“Hey, it’ll be okay Rose. Let’s just head back now before Mr. Bossypants throws a fit, and everything will be fine.”
“How?” I reply, trying to find some ray of hope.
“You should be able to change back into your shifter form now. We’ll just make sure we book it back at the right pace. It will only take us a couple of minutes.”
His plan makes sense so far.
“Are you feeling alright enough to give it a try?”
I nod to him. My legs feel wobbly from what Hawes has done to me, my head is spinning, and my muscles feel like limp spaghetti, but it’s worth a shot.
Chapter 6
Hawes
Damn, stupid Josh has to ruin everything.
That was by far the best thing I’ve ever experienced. Rose is so beautiful, so incredible. I could make love to her all day.
I get out of the spring first, and the air is cold on my wet skin. I shift to my wolf form and shake the water off. I’ll be damp for a little while, but it’s better than feeling drenched.
Rose follows me out, turning into the incredible white wolf I saw before. She shakes off the water too and comes up to me.
“Okay, lead the way,” she says.
“Alright, follow me.” I lead her through the thick brush, following the path I know almost intuitively now. Once we’re clear of the thickest part, I motion to Rose to follow, and I start off at a quick run. We’ll make good time, and it shouldn’t put her in any danger since we’re not sprinting at top speed.
We hear Josh’s voice again, sounding even more insistent than before, closer now because of the distance we’ve covered.
Coming, you bastard.
We’re almost back now, and I can hear Rose starting to sound a bit tired from behind me.
“Are you doing alright?”
“I’m fine. Just hard to be back in shifter form so soon,” she says with a little huff.
“Want me to carry you?” I ask. This is all my fault, the least I can do is help.
“No, I got this,” she replies stubbornly.
Why is she acting so standoffish all of a sudden? One minute we’re sharing the hottest thing I’ve ever had in my life, and the next she’s treating me like an annoying friend. Maybe it was too much, too soon? She seemed like she liked it though.
In no time at all, we’re back at the mansion, where Josh is standing outside. When he sees us he folds his arms, looking cross. I’ve seen that look before from Rafe.
Oh, goody, my favorite. Getting talked down to.
We approach him and he raises an eyebrow, looking first at Rose, then glaring at me.
“Where in the hell have you two been?” he asks sternly.
“Nunya,” I reply, trying to be serious.
“Nunya what?”
“Nunya business, Josh.”
Josh isn’t amused. His disdain is replaced by anger now. Both brows are raised and his eyes are locked with mine.
“Seriously? There are people out to kill Rose, and your best idea is to go frolicking in the forest?” he says, addressing both of us, but looking at me still.
“Better that than await around for Mr. Stuffy McStufferson here,” I chide, motioning at Josh.
“I actually have everyone’s, particularly Rose’s, best interests in mind. Something you obviously have no concept of at all,” Josh says, riding his high horse like there’s no tomorrow.
I’ve heard Rafe say similar things to me before. You’re irresponsible, Hawes. You’ll never amount to anything.
This time though, I’m not taking it.
“Fine, you want some of this? Bring it, suit-man.” I bare my fangs and growl at him, still in my wolf form. I swear I’ll tear this guy’s his head off.
“Ha, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” he calls at me, looking self-satisfied and smug. But when he sees I’m dead serious, I see him remove his suit jacket and hang it on a low branch.
“Oh, you little punk. I’ll tear you limb from limb,” he says, undoing his cuffs and loosening his tie.
“Let’s see what you’ve got,” I reply.
“Guys, really? This is what it’s coming to?” Rose says, sounding extremely annoyed.
“Hey, if the mob wants Hawes dead, I figure I’ll just do them a favor and finish the job right now,” he says, pulling off his shirt and hanging that on another branch.
“My grandma undresses faster than that. And I don’t even have a grandma,” I retort.
His build is very similar to Rafe’s. Very large and bulky, albeit maybe a hair shorter and a little more toned. Anyone else would find him intimidating, I’m sure. But I don’t get intimidated by anyone.
