by Trina Lane
"Um, well...you see the thing is...I haven't exactly started it yet. I was kinda hoping you could—"
Nicole held up her hand. “Wait a minute, buster. I told you I would help you iron out the details, not do the project with you."
"Well, the details include how to get started.” Charlie got down on his knees in front of Nicole. “Please,” he begged.
Nicole chuckled and shook her head. “I bet your brother would love to see you at this moment."
Charlie blanched and spied Nicole's comm-unit attached to her wrist. He scrambled to his feet. “You...you're not recording this are you? Oh shi...shoot, are you going to tell him?"
Nicole put her arm around Charlie. “Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. You know Jaryn loves you, right? He likes to give you trouble, but he'd do absolutely anything for you."
Charlie ducked his head. “Yeah, I know. It's why I tease him so much. I know that underneath all that Alpha-ness is simply my brother. He's always there when I need him."
"Well, that's all very true, but now you have me, too. I have an older brother, but I've never had a younger one. Think it'd be okay if I consider you my brother from now on?"
Charlie's smile lit up the room and he hugged Nicole tight. “I'd like that. And eventually you and Jaryn will have an actual wedding, so I really will be your brother. In-law, anyway. By the way, does being your brother mean I get automatic A's once you start teaching again?"
Nicole hadn't given any thought to a wedding. After her and Jaryn's mating, she figured that was that. But the little girl inside her jumped up and down a little bit at the thought of walking down an aisle in a gorgeous gown to meet Jaryn all decked out in a tux and saying a set of vows in front of all her family and the pack members. Maybe they could do it in the lodge on the night of the Wolf moon in January. That would be rather apropos. Of course that was only two months away. Not a long time to plan, but then she'd never really been one for the elaborate. She'd love to show off her new home to her parents and Cameron. She locked those thoughts away for the moment, because they'd have to wait until after Adam was dealt with once and for all.
"Okay, what's your idea for this project? Then we can work on an outline of the experiment and write up your hypothesis. We'll have to get the materials and designate an area for your work. Remember to write everything down. Observations are just as important as raw data. By the way, when is this due?"
"Um, three weeks. I found this cool idea on the network about studying how the rate of evaporation affects the final size of crystals."
"Nice. Three weeks isn't a lot, but it is do-able. What medium are you going to use, or are you thinking of mixing up a couple of different samples?"
"They suggested using sugar, salt, or alum. If I mix it up, won't that introduce too many variables?"
"Not necessarily. You could use all three mediums, use three different methods of evaporation, and as an added bonus make predictions about the shapes of crystals before you grow them, based on their molecular structures and molecular geometry."
"That sounds cool, but where would I find that kind of information?"
"I can point you in the right direction, but the work has to be all your own."
"Thanks, Nic, I appreciate it. Oh, I was going to ask you are you going to lodge for the pack run tomorrow? I know Jaryn's gone and all, but you're still welcome. I could show you the best places to stretch your legs. Jaryn showed me on my first shift."
"That's very sweet, Charlie, but I don't shift, remember? Plus I don't know if my keeper will let me out to play."
"I heard that!” Cooper shouted from the kitchen.
"Damn wolves and their super ears,” Nicole mumbled.
"Heard that, too!"
Nicole felt her face flush with embarrassment. Charlie started laughing when she childishly stuck her tongue out at the doorway leading to the kitchen. Unless the big bad wolf had eyes in the back of his head, Nicole figured he wouldn't catch that little dig. Charlie took Nicole's hand in his and pulled her towards the stairs.
"Come on, we'll go have some fun and let the old farts sip their tea and complain how the cold outside makes their bones ache."
"You'd better watch your smart mouth, or I'll give you some aching bones. Big brother's not around to protect you now, kid."
Nicole stopped and turned, expecting to see Cooper at the base of the stairs. Charlie had only been teasing—there was no reason to be confrontational. But there was no sign of him.
Charlie pulled harder on Nicole's hand. “Oh don't worry about him. Cooper's all growl and no bite. He's been throwing out empty threats since I was a pup."
