by V J Lee
“Hey! We came in early with something hot and spicy for someone hot and spic …” Jones’s saucy dialogue was halted, when he witnessed the physical intimacy in front of him. He growled. “What the fuck is going on here?”
Rissa looked around Trevor to the big, bald, very dark and super sexy Washington brothers. The eldest by two years, Jones, was taller than his younger brother by only about an inch. So, at six-foot-four, he was tall, but at six-foot-three, his brother, Davis, was no slouch either. Davis was a little more muscular than Jones, but again, not by much. They both had the same super dark, almost ebony eyes, lush lips and tattoos stacked from their huge biceps up to their chests and backs. They looked badass, and they were, so thankfully, they were two of the good guys.
She broke the embrace, stepped around Trevor and smoothed down her hair. “Nothing, just a little catching up.”
“Hey, I see the little man’s stuff, but no little man … Where is my little brother?” Davis asked.
Turning to face the brothers, Trevor answered, “He went to the bathroom.”
“Oh, shit. I’d better check on Jacob. The last time he was in there alone, he flooded the whole damn room.” Rissa knew Davis didn’t like to witness any confrontation between his friends and family. She watched the big man take off to find his little buddy, and they certainly were buddies. Those two were “bestest friends,” as Jacob would say.
“Listen, Jones. It’s all good. I was just congratulating Trevor on his upcoming nuptials.”
Then she turned to Trevor. “I hope you don’t mind me spilling the beans.”
Trevor was silent.
Jones narrowed his cold, hard dark eyes on Trevor. “Damn, man, that’s just cold. It’s only been what, three months?”
Three months, thirteen days, twelve hours, thirty-two minutes, sixteen—no, seventeen seconds, Rissa thought.
Taking a deep breath, Rissa tried to change the subject. “Is that smell what I think it is? Smothered burritos?”
“You know it, girl. Now that you are back on the A-team, we intend to make sure you don’t ever want to leave,” Jones said, winking at her.
“Daddy! Dabis is coming to my pardy! Jones, are you gonna come, too?” Jacob exclaimed as he came running back into the room.
“Wouldn’t miss it for anything, little man,” he said, his big hand ruffling through Jacob’s hair.
Jacob looked over expectantly. “Wrissa, you, too?”
Yep, things just kept getting better and better. She tried to smile for her little friend. “Oh, how I wish I could, but with everyone at your birthday party, they need someone here to make sure no bad guys crash your party. So, that’s me, but I did find you a super special present.”
“But Wrissa, can’t you just wock the door and come anyway? It’s gonna be at the super fun place.”
Squatting down so they could be face to face, she said, “You know I wouldn’t miss your party if I didn’t have to, but Uncle Jock needs me here. Let me talk to him, and if I can get away, I will. If not, I will give your present to someone to bring to you.”
Jacob nodded sadly. “Okay.”
Trevor cleared his throat. “Come on, slugger. Let’s go get some pizza to take home.”
“Pizza, again …” Jacob got his bag, turned to leave, and then turned back around, singing, “Wrissa, Wrissa, wanna kiss ya!”
She scooped him up in her arms and turned her head so he could place a sloppy, wet kiss on her cheek. “Lobe ya, Jacob Wacob.” She handed him over to his father, praying that the hurt she was feeling wasn’t showing on her features, as she watched the two males she loved with everything she had, walk out the door, again.
Jones came over and rubbed her back, comfortingly. “You know, most women would have told that little boy his mommy didn’t want her at his birthday party. They would have used her bitchiness against her. But not you—you are one-in-a-million. You could have made Trevor’s life a living hell these past few months, but you just took it all in stride.” He shook his head.
“I could never hurt someone I love, and hurting Jacob’s mom would hurt him, which would then hurt Trevor. I would never bring myself down that low.”
“You really are the perfect woman,” Davis said. “And soon, you will see that you need a big strong brother to appreciate you.”
