by Hannah Lin
My entire body stiffened. Surely Carter wouldn’t kidnap a
bunch of innocent humans and expose the shifter world?
The
humans
grossly
outnumbered
earth’s
shifter
community, which lived in secret after an attempt at
revealing their existence a few hundred years ago ended in
severe bloodshed.
“Mabos is full of shifters, so we can't use humans,” Carter
continued, as relief flooded my chest. At least Carter's
mission wouldn’t ruin centuries of peace. “But don't worry.
We located a shifter community nearby. I'm sure there will
be plenty of families. We're looking for two children between
the ages of ten and twelve. Basically, up to Gerald's thigh,
and my knee,” Carter joked.
The group laughed, but I wrinkled my nose as a sour tang
filled my mouth. When Maddie told me that Carter used
children as couriers, I'd believed her, but something about
hearing Carter act so nonchalantly about it made my skin
crawl.
I had already passed the information on to my Testean
contact. He was shocked, but grateful. No one in Testea had
expected the use of children. It explained why Zov had been
so successful. No one would suspect a child of carrying a
bomb.
“We're going to run over there and surprise them,” Carter
said. “We don't know what type of shifters they all are, but
our scout scented a lion. Let's hope he's the only one of
their kind. Okay, let's break up.”
Carter divided the group into twos, and we marched
toward the shifter settlement. I was glad he had paired me
up with Simon. The older bear was level-headed, and I
believed I wouldn’t have to fight him to keep him from doing
anything excessive.
Whatever excessive meant when it came to ripping
children away from their parents.
When some soldiers saw the tide of battle turning their
way, they indulged themselves in various ways. From taking
sexual liberties to sadistic ones. The last thing I wanted to
do was risk my cover by having to step in.
“Here,” Simon said, moving beside me, handing me two
needles.
“What are these?”
“Something to knock the kids out. They don't need to see
the carnage.”
I frowned. “Isn't this a simple sourcing mission?”
“You don't know Carter.” Simon leaned in close and kept
his voice low. “The only time he sees action these days is
when something goes wrong. This is the first time that's
happened in months. He's going to be eager for a good
fight. My prediction is that no one in that settlement is going
to survive the night.”
I hid my feelings by nodding sharply. “Thanks for the
heads up.”
Carter held up a fist, and our group stopped and crouched.
We advanced toward the settlement in silence, using the
thick foliage as cover. My heart jackknifed in my chest. It
was fine to determine that I didn't want to kill any
innocents, but among a bloodthirsty group, I might have to
make some concessions.
Carter turned to us and pointed at each duo, signaling for
us to move into various positions. Simon and I moved to the
far right and crouched in the bushes. From my vantage
point, I could see a tall blond-haired man slowly pacing
outside of a cluster of small brick houses. Based on his
scent, he was a lion.
Great, I thought. We had to attack a community of big
cats.
The small houses sat in a disorganized cluster, and I knew
these shifters had built the settlement themselves. Perhaps
they didn't want any humans to come too close. Young
shifters tended to shift when their emotions got the better
of them.
Before I even registered it, Carter jumped out of the
bushes and launched himself at the lion shifter. The lion
spun around faster than I had ever seen anyone do and
loosed a blood-curdling roar before absorbing Carter's
charge. The two men quickly dropped onto the ground, and
a fight ensued.
Then, true chaos erupted. All around us men ran out of
houses half-dressed or in their animal form. Carter's men
responded in kind, and pretty soon, loud grunting and
gnashing of teeth filled the quiet of the night.
Simon shook my shoulder, and I realized I was still
crouched in the bushes. I'd frozen. That was not a good
look.
“They'll be busy for a while,” he said. “Let's get the kids
and get out of here.”
I nodded, then followed Simon to the nearest house. My
heart was in my throat as a wail broke through the night.
Someone had been bitten by the sound of it, and the noise
level continued to rise, rather than abate. It was like the
recognition of a successful kill spurred everyone on. One
group to fight to protect. The other to annihilate.
Simon kicked the door of the house in, and I followed
quickly behind. Once there, we came face to face with a
tigress. Her beautiful red-orange fur with black stripes
through it shone in the yellow light of the living room. Then
she bared her fangs, and I understood that this was a
mother, protecting her cubs.
“Let me handle this,” I said, taking a step forward.
“What are you trying to do?” Simon asked. “We're
supposed to get the kids and get out of here.”