Nicole followed Charlie up the stairs, still trying to figure out exactly what just happened.
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Chapter Ten
* * * *
Jaryn stood against a tree deep in the forest outside the perimeter of Broyles’ compound. He looked up to the nearly full moon filling the sky. Tomorrow was the zenith, and assuming they didn't end up in a complete goat fuck, he'd be home to run under her beauty with his pack, then go home and make love to his mate till they collapsed in exhaustion. Leaving their bed yesterday while Nicole slept had been one of the hardest things he'd ever done. He'd come to crave the warmth of her small body snuggled up against him in the early dawn hours. Sometimes he watched as the sunlight brought the flames of her hair to life, her delicate morning scent wrapping around them just as the twisted blankets of their bed cocooned their bodies.
Jaryn really wanted to shift, but he needed immediate accessibility to the weapons strapped to him if they encountered unfriendlies. He had a combination of tranquillising darts and bullets to choose from, depending on what they encountered.
Jaryn heard the barest sound to the east of him. He knew that Shaun was positioned to the west and the others were further to the west of Shaun. There shouldn't be anyone to his east. Jaryn crept silently away from his position, keeping his ears open for the slightest sound. He stopped. The breaths from his lungs were slow and deep. He let his eyesight shift, letting the wolf out just enough to take advantage of his enhanced night vision. Sure enough, there was a distortion in the shadow surrounding a tree approximately twenty feet away. Jaryn stood slightly downwind of the man, and immediately recognised him as another wolf shifter.
With all the stealth gained via both his training and his natural ability, Jaryn closed in on the uninvited guest. He smoothly removed the seven-inch combat knife from the sheath attached to his waistband. The nano-material of the handle moulded to his grip, and the knife simply became an extension of his being. The steel ghosted through the air without a trace thanks to its flat black finish. One last step and he had the lethal blade poised against the vulnerable carotid artery of the man in front of him.
"Welcome to the party,” he whispered. “Now, who the fuck are you?"
"My name is Mac Carmine. I was sent by the council to observe the compound."
Jaryn pressed the blade a little tighter against the wolf's neck. “Bullshit. You get one more chance to tell me the truth before I slit your throat."
Mac didn't move, didn't swallow. “My brother is being held against his will inside. He was taken from our pack six months ago, and I managed to trace his location using some contacts I have in the DOD."
Jaryn pulled the knife away a fraction. “Turn around, extremely slowly."
Mac followed Jaryn's instructions and raised his hands out to the side. “I've been staking out these woods for the last month and a half, gathering intel. I planned on going to the council with my findings and bringing the rain down on that son of bitch."
"Well, don't bother. I am the council. We have a task force set up throughout these woods. We're hitting the compound in an organised strike at exactly twenty-two hundred.” Jaryn looked at the watch on his comm-unit. “That's five minutes from now."
"Let me help. I've got a pretty good idea of the layout."
"Yeah, us too."
"How?"
Jaryn stared in the midnight eyes of the wolf in front of him, refusing to answer. There was no way in hell he'd risk the knowledge of his mate's existence to this unproven entity.
"Fine. Look, there are few things you may not know about. The compound has an extremely sensitive alert system. You don't know where all the triggers are."
Jaryn hated to admit it, but the wolf had a point. They had a vague idea of the nature of Broyles’ security system, thanks to Nicole, but his mate had never had the training that Jaryn and his men had. Therefore, she wouldn't have even thought to look for the type of clues they really needed to achieve a complete stealth mission.
"Your point?"
"Use me. I'll set the system off to create a distraction, draw him and his cronies out."
"If you trip their system, they'll put the buildings on lockdown and that'll prevent us from getting inside."
"No, they won't. I've been fucking with Broyles for the past month by tripping the perimeter at random intervals and in all different locations. He knows I'm out here—we've been playing cat and mouse for a while now. The first few times, yeah, they locked the place down, but now he's become so frustrated that he and his men simply race out into the woods half-cocked. And I make excellent bait. He's got such a big ego, he's convinced there's no way he could lose against one man, but he's not expecting an entire squad."
