His Bullied Forced Mate (Belrose Black Ops Wolves #1)

Chapter 1 - Brandon

“Oy, Brandon!” I turned in my chair as I heard my name, looking through the glass doors of my office.

Asher stood in the doorway, leaning against the door.

His light brown hair was cut short, looking like he’d done it himself.

I would comment on it, but I could tell from his face he wasn’t in the mood for me to give him shit.

“Yes?” I asked, leaning back in my chair slightly, hearing it creak. “Or did you just come in to admire my office again?”

He rolled his eyes. “You know fully well the only reason you have an office is that you sign our checks.”

He had me there. I didn’t even use the space often, just occasionally when I had paperwork that needed to be done for the uppers. Asher stepped through the doorway, throwing himself onto my couch in the corner. I had redecorated the space, knowing that the guys would come in anyway.

“Speaking of checks, you wanna slide a raise in there for me?”

I snorted, rolling my eyes. “Asher, I have actual work I need to get done. So if you could get to your point.”

Asher made a face. “You’re no fun.”

I glanced at my paper, signing my name. “And you look like you let Kaleb come at you with a pair of scissors.”

“What?” Asher pulled a hand up, running it over his hair. “My hair looks great.”

I laughed. “Okay.”

“You’re an asshole, you know that?”

“At least I look good.”

“What are you doing?” A new voice spoke up, and we both turned to the door.

Chelsey, our boss, stood in the doorway.

She had her arms crossed, her left foot tapping as she glared at us.

She was a petite woman with auburn hair, but we knew better than to let that fool us.

There was a reason she was the boss, and everyone knew it.

“What are we doing?” I asked, tilting my head. “Did you need me?”

Chelsey scowled, her viper eyes flicked to Asher, who stiffened in his position. “I sent him in here to get you for the meeting, but it seems he didn’t listen when I said it was urgent.”

“I was getting there,” Asher said, smiling at her. “You can’t stay mad at me.”

Her black eyes narrowed, and Asher snapped up quickly. “Chelsey told me to get you.” And like a child, he moved, zooming past Chelsey and out of the room. Chelsey turned her sharp eyes onto me.

“I was working,” I stated, waving a hand over my desk and all the paperwork.

“You run your team softly. I wouldn’t have this problem if someone else were in charge of them.”

I scowled. “You just hate that they listen to me better than you.”

She sighed, placing her hands on her hips. “We have an urgent matter to discuss.”

I tossed my pen down. “You should know by now to send Kaleb when you need to get me. Asher is not a quick person.”

She rolled her eyes. “I thought by now your team would know their place. You’ve been working under me for three years now.”

I pulled myself up. I loomed over Chelsey, but it didn’t seem to bother her. She simply looked up at me. She turned and started into the hallway, and I followed her.

I glanced outside the window across the open space, taking in a shitty day. It was rainy outside and clearly windy. Thunder rumbled, and it could be felt even on the third floor of a building.

We stopped once we got to a couple of doors.

They were all meeting rooms, and the door to the left was open.

We entered, and I found my crew was already there.

Asher was sitting in the chair closest to the door.

Next to him was Westley, who yawned, looking tired.

I imagined he was since he was working nights right now.

Kaleb, my best and oldest friend, sat across the table with an empty chair next to him. I walked over, pulling the chair out, and sat down. Kaleb looked at me and smirked. “I told her to send me to grab you.”

A small smirk pulled at my lips as Chelsey walked around the table, going toward the whiteboard.

She turned her projector on and grabbed the clicker that sat on the table.

I would almost laugh at how this probably looked.

A group of large guys, all sitting around a table with a woman who was hardly five feet tall.

“Alright, now that everyone is here.” She glared at Asher for a second longer than each of us, and I held back a laugh. “I’d like to get this started.”

She flicked the projector on, and the screen opened to a huge outline of information that we had all helped build. In the middle was the words Wolf Hunter in big bold letters. I stared at the screen, knowing where this conversation was heading.

We had been debriefing about them for almost two years now.

All of us had worked hard, training and striving to do our best, because we had seen firsthand what they could accomplish.

We’d seen photos and the crime scene. We’d watched videos from victims’ cameras, and Kaleb and I had personally spoken to a hunter.

It was short before he grabbed a knife and slit his throat, gurgling that he would never tell us where everyone was.

The organization had been tracking this group for years before us. It began with a minor crime, the scene appearing to be an accident. But soon dots started connecting. Bite marks appeared more often, and the people were all shifters.

A shiver ran down my spine thinking about the hunter we had brought in.

Kaleb and I were only maybe a month into our roles.

We had been walking down the hallway and stopped when we neared the window.

A small man sat there. His arms were cuffed behind him, and he held a mischievous smile on his face.

And then his fangs poked out. He looked like a cold-blooded killer.

Another group had been interrogating him. They had beaten him, starved him, and tried to offer him anything to get information. The organization was on high alert since he was the first to be caught. But he didn’t give anything away.

“This again,” Asher asked, sounding irritated suddenly. I snapped my attention back to the meeting. “Didn’t we have a meeting about this last week?” he added, leaning back in his chair.

Chelsey glared at him. “We have new information as another crime scene arrived.”

She clicked to the next screen, and we all stared at a crime photo.

It was of a kitchen, blood was splattered all over the tile floor and up the cream colored walls.