The tigress growled, a low rumbling sound. I turned to
Simon and huffed. “Yes, but we don't have to kill her
unnecessarily.”
Simon cocked his head. “What is it with you, Kate? I can't,
for the life of me, figure you out. You spent time with the
newbie when you didn’t with the previous one. Then I saw
you leave the barracks late last night. Now you don't want
to kill the tigress in the way of our mission.”
I clenched my jaw and did my best to keep a straight face,
despite the adrenaline pumping through my veins. Simon
had been watching this entire time. And while I'd tried to be
careful, it seemed I'd had a blind spot for Simon, who I liked
and respected for some reason.
No. I knew why. Simon reminded me of the father I never
had.
“As for the newbie and my late-night trips, I'm just trying
to adjust and help others do the same.” I looked deep into
Simon's eyes, portraying as much sincerity as I could. “I just
don't want to shed any more blood than I have to.”
“Then you're in the wrong business.” Simon shifted into
his bear in a matter of seconds and growled at the tigress in
a challenge. Before she could pounce, I rolled out of the way
and ran to the back room.
When I opened the door, two dark-haired boys crouched in
the corner of their bed, holding each other. At that moment,
my resolve crumbled. These were innocents, for crying out
loud. They didn't deserve to get ripped out of their parents'
hands and sent to their
deaths.
I shut the door behind me and sat on the floor. The sound
of the tigress and Simon's dark brown bear fighting thrashed
in my ears, and I squeezed my eyes shut. I'd fought on the
front lines and seen a lot of things, but this unprovoked
attack on innocents was gnawing at my soul like nothing
else had.
Over the years, I had become somewhat of an undercover
specialist. In fact, I was in talks with the Major General
about setting up a unit whose job it would be to infiltrate all
kinds of high damage organizations and take them apart
from the inside. Forget about spies. They would be sleeper
agents.
But is this what my life would be full of? Months on end of
doing everything the worst scum did?
The organizations I got sent to infiltrate were getting more
depraved in their weapons of choice. They were growing
braver with each mission. I knew it was because Testea's
other teams were doing well to undermine Zov and its allies,
but I could not, in good faith, continue to do this work, or
send others to infiltrate organizations like this and carry out
their bidding.
It looks like we'll need another assignment, I said to my
dragon. All that hard work has gone to waste because I
don't have the stomach for it anymore.
But we have our mate, my dragon whispered.
I shut my eyes and exhaled. “Maddie,” I whispered.
I had to look into other work. I didn't know how I'd stand
to be apart from her for weeks at a time. Or how I’d come
home to her after carrying out the most despicable acts in
the name of helping my planet. This would be my last
mission for Testea as an undercover agent, and I would do
everything I could to execute it to the best of my ability.
Screw information. Once I got back, Kai and I would come up
with a plan to kill Carter and get the hell out of this cell.
I stood up and approached the children. They cowered at
the sight of me, but I moved forward steadily. Once close, I
quickly pulled out both needles and jammed them into their
thighs. The children screamed but passed out within a
couple of seconds.
I picked them up and held one in each arm. I kicked the
bedroom door down and walked past the tigress who lay on
the ground, wheezing as she bled out. Simon, in his bear
form, stood over her, waiting for a challenge.
I didn't make eye contact with either of them. I walked out
of the house and yelled, “I've got what we came for,” before
breaking into a run. I hoped that would inspire at least some
of Carter's men to stop the killing and run away, but
chances were low.
I hadn't gone far before Simon, in his human form, caught
up to me. “We need to talk,” he said.
“I'm not a traitor,” I said, forcing anger into my voice
when all I felt was sadness and despair. “I'm just trying to
find out how to get things done without wanting to kill
myself.”
Simon stared at the floor. “I know. I just forgot what it's
like to be new to this unit. It's been years and now look at
me. I'm an old hand at this. I walk into a house, kill a mother
protecting her children, then steal her mates' clothes.”
I looked at Simon and saw the self-hate written on his
face.
“Then why do you do it?” I blurted out, unable to hold
back.
“Because Carter owns me. He owns everyone who joins
this unit.” Simon scoffed, and his green eyes glowed as he
continued passionately. “That's the one thing they don't tell
you. While this unit is military, it's a black spot. You can't
leave. They don't trust us to keep quiet about something
that doesn't officially exist. I learned that lesson the hard
way when I saw one guy try to leave. He was new, like you.
Barely two weeks in, and we had to source couriers. He
broke down, got in a van, and tried to leave the barracks.
