by M. D. Grimm
“I’m Agent Poe. Ever heard of the Agency, wolfman?”
He had. Derek rubbed his chin, glancing at Brian who was completely confused.
“What is he talking about?” Brian asked.
Poe’s smile grew. “What haven’t you told your mate, Derek?”
“Mate?”
“How do I know my pack sent you?” Derek asked even as Brian puzzled over the new term.
“Call them, I’ll wait.”
Derek squinted. He didn’t have his phone.
“I’ll get it,” Brian said.
He returned quickly and Derek called his mother. She confirmed Poe’s story and kindly ordered Derek to cooperate. He sighed and hung up.
“All right, you’re clear.”
Poe straightened from his motorcycle and glanced across the street, his head tilted slightly. “I believe it would be best if we adjourned inside. I have news of the rogue wolf shifter.”
Derek looked at Brian who nodded. The three walked inside, and Poe stayed at the doorway as six dogs and one cat launched themselves at their pack leaders. Joan and Goliath cautiously approached Poe as he stood still and non-threatening, and held out his hand.
“I’m a friend,” Poe murmured. The dogs cautiously wagged their tails as they first sniffed then licked his hand.
Poe’s smile softened, and Derek thought he looked too young to be in the Agency.
Brian turned to Derek. “What exactly is the Agency?” he asked.
Derek opened his mouth, but Poe cut in.
“I believe I can answer that if you allow me to.”
Derek inclined his head. He knew of the Agency but he had never met an actual agent before. They stood in the living room, and Poe took off his jacket, revealing a black shirt that clung to a surprisingly muscled chest. He resembled a bodybuilder.
“The Agency was created a few centuries ago. We have dozens of stations in numerous countries around the world. Essentially, we make sure that contact between shifters and regular humans are limited. We clean up messes, hunt rogue shifters down, and make sure the general public doesn’t know that there are shapeshifters among them.”
Brian’s eyebrows rose. “Sounds hard.”
Poe’s smile turned sharp. “It’s worth it. Trust me, it’s extremely enjoyable to stop a crazed maniac who finds hunting and dissecting shifters a worthy pastime.”
Brian reached for Derek’s hand and squeezed it. Derek covered it with his other hand. Those arctic eyes missed nothing, and Derek wondered if he noted approval.
“I’ve been hunting this shifter for several months,” Poe continued, turning his attention to Derek. “Somehow he always stays just one step ahead of me. He has a reputation for attacking other shifters. For sport.”
Poe met Brian’s eyes. “And he likes to kill their mates as well.”
Brian pressed closer to Derek for warmth. Their dogs whined.
“I sent a broadcast to other wolf shifter packs to put them on the lookout for him. It would seem that I’ve struck gold.” He chuckled.
Derek raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask what was so funny. The man was odd, but he knew the Agency’s hiring process was horribly strict and selective. Only the smartest, fastest, and most ruthless people got hired. But they weren’t just regular people. Rumor was that agents had certain magical abilities, albeit small ones. He wondered what Poe’s magical ability was.
His mind turned to Brian and his own ability. Huh.
“So what do we do now?” Brian asked both of them.
Poe met Derek’s gaze. “We trap him.” Poe shifted his gaze to Brian. “And we need some bait.”
“Hell no!” Derek erupted and stepped in front of Brian. “You lay a finger on him, I will rip out your throat.”
Poe’s smile never wavered as he casually slipped his hands into his pockets. “You want the rogue or not?”
Derek seethed, his skin rippling. His dogs started to growl as they joined him. Even Joan and Gable came to his side and Fenrir barked from behind Brian.
“Calm down!” Brian gripped his arm and must have sent some message to the dogs because they quieted instantly. Then Derek felt something touch his mind and this time he knew what it was. His wolf struggled to remain righteously pissed but when his mate was petting him, how could he resist?
“Why don’t we sit down and hear him out?” Brian asked. He stepped in front of Derek, forcing him to look at his mate.
“You want to be used as bait?”
Brian rolled his eyes. “Don’t be fucking stupid. Of course not. So let’s hear his plan and discuss it.”
