by Tigris Eden
Chapter 8
Three weeks later
“You’re ready for this,” she said to herself in the mirror. She was still her; still Jesminda Zealand, not too tall, not too short, but average. This was the last time she’d see herself for a while. Her real self. She could hold her new form for however long was needed. If she ever needed to disappear forever, she had the perfect cover. Tonight would make or break this operation. She’d been sparring with everyone back at base including Dietrich. If his ass said she was ready, she was. The bathroom she stood in was nasty as hell. The smell of piss and mold was making her eyes water. She took more of the raunchy smell into her lungs and carefully let her body do the work.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Zea. Tall, athletically built with spiky black hair spun with gold strands. Green eyes stared back her and pointy ears made her look eleven as Royce liked to joke. She opened her mouth to make sure her canines were small and dainty. Inspected her silver tipped nails that would lengthen into deadly claws. Every detail of this façade had to be exact each and every time she took this form. But for the next couple of weeks this was the new her.
The volume outside the restroom was thunderous. She could hear the announcer over the screams and cheering. This plan had to work, this was her fifth fight. She’d been to this hole in the wall club every day for the last six days. The first time she’d come, she’d mapped the logistics of the operation. The Red Hand used the underground cage matches as a way to recruit. The second night she fought, then every night after that. Dravaggio hadn’t liked the change in plan. He’d wanted her to fight once and wait to be approached. She smiled at herself when she heard Royce’s voice in her head, checking in. The first rule of cage club is: You do not talk about cage club. The second rule of cage club is: You do not talk about cage club. The third rule of cage club is: don’t get the shit beat out of you but beat the fuck out of your opponent. You got this. She smiled at herself in the mirror and sent Royce a mental smirk.
She’d told the guy working the cage she only fought men. Her first opponent had been too easy. When no one inquired about her from the organization on her return the following night, she decided it was time to go back in the cage. She repeated the process each night, brutally beating each male who’d stepped into the cage. Tonight was no different. They were watching her, she could tell. There was a certain violence in the air mixed with excitement and anticipation of the fight to come.
Zea stretched to loosen her muscles. Time was ticking down, and if she wasn’t approached tonight Dravaggio would send in someone else. Fuck that shit. She could handle this, it was a necessary evil that needed to be done. Last night’s fight had been extremely bloody and unforgiving. If she could take out a supposed commander within the ranks of the organization, surely someone would be approaching her tonight. When she opened the door, her body threatened to buckle at the force of the energy pouring from the main room. She never knew who she’d face until she met them in the cage.
“Give a gigantic fuck you very much from our new comer, Z” The crowd was cheering as she mentally prepared herself to take on her next victim.
“She’s bad-ass with a capital B. She only fights males people, how fucking sexy is that shit?” The loud noise rose as everyone in the room was out their chairs chanting her name over and over and over again.
“Our sexy, beautiful bad-ass is fighting the man tonight. The muthafucking man. Crowd, make some noise for Enri, supreme commander of the Death Walkers.
Everyone went still as her worst nightmare was introduced. Enri. If Enri was here, so was Black. She’d heard the two simultaneously recruited together. Her leg muscles tried to tighten on her as she stepped into the cage.
No fear. No fear.
Enri was a fallen angel. Here among other immortals he let his true form show. When he’d worked for Marcus he’d looked as human as she once had. Tonight he was in full fallen regalia. His bare chest sculpted with ripples of muscles flexed as he took steady breaths. Black hair spun through with charcoal streaks looked silver in the light. His wings were a smoky black, like muted soot and rested gently against the cage floor. His wings didn’t reflect the light but absorbed it. Enri was a black hole, swallowing everything in his path, and for a moment she had to look away to gain strength, composure.
She wasn’t going to let him thwart her plan. He was evil, pure and simple. Why he helped her daughter escape almost made her doubt her original reservations about him. But she wasn’t dumb. He didn’t do anything unless it benefited him. Enri was only looking out for number one, and she wasn’t it. She knew first hand from his time spent in Marcus’ employ.
The closing of the cage door snapped her from her thoughts. Apprehension was a cold bastard. Only something like this would happen to her. Enri was slouched in one of the places designated as a corner with his head resting in his hands. He hadn’t looked up when she stepped inside. She was nervous and wanted to get the fight under way. When he finally looked up, his aquamarine eyes roamed over her form quickly. She did notice the spark of what looked like recognition in his eyes. Did her mask slip?
She was on the balls of her feet making a change in her technique. She could dance her way out of this easy enough. She fell into a rhythm that confused him at first, but he quickly caught on. She landed the first blow. The crowd jumped to their feet banging on the outside of the cage, yelling all kinds of things she couldn’t hear. She just needed to be wary of his wings, what looked like soft feathers, were actually feathers tipped with what looked like glass. Now she was seriously dancing.