There was a woman’s body that lay on the ground, bruises covered her neck and down her arms. You could tell she had fought but still lost in the end.

Dishes were shattered on the floor, and a knife sat next to her hands.

A bite mark was on one side of her neck, and a chunk of her neck was removed from the other. I swallowed, clenching my teeth.

“Who was she?” Kaleb asked, tapping his fingers on the table. A sign that he was uncomfortable.

“Rose Paulson. She was an accountant for a firm. She never arrived at work, and a friend went over and found her like this.”

“Fuck,” Westley said, shaking his head. “That’s a nightmare to see.”

“Why the blood splatter?” Asher asked as he waved a hand. “These are vampires, so why the waste?”

“Different killers,” I said, turning to Asher. “Two bites.” I tapped my neck on each side. “One bite to suck blood, and the other bite to rip the neck out.”

“Brandon is correct.” She clicked her clicker, and the photo changed to two mug shots. A woman and a man. I scowled.

“This is Vivian and Vicker. They are a married couple that we have identified as part of the group. We know that each person generally moves alone, but they work together. We’ve had a few crimes with them, but they are becoming more frequent.”

“Do we have a number on how large this group is yet?” I asked.

Chelsey frowned, sadness flickering over her face. “We don’t know.”

“How the hell do we not know?” Westley asked. “We’ve been dealing with this for two fucking years.”

“Because they don’t move together as a group, Westley. And they are growing. They are becoming bolder, and we have intel they are planning to make their first big win.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

Chelsey clicked, flipping the photos to a town. My entire body froze, and Kaleb’s eyes widened. “They want to make a base camp.”

“Where is this?” Asher asked, waving a hand.

Kaleb shook his head, slamming his hand down onto the table. “No!” he snapped, swinging out of his chair. “What the fuck is this?”

“You all know Agent Reece has been working hard to get intel and has an in. He overheard a member saying that they were ready to move into a location that suited their needs. This is the location they chose.”

Kaleb threw his hands through his hair, and Asher and Westley looked at me, confused. “We know this is pretty shitty news, but why the sudden emotions? It’s not as if it’s going to happen. We’ve stopped a lot from happening.”

Chelsey’s face pinched together. “It could. They have the upper hand, and since we don’t know their numbers…anything can happen. Which is why I’m sending you guys.”

“Are you serious right now?” Kaleb turned, snapping at Chelsey. I curled my hands into fists as I stared at the picture.

“Kaleb, walk,” I snapped, pointing toward the door. Kaleb stood frozen for a moment before storming out, slamming the door behind him. Asher and Westley looked at me.

I took a deep breath before I sighed. “That’s our hometown.”

Asher’s eyebrows went up. “Shit, seriously?”

I nodded. “Yeah, we both have family there. Neither of us has really been home since we left.”

Chelsey looked at me, and I scowled as I locked eyes with her. “You could have warned us rather than throwing it up on a screen like it’s not a problem.”

Chelsey frowned. “I didn’t have time. This just arrived, and we need to get you guys moving.”

I tried to keep my anger calm, but it was hard. I hadn’t been home, but that didn’t mean I had stopped caring about it. I left for a reason, and it was to keep people safe, not this.

“You and Kaleb are due to arrive tomorrow. You have an hour to pack what you need to get on the plane.”

“Wait a second, you’ll only be sending them?” Westley waved his hands. “How the hell does that make sense? We’re all part of the same crew, and we should all go.”

“You and Asher are going to be going, but I want them to get themselves settled first. We already had a group out there setting up cameras and surveillance around the town. You guys will be in charge of watching outside of their town.”

The door opened, and Kaleb walked back into the room, looking calmer. You could see the anger still swimming in his eyes, and his fists were white as he sat down. He glared at me for a moment before looking back at Chelsey.

“And I presume you want us to keep this news to ourselves?”

Chelsey nodded. “This is undercover, so no one can know why you’re there.

At least not at first.” Chelsey clicked, moving the picture to a large map of the town.

There were red lines marked to show the town boundaries.

“We have everything mapped out, but we are moving out so we can see outside the town lines. Asher and Westley, you will be leading the charge in the woods. Brandon is still in charge of the entire operation. Once you guys land, I’ll send you the next steps. ”

Everyone nodded, and I felt my stomach dip. I hadn’t been home since I left. Sure, I’d called home on occasion and given shitty excuses as to why I couldn’t come home for the holidays. My folks knew I was doing something with my life, but they didn’t know what, just that I was busy.

“Good luck,” Chelsey said, her lips forming a thin line. “This operation is big. The biggest you’ve had. Everything is coming to a head.”

Chelsey left the room, and Kaleb looked at me. “When do we leave?”

“An hour.” I rubbed a hand over my eyes and sighed.

I turned to Asher and Westley. “You guys should get ready since I’m sure you’ll be leaving in a few days after us.

I want you two to do a detailed search around the woods and anything that has been set up.

We don’t want any holes for them to slip through. ”

“Have you guys seriously not been home since you started here?” Asher asked, looking a little surprised by this.

I didn’t like to think about how I got here, or who got me here. It was messy, and I didn’t like having that in my life. Kaleb didn’t speak, so I nodded. “Yeah.”

I looked at Kaleb, knowing he was thinking about his folks. I also knew he was thinking about his sister. The very woman I rejected and ran from. The very woman I was likely going to have to see. My past was going to be there, and I would have to deal with it.