Family

by Crissy Smith

  “We have the highest trained agents in the world. Our network is extensive and we have our own Walkers on staff,” Remy argued. “Plus, Jackson and his people are civilians.”

  Kieran shook his head even before Remy finished speaking. “You underestimate Jackson.”

  Remy snorted. Kieran wasn’t surprised by his partner’s response. Remy wasn’t fond of Jackson even though they’d worked together several times in the past. Remy was a firm believer in what the Organization stood for. He trusted the company that they both worked under.

  Kieran wasn’t like the other agents. He’d had a choice. After Caspar had saved him from being held captive and tortured, he’d trained Kieran so Kieran would never again be a victim.

  The Organization worked differently for the other agents. When the Walkers, humans and shifters had joined forces to protect innocents from their own kind, a declaration had been made. The first-born child in every family would be contracted to a lifelong service in the Organization. Just thinking about how Dakota and Remy had had no choice in their futures pissed him off. Remy might have accepted his fate, but at least he still had contact with his family and birth Pack. Dakota didn’t. Once she’d been born and her parents had known she’d be sent off, they’d decided not to get attached to her.

  Not get attached to their own child.

  Dakota never spoke about her family and that was a good thing. If Kieran ever met the people who’d birthed her, he didn’t know if he could keep control.

  “Your hands are fisted and you’re gritting your teeth,” Remy said. “What the hell is going on?”

  “Fuck!” Kieran ran his hands roughly over his face. He’d gotten lost in his thoughts again and he was supposed to be on patrol. “I’m just tired.” He grasped at any excuse his partner might accept.

  “And stressed,” Remy added. “You’re more worried about your father than you want to let on.”

  “True, but that’s no excuse not to be on top of things. Sorry. Let’s concentrate on finding us some wild animals,” Kieran said.

  “Yeah,” Remy responded. “Because it can never be just a few stray dogs.”

  “Not with us,” Kieran stated. He and Remy always got the weird cases. Speaking of cases, Kieran glanced around. “Where’s the other team?” Caspar had given Kieran strict instructions not to fuck with the new agents. He was under orders to behave. It was as if Caspar didn’t even know him sometimes. Of course Kieran was going to fuck with them.

  Remy grinned.

  “What’d you do?” There was a reason that Remy made the perfect partner for him. Dakota might believe that Kieran was a bad example, but the truth of the matter was Remy could be just as evil on his own.

  “I might have suggested we meet in one of the small conference rooms to make a plan for the night.”

  Kieran laughed. “I bet a hundred bucks that they wait at least an hour before figuring out we aren’t coming.”

  “An hour?” Remy pressed his lips together.

  “At least.”

  “No way they’ll wait that long,” Remy stated. “You’re on.”

  Kieran slapped his hands together before he rubbed them in glee. If Remy was on his side, they were going to have so much fun with the human and lion shifter.

  “What’s the address for the latest sighting?” Remy asked. “We might as well get some work done as we wait for the rookies.”

  “Maybe we’ll even solve the case.” Kieran flipped through the file that Remy had tossed onto the dash. “Remember that gas station that reported strange lights a few months back?”

  “The store manager who’d been smoking meth?” Remy replied.

  “Yeah.”

  “Please tell me we didn’t take a fucking report from that asshole.”

  “No,” Kieran said. “But the sighting was from the laundromat three stores down.”

  “Fine,” Remy mumbled. Kieran bit back a grin. Remy had almost bitten off the head of the idiot who had reported a UFO above his shop. He’d been tripping and adamant about seeing the spaceship. “But if I run into that jackass, I’m not going to be nice.”

  Kieran laughed. “You’re supposed to be the nice one. If you start acting like me, I don’t know where my place is in this relationship.”

  Remy merely grunted in response.

  Feeling better, Kieran gazed out of the window, looking for any signs of the wild animals that had been reported. He didn’t think he’d find any. In his opinion, it was probably a bunch of young and drunk shifters that couldn’t hold the transformation. Nobody had been hurt, so there was little suggestion that the shifters were trying to cause real trouble.