“Wait, the mob?” Rose shouts out, freezing us both in our tracks, taking command of the situation in that way that only a real alpha could.
Josh pauses. Then, composing himself, he replies.
“Yes. At least we’re pretty sure that’s who it is,” he says, sounding professional and businesslike, which is somewhat hilarious contrasted with the fact he’s shirtless with just a pair of black slacks on. I wish I had a camera for blackmail purposes.
“Everyone, inside. There’s a lot of explaining to do. I’m taking a shower first, then meet me in the kitchen,” she says, grabbing her clothes in her mouth and walking through the open back door. She shuts it with her hind leg, and we can hear her inside. “You wait while I get dressed.”
There’s awkward silence that hangs in the air between us, the anger from a moment ago bleeding off into an awkward tension, fueled by our dislike of each other, but resentfully peaceful for Rose’s sake.
“So, do you sleep in a suit?” I ask. The guy literally looks like he could be seen in a suit twenty-four seven.
“Yes,” he replies, shrugging into his shirt and buttoning up the cuffs.
“Really?”
“No,” he replies dryly.
There’s another awkward moment as the only sound being heard is the quiet shuffling of Josh putting on his tie, then replacing his suit coat and buttoning it. One would never have guessed he looked otherwise a minute ago.
The door to the house opens and Rose peeks out, wearing her blue tank top and looking gorgeous, hair still damp and tied back in a ponytail.
“Okay, you guys come in. I’ll be upstairs for a bit, but I should be down soon.” She goes back in and the door closes behind her.
Josh, looking perfectly composed again, just glares at me.
“Why were you two wet when you came back?” he asks, sounding miffed.
“Stream. There are loads of ‘em around here. I happened to trip into it and she fell in behind me. It was hilarious, you missed out.”
He eyes me suspiciously. “Odd, considering you’ve lived here so long. One would assume you’d know the terrain around here.”
I just shrug and give Josh an “eh” face, and he turns and goes back into the house.
Now to take care of this whole mob fiasco.
Chapter 7
Rose
I feel much better after a short shower. My body feels clean and refreshed, but the memory of Hawes is still there. The touch of his hands on me, everywhere. I shudder a little thinking about it.
I just have to keep the two men downstairs in line before they kill each other.
It’s evening now, the sun gone and the stars starting to appear outside.
I head downstairs into the kitchen and find Josh working on his laptop while Hawes is standing at the counter.
I sit down at the table, and Josh looks up at me and nods, with a smile that still seems grim somehow. Hawes turns around, sees me, and smiles. He comes to the table, bringing with him a large bag full of takeout boxes of Chinese food.
“I had no clue what you liked, so I just ordered a whole bunch of things.”
I return his smile, and he brings plates to the table while Josh puts his laptop away.
“Where’s Lindon, by the way?” I ask.
“He left earlier. He got a call from someone o
r something. At least I think that’s what he said, he left in such a hurry,” Hawes says.
We eat in relative silence, punctuated only at the end by a short argument between Hawes and Josh over the last dumpling, which ends in a tie because I decide to make it simple and eat it myself to prevent further argument.
Once the table is cleared, Josh pulls out his laptop and Hawes just leans back in his chair before scooting it closer to mine, which earns him a glare from Josh.
“So, what are we dealing with?” I ask, deciding to get things started.
“This is what we know so far. For years, the mob has been fixing the matches in the underground leagues, the same one that Hawes has been fighting in.”
“What does that mean to us?” I ask. Josh has a lot more experience in human organized crime than me. I only knew I was at the fight because we’d heard some rumors of rogue shifters.
“A lot of money is made by being able to control the outcome of the matches. The mob will put money on a certain fighter through third parties they have connections with. By being able to predetermine who the winner will be, they can make sure they get paid every night. Recently though, someone has been making a stir. Making them a bit antsy.”
