Chapter 11 #2
“I didn’t realize you were with your sister. I read the report before SHIT.”
Kalliopi’s eyes widened. “They promised me that only people with high clearance would read that. No one is supposed to be briefed about my secret! And the reason is that I was the first successful science project from Greece. No one under me knows that I’m a stork and Eurasian wolf shifter.
It’s why they haven’t promoted me to a higher rank.
The more prominent my rank, the more visible I am. ”
“Kallie, they granted the clearance because of how delicate SHIT was this year and because of the cadet program. I’m glad you’ve told me now, yourself, but it doesn’t change anything, except…” Stan’s voice broke, and he swallowed hard.
Kalliopi didn’t need Stan to elaborate any further.
It was written all over his face. He didn’t want her anywhere near the mission.
He may have been right about that, but becoming a MILF had been personal for her.
And now Stan planned to sideline her to keep her safe.
The thing was she was a soldier who had seen more than her fair share of battles.
Battles she couldn’t tell him about because all of them were top secret.
“You don’t have the power or position to kick me off this case,” she declared.
“What’s more, it’s my privilege to decide that, if I choose, I’ll be the one to lead us all there.
In fact, I can dictate that it’s too dangerous for the others—Harriet, Carol, Treasure, even you—and lead a raid on wherever Zagan is set up now. ”
“Kallie, I want you involved with the plan to take down Zagan’s cell here, but I’m not sure if I can have you infiltrating the building alone.
It was difficult the first time, years ago, when Carol and Harriet scaled the building and entered through the air ducts because their shifted forms were small enough to do so.
The rest of the building was air-tight. I can’t imagine it will be any easier this time around. ”
“Hey, I’ve been trained by the best. Despite my rank, I’m an excellent soldier. In fact, in some circles, my call sign is TNA: Trustworthy Neutralising Adversary. I promise I’ll be fine.”
Stan raked a hand through his hair and let out a guttural growl. He took several deep breaths but said no more.
“Stan?”
He continued to take deeper breaths.
“Okay, this is now bordering on ridiculous!” Kalliopi refused to hold herself back any longer.
She had no patience for men telling her what to do after they had slept together.
She’d promised herself she wouldn’t let herself fall into this problem again, not after what Jace did to her.
“I let you control me in the bedroom last night—key word there is let! I’m not a woman who will easily be confined to a role you see fit, Dutetre.
So, in case you don’t get what I’m trying to say…
I’m an alpha female, and I do not need your permission to do my job! ”
A growl formed within her belly, and she wanted to let her wolf out, but now wasn’t the time.
She had to get Stan to see things her way, if not in their relationship at least in the field.
Yeah, she was fucked up, all right. Her stork-wolf made her something more abominable than any other experiment.
She could shift as a crossbreed stork-wolf, where her wolf’s ears protruded out the side of her bird head.
The rest of her was all stork. She also had the ability to turn into a regular stork or a Eurasian wolf.
The bastard who did this to her planned on using her as a top-secret soldier himself.
Thankfully, FUC agents got to her, and she was now fighting on the right side.
She couldn’t imagine how things would have turned out if she had become like Ash.
But she’d never wanted anyone to know her secret. She kept it hidden away from the other MILFs. They knew she was a stork shifter, and that was it. If she needed to use her wolf form, she would, but she excelled in stealth and made sure no one ever saw her.
When Stan still refused to say anything, Kalliopi continued.
“Stan, I’m serious! I don’t need protection because I’m very capable of going into battle!
” Her voice was harsher than she wanted it to be, but she refused to back down.
It was one thing to be a Dom in the bedroom, but she wasn’t having him become dominant over her life. Not again. Never again.
He remained still, but now his mouth turned up in a small smirk. “Are you done?” he finally asked.
Kalliopi crossed her arms before responding. “Yes, I’m done.”
“Good. Now, first, it’s clear you’ve had some situations in the past that have made you suspicious of my motives.
As we continue to get to know each other, I hope you’ll feel like opening up to me about them.
But right now, I need you to leave the ghosts of your dating past out of all this, because it has nothing to do with what’s going on right here, right now, with us.
I don’t want you off the case. I just think that you should be utilized for aerial surveillance.
You’ll be able to detect the guards and Zagan’s bull-griffon.
I’ll also need your wolf tracking skills for this mission should Zagan escape, because we have to remember that he's not the type to pass up a chance to get royal blood, meaning Treasure. She needs to be protected at all costs.”
Kalliopi sucked in a breath. “Wait, so what you are trying to say is you need both my stork and my wolf? Okay. That makes more sense than where I was going with everything.”
“Yes, that’s where I was going with all of this. It will be hard to hide that you are a crossbreed, but I will do all I can to keep your secret, if that’s what you want. This way you can get back to being a MILF without blowing your cover. Now that I’ve clarified things, we good?”
“We’re good.”
“Good,” Stan said as he parked the car. “Now let’s get in there and do a proper headcount.”
“Right.”
Kalliopi pulled up her list from her phone as Stan led the charge into the building at a quick pace. Her eyes locked onto Echo’s the minute she caught up with the group.
“We’ve looked everywhere, ma’am, and we can’t find him. We pinged his phone, and the last known location is his dorm.”
Kalliopi’s gaze turned to Stan. “He’s been taken.”
Stan palmed Kalliopi’s shoulders. “We still aren’t sure yet. He could have stepped out without his phone. But if he is missing, we are going to get him back.”
“Can you promise me that?”
“If I could, Kallie, I would. But you know as well as I do these things don’t go down the way we want them to sometimes.”
“I know.”
“But I can promise I’ll do my best.”
“That’s all I can ask for, Stan.” Kalliopi turned to the rest of the cadets. “I’m sure you’ve heard this already, but until further notice, you must remain on campus in your quarters for your safety.”