Derek glared at Poe.
Poe smirked. “I’m ready when you are, wolfman.”
They sat. They listened. Then Brian and Derek shared what happened during their own attacks.
“Use me. I’ll be bait,” Derek said.
“I’d thought of that but it’s better if Brian is the bait. He’s the—excuse me—weaker of the two of you. He’s more likely to go after Brian.”
“He attacked me when I was alone and in broad daylight,” Derek said.
“True, but we can’t guarantee that he’ll do that again. He knows your strength now. Like a good predator, he’ll go after the weakest in the pack.”
Derek glared.
Brian took his hand. “Babe, I don’t want to do this anymore than you want me to. But I also refuse to live in fear for the rest of my life. Let the hunter become the hunted.”
Derek met his gaze and his wolf howled in refusal.
Poe leaned forward and placed his forearms on his knees. His eyes glinted with stubborn will.
“We will make sure he’s protected, Derek. You and me. We’ll get this motherfucker and that will protect both of you.”
Derek glanced at Poe.
“My word, Derek, Brian. You have my word.”
“Deal,” Brian said.
Derek growled.
Brian was definitely going to have to see his therapist after this little escapade. He swallowed hard as he walked his three dogs. He knew something about confronting fear, and he needed to be part of capturing the rogue shifter. He was terrified and it had been an uphill battle to convince Derek of the wisdom of the plan. In the end, Brian had simply said he was doing it so if Derek wanted to watch his back, he had to come along. He knew Derek would find some way to punish him. Brian hoped for wild sexual escapades. He wanted to submit to his mate—he still smiled at the term—and let Derek take him away from reality for a while.
But first….
Brian grumbled and pulled his coat tighter around himself. It had been a week since they had met Poe. To set their plan in motion, Poe had “left,” or, rather, gone into hiding. Then he and Derek had continued their life as if they didn’t know a bloodthirsty shapeshifter was after them. They had gone back to work, and Derek had returned to his own home. Although most nights were spent at each other’s homes since spending the night alone wasn’t something Brian wanted anymore.
Now the time had come. They received a call that morning from Poe saying where they were to go and when. The trap was now set.
Brian took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. He was walking with his dogs in the forest park near his house. He had argued with Poe about leaving Fenrir at home, but Poe had argued that everything needed to look normal. The rogue shifter would know if something was out of place.
He glanced at his precious pug and felt a tug at his heart. Fenrir had cancer again. He was eleven so it was either surgery or letting him go. Brian just wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Fenrir stayed by his side while Joan and Gable trotted along in front of him. He knew when he was being followed by the way his dogs began to act. He sent them calming thoughts and tried to steady his breathing.
The snap of a twig made him jump. He stopped and swallowed hard. Those two idiots had better be around to attack that prick.
His dogs started to bark, and just as Joan and Gable ripped their leashes from his hand, a black blur charged him from beh
ind the trees. Brian ducked and covered Fenrir as the wolf easily leapt over him. Then he heard snarls and growls. He whipped his head around as two wolves fought not far from him. He blinked.
Derek.
Even though that was part of the plan, it still caught him off guard. He’d formally met Derek’s wolf in the privacy of his own home but it still jolted him to know the truth.
Brian cuddled Fenrir and backed up. Joan and Gable flanked him, their bodies tense and their ears back. Their long, white teeth bared in animal rage. Brian realized he was shaking and jumped out of his skin when a hand touched his arm.
Poe raised an eyebrow. “Calm down, man. I got this.”
He lifted a gun, and Brian slammed his hand down on it.
“Wait—”
“A tranq,” Poe said easily. “Remember? Just breathe.” He turned back to the fighting wolves. “Derek!”
Derek leapt off the other wolf, and Poe aimed. The wolf slipped away, and the dart hit the ground. The wolf charged at Brian, and Poe shoved him out of the way, causing the wolf shifter to slam into the agent’s chest. Brian fell to the ground, and Fenrir yelped as he held his pug tightly.