Hawes puts his hands up. “Hey, I didn’t mean to ruffle any feathers. I’ll send them an apology card and some flowers. That should smooth things over.”
“It doesn’t work that way. At this point you’ve probably cost them millions in lost bets. I don’t think an apology will satisfy them,” Josh replies.
“So how did I come into this?” I ask.
“Honestly, we’re not entirely sure. It might have been that you were last seen with Hawes the night he escaped. It might be because they know about your connection to him somehow,” he says, rubbing his temples.
“That still doesn’t completely make sense,” I ask, trying to figure things out. If it does make sense, I still don’t like it. Cases aren’t supposed to go wrong like this.
“But that’s not all, it gets worse,” Josh adds.
Hawes is beginning to look worried, and he sits up in his chair, listening closely.
Josh turns the laptop around, showing two pictures side by side of what look like mugshots.
“You know the two shifters that disappeared from our network a few months ago. They’ve reappeared, and we’re pretty sure they’re connected with the mob.”
The pictures are familiar to me. Both are connected with different crimes, and we’ve been hunting them for some time. There’s a man and a woman, but I especially remember the picture of the man. A shudder goes through me.
“Vincent Legrand, here on the left, is wanted on several charges of homicide, among numerous other accounts of assault,” Josh adds.
“You’re starting to sound like a cop. Isn’t this something humans should take care of?” Hawes asks.
“Not when it’s a shifter doing the killing. Not to mention several of those he killed were confirmed as shifters,” Josh interjects.
Shifters killing shifters. It happened, rarely, in the wild. But there were rules about challenges and the Tribunal oversaw things and set guidelines in a way that kept it all dignified. There has always been something ancient, something flowing in our veins that allowed for necessary violence, like to protect one’s family or pack. But nowadays, some shifters are just cold-blooded killers. Vincent is one of them.
“And who’s the other one?” Hawes asks, pointing at the screen.
“We know a lot less about her, except that she goes by Alexis. We suspect she’s been involved with the mob a good deal longer, and has gained some notoriety in the mob while hiding her identity as a shifter, but she’s not nearly as much of a threat,” Josh says.
“So, what does the Tribunal want us to do?” I ask.
“Our mission is fairly simple…” Josh says.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Hawes interrupts. “I don’t like where this is going. What do you mean, mission?”
Josh sits back in his chair, looking like he knows we’re not going to like what he has to say next. “They’re not giving us an option. They want us to run surveillance at your fight. Try and find Legrand if he’s there, and neutralize him if he is,” Josh says seriously.
“Do we have the resources to do this?” I ask. Even to me, it sounds kind of crazy.
“We’ll have other agents assisting us, and we’re to work with local authorities who have been investigating the mob as well.”
“Local authorities? You mean humans,” Hawes says.
“Yes. They have a vested interest in taking down the mob. We don’t. Our only targets are Legrand and, if possible, Alexis as well. However, the operation carried out by the human law enforcement agencies will put more people on the ground and maybe give us a diversion to extradite Legrand,” Josh says, making it sound as easy as assembling a new desk, when in fact there’s a lot more complexity to it than that. Things can go wrong.
“So where do I come into this?” Hawes asks, leaning back into his chair and folding his arms, squinting suspiciously at Josh.
“You’re our in. Our diversion. Your job will be to go to the fight, win it, and get out of there as soon as you’re done.”
“So, I’m a Guinea pig?” Hawes says, unamused.
“Call it what you want, but we need you there or nothing works the way it’s planned. They’re expecting you there tomorrow night, so you need to be there.”
“And when it’s over, I just leave?”
“You have to understand, there are a lot of moving parts in this operation,” I say, hoping to help this make sense for Hawes. “Everyone has to play their part.”
“Really, do they?” Hawes asks, looking at me, the anger in his voice thinly veiled.
“Yes. They do. Even you, Hawes,” Josh says.
