After more than two minutes of fooling around, Vince finally started paying attention to his surroundings and saw his alpha leaning casually against the bar. His face paled and two spots of red dotted his cheeks. Luke had to hold back a smile. The kid knew that he’d fucked up if Luke was going to talk to him on the same day of the incident.
He maintained eye contact for several seconds before turning around and walking out of the bar. Vince and friends would follow him. They knew the rules.
Luke didn’t wait in the parking lot. There were too many regular people in town who had no idea of the monsters that lived among them. He walked around the side of the small brick building and waited just past the tall wooden fence that separated the back of the restaurant from view of the road. In the summer they’d put out chairs and tables for vacationers to enjoy the beautiful Colorado weather. But now that fall was easing in, the tables were stacked to the side and would only be put up at special request. It made it the perfect place for meetings like this.
Vince sneaked back first, his head down and shoulders slumped. He leaned back against the fence and said nothing. Luke just waited. Nearly a minute passed before Henry and Mick joined them. All three boys waited for the alpha to speak. Luke let them stew in silence for several minutes. They were fucking up his life and he didn’t care to make things easy for them.
Only after he saw a bead of sweat form on Vince’s forehead did he speak. “Do you have an explanation?”
If possible, Vince’s shoulders sunk even further. Any more and he’d be bent completely forward. “She wasn’t using it,” he mumbled.
Luke made a sweeping motion with his hand. “Do you see any snow on the ground?” He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t have to.
Vince gulped and his friends winced. “No, sir.”
“Did you hear sounds of distress from inside Rinna’s garage? Perhaps a scared puppy?” He leaned close, just inches from the kid’s face.
“No, sir.”
“So would you care to explain to me why you stole a woman’s snow mobile and attempted to drive it down the street, causing thousands of dollars in damage?” He ended on the slightest growl and was satisfied when Vince whimpered, the sound barely escaping the kid’s throat.
Both Henry and Mick kept their heads down, refusing to make eye contact or defend their friend. Vince said nothing in his own defense.
“You all go to school and come home. If you have jobs, you do those. Each of you will owe Rinna $500 to cover the damages and you will work on her property every weekend until Christmas. If you want to do anything else, you ask me first. I catch you disobeying, and it’s confinement to my place anytime you’re not at work, at school, or asleep. Got it?” These three may have been nearing adulthood, but they still counted as children in the pack. They were lucky - if any one of them had been just a year older the punishment could have been much worse. And now, to drive the point home: “Do any of you know what’s happening in a couple of weeks?” He let the question hang, watching the boys.
Henry finally looked up and gave a jerky nod. “The summit.”
“Exactly.” At least they weren’t completely clueless. “First time in a century that vampires will be in this territory without a war. Don’t fuck it up.” Luke left them there. The kids were either going to follow his orders or not, and if they didn’t, he’d deal with it. But right now he needed a drink, a woman, or a fight. He’d take any one of those, but his mind drifted back to that red head inside and he figured a drink and a woman sounded like a nice combination.
Chapter 3
Sinclair already had a beer waiting for him before he sat on the bar stool. “They give you any trouble?”
Luke shook his head and swigged the beer. “The second those little shits get caught they turn into kittens. I’ll be worried the day they realize that their claws can actually cut.”
Sinclair smiled and moved away, wiping the other end of the bar.
Luke shot a glance back towards the table where the red head had been sitting. He’d only been outside for five minutes and hoped that she hadn’t left yet. But no one was sitting there anymore. Turning back to his drink he caught a whiff of a subtle floral scent. At least, it would have been subtle if he weren’t a shapeshifter. But enhanced senses came with the game. For him it smelled like he was walking through a rose garden, but at least the scent seemed all natural. Some synthetics made him sneeze.
He looked towards the scent and smiled when he saw the red head. A part of him was disappointed that she wasn’t a shapeshifter – he couldn’t think of any that would wear such a strong perfume – but that didn’t last long. She didn’t take a seat, instead leaning against the bar and standing close. Her elbows rested on the ledge and her back arched showcasing the incredibly alluring curve of her chest.
Luke’s gaze trailed down, taking in her emerald eyes and bright red lips. He expected her skin to be lighter, most red heads’ were, but she wore a nice tan like she lived in the sun. A slinky dress barely covered her from shoulder to mid-thigh and he was thankful for that tight material. And he was also thankful that his jeans were hiding the effect she was starting to have on him. Damn if he wasn’t half-hard just from looking at her.
She leaned closer, her shiny red lips tantalizingly near his cheek. “Buy me a drink?” She breathed into his ear.
Luke suppressed a shiver as her breath caressed his skin. Damn it had been a long time if one little human was having this effect on him. Something niggled at his senses while he stood there. Something smelled wrong, not unhealthy, not the creeping rot of a vampire or the burnt danger of a witch, just off. “What kind of drink?” He asked, still studying her. She was doing the same.
She reached around him, her breasts brushing against his chest. Luke didn’t suck in a breath. He didn’t tighten up. He was an alpha cat and he didn’t react like a randy boy when a hot woman got close. She grabbed his beer and put the bottle to her lips, taking her time to sip it. He watched her swallow as the liquid slid down her throat. “This one.” She smiled and lingered just inches in front of him.