The rogue tried to latch his jaws around Poe’s neck. Derek charged the rogue and managed to dislodge him from the agent’s body. Poe got to his feet, not even winded, and ordered Derek to stand down. Derek snarled but followed orders as Poe and the rogue shifter circled each other. Derek walked over to Brian and stood in front of him, his head lowered, his body tense.
The rogue and the agent were sizing each other up.
“You know I’ve been after you,” Poe said easily, his voice calm.
Brian marveled at the serene quality of Poe. He moved gracefully, never making any sound as he moved his feet over the dirt path.
“Give up, rogue,” Poe said reasonably. “I’m just going to keep hunting you. It gets very tiring, very fast. And I will still get you in the end.”
The wolf shifter snarled and bared yellow teeth. Brian shivered and tightened his hold on Fenrir. The pug whined, and Brian consciously loosened his grip. It wouldn’t do to squeeze the life out of his dog.
“Show me what you got pup,” Poe taunted.
The wolf bunched up his body and launched at him. Poe easily sidestepped him, and to Brian’s shock, Poe, a barely five-foot-tall man, whipped around, grabbed the fur of the 140-pound wolf that was longer than he was, and lifted him. Then Poe tossed him into a fucking tree. Those bulging muscles weren’t for show.
The wolf slammed into the trunk with enough force to crack the bark. The wolf whimpered and somehow managed to stagger to his feet. Poe wasn’t even sweating. He straightened and smoothed out his black shirt, picking dirt off his shoulders.
“You’re only humiliating yourself,” Poe said coolly. His eyes were emotionless, hard and steely, glacial. Poe simple stared down the heavily-panting wolf. “Well?”
The wolf howled, and Joan and Gable barked. The wolf attacked Poe again but he met the rogue head-on and grabbed those snapping jaws before wrestling the shifter to the ground. Claws dug into his skin but Poe only let go of the wolf when the shifter was on his back.
Then Poe landed a hard kick with his steel-pointed boot into the shifter’s jaw. The shifter went still, but the rapid movement of his chest proved him still alive. Poe loaded his tranq gun again and shot it into the wolf’s shoulder. The body jerked but didn’t wake.
Poe smiled and it was cut from glass. “Gotcha, bastard.”
Brian let out a sigh of relief and looked over to see a naked Derek standing before him. Derek held out a hand, and Brian took it, getting to his feet.
“I never want to do that again,” Brian said.
“Me, neither.” Derek touched his shoulder and winced. He had a deep, bleeding cut down his arm. Brian put a whimpering Fenrir down and embraced Derek tightly.
Derek held Brian close and nodded to Poe. He now had a firm suspicion that strength was Poe’s ability. Poe smiled, his eyes no longer emotionless but still guarded.
“Never again, Agent. You hear me? And Brian, you hear me?”
“Absolutely,” Brian said with conviction.
Poe merely smirked. “Must say I’m envious. You two are good together.”
Derek frowned. “Don’t you have someone?”
“Not allowed to,” Poe said with a careless shrug. He turned away, pulled out a metal collar, and snapped it around the shifter’s neck. Derek could see it wasn’t silver, simply steel. Silver was anathema to shifters, and it was nice to know the Agency didn’t employ brutal tactics, even against their prisoners. There was a chain attached to the collar, and Poe yanked it over his shoulder before dragging the wolf shifter behind him.
“Need help?” Derek asked.
Poe smiled. “No. Besides, I doubt you want to stay naked for very long. Even though….” Poe gave him a rather lascivious look before winking. “Nice ass. I’ll have pleasant dreams tonight.”
Before Derek could come up with something to say, Poe was already gone. He looked down and met Brian’s eyes.
“Is there something between you two I should know about?”
Derek raised an eyebrow. “Jealous, love?”
Brian’s mouth twitched. “Jealous of a terrifying bodybuilding strongman? I don’t think so.”
Derek chuckled and kissed him. “You should be more afraid of what I’m going to do to you.”
Brian grinned. “I’m shaking in my boots.”
Derek smacked his ass. Brian grabbed his dogs’ leashes, and they walked out of the forest. Derek opened the trunk of the car and pulled on sweatpants and a sweatshirt.
