by Anya Nowlan
Thor plowed into her, getting deeper and deeper with every stroke, until he bottomed out in her and they both paused for a moment, Nia’s gorgeous eyes staring right into his.
“I love you,” she blurted right when Thor gave into the pressure, cumming in her with a growl.
He stared down at her, dumbfounded while his body quaked with the aftershocks of his release. She slapped a hand over her mouth, obviously as surprised about what she’d said as he was to hear it.
Shit. I’ve gotten too deep again. I knew I shouldn’t have done this…
That was what pounded through his head, while all the rest of him wanted to say those words back to her a hundred times over.
Thor dropped his gaze from hers and pulled out of her slowly. He leaned forward, brushing his lips over hers gently before he scooted off the bed and pulled his pants up. Awkwardness filled the room and he knew he was the cause of it.
“I’m sorry,” Nia said, frowning, looking more confused than ever. “I shouldn’t have. I-… I don’t know. I just shouldn’t have.”
“It’s not something we can control, Nia,” Thor said, knowing in his heart that it was true.
She was a shifter just like him. Though their cultural backgrounds couldn’t have been more different, some things still worked the same. She could no more not say it than he could not feel it.
It was fate.
And it was screwing him over royally once more.
He scooped up his shirt and pulled it on, tucking his dog tags down the front. Thor noticed a look of surprise go over Nia’s expression as he tugged down his shirt over his ribs and he knew she must have noticed the tattoo on his ribs.
The little hornbill, exactly like the bead she had worn in her hair.
Thor felt his neck growing redder with a mixture of embarrassment and anger at himself for putting both of them in this situation again. One that there was no easy or dignified way out of.
“I gotta go now. You remember what we talked about, okay? You better take care of yourself, Nia,” he said, scruffing a hand through his hair.
Who the hell am I to tell her what she should or should not do?
“As long as you keep your end of the bargain, I’ll keep mine,” Nia said, sitting up on the bed.
With the smallest smile, she could fix everything again. Thor nodded, feeling damnably sheepish.
“Bye,” he said, slipping out through the door.
“Bye!” she called after him as the door closed and Thor didn’t get more than ten paces from her room before he had to stop for a moment, take a deep breath and seriously contemplate kicking his own ass.
I guess I gotta come back.
Twenty
Thor
“This is going to be a goddamn shitshow,” Price grumbled, voicing the collective opinion of Shifter Squad Nine.
They were decked out in gear, armed to the teeth, observing the tall building in downtown Singapore, right off of Orchard Road. It was in the middle of everything, accessible from all angles, which just meant that The Arctics would see them coming no matter where they tried to get close to it from. On top of that, it was right in the busiest shopping area of Singapore, a spot in the city that never really slept.
No matter how they diced it or looked at it, they were going into a bloodbath, and for once, Shifter Squad Nine wasn’t sure that it was not going to be their own.
“Are we fucking sure about this?” Prowler piped up as well, frowning at his small, portable laptop as he sat in the corner cross-legged, in full combat gear, typing away on the tiny screen.
“You’re the one with the intel, you tell us,” Rio gruffed back, scratching the back of his neck.
“It’s got to be done,” Ryker said solemnly, smoking one of his cigars.
While usually one or two of them would tell Ryker to take that thing outside, this time no one protested. Who were they to deny a man his possibly last smoke, right?
Thor was crouched down next to his sniper rifle, already put together and ready. They were in a hotel across from the tower, called Salem Pyre, which was oddly befitting in Thor’s mind. Salem Pyre was a dark, all-glass building that jutted up like an obelisk. There were several levels of underground parking in the building and in one of them, Shifter Squad Nine had a vehicle waiting for them if they ever got to it.
The likelihood of that didn’t look too good.
Prowler’s intel had brought them to Salem Pyre, which seemed to be the hub for Arctics communications in the region. The only blueprints they could find were the original ones submitted when the building was built, which probably had little to nothing to do with what was inside of there now.
It was a sturdy forty-story building as well, so there was plenty of ground to cover. Adding in the fact that they weren’t even sure what they were looking for, other than the fact that it was called LH89, and things got a whole lot more problematic.
Thor’s body practically vibrated with adrenaline, the energy flowing through him hard and fast even though they hadn’t even set off on the mission yet.
There was something about life and death that really got his blood pumping. It was made all the more worse that his failure or success could very well determine the future of his mate and child as well.
My mate…
The word rolled through his mind, feeling completely comfortable. It felt like… it felt like it fit.
Good thing to try and figure out when you’re about to stare death in the eye, Thor mused darkly, breathing in the smoke of Ryker’s cigar.
“Well, as an interesting twist of the usual, this mission is actually sanctioned by The Firm, as you can probably tell by the gear. Seems like the nice people Spade’s so friendly with have nothing against us shooting up a part of Singapore if it means their profits are left intact in general,” Dice said, looking particularly somber that day.
Usually when Shifter Squad Nine did borderline stupid shit like this, it had nothing to do with the wishes of The Firm but more about someone’s personal vendettas. Thor could see the humor in the fact that when it came to him, things still ended up being aboveboard. He’d never particularly enjoyed those half-assed missions that Shifter Squad Nine found itself in when one of them had a score to settle.