Luke could tell she was trouble, and just the kind he wanted. He rested his hand on her hip. She smiled even further. Looking at her face he saw where the weird scent was coming from. Her hairline was wrong, it didn’t line up like it should. She was wearing a wig. It seemed his red wasn’t what she seemed. Disappointing, but he would live. “You’ve taken something of mine,” he said. He grabbed for his beer but she held it out of reach, “I think that makes me entitled to something of yours.”
“Does it now?” Her voice was melted chocolate, smooth, warm, everything he wanted.
He wasn’t getting his beer back and he didn’t care. “It does.” He put just enough command into the flirtation and saw her grin. “Tell me your name and I’ll forgive you.”
She swallowed the rest of his beer and leaned past him to set the empty bottle on the counter. Once again she brushed up against him. “It’s Katie.” That was all wrong for this woman. Katie was the name of a girl, a simple, cute girl. And just from looking he knew she was anything but simple. “Who are you?” she asked.
He leaned in closer, catching her scent, something ethereal under the flowers and synthetic hair. He wanted her naked before him, her secrets bared to his senses. “My name is Luke.” He couldn’t answer her entire question - any human would think his answer was crazy. But they didn’t need words between them now, not when the chemistry was ramping up everything inside him. His cat was scratching inside his skin, waiting to roll around and show off for her. He pulled her close and she came with no resistance.
Just as he brushed his lips against the skin at the base of her throat he heard a voice clear behind him. Luke came back to his senses for a moment to see Sinclair standing behind the bar, twirling his rag with a smirk on his face. “What kind of store do you think I’m running here?” The gruff man asked.
While there were perks to being the alpha, he couldn’t just run roughshod over h
is people’s territory. Luke grinned and nodded. He kept Katie close, but spoke against her ear instead of kissing her. “Want to get out of here?”
She glanced behind them, towards the opposite wall. All Luke saw were a few patrons sitting at the tables and EC’s eclectic décor. A few mirrors and posters, the head of an elk, and an old clock. But when she looked back she smiled. “Now you’re speakin’ my language.” She spoke with a bit of a drawl, her g’s dropping off the ends of words. Luke couldn’t wait to get her alone and hear what else she would say.
He led her out of the restaurant, one arm possessively around her waist. A few pack members eyed him, but they said nothing, their expressions carefully neutral. Luke Torres did not pick up women in local bars. Ever. But there was something about this one that he wasn’t letting go.
Vince and friends were long gone and the parking lot was full of cars but no people. Katie didn’t make a move to go to her own vehicle, letting him lead her to his motorcycle. If he’d known he was going to pick someone up, he would have brought a truck. But her eyes lit up when she saw the sleek black bike. Perhaps it was a good choice after all. “This is yours?” Excitement lit her words.
“For years now.” He wanted to say that he’d won it in a card game or found it in an abandoned garage and restored it from a rusted heap. But the origin was far too mundane for that. He’d simply purchased it after falling in love at first sight. “Where are you—” His phone interrupted him, vibrating in his pocket. An alpha’s work was never done. He gave her an apologetic glance and answered. “It’s Torres.” Gone was the flirtatious man he’d been with her. Now his voice was pure business.
Maya Nunez, his head of security, spoke. “We’ve had some anomalies tonight. I think it would be best if you come check out the security feed.”
He wanted to curse. Here he had a beautiful woman who seemed to like him and his bike, and he had to go home. For a moment he considered taking her with him. But she was human, and that couldn’t happen. “Got it. Prepare a report.” He hung up and looked back at Katie. “How long are you in town?” She didn’t live in Eagle Creek, he would have recognized her.
She shrugged, disappointment in her words, “I’ll be around for a bit. Who knows?”
Oh, what the hell. He pulled her close and captured her lips with his. If this was the only time he’d ever see her, he was letting himself have that much. Her arms went around him and she opened for him, her tongue tangling with his. Damn. Luke had made a terrible mistake.
One taste of her was never going to be enough.
* * *
If he kissed her like that again Mel was in trouble. She shook her head as he drove off on a very nice looking motorcycle. There was work to be done. But her fingers drifted up to rest on the smeared lip gloss on Katie’s lips. Mel wasn’t the type to wear something so bright or sticky, but Katie Jenkins, one of her more fun identities, absolutely loved it. And both of them clearly had the hots for a certain dashing werecat.
But that was neither here nor there. She pulled out her phone and checked the time. Including the time it took to travel to his place, Krista and Bob should have had at least twenty minutes to get started, just like they asked. And with Luke only leaving now, there was probably a little time left.
A part of her wanted to call them and make sure that they got out safely, but that would compromise the mission and put them in even greater danger. Besides, they wouldn’t appreciate the interruption. They were adults and she knew that Krista had been doing all of this at least as long as she had. Who knew how long Bob had been in the business? No use checking in; she just needed to get back to the cabin and wait. Then they’d plan.