“You have a nice house,” he said suddenly. Brian helped the dogs into his Beetle and shut the door.
“What?”
Derek walked up to Brian and placed his hands on his shoulders. “No pressure, Brian. But I liked living with you. What do you say? Could you stand to pick my underwear off the floor?”
Brian smiled. “I’m not your maid. You can pick up your own damn panties from the floor.”
Derek winced. “They’re not panties.”
Brian laughed and hugged him. “I love you, Derek. The answer’s yes.”
Derek closed his eyes and ran his fingers through Brian’s soft hair.
“I love you, animal shrink.”
“I love you, werewolf.”
Epilogue
Brian opened his eyes and jerked in instinctual fear. But only a moment later his body eased, and he gave the wolf an annoyed look.
“Very funny, Derek. You know it’s rude to scare your lover after the sexathon last night.”
Warm, brown eyes stared out at him from a wolf’s face, and the mouth opened in a silly grin. The shaggy black tail wagged happily.
“It isn’t funny.”
Those brown eyes danced in disagreement.
Brian rolled over and pulled the blankets over his face. A wet nose rudely worked its way underneath the blanket, and a rough tongue licked his face. He laughed and grabbed Derek around the neck and pushed him on his side.
“Stop that or you’ll give our children bad habits.”
The children being their dogs.
One moment he was staring into the face of the wolf and the next he was staring into the face of the man he loved. He enjoyed the heated and shimmering air that preceded a shift. It was a fascinating process to watch. He would never grow tired of it. Their lips met leisurely, and Brian smelled the outdoors on Derek’s tanned skin and knew that he had been out running with their dogs.
“Did Fenrir keep up this time?” Brian asked after pushing back slightly. Much to his relief, Fenrir had survived surgery and was his usual cheerful self. He’d received a clean bill of health a week earlier.
“He tried to,” Derek said. “I had to resort to carrying him in my mouth. That slowed me down.”
Brian shrugged. “You have to include everyone.”
“Even a creature that isn’t a dog?”
Brian snorted. He kn
ew Derek adored the little pug, and Brian got kick out of seeing Derek play with Fenrir in wolf form. Six weeks had passed since they became a couple, helped trap a rogue wolf shifter, and now they were looking for a new house to combine their packs. The joint investigation into Brian’s wolf attack had come up with nothing, of course. And when Derek told Brian he knew several shifters in Fish and Wildlife, Brian finally found out that the howling wolf had been Derek. That was why nothing had come of his reports.
“What about the three-legged wonder?” Brian asked.
They had adopted the Rottweiler that Derek had rescued from starvation. The three-legged dog had fit in perfectly with the rest of their dogs and was probably the happiest among them.
“Dante? Man, that dog outruns all of us.”
Brian laughed, knowing it was a lie but enjoying the image nonetheless.
“I got an email today,” Derek said, running his hands up and down Brian’s back.
Brian arched into the touch and kissed Derek gently. “From who?”
“Poe.”
“What does he want now? Use me as bait to catch a bear shifter? Or a tiger shifter?”
Derek laughed. “You volunteered, mate. I tried to talk you out of it, remember?”
Brian sighed. “Shut up.” He’d talked about it with his therapist, as much as he could anyway. Those sessions helped put him back on an even keel. He felt more at home than he ever had before.
“The rogue was taken back to his pack and tried,” Derek said. “He’ll be executed next week.”
Brian stilled, and his eyes widened. “Executed? Seriously?”
Derek’s eyes went dark. “It will be quick and painless. More than he deserves. Apparently he’s killed shifters and humans alike. He liked it. He would have kept doing it if he hadn’t been caught.”
“I know that, I just….” It was still a shock.
Brian saw the rage that was as much a part of Derek as the compassion and love, inside those brown eyes. He knew Derek wanted to rip the shifter apart personally. He was thankful that wasn’t an option.
“Poe just wanted to say thanks,” Derek continued. “And that he hopes we meet again under better circumstances. He also mentions that you would have made a good agent if you’d been recruited at an early age.”