She gave him a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
Chapter 3
If black slacks and white button-ups were the standard issue for day shift, then black pants, black boots and black shirts were standard for the night shift. You had to blend into the night, after all. Tonight was no different, as they were out in the field, taking care of a runaway Spirit Wolf.
“So, has he hurt anyone yet?” Rissa asked the shadow that was Jones.
He stepped forward so she could see him. “Damn, woman. You are good. No else can see us.”
“No, he’s just looking for his one and only. The problem is, he hasn’t imprinted yet, so there isn’t one,” Davis said.
“So, he’s getting pissed off. It’s a good thing I grabbed this before leaving the office then,” Rissa said, holding up a vial of brown liquid. It was wolf pheromone that the wolves had developed with the Light ETs for just such an emergency.
Jones grabbed her wrist. “Oh, hell-to-the-no! You are not using that shit on yourself.”
Jerking away, she asked, “You plan on dousing yourself in it then? That is a male Spirit Wolf, not a female. I seriously doubt he would even give you a second look, no matter how much pheromones you had on you. It has to be a woman.”
“Then why can’t Petra, the queen bitch, do it?”
“Because she’s too afraid of her own shadow to do anything like this,” Davis piped in. “Not to mention, she is only working for the Agency to be with Trevor all day and all night. God forbid she was left alone for a second—someone might try to take her.”
“They would give her right back if they ever got her.” With that, the brothers high-fived each other so hard, there was an echo in the chilly night air.
“Enough from you two …. now give me the four-one-one on where and what our little fleabag is up to.” Rissa wanted to know.
They were standing behind a strip mall. The smell of greasy food assaulted her nose and made her stomach rumble. The aroma of French fries, corn dogs and fresh caramel beckoned her to abandon all hope for a diet, and begged her to stay and consume about a million calories when the mission was over. The biggest problem with mission completion was that there were dozens of people milling about, so this had to be done quickly and quietly.
“He’s lurking in the woods. Every time he ventures out, we have been able to push him back into the woods, but we can’t keep it up much longer. He is getting bigger, stronger and more pissed off. We’ve got men on the roof and in the trees, but we don’t know when he will snap,” Davis said about the big Spirit Wolf lurking in the pines.
She looked up to the trees, then to the roof, where a couple of guys gave her a small wave or a nod.
“Well then, let’s get this party started, shall we?” She took the little red rubber stopper out of the vial and shook out a blob of the thick, brown gelatinous goo. The stuff smelled like a dead rat trapped in an old furnace, but she endured rubbing the cold, thick liquid all over her body, not forgetting her face and neck.
“Damn, girl. You smell like a swamp monster,” Jones said, pulling his shirt up over his nose and mouth.
It must have worked, because soon they heard a bone-chilling howl out in the distance.
“Looks like I’d better start running.”
“We’ve got your back. Just run fast and zigzag. Most importantly, don’t die,” smart-ass Davis said with a coy grin on his face.
“Not tonight. Not before I get me some of that food court junk. I’m starving. Catch you on the flip side. And, please, whatever happens, do not let him hump me.” She heard the brothers’ deep, boisterous laughter as she started walking slowly toward the sound of rustling in the tree
s.
Rissa needed to act normal until the wolf made his presence known. She casually strolled toward the tree line at the forest’s border. She would have loved to smell the fresh pines and spring breeze, but all she could smell was the nasty pheromones. They were nauseating. How this stuff turned anything on, she had no freaking idea.
When she heard the sniffing, then the howl, she took off in a dead sprint. Rissa knew she would never outrun the beast—Spirit Wolves were fast in wolf form. Hell, they were faster than most in human form, but in the new-moon form, no one could beat them. She knew she couldn’t outrun him, and decided at that moment a zigzag pattern would just make her tired, so she ran as fast as she could. She knew her boys had her back and that she needed to get this beast as far away from human eyes as possible.
The little mic in her ear buzzed with Jones’s voice. “We can’t get him in our sights. We need him to slow down.”
“Really? He’ll tear my head off my body if I slow down,” she just barely huffed out between breaths.
