Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
My wolf was restless. Lying next to the woman I already knew owned me.
Body and soul, I decided to stretch my legs and maybe let my wolf out.
Knowing I could become a furry beast and accepting it was becoming easier with each passing second.
I slid out of bed, admiring Lyric’s naked form.
My body responded to the sight of her luscious curves.
The thought of sliding between her thighs and waking my mate back up almost had me doing just that.
A feeling that something wasn’t right made me turn away and dress in record time.
Easing out into the hallway, I turned back toward the door, wishing there was a way to bar it, other than breaking the lock.
I dismissed the option because I didn’t want to prevent Lyric from getting out in an emergency.
My wolf scratched at my mind, wanting to be let out.
I allowed the beast to surface, just enough to help me navigate the halls I’d never been in.
The dimly lit walkways inclined as if they were leading back toward the surface a bit.
I came to a halt outside a huge steel door where another state-of-the-art keypad was located.
The camera showed me several men in camo searching around the surface near the entrance.
Rage threatened to consume me at the thought of them breaking into the safe house where my mate and I were sleeping.
I punched in the code Lyric had used to access the other door, unimpressed when the thick door’s bolts could be heard unlocking.
My wolf’s hearing picked up the men above moving down the hidden entrance toward me.
Making sure I locked the door behind me, I let more of my beast out, preparing to meet them.
I’d protect what was mine, and the people behind me were mine, especially Lyric, my mate.
“Hello, boys. Can I help you?” I asked, my voice more gravelly with the wolf half of me taking up residence.
Four men skidded to a halt on the wet leaves, their camo proving they’d planned to blend into the foliage.
“We only want to talk to the leader.” One of the men held a black nightstick, tapping it against his thigh.
I grunted. “And you thought sneaking around in the dark would get you an audience with the alpha, much less would get you a sit-down that didn’t include him beating your ass?” I kept to the shadows, knowing they couldn’t see my face or the fact that I’d partially shifted.
“We were told if we proved ourselves, they’d allow us to become one of them.” A younger man said hesitantly.
The man with the long rod knocked it against his thigh, and a crackling sound reached my ears.
With speed, I struck the man closest to me in the throat, lifting him into my arms and launching him at the man with the nightstick.
The youngest of the group must have seen their leaders go down and reached for his own Taser.
Hating to hurt the young man, I backhanded him.
I felt a shock hit me in the back and twisted to see the last man standing.
A look of triumph split the assholes face.
I ripped the prongs out of my back, pulling the attacker to me. The man began to struggle, jerking a knife from his belt faster than I expected.
“I thought this was supposed to be a…gathering intel mission,” he spat. “But it’s you or me, asshole.” The knife swung in a wide arc, slicing into my chest. The burn left in its wake was minimal, only enraged me more than anything.
“Ah, little man, they should’ve sent more than pups in after the big boys,” I taunted, letting the man see my contorted face for the first time. “Now, you will take me to the men who sent you.”
The faint scent of urine hit my nostrils. “What are you?”
I grabbed the zip ties from the man’s belt, shaking my head at the absurdity, and tied him up. I then checked for a pulse on the two unconscious men, and the youngest one, who couldn’t be more than a teen. “How did you get recruited?” I asked.
When the only conscious one didn’t answer, I squatted down and looked him in the eyes, pulling my wolf back so I faced him as a man.
“Listen, I didn’t know anything about shifters until I was attacked outside a bar a couple of nights ago.
I think the men who sent you after me are the ones who did it.
If we work together, maybe we can stop another from being hurt, or worse, killed. ”
His voice shook. “You aren’t going to kill me?”
I took a deep breath, wishing I didn’t have to smell the man’s piss, but no scent of lies permeated the air. I’d been good at telling if someone was lying before I’d been changed. Now I had an added helper. “As long as you tell me the truth and don’t try to hurt those I care for? No.”
With a jerk of his head, the younger man nodded.
I slung two bodies over one shoulder, the other I dragged up the incline, shaking at the knowledge they’d come so close to where I’d been sleeping with Lyric.