"Sounds like you have experience at this sort of thing."
"Seventy-fifth Ranger. I've been granted emergency leave till I bring my brother home."
Jaryn nodded. “Jaryn Chaunterel, former master sergeant. Nowadays, I'm Alpha of Phantom River, and council member of ASC."
"What unit were you with?"
Jaryn smirked as he slid the combat knife back into the nylon sheath attached to his belt.
"One of those, huh?"
Jaryn's head acknowledged with the barest hint of movement and he saw a new respect in the young Ranger's eyes.
"Well, sir, what do you say?"
Jaryn scented determination and earnestness in the wolf. He believed that the young warrior was here to rescue a family member. Family was all that mattered, when it came down to it. Wasn't that why he was here? Not only to take down a real threat to his species, but also to avenge the treatment of his mate at the hands of the bastard hiding within the walls of the grand limestone building that glowed under the nearly full moon. “Let's go find your brother.” He keyed up his comm-unit that broadcasted on a secured frequency to the other task force members. “Be advised, we have a new guest to the party. Clark and Grant, wait for my signal before launching the confetti cannons."
Jaryn waited to hear an acknowledgement from all the team members before slowly backing away into the forest. Just before he knew the darkness would swallow him up, he flashed a smile at Mac. “All right, kid, do your thing."
Mac snapped a salute at Jaryn. “Yes, sir!"
Jaryn turned and moved back to his original position. He waited, motionless, for Mac's diversion. He had no idea what the kid was going to do, and that made the nerves under his skin dance. Normally in these types of operations, Jaryn hated any kind of surprise, but they didn't have a lot of time on their hands. He had to trust in the fact that Mac knew what he was talking about. The team had, of course, expected to find some type of perimeter alarm at the compound, but despite their best efforts they had been unable to determine exactly what kind of setup Broyles had. If Mac had been truthful—and Jaryn hadn't detected anything but sincerity from the Ranger—then they now had the last tactical advantage they'd needed in order to make this mission a success.
Nicole had told Jaryn that Broyles had an inner circle he used as guardsmen around the compound, but she said most of them appeared to be nothing more than brutes and sharks.
Each member of the force they'd compiled had a job to do. Shaun and the two coyotes were in charge of releasing the hostages from the cells located in the buildings on the back of the property. The two cougars, Clark and Grant, were in charge of taking out the guard hub that controlled all the security cameras, and had the ability to trip the security lockdown of the main house. According to Nicole, if the house security was tripped they'd have zero chance of getting to Broyles inside.
He checked his watch. Thirty seconds to go before their scheduled time of infiltration. Clark and Grant would strike first, and when they gave the all clear, the rest of the team would make their way towards their targets. Jaryn had a clear line of sight to the house, and his enhanced night vision cut through the darkness with ease. The side door to the mansion opened and several bodies ran out into the night. Nicole had given Jaryn a description of Broyles, and judging by the shapes running out into the forest, he didn't think one of the men was his target.
That was good because Jaryn wanted the wolf all to himself.
"We have a green light. Go, go, go,” he ordered into the mic.
If the coyotes did their job right then they'd complete this mission with a precision strike within the next thirty seconds. He waited, counting down the seconds. He kept his ears open for any sounds in the forest surrounding him. He didn't know where Mac planned on tripping the alarms, therefore had no knowledge of the other wolf's location or the whereabouts of those he'd lured away from the mansion.
Clark's deep voice came over the comm-unit, signalling that the security system had been deactivated. Jaryn didn't take anything for granted as he stealthily made his way inside the perimeter. He wouldn't put it past Broyles to have some type of backup system in place. The hardest part would be making his way across the open land between the tree line and the house. He'd made it about halfway when Shaun's voice rumbled in his ear.
"We've reached the barracks. Breach of the portal in five. Damn, they've got fucking three stage biometrics on these goddamn doors. This may take a little longer than we anticipated."
He paused in his tracks and took cover behind a hedge ten yards from the building. “Just get the job done,” Jaryn said.
"Have you ever known me not to?"
"Nope."