“Oh, honey, he wants to rip some lips, but not the ones on your head.”
“Very funny, asshole … I’m …” She was unable to get the words out, before she was spun around, and claws dug into her arm, through the muscle, all the way to the bone. It made a sickening ripping sound.
She knew the wolf didn’t mean to hurt her. Hell, when he came out of this and found out what happened, he would most likely feel guilty about it. The beast was half man, after all. Although taller than any human form and covered in fur, the face of the wolf would occasionally flash their human identity every once in a while—a reminder that they weren’t all bad and offer a clue as to their original identity.
They had to mate in Spirit Wolf form. If they mated in wolf form, the babies would be wolf pups, never turning human. If they mated in human form, their babies would never be wolves. Because of this, Spirit Wolves could only mate in new moon form, when they were half-and-half. They usually had underground bunkers to hide them away, until the moon was down or the mating was over. They were only supposed to mate with one specific other. Imprinted wolves could be compared to human marriage, but that didn’t stop them from trying—with anything and everything that crossed their paths, the horny bastards.
She was able to swing out of his way, then stumbled through some brush, feeling her skin catch and tear against the branches. Rissa could feel the wolf’s hot breath on the back of her neck. Was it supposed to smell minty sweet, like a dog that ate gum out of the trash? Strange. Regardless, Romeo was looking for a little somethin’ somethin’ tonight, and the change must have caught him unaware.
Rissa was able to regain her balance and started running again. “Anytime would be nice, boys!”
“He keeps blurring in and out! We can’t get a scope on him!”
She felt sudden pressure against her shoulder blades, heard the fabric of her Oxford tear, and felt hot liquid spilling down her back. His claws had torn into her, again. She saw a flash of white, as her brain caught up with the damage to her nerve endings. She could only speculate as to the gravity of her injuries, but based on pain alone, she was certain that the wolf’s claws had cut to the bone again. She fell to her knees, heard a crack, then a scream, and her pain exploded. I will not pass out … I will not pass out … those words became her mantra.
The beast was on her back before she could crawl out of the way. Was that a massive erection pressing into the cheeks of her ass? God, no! If her boys didn’t show in 0.5 seconds, this Spirit Wolf was going to make her his bitch, literally.
Thwack, thwack, thwack! With each thwack she heard, her attacker’s body jerked. The sound kept up, until the massive beast collapsed on top of her, erection and all. His enormous penis slid between the cheeks of her ass as he huffed, then puffed, and surrendered his entire weight on her—all five hundred e hHe
pounds of him.
The gashes on her body, the pain from busting her knee caps on the ground, and the quarter-ton man-beast on top of her was starting to make Rissa black out. Her vision faded in and out, with thick black lines and colorful blinking lights. Her mind gave in to her pain, and now that she was confident the wolf wouldn’t be entering her, she allowed herself to faint and faded into the darkness.
* * *
Trevor was pissed with a capital “P.” All the best shit happened on the night shift. All the most dangerous, heart-pounding events happened at night. He stomped through the parking lot of the strip mall toward the forest just behind the building. Jock had shown up at his house twenty minutes prior, telling him he needed to hightail it to the scene and help get a Spirit Wolf who had transitioned too soon, out of the view of the public. Jock was going to stay with Petra and Jacob.
Though he hadn’t been part of the action, Trevor was able to at least come clean it up. The moon hadn’t even risen yet, so the Spirit Wolf didn’t know he was changing. It was spring. He could smell the pine from the trees and the wildflowers that were just starting to bloom, so he inhaled deeply. Was that pheromones? Shit, someone was bait … and the only woman on nights was Rissa. He picked up the pace, heading toward the lights in the distance. He was supposed to interview the people at the mall to make sure no one had seen or heard anything, but he had a bad feeling in his gut that led him toward Rissa.
The woods were deadly quiet. Not even the crickets dared chirp when a Spirit Wolf was in its mating form. The breeze was even gone, so the night was deathly still.