At the top, I looked back and forth, waiting for the kid to indicate which way they’d left their vehicle.
“I can’t remember which way we came.”
My heightened senses smelled no untruth. The two men shifted in my arms, and I made a snap decision. I’d picked up their Tasers and shoved them into the waistband of my pants. Dropping them, I tasered the first one and then the others, making sure none would wake up.
Signs of the men’s trek were visible to me as I looked closer.
I wasn’t sure if they were amateurs or if it was all a setup.
The men from the bar were much more organized and a lot tougher than the four I’d faced here.
I looked at the kid again, a growl rising in my chest. “Boy, you’d better start being straight with me, or I’ll rip your fucking throat out and shit down your neck.
” My beast pushed to the front, needing to protect what was mine.
“We were told where to find this hidden place. Our job was just to come and see if it was really here. You shocked us all when you came out of there.”
No change in his scent. Either the guy was a good liar, or he was telling the truth. A sudden rush of power washed over me, making me smile. Kellen wasn’t one for subtlety, although I didn’t hear the other man until he was almost on top of us. Something not many people could do.
“What’s doin boys?” Kellen’s deep rumble filled the night air.
The young kid dropped to his knees. Even non-shifters couldn’t fight an alpha’s power. Kellen’s right brow lifted as I stood my ground.
“I felt something was off and went to investigate. What I found was these yahoos.” I explained what had happened after I’d opened the door.
Had the men I’d tasered still been conscious, Kellen would have probably beaten them down with his fist and claws.
His fingernails lengthened to deadly black claws, igniting fear in the only man who could give the answers they needed.
“What’s your name, and if you lie or do anything I don’t like, I will cut you.” Kellen brought his claws up for him to see.
Audibly swallowing, sweat dripping down his brow, he opened his mouth then shut it.
“You think I won’t?” Kellen lifted his arm that had shifted into more wolf than man. “They weren’t lying. You’re really a wolfman?”
“Oh, yeah. Wanna see how big my teeth are?” Kellen smiled, flashing fangs much larger than a human’s.
“Mike. My name is Mike. I thought this was a recon, not a capture or whatever, man. I swear. I didn’t sign up for this, and they promised us backup.”
“Who promised you these things, Mike?” Kellen asked, his wolf back under the skin.
I was impressed by how easily the alpha shifted. “My fraternity.”
I looked at the downed men and then at Mike. “That doesn’t make sense, Kellen. This kid looks young enough, but these guys…” I said, thinking about waking one of them. “They’re too old to be in college.”
“Listen, you little fuck, I’m done playing games. Do you know you can live without a dick? They’ll call you a eunuch, or a chick, but I don’t give two fucks what you’re called. Last chance.” Kellen grabbed the kid by the throat, easily lifting him off the ground.
My ears picked up the sound of approaching men. My body stilled as I half shifted. “Kellen, we got company coming at us from the east.”
“That would be Xan and the boys.”
I wondered how Kellen knew but assumed it had to do with their sense of smell. Yeah, I was still getting used to the whole wolf thing.
“Please tell me you aren’t swinging for our team now, Alpha.” Xan came up like a silent wraith. I was sure he was with the men I’d heard coming from the east, only he spoke right next to the downed men, coming out of the woods from the west.
“When I drop this kid, I’ll shove something up your ass if you want, Xan.” There was no heat to either of their words, letting me know they joked with each other all the time.
“Guys, I really don’t want anything up my ass. I’m sorry I came here. I swear it. I don’t know what’s real or fake. I feel like pieces are missing.”
Truth. I could hear it and wasn’t sure what to make of it. “The guys who tried to take Lyric were very organized. I’d say they had the ability to wash these guys. That’s what this seems like to me.” I stopped at the questioning looks on the men’s faces. “That means they are disposable.”
“Ah, shit. You’re military. Have you seen this before?” Xan asked and pulled the larger man, who had started to wake.
“I thought you killed this one.”