  He hoped no one was injured accidently, though. Since there’d been several sightings, the problem was not going away. They needed to get to the bottom of what was happening.

  “Almost there,” Remy told him.

  “It’s still early evening,” Kieran said. “If they’re coming from bars, we might not see anyone.”

  “What do you say we park and walk around? Test those superior senses of yours like Dean wants?” Remy suggested.

  “I guess.” Kieran knew that he needed to go into the lab and have his blood tested again. Since they’d learned that the shifters that’d held him for ten years had messed with his DNA, Dean had been helping Kieran to keep an eye on his abilities. He was more powerful than any of the Walkers he knew, so Kieran was certain something had been done to him. He just didn’t know what.

  “That’s the spirit!” Remy teased.

  “Just find a place to park,” Kieran grumbled.

  A couple of minutes later Remy pulled into the gravel parking lot of a local bar. “Let’s check this place out. It shares an alley with the laundromat.”

  “Good idea,” Kieran agreed. He waited until Remy had turned off the ignition before he pushed open the door.

  The scents that assaulted him were not pleasant. Body odor, stale beer, urine and puke. “Jeez,” he muttered.

  “Even I can smell how bad it is,” Remy said.

  Beneath the recent smells, he could pick up the distinct stench of shifter. He didn’t like the shifter aroma, with Dakota being the only exception. Even Remy had a whiff of wet dog to him. Dakota, though, just smelled like his. He concentrated and, as much as he didn’t want to, Kieran breathed deeply to get a better idea of what they were dealing with.

  “Bears,” he said.

  Remy stumbled on his way to the door. “Really? Damn it. They’re unpredictable.”

  His partner was right about that. Grizzly bears, especially, were notorious for having a superior attitude toward other shifters but especially humans. “Let’s take a look inside.” With it still being early, hopefully whoever they ran into wasn’t stupid drunk yet. But Kieran knew that his and Remy’s luck never ran that good.

  “Maybe we should have waited for the lion.” Kieran led the way with Remy watching their back.

  “Fucking cats,” Remy spat.

  “Ha!” Kieran pointed a finger at him.

  Remy scowled back then grinned. “Oh yeah, you’re fucking a cat.”

  “Shit.” Kieran shuddered. “Not like that. I was just going to say I was telling Dakota on you.”

  “Whatever, man.” Remy shrugged. “You’re the one fucking the cat.”

  “Keep it up,” Kieran threatened. “You haven’t seen Dakota’s claws yet.” He pulled open the door and stepped inside.

  The interior of the bar was dim, but Kieran had no trouble seeing. Right away he picked up the ruckus coming from the back corner. Over by the pool tables was a group of men, three huge bald guys with one skinny older man. It was the skinny older man who was practically yelling insults to what appeared to be several young human males at the bar.

  Kieran turned his head toward his partner and noticed him discreetly stalking toward the bar. While Remy walked left, Kieran strolled to the right side of the room, which would take him past the pool tables. If these assholes wanted trouble, Kieran had no problem givin
g them what they wanted. Damn shifters should know better.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the bartender reach down and pull out a baseball bat. He laid it on a shelf behind him, putting it within easy reach. Yeah, Kieran was reading the room right. The group in the back had worn out their welcome. As Kieran got closer, he picked up the bear odor he’d recognized outside.

  Remy gave him a hand signal that the rest of the room was made up of humans. That meant the baseball bat the bartender had wasn’t going to do a bit of good against a group of shifters. It looked as though his and Remy’s timing had been perfect.

  One of the bigger guys with bright red hair noticed Kieran stalking closer and nudged the older skinny dude.

  A cloudy alcohol-filled gaze met his. The skinny dude sneered.

  Kieran wanted to laugh. He’d wipe that look off the dude’s face quickly enough.

  He was surprised when he finally reached the group and found the skinny dude wasn’t a bear shifter like the others. Some kind of bird. Bears and bird shifter together—that was pretty unusual.

  “Is there a problem here?” Kieran asked in a low, deep voice.