As he came into the clearing, his heart sank in his chest, as the scene in front of him unfolded.
There were several men dragging a passed-out Spirit Wolf in full mating form off a small womanly figure. He didn’t have to see her face to know who it was. Rissa was out cold. Davis bent down to lift her up like she weighed nothing at all. He then placed her on a large gray boulder, cradling her head so it wouldn’t smack against the rock. She didn’t move—a lifeless figure in the stillness of the woods.
Oh god, was she … no, she couldn’t be. He couldn’t let himself think like that. There was no way she was dead. Before he could think about it, Trevor was running like he had never run before—like his future depended on it.
By the time he got to the boulder, both Washington brothers were standing on each side of Rissa, urging her to wake, while the other agents used specialized binding on the wolf.
“There you go, girl. Take it easy.” Jones was helping Rissa sit up, as she slowly regained consciousness.
“You could have taken care of that a little faster. I had a wolf’s dick up my ass,” Rissa groused. When the brothers started grinning, she lost it. “Don’t you dare laugh about that! It is so not funny! It was hard and hairy, and in the crack of my ass!”
Even after a near-death experience, that girl cracked him up. She always had that effect on him and made him laugh every damn day. He couldn’t remember the last time Petra made him laugh.
With her back against the rock, Rissa stood with a Washington brother on each side of her, holding her up. “Just let go of me. I’m fine. We need to get the wolf loaded up.”
“I called Tate. He and some of his men are on the way to get him,” Jones told her.
“Good, I want to talk to him about what he thinks happened here.”
“I will talk to Tate. You need to go see the medic.” Trevor was heard, before he even came into view.
“I am perfectly capable of talking to Tate. You can go do the PR shit that needs to be done, and leave the hard work to the night staff.”
“Ouch,” both brothers murmured, as they headed off to help get the wolf out of sight.
“I’m sorry, that was uncalled for,” Rissa sighed. “I just had the shit scared out of me. It was bad timing on your part.”
Trevor stalked the rest of the way toward her, then took her chin between his thumb and index finger. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look pale.”
“I’m always pale, compared to most people. Yes, I’m fine. Why don’t you want me talking to Tate?�
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“I didn’t say I didn’t want you to. I said I would.”
“Which translates into, ‘I don’t want you talking to Tate.’”
“Rissa, I don’t like the way the wolf …. man … whatever he is … looks at you. Like he wants to strip you naked and have you for lunch.”
“First of all, he can’t get hard for anyone, but the one he’s imprinted on. Second, he is already married, bonded and went through the imprint ceremony. Trust me, I am the last thing on that man’s mind, but mostly, it is none of your business.”
Trevor drew his eyebrows together, trying to remember why he hadn’t been told about Tate’s nuptials. “How do you know all that?”
“Because she was at the wedding and the imprint ceremony,” came the deep timber of Tate Runningwolf’s voice, and it came from right behind him. Damn, the man was sneaky. “And I told her about the bonding that Tiponi and I had to go through.”
Tate sniffed the air. “Did you get hurt, Rissa?”
She shrugged her delicate shoulders. “It’s just a scratch.”
“Well, it sure as hell smells like more than a scratch to me. A lot more.” Before he even finished the sentence, Rissa slid down the rock, leaving a huge trail of blood. So much blood, in fact, that even Trevor, with his human senses, could smell the fragrance of copper.
Tate scooped her up in his arms. “Come on, little one. Let’s get you to one of my medicine men, so there won’t be any scars on that porcelain skin of yours.”
Trevor’s blood ran hot. She was his to take care of, not the wolf’s. No, he reminded himself. She wasn’t his. He gave her up.
“I want the scars. It means I fought a good fight. Scars are badges of honor. Besides, you will be turning soon, so you need to get your sexy ass home to Tiponi.”
Tate laughed low and deep. “Yes, you’re right. Badges of honor. And yes, she is getting our bunker ready for all the nasty, beastly sex we will be having shortly.” He sat her up on the rock, so her short legs hung down, but didn’t touch the ground.