8. Finley
Finley
Yawning, I stretched out, cursing when my hand punched into something hard.
I opened my eyes to see that I was still in the bunker in the middle of the woods in New York state.
It took me a moment to go over everything, confused as to why my brain was so fuzzy about the details, but once my memories fell into place, I shot up and out of the bunk, heart racing.
How long has it been since I fell asleep?
Margaret! I still need to call her and explain what happened.
Grabbing the phone, I called the secure line.
I immediately realized I couldn’t stand still; there was way too much anxiety-driven adrenaline coursing through me right now.
I climbed out of pace, starting to pace as the phone rang.
“Nature’s Healing Wellness Retreat and Spa, this is Tiffany. How may I help you?” a chipper voice answered.
“I would like to inquire about the ebony package; I was told Margaret was the one to speak with,” I answered, giving the necessary code phrase.
“One moment. Can I have your name?”
“Foxtrot-seven-nine-five.” The line went dead for a moment before it started to ring once more.
“Finley, what the fuck happened? Did you really blow up the house and let Delilah get away?” Margaret asked in a voice as cold as steel.
I took a deep breath through my nose, needing to keep a level head considering how furious Margaret was.
Margaret never swore, so she only did that when she was about ready to send you to a week of isolation in the small basement cell to think about what you did wrong.
“Matters were worse than we thought, ma’am.
As you stated when you gave me the job, I had to improvise for the best outcome. ”
“You’re telling me the best outcome was this?” Margaret demanded.
“The info that Maxwell gave us was only the tip of the iceberg. I walked into a situation that would have made matters worse between you and the Senate. If I‘d allowed things as Delilah intended, I would have been responsible for the death of innocent supernaturals too. I had to destroy the property because they had my prints and other information about me that couldn’t get out,” I explained.
A sound that I would have qualified as a growl came out of Margaret, surprising me. “Something tells me the Senate didn’t give me all the correct information so that they could take you out and keep this situation under wraps.”
“That would be unwise of them, seeing as Delilah is part of an underground organization that believes they have every right to embrace their animalistic side. It seems that Delilah is just foolish and far too open about it. She had a bodyguard with her at all times—a silverback gorilla,” I said, going into further detail.
“I will be sure to share all that with the Senate when I speak to them. As for you, we can send evac to you in a few hours. I would much rather have you where I can keep an eye on you than stranded out in the woods when the Senate learns about all this.”
“There’s one more thing that you should know,” I ventured, knowing this was the moment everything would change for better or worse.
“Well, spit it out,” Margaret ordered. “It’s not like you to need me to draw it out of you.”
“I’ve been bitten—by a werewolf… an omega.”
The silence on the other end was deafening, telling me all I needed to know. My time with the Organization was over.
“That can’t be possible. There is no way that you could have been changed from the bite of an omega,” Margaret blurted. “What makes you believe it was an omega that bit you?”
“Because I talked to him and he told me. I was his Mistress for the weekend, and he had to answer any request.” I didn’t understand why this was so odd.
Wasn’t it common knowledge that if you got bit, you changed?
To me, that was just common sense. Or at least according to what I knew of shifters.
What made Cory so special that Margaret, of all people, was reacting this way?
“Still, it shouldn’t have changed you. Are you certain that you’re a shifter now?” Margaret pressed.
“Yes, ma’am. I was mauled by a panther shifter, but I healed overnight, not a scratch on me once I woke up. Then there’s the reaction that I had to the alpha I spoke to on the phone...”
“Stop, go back. Did you say you spoke to an alpha? Why would you do that, Finley? We could have protected you!” Margaret yelled, causing me to flinch at her disapproving tone.
As the one person I’d looked up to all my life, hearing her so upset with my choice gutted me. What other choice had I really had?
Pulling the phone away, I took a moment to settle my nerves before I answered.
“The omega who bit me ended up getting killed. Before he died, he told me to find his brother, said he would protect me. It’s the law.
The shifter’s pack must take responsibility for the person their packmate bit.
How could I get the Organization in more trouble with the Senate than I already have? ”
“You foolish, foolish girl. I might have been able to protect you from the world of the supernatural and let you have a normal life, but you’ve thrown that all away.
” Margaret sighed, suddenly sounding so tired.
“Since you have made your choice, know that once you leave the safehouse, you are no longer a member of the Organization. We will not be responsible for you. For all intents and purposes, you will be dead to us. Never contact this place again, and if you do, know that you risk death.”
My heart clenched at her words. I knew this might be the outcome, but what choice did I have? If the Senate caught me, it wouldn’t just be me that was affected. The Organization had given me a home, a purpose. I owed them this attempt at protecting them.