Rio’s and Ryker’s came to mind with particular clarity.
Though I guess ending up tranquilized and in one of the holes isn’t too bad of an ending to a long mission, Thor thought now, almost wishing he had a deity to pray to.
“Did The Firm mention anything about acceptable mortality rates?” Rio asked, cocking a brow as he checked the contents of his belt for what had to be the sixth time at least.
“As long as the drug gets back to The Firm, we can send it via FedEx for all they care about how many of us survive,” Dice said, skipping right to his usual bluntness.
Thor chuckled at that slightly, finding his sense of humor somewhat improving the closer death seemed to loom.
The spot of guilt that he had been feeling about this mission seemed to grow over time and looking back at the team of men behind him, he felt damn near misty-eyed. For a moment, he thought he would stand up and say something, but Prowler’s exasperated sigh broke that notion fast enough.
Damn good too, wouldn’t want the guys to think he was growing sentimental all of a sudden.
“What is it?” he asked instead, clearing his voice.
“I can’t get into their systems,” Prowler said, slamming his laptop shut and climbing up on his feet. “If we want to get in, we’re going to have to do it the old-fashioned way.”
“Great,” Ryker muttered, echoing the collective sentiment.
“So how much of this thing are we going to blow up?” Rio asked, grinning like Prowler had just told him that Christmas came early this year.
Night had fallen over Singapore but one could barely tell. The temperatures hadn’t dropped particularly and it wasn’t even that much darker – when the sun fell behind the horizon, the lights came on and there was no
shortage of illumination around Orchard Road.
Thor took a deep breath in, steadying his aim, though there was no uncertainty in it. He waited for the command to come over the comms and when Dice’s voice finally came, loud and clear, Thor looked up at Price and nodded.
“Lynx One, go.”
The pilot kicked in the large floor to ceiling glass pane, making it fall outward from where they’d cut it earlier, and then dragged it inside and out of Thor’s way by holding onto the adhesive handles that they’d stuck to it before.
Thor pushed his eye to the scope and closed the other. Just as he exhaled, he squeezed the trigger and the shot exploded out of the high-powered sniper rifle. Almost a hundred feet across from where he was, four stories lower, a window exploded into a million tiny pieces on Salem Pyre. Not a second later, a silent shot rang out from two floors lower, a crossbow-like device shooting out a connecting arrow that embedded itself into the steel and concrete of the wall visible through the broken window.
It was a matter of moments, almost seeming faster than a blink of an eye, that the first of Shifter Squad Nine’s members was gliding down the rope, all in black, rifle at the ready. One by one, the four members of the squad that had been waiting downstairs swooped into Salem Pyre while Thor and Price kept silent lookouts.
They’d spent the day quietly and discreetly observing the patrol patterns of The Arctics’ guards in the building, learning their timing and when they moved. Every floor was choked full of armed mercenaries, at least six per floor, with the occasional white-coat technicians and scientists thrown into the mix. At best, they’d have a minute between patrols, even less now that Thor had been forced to shoot in one of the windows.
His shoulder ached a little from the recoil. Those bullets were no joke, specially encased to penetrate through most ‘impenetrable’ glass. He considered them all lucky that the shot had been enough and he didn’t have to make several, wasting more time through that.
“They’re moving out,” Price murmured, squinting his eyes slightly. “We better move as well.”
Thor nodded, scanning what he could see of the floor and the ones below and above it as well. He was sure alarms were blaring in the building, though the fact that he couldn’t see any lights flashing meant that they were probably silent alarms. Most of the sleeping quarters seemed to be on lower floors, while the research and meeting rooms were stacked higher.
Shifter Squad Nine’s general, optimistic hope was that they could get in, find the drug as fast as they could, and then rappel out before they got swarmed by pissed off Arctics. All of that hinged on actually finding the compound and then a way to get out of the building without a hole in their heads.
“Lynx Five, traps armed and ready. Lynx Four and Six, be advised,” Prowler’s voice came, slightly muddled by static as the walls of Salem Pyre were probably laced with plenty of technology to keep internal communications where they belonged – inside.
“That’s us,” Price said, already grabbing a matching crossbow to the one that had been used by the rest of the squad from close by, leaning against the wall.
Thor took aim again and blew in a window a floor higher than before, three panes to the right. It exploded just like the previous one had and Price brought up the bow, leaning into its weight. There was a long, but surprisingly thin rope attached to the powerful bolt, with its other end already secured around a post in the room Thor and Price were in – a hotel suite that was not going to look quite the same after they ‘checked out,’ seeing as all the furniture had been pushed together and the window blatantly removed.
“Don’t miss,” Thor said mildly, getting a glare from Price in return before the man took aim.
He let the bolt fly out and Thor tracked its path, right up to when it bit into the concrete and expanded its grappling prongs.
“Good to go,” Price said, yanking hard on the rope once, already hooking himself in.