# # #
Ronin watched the fight from a dark corner in the back. She was kicking ass, but Enri was able to keep up. When his foot landed and took her to the ground, he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from growling. Enri’s wings were opening, and Ronin could feel as the other man tried to go for the killing blow. The crowd seemed to part letting someone through and then Draven was there pulling the door open and going to her defense. Obviously he was still protective of her, even if he didn’t realize why. The look on his face told Ronin he was truly upset with his feelings for the stranger he didn’t know. When he tried to help her, she kicked out and knocked him to his knees. They’d taught her well, she wouldn’t let her guard down. He watched as she was silenced and carted away. Every single bastard in this dive would soon get what was coming to them.
“Zea is ready for battle.” He said to no one in particular.
“Enri will kill you if you say things like that, we should be honored we were allowed to witness his glory.” A man standing next to him said. Who was this idiot? Talking like he was a fucking spawn of the Enri fan club?
“Yeah, well I’m not with the rest of you here. So there’s no need for me to agree with shit you’re saying.”
Ronin turned and headed for the exit. Draven was there now, and whether he wanted to acknowledge his feelings for the woman or not, his wolf wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
Chapter 9
Three More Weeks after that
The sheets were soaked with sweat again. When he reached over on the bedside table the water he usually kept there was gone. Melissa. She must have finished off the rest of his water. He’d forgotten she’d come by for some attention. He’d given it to her, maybe rougher than his usual already rough self. But he couldn’t get her eyes out of his head. Liquid honey shot straight to his cock. Good thing he had the strong sense not to be thwarted by her beauty. Women were useless and only suitable for one thing. Relief.
She’d stared at him in recognition and hurt. He didn’t know her, but since that night back at the Shadow Units building, he couldn’t stop dreaming of her. What the hell was wrong with him? He never dreamed, and now he couldn’t stop. In his dreams, he was caressing her and tasting her skin. In his dreams, he couldn’t get enough of her plump, sensuous lips and had tasted longer, deeper than any man should. She reminded him of warm beaches and tropical rain forests. He checked the clock on the wall. Three
in the morning. It was time he got up anyway. He didn’t need much sleep. He needed to go down and shake up the weak ass recruits that’d come through the door. His master wasn’t trying to enlist non-believers to the cause, but nowadays that seemed to be what they were getting.
The last recruit that had come through the door three weeks ago had been engaging. She was tough with a smart mouth. Her first day at the facility he’d put her in lock up for twenty four hours with no food or water because she mouthed off to him. Now, she seemed to be getting her bearings and fitting in with the rest of the group. Zea was as hard as they came as far as women were concerned. She was tall and athletically built with short inky black hair and an even shorter temper. It was the eyes that were unsettling, so like his, it made him take a step back every time he saw her. She looked at him with equal parts adoration and resentment. A lot of the recruits worshipped and hated him. Black didn’t care either way. She made him hesitant at times and unsure. She would say things that seemed out of place and awkward, making him feel as if they were familiar to one another. She was a staunch recruit, and they needed her on their side. But if she kept fucking with his heads, he’d have to cut her loose. The Agency and their puppets who called themselves the Shadow Unit were closer and closer to starting a war.
Black dressed in black sweats and a black tee-shirt and headed down the hall to where the recruits slept. He had one more session with the sadistic Dr. Grayson. He’d put off seeing the bastard for as long as he could. Black thought of the things he wanted to do to the doctor, but he’d been warned not to touch him. Fine. He could deal with that, but eventually someone was going to shorten the son of a bitch’s days, permanently.
When he walked down the hall, he was greeted by the bane of his existence. Damn, what was she doing out and about at this hour?
“Zea, what are you doing out of the dorms?”
She looked hurt by his harsh tone but quickly masked her emotions.
“Black.” She replied breathlessly. She was a problem for him. Between his dream seductress and her, he was going to be spending a lot of time in the shower taking himself in hand. Most of the women here at the facility wanted in on his dick. Had she been here before Melissa he would have taken her up on that. He just didn’t have time to get into anything with her or her green eyes that held him.
“I asked you a question.”
“Sorry sir, I was heading to the gym, wanted to get a head start on training today.”
He nodded and watched her continue towards the training area. That had been a lot easier than any of their normal run-ins. She was stronger than most of the recruits, and she was a shifter of some sort. He could smell it on her. She never let her emotions over crowd his nose, and that meant she kept her shit in control. Control was satisfactory, she was going to need a lot of it. This was her third week here, and she’d already made an impression on others. His master liked her, thought she had potential. Maybe she did, but they wouldn’t know until she was tested.
# # #
These encounters with Black were getting more and more difficult. She’d only been here three weeks and still she felt unprepared. She excelled at all the activities. Any tests they put her through she passed with flying colors. So far. Her biggest worry was holding her form. She would not let her guard down.
“Chameleon, this is Red 2 come in Chameleon.” Royce. Jes rolled her eyes. She was tired of the mind talking, but she had a job to do, and she was going to do it. “This is Chameleon to asshole, do you read asshole.” She was the only one that could communicate with him this way besides Ronin. He was an idiot as far as she was concerned. She felt sorry for the other brother, but at least he could shut his brother out. She still couldn’t and Dravaggio promised with enough time and training, eventually she’d get it. She had to stay in the mindset of Zea which was her form for this assignment. As far as they could tell there were no other mind readers in the facility. If his blood could change her, surely there were others.