“Ma’am, yes, ma’am.”
“Dismissed.” Once they were out of earshot, she turned back to Stan.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve decided they will miss classes tomorrow.
It’s just that if Fedor’s phone is in his dorm, that may mean Zagan or his men are posing as students and abducting cadets right from campus.
” Kalliopi let out a long breath and screwed her eyes shut.
“This is all my fault. If I hadn’t messed up during The Talks, none of this would be happening. ”
“You can’t blame yourself for that.”
“I sure can! If I hadn’t made heart eyes at you, I wouldn’t have been so distracted with Zagan during SHIT.
We would have captured him then and not left him free to continue his reign of terror.
” Kalliopi’s eyes widened as the words left her mouth, and she quickly clasped her mouth with her hand.
Heat grew on her cheeks as Stan chuckled.
How could he laugh at a time like this? Kalliopi’s eyes narrowed.
She refused to allow him the upper hand.
“Hey! This is serious. I lost focus and fucked up! Why are you laughing?”
“Heart eyes, huh? Well, good to know I had that effect on you even back then.” He waggled his brows.
She playfully punched his arm. “Come on, Stan, I’m serious.”
“And so am I. This isn’t your fault. It’s all on Zagan, and I’ll be happy to see him behind bars.”
“Is that wise? He’s escaped so many times.”
“What are you implying?”
“That I’m a soldier, not a FUC agent. If you need me to—”
“Kallie, I won’t have you do that. We will collar him. It’s the only way this can end for us all. Revenge is never a good thing. And killing him won’t bring your sister back.”
“Well, when you put it that way, I guess you’re right.”
“Good. Now let’s get some food while we wait for Richard and the girls to get here.”
“I’m not sure I can muster up an appetite…”
“We all have to eat if we want to keep our energy up. Besides, as soon as you smell MMM, your stomach will demand them.”
“What’s MMM?”
“Maude’s Meatless Meatballs. They are the best thing in the cafeteria.”
“I’m not really a fan of vegan stuff, but I’ll try anything once.”
“Right this way.”
Stan guided her across campus and into the line and ordered a plate for each of them. She reached for her wallet, but he was already giving the cashier his ID card.
“My treat. I still feel like I cheated you out of our first date. So I want to make it up to you as best as I can while we are on campus.”
“That’s sweet of you, but unnecessary. However, maybe it’s for the best, anyway.”
Stan visibly stiffened. “Why do you say that?”
“Well, I mean, come on. We enjoy each other’s company, sure.
But trying to make this work is something entirely different.
Aren’t we just kidding ourselves by trying to avoid the inevitable?
Your life is here, and mine is 10,000 kilometers away.
We are fooling ourselves in thinking the distance won’t kill what we have. ”
Stan put down his meatball and placed a palm over Kalliopi’s.
“What makes you think we are kidding ourselves? And since when did you assume my life is here?”
“Because you have a great job here, and your family is here. What else would I think?”
“That I’m up for retirement.”
Kalliopi’s brows shot up her forehead. “I can’t ask you to uproot yourself for me.”
“You’re right, you can’t. But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t considered living in Greece.”
Kalliopi brought a meatball to her mouth and took a huge bite. “These taste even better than they smell, wow!”
“Kallie, yes, all credit to Maude, but our time is limited, so let’s not change the subject. Why does it feel like you’re trying to mark this relationship for failure at every turn? Why is it that you’re so determined to not be open to the possibility of us?”
“Because, the last time I had hope, I was crushed with the reality of how wrong I’d been about the person I chose to give my life to.
” She didn’t want to talk about it, but the more she thought about Stan, the more she wanted to tell him about Jace.
To unburden herself so he could at least know why she had to protect herself so fiercely.
“His name was Jace, and we were in love. Well, at least I was. After six months of dating, we moved in together, and if I’m being honest, from night one of me moving in with him, he wanted to change me.
He insisted I should take a desk job and get out of the military because the military wasn’t lady-like. ”
“This guy seems like he wanted to change everything about you. He sounds like a real piece of work.”
“Yeah, he was a narcissistic asshole who blamed me for his cheating on me in the end. He even kicked me out of my apartment. I was the one who originally had him move in with me.”
A low growl in Stan’s sternum began to vibrate the table. “I’m really not liking this guy now.”
“Well, I left him a year ago. He’s no longer in my life. But I still have trust issues because of it, and I’m sorry for blowing up at you.”
“It’s okay. I understand. And probably more than you know. You remember I told you I was married before, to Jewel’s mother?”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“Well, what I didn’t tell you was that she was always worried that I’d be the one making her a widow, given my line of work.
She was a journalist for a local paper and enjoyed living a mundane life.
Our meet-cute was pretty ordinary, too. We met over a can of peas in the supermarket, and I couldn’t help but ask her out right then and there.
But in the end, I was the one who became a widower.
She died in a traffic accident on her way home from work.
It was a fifteen-car pileup after the first snowstorm that year.
She had no chance of avoiding the accident. ”
“I’m so sorry, Stan.”
“The thing is, when I saw you fall during SHIT, something in me was set off, and all I could think of was getting you the help you needed. And if I’m being completely honest, yeah, part of me wants to protect you now.
I really don’t want you to go after Zagan because I’m terrified of losing you.
What’s worse is I fear what I might do to Zagan if he hurts you again.
Like you, I really don’t think he deserves another chance at rehabilitation.
But if I take the law into my hands, I’m no better than he is.
So I’m sorry if I had you remembering your past with that ass.
And I know I can’t keep you from this mission any more than you can keep me from it. ”
Kalliopi squeezed Stan’s hand.
“Thank you for opening up to me. It means a lot that you trust me this much.”