“This is crazy.” Hawes stands up and plants his hands on the table, leaning over it and glaring at Josh, who simply looks back at him, unaffected. “First, the target is already a known killer of shifters, and we’re all gonna just waltz in there and ask if we can join him at his dinner table, on his turf? And somehow he’ll just respond by going peacefully?”
Josh just sits and waits while Hawes rants. I can see where Hawes is coming from though. The whole thing sounds overly risky.
Hawes continues, getting more angry at the fact that Josh seems so unaffected. “The whole reason we came out here was because Rose almost died, and we’re going to all go jumping right back into the fire?”
“I’ll be with Rose the entire duration of the operation. She won’t leave my sight.”
Hawes narrows his eyes. “That’s what I don’t trust. I don’t trust you. You and your plans and your suits and your damned smugness about everything!”
“We have to take the opportunity while it presents itself.” Josh is standing now, large hands planted and fingers splayed on the table, voice raised at Hawes. “This guy is out there,” he says, pointing at the picture of Legrand. “And he’s a danger to everyone in our entire species unless we do something about it. So don’t give me this bullshit about keeping Rose safe. The only neck you’re interested in looking out for is your own!” Josh finishes, punctuating the argument by slamming his fist on the table.
There’s a pregnant pause as the two huge, enraged men glare at each other. Hawes’ hands grip the edge of the table, seemingly to keep him from lunging at the other man.
Then a loud crack sounds as wood splinters beneath Hawes’ hands. The thick, well constructed table is like styrofoam beneath the force of his anger. The noise seems to startle him, and he takes a step back from the table, still fuming.
“Don’t you dare say that again,” Hawes says, breathing heavily, seemingly not from exertion, but from unreleased anger. “I’ll go. I’ll be your bait, your lackey, your whatever. But know this.” He puts his hand up, pointing a finger in the air and shaking it while he speaks. “I’m not doing this for you. I’m not doing this for the Tribunal. I’m not doing this for the shifter race, or wh
atever the hell you do this for. I’m only doing this for Rose.”
He glances at me, then locks eyes with Josh. “And when this is over, I’m done. I’m out.” He starts walking out of the kitchen, past me, glancing only for a moment at me as he passes.
“Hawes,” Josh says, standing with his arms folded.
Hawes stops at the entrance to the living room, but doesn’t turn around.
“Don’t make me come after you someday.”
Hawes chuckles. “I’d like to see you try it.” Then he leaves, going through the front door and slamming it behind him.
I stand to go after him, wanting to try to help him make sense of the whole thing, but Josh stops me.
“Don’t. We can’t afford to have him change his mind at this point.”
“How can you be so cold, Josh?” I ask. I feel hurt. Hurt because of how he hurt Hawes with what he said earlier.
“Someone has to be cold, Rose. We need him,” Josh says, a small amount of regret starting to show in his tone.
“But does that justify us in using our own kind like bait? Plus, you didn’t need to talk to him like that, like he was below you. You wouldn’t talk to anyone else I know like that.”
“He’s not like us, Rose. He doesn’t have a sense of duty, he just lives for himself. I know his kind. Privileged alpha males who get everything handed to them.”
“I don’t think so, Josh. I think you’re wrong about him.”
“Maybe. Maybe I don’t like the way he looks at you. But regardless…” Josh comes up to me and puts his hands around my arms. “Rose, our race is dying. Land is getting scarce. Territory conflicts are getting more violent. And we’re the only ones that can stop people like Legrand that have no compunction against killing their own without hesitation.”
“Let go of me,” I say, shrugging Josh’s hands off. “I don’t want you to touch me right now. I get why you did what you did, but I don’t have to like how you did it. I’m disappointed in you, Josh.” I rub my arms, feeling cold inside.
A flash of pain crosses his face. I can see regret showing through the cracks in his stern demeanor. I know Josh is just doing what he thinks needs to be done. But he didn’t do it right. And he knows it.
Ultimate Alpha Boxed Set: A BBW and Wolf Shifter collection Page 29