She rounded the corner and almost collided with Melissa. Her skin went hot and cold at the other woman’s closeness. This bitch was sleeping with Draven. Mr. Black. Say it, get used to it. Mr. Black, she disgustedly corrected herself. The bitch pasted herself to his side every opportunity, even in their training sessions. She wasn’t going to let her ruin this for her. Her patience was wearing thin. They still hadn’t gained an audience with ‘the man’ but were told on countless occasions they’d meet him soon. She’d been fortunate enough to gain entry into their training program. Once Dravaggio had pinned down how they were recruiting, he’d immediately staged all participants in the right light to be approached. There was one other operative that was here with her, Adam. He’d joined two weeks after she did, and he was already making an impression on Black. He was all too happy to be a part of the team. He’d been so helpful to her during her recovery, he was the only other person besides Royce who didn’t make her feel there was something wrong with her, not that the others did, but they were wary of her.
“So, not true. Stop with the inner sappy monologue girl and get your ass in gear.”
“Royce shut up! Turn off your damn headphones until I reach out to you. Clear?”
“Jes, last time I checked, I was front on this operation.”
“Don’t you have a bird’s feather that needs rustling?” She shot back. He was getting on her nerves.
Dravaggio wanted information gathered and sent back to the ground team. He wanted Black extracted, whether by his own will or against it. Jes was all for that plan, but she also wanted him to come with her knowing she belonged to him. More and more she was starting to think it wasn’t going to happen, at least, not the way she planned. Faith wasn’t happy she had to wait yet again for both her parents. She’d grown attached to her father over the short amount of time they spent together. Mara assured her it was normal for a cub to get attached to their sire. She was bringing Faith’s father back whole and complete, she couldn’t see it ending any other way.
“You’re up early aren’t you?” Melissa asked sweetly.
“You are to.” The skank liked to think she was in a position of power among the recruits. She wasn’t. She’d only been here a bit longer, and because she was Black’s fuck buddy, she thought it gave her seniority. The team had wondered where she’d gone off to and Dravaggio wanted her brought in on charges. Jes never liked the woman, and under normal circumstances, she may have been able to understand Melissa’s plight. She didn’t ask to be brought into this world, but she was here now and because of something that stirred his wolf, she belonged to him, not Melissa. So the bitch could eat dirt for all she cared. He’d handled their break up badly. She couldn’t bear the fact that he wanted Melissa again. Black wants Melissa, not Draven. They are not the same person.
“I was just leaving Black’s room.” Melissa purred.
Yeah right, his room was on the other side of the gym, and she’d just run into him moments before running into her.
Her fist tightened. Most of the women here wanted Black. But she wasn’t about to throw herself out there like the rest. She’d have her man, it would take time. Time she genuinely didn’t have, but the seduction she’d planned for Black was simple. His eyes deceived him. Did his heart? Would his wolf? They’d bonded. She was his mate, and Mara explained the man may have changed, but the wolf would hold onto the idea that he was meant for her. It was imprinted into their wolf DNA. The wolf hadn’t rejected her, and she hadn’t rejected him and according to wolf law that was the key.
“What’s your point?”
“I know you want him, just want to be clear that Black belongs to me.”
She ignored her remarked and headed for the training facility. She didn’t have time to be bothered with the other woman or her antics. Hitting the gym early would help her blow off some steam. She needed to be ready, today was the final test. All the other training tests had been small and inside the facility. Today the recruits were all going out on assignments handed dow
n from Black himself.
“Job well done.” Royce sounded disappointed. He’d started a pool on when she and Melissa would go at it.
“What? I wasn’t going to go head to head with her now.”
Men! They always assumed women were too emotional to handle the tough jobs. Well she was emotional, but not so emotional she couldn’t recognize Melissa’s taunting was a sign of her inability to hold on to Black. There was a greater goal, and she’d see it through. Her agenda and Dravaggio’s agenda would melt into one ending. Black would be home and information would be gathered.
# # #
Black heard the conversation between the two women as he walked down the darkened halls. The sound of their voices had halted his progress. Melissa seemed to enjoy getting under Zea’s skin, but Zea was soundly holding her own. Something told him to stop and protect the recruit, a thought that was more abhorrent than anything else. Black was not a protector or coddler, he didn’t want to keep her safe from anything. His wolf had other ideas. On a good day, his wolf never led him astray, but once she’d come to the facility things had started to get complicated. He thought back to how she was brought in and how at first she had been resistant, and unruly. She didn’t want to follow any of his orders or go through any of the training. When he threw her in confinement for twenty-four hours with no food or water, she’d wised up then. He was awake half the night worried for her, why, he didn’t know. Sleep had been non-existent, and his mind kept telling him that she didn’t like dark places that she would hate being in the cell.
They’d found her at one of the fight rings. He’d been there to check out potential new recruits when she’d gone into the cage. He never paid the cage matches close attention. The loser was always recruited to the death squad, and the winner sometimes lived to see the facility. But when the announcer said her name and where she’d came from, not only did his wolf pay attention, but so did the man.