  “None of your business, pretty boy,” the skinny bird shifter responded. “Just keep walking.”

  Kieran turned to face the guy. “Now, I’d love to do that, but I figure as soon as I leave, you’re going to start tearing up this place and put these humans in danger. I can’t allow that.”

  His statement caught the bird shifter’s attention. The bird shifter breathed in before he frowned. “What are you?”

  “You don’t want to find out. Why don’t you go ahead and leave while you can still walk?” Okay, that was a little over the top. A little villain-sounding, but Kieran liked playing the role of the bad guy.

  “You gonna make me?” the bird shifter asked as he took a step forward. He motioned for the three bear shifters to join him.

  “If I have to,” Kieran replied. “If I do, you’ll be sleeping off your drunk in one of the cells in the basement of the Organization.”

  “Fuck!” The biggest of the bear shifters spat. No one wanted to come to the attention of the Organization. It showed the bear shifter had at least one ounce of smarts.

  Kieran nodded. They knew he wasn’t playing around now.

  “And you and…” The bird shifter sniffed. “Your dog are the ones going to put us there?”

  Kiran did smile this time, letting his fangs peek through his lips. “Yes,” he hissed.

  All four shifters took a step back. Now that was the respect he wanted. “Or you can leave now and not return to this establishment. You’ve worn out your welcome, as I said.”

  The big bear shifter grabbed the bird shifter’s arm and pulled him back. “Come on, Carl. This place is dead, anyway.”

  “Fine.” Carl turned around. “I was getting bored.”

  Kieran watched until every last man was out of the door.

  The patrons in the bar began to applaud. Kieran took a bow. Then he headed to the bartender. “Did they have any open tab?”

  “No,” the bartender said. “I made them pay up front.”

  “Good man,” Kieran praised. He pulled a card from his back pocket. “If they return or anyone gives you more trouble, just give me a call.”

  “Thanks.” The bartender put the card under the cash register. “Can I get you gentlemen a drink?”

  Kieran nodded to his partner for Remy to question the guy to see if he’d seen anything suspicious recently. Remy was better at talking to people.

  As his partner was busy, Kieran decided to stroll back around and check the front to make sure those shifters were gone.

  He peered out of the front glass and could have sworn someone or something darted back into the shadows. He narrowed his eyes but couldn’t have said for sure he’d spotted anything.

  Probably just jumpy after all the talk about my father earlier. He just needed to calm down. The fact that his father might or might not show up in his city was something that Kieran could not control. What Kieran could do, keep his new family safe, he would.

  Kieran rolled his shoulders then turned back to listen in to what the bartender was saying to Remy. Yes, there has been more shifters around the area than usual. He hadn’t had any trouble before that night, but there’d been some rumblings from others in the neighborhood. As Remy got a list of who he should be talking to, there was movement outside the front again. Yeah, he was certain he was being watched. Kieran had a pretty good idea about the culprit as well. He grinned, rolling to the balls of his feet. It had been a while since he’d had some good old-fashioned down and dirty fighting fun.

  His partner joined him and Kieran nodded at the door. “We’ve got company.”

  Remy sneered. “I thought they left too easy.”

  “Wanna have some fun?” Kieran asked, hopeful.

  “Like I’m going to tell you no,” Remy replied. “But if you get hurt, Dakota is going to blame me. I just know it.”

  “Those fuckers aren’t going to hurt me,” Kieran said. “Come on! It’s been forever since I’ve gotten to throw down.”

  “Fine, let’s go.”

  Kieran followed Remy out, letting his partner take the lead. He wasn’t surprised when Remy strolled casually toward the alley. If they wanted to keep Kieran’s abilities hidden, it was better that they didn’t have an audience.

  A soft shuffle of feet was his only warning that they were being followed. Even a shifter wouldn’t have been able to pick up the slight rustle of clothes. From Dean’s testing, they’d figured that Kieran’s hearing had been manipulated to give him about five times the ability of a shifter. They didn’t know how, but the results were undeniable.