“Understood, ma’am. And since it will be the last time we speak, please know I am grateful for all you have taught me,” I whispered, unable to keep my voice strong in this moment.
There was a pause before I heard Margaret take a breath.
“Finley, you truly were one of our finest, a rarity in this line of work. You might be dead to the Organization, but you are not dead to me. You know how to get ahold of me if you need to, but I will stress that the need must be great indeed to ask for that favor.”
“Thank you, Margaret, I will keep that in mind… Goodbye,” I said, closing my eyes as the line went dead.
There was no turning back now. Everything I’d ever known and once was… was now over. After I took a few moments to collect myself, I called the alpha again.
“Finley, is that you?” Colt asked, sounding much less upset than he had the last time we’d talked.
“Yes, alpha,” I answered immediately, feeling the need to keep him from getting upset with me again.
I could hear other voices in the background of the call as I waited for him to tell me where he wanted me to meet them.
“Do you have a vehicle?” Colt asked. “Some way to meet us somewhere? Or do we need to come get you from where you’re hiding out?”
“No, alpha, I have a dirtbike that I can use. I’m about three hours away from New York City. If it’s easier, I can come to you—”
“Absolutely not, Finley. You will not enter that city without us there with you, do you hear me? You might not be a full omega yet since you haven’t had your first shift, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t be taken like Cory was,” Colt snapped, causing me to let out a whine and hunch low.
I could hear someone else yelling at him not to be an ass, then the phone was taken from him once again. “Finley, it’s Lane. Are you alright? Did you get some rest like I told you to?”
“I did, alpha,” I said, answering his direct question even though I felt the need to tell him that I was most assuredly not ‘alright.’
Lane grunted his approval. “Good. Now, we’re going to drive out to meet you. Are you familiar enough with the area to know of somewhere quiet for us all to meet?”
Taking a moment to think about where I was and the maps I had looked at, I figured the small town an hour away might be the best place to meet. “There’s a small town called Merryville. It’s off the main highway and easy to find. There’s a diner I can meet you at if you think that’s best.”
“That sounds perfect. Give me a moment to see how long it will take us to get there…”
“An hour and fifteen minutes if you go the speed limit and the traffic isn’t too bad in the city. Since it’s a Sunday and there’s no work traffic, it might even be less than that,” I answered, feeling the uncontrollable need to ease his worries about the situation.
Silence greeted me on the other end before I heard a snort from someone trying to cover a laugh. “Who is this chick?”
“Fuck off, Zander,” Lane barked, making me yelp.
Lane groaned, and I heard him walking away from whoever was still laughing.
“I’m sorry, Finley. I didn’t mean to use my bark around you.
We’ll meet you where you suggested in what sounds like two hours or less.
Zander and Colt both have a lead foot, so I don’t think we’ll be going the speed limit. ”
“Alright, I’ll meet you there. I only have MREs here, so I think I’ll leave soon.
That way, I can eat and be ready to leave once you all arrive…
unless you all need to eat as well. I am more than happy to wait for you to arrive if you want to eat,” I offered, feeling uneasy about assuming I could do that without their approval.
“No, Finley. If you’re hungry, you need to eat. A new wolf burns a lot of energy. It’s important that you don’t get too hungry because it can make you irritable and more likely to bite or scratch someone, and we can’t have that,” Lane instructed.
I didn’t want to disagree with the alpha, but I wondered if a normal wolf’s experience would apply to me since Margaret said I shouldn’t have even been changed by Cory’s bite. Before I could say anything, a new voice came over the phone.
“My, my, are we coming to get an omega?” the voice purred.
A shiver went down my back—not one of fear, but a feeling that I hadn’t felt in such a long time.
We trained ourselves to be in control of our desires so that they couldn’t be used to sway us.
On more than one occasion, I’d had to use my body to lure someone in close enough to kill them, and to allow yourself to get lost in the charade was dangerous.
So when heat flared in my chest at the sound of his voice, it caught me off guard.
“I don’t know how to answer that, alpha. Are you coming with alphas Colt and Lane?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even.
A soft chuckle drifted along my ear. “Yes, I’ll be arriving with them to get you.”
“Then yes,” I said, going back to his original question, refusing to give in to the need to bare my neck to this man with a voice of velvet.
“These boys always seem to have a surprise up their sleeves. I’ll see you soon, my little dove,” he murmured before the line went dead.
Dropping the phone to my side, I slumped into one of the chairs, then leaned forward to rest my head on the table. What the hell had I gotten myself into? Now I wasn’t dealing with just one alpha, but three! How big was this pack of theirs to need so many men keeping it in line?
I had sealed my fate already. There was no turning back time to avoid facing the choices I’d made.