Mel itched to shift into her other form and cover the distance on foot. She hadn’t run as a cat in weeks for one thing, and the roads out here were so bad that it would be much faster to journey through the forest. But a leopard would bring far more attention to her than the gray sedan she’d acquired for this job. At best she’d scare the shit out of someone if she was seen, at worst she’d alert the local pack. And she didn’t need Luke Torres to have any idea that she was coming.
She drove out of town on the state highway keeping an eye out to make sure she wasn’t being followed. Even though it wasn’t that late, there were almost no other cars on the road. After a dozen miles she pulled onto a heavily forested road. The trees hung over the street, blocking out all sight of the moon and making it unnaturally dark. She could only see by the glow of her headlights. With the help of her GPS she found the second road, this one somehow even darker than the last. She saw no houses, no mailboxes, nothing to indicate that anyone lived out here.
The incline grew as she went higher up the hill. This wasn’t a mountain, there weren’t any so close to the city, but this foothill offered just enough wilderness for summer travelers to truly feel like they were escaping civilization. Her final road was more of a dirt path. Only one vehicle could go in a direction at a time, but since the only place on this road was their cabin, that wouldn’t be an issue.
The trees gave way to open land and the bright moon illuminated the quaint wood cabin that she’d rented. Unlike the car, she’d come across the property through relatively legitimate means. There was no reason to be surprised by vacationers.
Neither Krista nor Bob were back yet, so Mel set about making dinner. She’d meant to eat something at the restaurant, but the stress of speaking with her team once more, and then the little distraction with Torres, had put a damper on that. She preheated the oven and pulled a plastic bag filled with premade chicken fingers out of the freezer. After a moment’s thought she set out enough for the three of them. Maybe Krista and Bob wouldn’t be hungry, but it seemed callous not to be prepared.
The oven had barely finished preheating when she heard the gravel crunch outside from another car coming up the road. Mel shoved the food in the oven and waited for her teammates to join her.
She heard the muffled sounds of Krista and Bob talking before they reached the door, but once they came into the cabin, they were silent other than a brief greeting. “I’m making food, if you’re hungry,” Mel offered.
Krista smirked, “Let me guess, chicken nuggets?” She set a large canvas bag down on the coffee table and plunked herself down on the couch. Bob joined her. Together the two of them occupied most of the couch space, leaving Mel no choice but to bring in a chair from the kitchen. Neither Krista nor Bob seemed apologetic.
“How did it go?” If her partners didn’t want to make small talk, she’d be all business. Simple as that.
Krista dug around in her bag and pulled out four small red stones. She moved the bag to the floor and set the stones up as the corners of a large square on the table. With a wave of her hand and words that Mel couldn’t quite understand, Krista’s enchantment lit up, and light shot out of each of the stones forming a square. Slowly a picture filled in: it looked like a three dimensional blueprint with furniture layouts and shadows darting around representing people inside of the building. The enchantment was hazy, incomplete. Mel had seen Krista use this spell to create something as substantial looking as a dollhouse. What they had now was disappointing.
“It’s bad.” Krista said.
“Bad how?” Mel could deal with bad, hell, she loved dealing with bad.
“Very bad.” Bob added.
“Their security is at least double what it should be right now. The vault is only accessible through three checkpoints where someone is sure to catch your scent, and even if we can get you in, there’s no way to get you out.” Krista detailed everything up to the vault, but made it clear even their magical reconnaissance couldn’t get inside.
“But you can get me in?” If she could get in, she could get out. Even if she had to drill a hole through the wall to do it.
“They’ll have your scent. You won’t ever be able to work this area again. And that’s if they don’t kill you.” Concern laced Krista’s words. “This is bad, Mel. If we had three months and a team of
seven, maybe we could pull this off. But not in two weeks, not with just us.”
“If this is the only way closer to Ava, we have to take it.” Mel didn’t pace the room, but she tapped her fingers against the seat of the chair. Just the thought of Ava had her ready to fight.
Krista and Bob exchanged a glance. After a moment Bob excused himself. Mel heard the door close when he went outside. “Mom has done this shit to you before. Remember the Rialto? Do you even know if the stone is scry-worthy?”
Now Mel did get up. “She wouldn’t lie about that.”
Krista leaned back and crossed her arms. “Have you met her? She started lying to me about when my birthday was when I was three years old. She has no concept of honesty.”
“She won’t lie about this because she knows that I’ll never work for her again if she does. This is too important.” The map on the table blinked and a new display showed up. “What’s this?”
Krista gave it a look. “Alpha’s quarters, far as we could tell. Directly above the vault, well, three stories above it, but there’s nothing the rest of the pack can access.”
Luke Torres in his own quarters, now there was a delicious thought. But Mel pushed it aside. “Does he have direct access to the vault?”
Krista picked up one of the red stones and the picture dissolved. She shoved her hand in her pocket and gave Mel a hard stare. “There isn’t a plan that gets you out of that freaking fortress. Bob has been thinking about it all night. If he can’t think it, it can’t be done.”
“Remember Phoenix?”
“That ended with you half on fire, me with a broken leg, and Bob nearly bleeding to death.” Krista crossed her arms, “Of course I remember Phoenix. You’re not thinking clearly about this.”
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