They were both wearing harnesses to allow them to zipline into Salem Pyre and Price threw himself out of the hotel with the seasoned ease of a man who has done so far too many times. Thor was right behind him, giving one rueful look at his rifle before hooking himself in.
“I’ll try and come for you, old girl,” he murmured.
He hated leaving his gun behind but there was no way he could store it away when every second was carefully counted for. As the last thing he did before stepping out, he coaxed out the little bead Nia had worn in her hair and that he’d kept for himself, having put it on the same chain as his dogtags before setting off on the mission. He brought it to his lips for a moment and closed his eyes for the briefest of moments before throwing his assault rifle over his shoulder and jumping out into the warm, windy abyss of night.
I have to get back to her.
Funny how things become oh so clear when you’re down to having no options.
Twenty-One
Thor
The flight, if one could call it that, was short enough and Thor landed on the floor of the twenty seventh level of Salem Pyre, his combat boots skidding a few steps on the carpeting before he could stop his body from moving forward. He unhooked himself quickly and crouched down beside Price, who had thrown himself against the corner wall.
Thor had chosen to shoot in one of the hallway windows, because those seemed to be the only ones that had clear views of sturdier, load-bearing walls. Nothing worse than finding out that the anchor point you thought was secure was nothing but plaster and molding when you were a couple hundred feet up in the air.
Price motioned for silence, holding up his fingers to indicate that he’d heard at least three people in near vicinity. Thor didn’t have to check his gun to know that it was ready to shoot right away. Every one of the squad had painstakingly gone over their gear before coming on this mission. The smallest thing could be the deciding factor between life and death and Thor had no interest in dying because of a personal fuckup.
Instead of drawing up his gun though, Thor reached for one of the thick, long-bladed hunting knives he kept on his hip. He showed Price that he was going to move forward and asked for cover, Price confirming with a nod.
Closing his eyes, Thor listened for a moment, letting his panther up near the surface of his consciousness. With the animal being given more control, he could sense his surroundings that much better, almost scoping it out with scent and sound and feeling the nooks and crannies of it. He could hear two pairs of footsteps moving toward them quickly, though they weren’t saying a word.
Price moved a step back to let Thor be closest to the edge. All they had was the element of surprise and considering that Thor hadn’t heard a single gunshot ring out yet, it seemed that Shifter Squad Nine was milking it for all it was worth. The moment the guns came into play, the whole building would probably be crawling all over their position.
Which wasn’t to say that they weren’t already on their way to doing so.
Thor gripped the handle of the knife harder, flipping the knife in his hand so the smooth edge of the blade was pointing upward. He counted the steps, and when he could practically hear the breathing of the soldiers approaching him, he jumped up and reached out.
He got a firm grip of the collar of the closest man, ripping him back so fast and bringing the knife across his throat that the Arctics didn’t even have time to squeeze down on the trigger before he collapsed on the ground, bleeding profusely and clutching at his neck. With a snarl on his lip, Thor caught the punch thrown by the second soldier, the hallway too narrow at that point for the gun to be of any use.
Price kicked the man in the chest with his foot, sending him flying against the opposing wall. Thor was on him immediately and though the man managed to bring up his rifle to defend himself, Thor pushed through, pressing down on the rifle until the man could no longer keep the blade from reaching him. With a sickening crunch, the knife bit into his eye and Thor shoved his free hand over the man’s mouth, muffling his cries until the blade had sunk all the way in.
Yanking back, he brought the knife back out and wiped it clean on his pants. Price was already moving down the hall, his rifle up and his steps light as a feather. There were supposedly at least a few more guards on this floor, but the area was big as hell and it made sense that it would take some time to get around to finding them.
Thor kept his ears pricked, expecting to hear something happening already. Worst case scenario was that the rest of the squad had already fallen into the hands of The Arctics without being able to signal Thor and Price of the fact, but Thor doubted that to have happened. Hell, at least Ryker would rather take a few bullets than not let the rest of his squad know that trouble was coming.
The first team had gone in as the main distraction, choosing the lower floor and larger numbers to give Thor and Price time to work. During the time they had staked out Salem Pyre, it seemed that the twenty-seventh floor had the highest concentration of scientific work being done and it made the most sense as a location where they could find the elusive LH89.
While Price entered one room after another in search for it, Thor stood guard, listening and waiting. They’d gone through about a third of the floor before Thor had to freeze in place, hearing the first, damning gunshot come from downstairs. It was the first of many and by the sound of it, a few seconds later there was a full-scale battle being conducted downstairs.
“Lynx One, enemy engaged,” Dice’s voice called, crackling with static.
In the background, Thor could hear someone shout out suddenly, a yelp of pain. It sounded like Prowler. Price must have heard it too because when he exited the room he’d been going through, there was some extra urgency in his movement.
“The fuck are they,” Price said, obviously talking about the minimum of four guards that they were currently missing, who were most certainly supposed to be on patrol on this floor.
Thor didn’t say a word, moving forward, concentration making him feel like he was a tightly strung wire, vibrating slightly at the edges. There was no need for subtlety anymore and his finger was itching to fire a shot. The next corner they rounded though, he found himself being the target instead of the shooter.