me.
"What is she doing?" Morgan was back with an arm full of clothes.
"Uh… skin to skin contact helps our kind heal faster." Sullivan's hand stroked the back of my neck, and I felt a surge of energy pour into me. That was new and made me feel like I had an unlimited amount of power at my disposal.
Sullivan sighed, and I turned my head to watch him as he laid down next to us, his hand still on the back of my neck. "Keep doing what you're doing. I'm fine."
"Well, I'll leave you three to do whatever it is you're doing." Morgan dropped the clothes next to us and went to talk to his friend.
"Where's Kingston?" I'd been so focused on taking out Marcos that I hadn't seen where he'd gone.
"He ran with his sister." Sullivan moved in under the blanket so that his skin made more contact with the both of us. "Where's Trevor? I thought they were right behind us?"
"Everything happened so fast, they might not have had time to get into position." Things could have turned out a lot differently if the tritons hadn't been the ones meeting with Marcos. "Can you believe mermen saved us?"
"We're not mermen." The guy that was in the water was leaning on the dock, his eyes narrowed.
I wanted to ask him so many questions, but just as Zayn's wound fully healed, vehicle doors slammed behind us. Zayn jolted awake, and I glanced back to see it was the coalition. Better late than never.
Zayn's eyes fluttered open, and he let out a soft groan, rolling his hips under me. "Mm. Wrenny C. I could get used to waking up like this."
"Zayn. We're in the middle of a dock." I cupped his cheek. "Are you okay?"
As if suddenly remembering what had happened, his eyes snapped toward the water, and he let out a sigh of relief. "I must have lost a lot of blood because I could have sworn... holy shit!"
He scrambled to get up, knocking me on top of Sullivan, who let out a pained groan when my knee connected with his dick.
Zayn had gotten to his feet and stumbled farther away from the water as if the shark was going to jump out and grab him while he was three feet away from the edge.
"Bubba isn't going to hurt you." The guy that had been in the water was ringing out his suit jacket and shirt, his impressive body on full display.
"Bubba? The shark has a name?" Sullivan got to his feet and stuck out his hand. "I'm Sullivan and this is Wren. The one freaking out about your shark is Zayn."
"Jax. And yes, he's my shark." Jax shrugged as if it was every day he shared he had a shark friend. "I apologize for not saying anything sooner about us not being here to buy wolves. We first heard about this Marcos guy a few weeks ago on the dark web."
"Wren." Kingston's voice cracked from behind me, and I spun around, nearly colliding with him.
He wrapped his arms around me, his face going straight to his favorite spot buried against my neck and hair. He was shaking so badly that his teeth were chattering.
I stroked his back, letting him cling to me for support. "Where's your sister? Is she okay?"
"She's in one of the SUVs now. She's fine, thankfully." He pulled back, his eyes searching my face and then my body before he looked over to where Zayn and Sullivan were talking with Jax and his two friends. "They aren't human."
"Nope. They didn't say they were tritons, but I'm pretty sure they are. They definitely don't smell human." I picked the blanket up off the ground and wrapped it around myself. "Are you okay?"
He grabbed a pair of shorts from the ground and pulled them on. "I'm... I don't know what I am if I'm being honest."
Securing the blanket so it wouldn't fall off, I took his hand and led him to join the others. The coalition agents had gotten to work securing the area and started to clean up the carnage.
"I'm Blake." The third triton who hadn't introduced himself shook our hands.
Morgan clapped him on the shoulder. "We should get going before we have our balls handed to us for being out so late."
"Councilman Huron, Admiral West." Trevor joined our little circle and shook hands with Blake, Jax, and then Morgan. "I'm sorry, I never caught your name."
"Call me Daddy Wade. King of diapers and naps." Morgan grinned.
Trevor lifted an eyebrow and put his hands on his hips. "I'll need a report sent to me tomorrow by noon detailing your involvement in this."
"I'll need a report on my desk as well." Jax's jaw ticked as he and Trevor had a stare-off. "This is the second incident in the last several months where we've become increasingly concerned about land shifters bringing attention to our world."
"You underestimate how difficult it is for land shifters to stay hidden." Trevor turned to me. "Wren, a word."
He walked away from the group, and I followed. Was this where he decided he didn't like how the situation was handled and took us all in?
I wasn't going to let him have the first word. "You were supposed to be right behind us. What if it had been someone else trying to buy them?"
Ignoring my question, he ran a hand over his face, suddenly looking exhausted. "Your duties are done here, Wren. Go home."
I hesitated and then nodded. "Take care of yourself, Trevor. Working twenty-four-seven isn't a life at all."
With that, I turned and headed back toward my men. Now I was no longer working for the coalition and the threat from Marcos was handled, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders that I hadn't even known was there.
What started as just another undercover assignment had turned into so much more. As soon as I'd stopped running to see what I'd been missing, I found myself. A fox and her wolves.