"Nice to hear the love, Alpha. I crave your effusive praise."
Despite the seriousness of the situation he couldn't help but smile at his Beta's sarcastic sense of humour. He peered around the edge of the hedge and spied the portico he was aiming for, which led to one of the entrances. Seeing that the area was still clear, Jaryn rounded the limestone balustrade, made his way across the pavers then ducked under the arches. He breathed a sigh of relief as he plastered his body against the exterior of the mansion.
Beside him was a large window, behind which, according to Nicole, was Broyles’ office. Jaryn turned his head to try and see inside, but his view was blocked by a pair of heavy drapes. There was a strip of white in the centre of the drapes, and Jaryn crept a few steps to the side to get past the opaque material. The room was dark, and he didn't see anyone inside. He took a breath and dashed past the glass panels. At the end of the portico was a set of French doors. According to their research, this house had been built at the end of the nineteenth century by a reclusive billionaire on the shores of Lake Michigan. The opulent Italian Renaissance-style structure was the Midwest's answer to the palatial estates of the Vanderbilt's on the East Coast. How Broyles got his hands on it was unknown. The one piece of good news was due to the sheer size and historic nature of the building, not all the entrances had updated scan systems. Jaryn had targeted this particular set of doors because Nicole had informed him that they used an old-fashioned lock system.
He knelt outside the wood and glass panelled door and examined the handle. There was no obvious locking mechanism on the outside. That meant Jaryn would have to get through the glass to reach inside and unlatch the lock. He opened his kit and removed a small packet. He opened it and unfolded the translucent sheet within until he held a flat round disc lined with nanobots in his hand. He stripped away the protective shield from the backside then placed the disc on the glass panel next to the inner door frame with
the handle. In seconds, the glass appeared to dissolve. When the hole achieved a large enough circumference for Jaryn to get his hand inside, he deactivated the magnetic field of the disc, thereby disabling the nanobots source of power. He stripped the disc from the remaining glass and folded its wrapping back around it, replacing it in his kit.
Jaryn slipped his hand through the dessert-plate sized hole and blindly fumbled for the lock. His fingers skimmed the knob and when he turned it counter-clockwise, he heard the tell-tale click that spelled success. Not wanting to waste any more time, he quickly withdrew his hand, pushed the handle down then slid inside the opened door. He paused for a moment to get his bearings. He knew if he went straight he would reach the dining room. Through the great hall and off to the right was Broyles’ office, and up the grand staircase were the bedrooms. The kitchen was located beyond the dining room. When he'd sneaked by Broyles’ office, it had appeared empty, but Jaryn thought he should still check it out.
"Alpha, we've breached the barracks door. There appear to be about fifteen cells inside. The foxes are hacking into the locking system to get them open now."
Jaryn didn't want to speak and potentially give away his position so he double-tapped the microphone to let Shaun know he'd heard the transmission. He slinked his way towards Broyles’ office. The man had to be here somewhere. He was sure Mac would have told him if Broyles had left the compound, since the man said he'd been keeping an eye on the place for the last month.
Jaryn lifted his weapon from the holster strapped around his shoulders. The bullets loaded into it wouldn't discriminate whether Jaryn met a man or wolf in the dark. He reached the office door. He had no way of knowing what was inside unless he opened the carved wooden panel.
God, what I wouldn't give for X-Ray vision right about now.
Very slowly, he turned the knob. He pushed open the door a few inches, waiting for either an assault from inside or the voice of his nemesis to beckon him to his death. When nothing happened, Jaryn slid inside Broyles’ sanctuary. Despite the hulking furnishings, there was nothing else in the room. Nothing other than the lingering odour of Broyles’ scent. Now that Jaryn had his adversaries’ signature, it would be easier to detect him as he continued his search. One room down, thirty-nine more to go. Of course that was assuming that Broyles didn't know about his presence and stayed in one spot. If they began circling each other in this monstrosity of a home, it'd become a strategic game of chess, and Jaryn would have to find a way of drawing Broyles out for the checkmate. Not easy, given that fact that he was on the other man's home turf.