  Anticipation and excitement grew as they walked behind the building. The street light was broken, but Kieran didn’t need it. Neither would the shifters. Not that their sight was better than his—whatever had been done to him had amplified his eyesight as well.

  “Hey, asshole!”

  Kieran turned toward the mouth of the alley where the skinny bird shifter stood with his bear shifter companions. “Did you grow some balls?” Kieran taunted.

  “Get him!” the bird shifter ordered.

  Kieran caught the first fist that was directed at him before letting his fangs come down. “Let’s party,” he murmured. He might even allow Remy in on the fun.

  Chapter Two

  The drive out to the Red Rocks always took longer than Dakota liked being cooped up in a car. When Kieran drove her out there, with her clinging to his back on the bike, she felt free and excited. Now all she felt was anxious.

  Gabe and Dare kept up a steady bout of conversation, but she didn’t contribute much. Dakota hated being driven away from the city where she was certain Kieran would be finding trouble. He had a lot of excess energy he needed to burn off. She hoped he did so safely. But she knew her lover and the chances of him not ending up bloody by the end of the night were low. Hopefully Remy would be able to rein him in a little. Not that Remy was much better. Kieran liked to imply that Remy was a good influence, but she’d seen the wolf shifter pull some crazy stunts himself.

  Finally, they reached their destination and Dakota let out a relieved sigh.

  As much as she wanted to strip and transform into her jaguar, she had a job to do. She couldn’t really question witnesses or take statements when she couldn’t talk.

  Gabe pulled the SUV up to where they were set to meet with the Alpha and sighed.

  Dare grunted beside him. “This will be interesting.”

  Dakota held back a smile. Being one of the few shifters that wasn’t intimated by the strong Alpha was a benefit in her line of work. Dakota respected Damon, but she didn’t fear him. With all her experience with the Day Walker community, or Kieran specifically, it took a lot nowadays to frighten her. She danced with forces stronger than an Alpha wolf shifter. Kieran’s cousins had been ruthless and intent on destroying what she and Kieran had built. Now with Kieran’s father thr
eatening to take him away from her, or worse, Dakota knew the upcoming fight would be epic.

  The Alpha strolled forward into sight with two other wolves at his back, all in their shifter forms. She’d seen Damon transformed into his wolf form before but even if she hadn’t, Dakota would have had no doubt which wolf he was. The power that surrounded the Alpha was felt even from inside the vehicle.

  “Fuck,” Gabe spat.

  “Yeah.” Dare was shivering. He was human, so the Alpha’s influence shouldn’t be affecting him as much as her and Gabe, since they were shifters.

  There was an increase in the breeze. The wind batted against the SUV then the three wolf shifters changed back to human.

  “I think we have clothes in the back,” Dakota said. Not that she minded the three naked men standing outside the door, but she wasn’t there to admire. She could do that secretly. Dakota loved Kieran, but she wasn’t blind.

  “I’ll get them,” Dare offered. He climbed out of the vehicle and Dakota followed suit. As Dare took care of passing out sweatpants, she peered around the area.

  “It’s so quiet out here,” she said.

  “The Pack enjoys the area.” Damon stepped to her side. “You have an open invitation to shift here anytime you want.”

  She nodded. When Dakota transformed into her jaguar, she normally did so with Kieran. He’d been so against any kind of shifter that Dakota hadn’t believed Kieran would want to see her transformed. Now that Dakota had all Kieran’s trust and acceptance, she didn’t want to run alone as her jaguar. Since he wasn’t fond of other shifters still, she hadn’t brought up wanting to transform inside the Pack security. That was asking too much.

  “You can even bring your boyfriend,” Damon muttered.

  Dakota laughed. Kieran hadn’t made it a secret that he didn’t like shifters, with the exception of her and Remy. Damon hadn’t gotten Kieran to add him to Kieran’s small circle, although the Alpha was closer than he knew. Damon had helped them several times already, earning Kieran’s trust. Dakota was letting the two men figure it out, though. For the time being, she’d just let Kieran and Damon circle each other until one of them offered a hand in friendship. It would happen, she hoped, sooner rather than later.