“Coti, did you go to medical school?” Kellen asked.
“Does fucking a chick while she was in nursing school count?” Xan punched the man named Coti.
“If it worked that way, I’d be every fucking profession known to man, and some that haven’t even been created yet.” The bald man had a few inches on both the alpha and Xan, yet he tilted his head as if thinking. “So you’re saying you’re a manwhore?”
“I’m saying you are a dumbass. However, I won’t deny having my fair share of women.”
“Can we get back to the matter at hand, children? Namely, who wants to kill the boy here for lying to me? I’ve met my quota for the week, and I’ve got two women waiting on me back at my place. I don’t need blood on my hands when I slide between them.” Kellen held the young man out as if offering.
“Fine, give him to me. I’ll do it.” Coti held his hand out.
I wondered if they were seriously going to kill the kid and the other guys. I’d skated the line in the military, but here at home, I wasn’t sure I could turn a blind eye. Insta-wolf didn’t make me lose my moral values.
“Alpha, I found their vehicle. They’ve got a tracker, too.”
“Good job, Wyck.” I was having a hard time keeping track of all the men emerging from the woods. I hadn’t even sensed the huge African American man Kellen called Wyck. My ghost team would kick me out without a backward glance.
“Don’t beat yourself up, bro. Nobody can hear Wyck except for the Alpha,” Coti explained. “Am I killing the kid or what? I need pussy, and I don’t see any here, so let’s get this done.” The man shook his head, and, in moments, he’d shifted to the thing of nightmares. Half man, half wolf.
“Fuck, I hate when he does that. You know that’s what they based the movie An American Werewolf in London off of, right?” Wyck crossed his arms over his chest.
Kellen growled. “Coti, you got babysitting duty for the kid. Wyck, you get to carry the douche nozzles back to their vehicles. Let’s see what happens when they get back inside. Any word on Taya?”
“Wait. There was a woman. I remember a woman with long red hair and tattoos. They had her chained to a bed. I asked about her, but the boss said she was into BDSM and not to worry about it. Only she looked scared, and her screams didn’t sound like ones of pleasure.”
Like this kid knew anything about giving a woman pleasure.
At his words, Xan knocked the boy out of Kellen’s hands, making him fall to the ground with a thud.
The ferocity of the act startled the alpha so much that he fell on his back as Xan wrapped his hands around the throat of the kid.
I feared my mate’s brother would kill him before we could find out what the hell was going on.
Who Taya was to Xan was a mystery to me as well.
Shit, this was a clusterfuck. I needed my own team I could trust.
A big hand landed on my shoulder. “You can trust us. I know this is a lot to take in, but we’re your family now.” Wyck nodded toward the men on the ground.
Kellen grunted, then jerked Xan up and off the kid. “We need him alive, jack-off.”
“If he knows where Taya is, then I’ll beat it out of him.” Xan’s voice sounded more wolf than human.
“If you kill the little fucker, he won’t be able to tell us shit, so get control, or I will.” Kellen’s power lashed out—even I turned my neck along with Xan. The other wolves dropped down to one knee until Kellen pulled back.
“Fuck me running. I hate when you do that shit, man,” Wyck complained.
“Taya’s not my mate, so get that outta your head.
She’s seeing a dude whose family isn’t all that accepting of her.
I was just an ear these last few months.
Yes, I fucked her a few times a long time ago, but it’s been a very long time.
Now, let’s move this circus along.” Xan brushed the dirt and leaves off his clothes.
“I know where the house is. I’ll show you,” Mike said.
“Kid, you tell us, and we’ll go there. If you’re screwing around, I’ll let Coti kill you slowly.” Kellen spoke as if he were commenting on the sky being blue.
With chattering teeth, the young man held out his hands. “I only know how to get there, not how to tell you how to get there. I mean, that doesn’t make sense, but I can see it in my head, I just can’t…I don’t know how to tell you.”
Kellen looked up through the towering trees, looking for what I wasn’t sure, but I wished they’d figure this out because I wanted to get back to my mate.