Carter had the gates shut, pulled him out of the van, and
ripped his throat out, right in front of the team.”
My eyebrows shot up, and I shuffled my feet. “That's a
little extreme.”
“It is. I didn't know that joining up. All any of us heard,
when Carter launched the cell, was that there was a new
elite unit and that the pay was great. Once we got in, it was
too late. I'm sure you didn't even know what we did until
your final interview, and even then, you didn't know it would
be like this.”
Simon gently pushed the hair of one boy off his innocent
face. “I understand why you didn't want to kill the tigress,
but this is what we do, and you have to become like us if
you're going to survive. I remember when my son was about
their age. He was just as innocent as these children, and
now I just—”
Simon dropped his hand and cleared his throat. “Let's go.
The night isn't over.”
I followed the older bear, who walked with fresh energy.
Gone was the vulnerability he'd shown moments ago.
“What else do we have to do?” I asked.
“I'd rather not tell you. It's better you find out when the
time comes.”
CHAPTER 8
MADDIE
A few nights later, I lay awake waiting for Kate to join me.
Over the past few days, she'd started sneaking into my
room after everyone went to bed. While we hadn't had sex
yet, we did fool around and had great conversations.
I smiled as I remembered our last one. Kate had talked
about wanting to have a child with me one day, and not
caring about whether it would have a drop of either of our
blood or be a dragon shifter or a wolf shifter. Those words
had warmed my heart and helped me think of the future we
might have together.
That was two nights ago. Then we had spent the day
apart, and Kate had let me know she had a mission and
wouldn't see me at night.
When I went to the mess hall early the next morning, Kate
didn't look at me. I thought she might be tired from the
night before, but all the other men and Taylor seemed fine.
I had tried to go out on a walk, hoping to get Kate to
follow as my guard, but another man had taken that duty. I
was frustrated and hurt that Kate hadn't sought me out. But
I knew that she was probably just tired from a long night.
After all, I had never witnessed what she was like after what
I assumed was a physically taxing day.
Now, it was late at night, and Kate hadn't come to see me.
I curled up and hugged the pillow that Kate used. It still
smelled like her.
I sighed. “I hope everything's okay.”
A knock on the door made me sit up quickly. It could have
been Taylor or my father, but it was probably Kate.
“Come in,” I said.
Kate walked through the door and shut it quietly behind
her. She smiled, but the expression didn't reach her eyes.
When she crawled into bed beside me, I remained sitting
and studied her face.
“What's wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing.” Again, the smile didn't reach her eyes. Things
between us were new, so I didn't want to push, but what if
she needed me?
“Something must be wrong,” I said. “Things with you have
been different ever since last night.”
“I'm fine. I just wanted to be with you.” Kate tugged on
my arm, and I gave in, laying down beside her.
“Why didn't I see you today?” I said.
“We got back late, and I didn't get enough sleep. That's
why you had a different guard.”
“Oh.” I chewed my lip. “You should have told me. I would
have cuddled with you.”
Kate chuckled. “You would have been bored.”
“But I would have been with you.” I propped myself up on
my elbow and watched Kate once more. I couldn't shake the
feeling that something was off with her. I’d given her plenty
of opportunities to open up to me, and she hadn't.
I knew I had no right to demand complete openness from
Kate, but I had given her that. And the best part was that
she had taken care of me. After I found out my father killed
my mother, I had been lost, and life felt like it wasn't worth
living for a second. What was the point if only pain and
death awaited you?
Then Kate stepped in and made it all better. She coaxed
the story out of me, and I was determined to do the same,
but looking at her hard-set jaw, I could tell she wasn't ready.
I sighed and lay back down. “Whenever you're ready to
tell me about what's made you so sad, I want you to know
I'll be here.”
Kate's body went rigid for a second, and her heartbeat
increased. I lifted a hand to rub the top of her chest. “I mean
it,” I whispered. “You're my mate.”
“I will,” Kate mumbled. She wrapped an arm around me
and rubbed lazy circles on my back before her breath
evened out and sleep took her. I rolled away and lay on my
back, staring at the roof.
I wanted a life with Kate. There was no doubt about that.
But I could see that the life I’d fantasized about over the
past few days would differ vastly from what I’d imagined.
I wanted to be the pleasant mate that welcomed Kate
home after a mission and made her forget everything that
happened. But now, I could see that the beautiful sexy
nights and home-cooked meals I’d planned wouldn't do the
trick.
Something major was bothering Kate. That was plain to