Right, and I can trust you, X? Bennett’s mental voice was filled with derision.
“I don’t want her dead, now fuck off.” The female strode out of sight.
There was something vaguely familiar about the Agent. Her voice tickled Spencer’s memories, but she’d traveled quite a bit with her family and came across a lot of people. Where would she have crossed paths with another shifter long enough to recognize her voice?
The question was dropped as soon as she saw the pale wolf walk up next to her.
We need to get you to Doc Garreth.
Right, the healer. Yes, she did indeed need a healer. How many others did? “Was anyone else hurt?”
Not badly. No one was hit with silver like you. Let’s get you checked out first and then you can tell us what happened. Bennett nudged under her elbows to let her know she could use him to try to stand. And she would take him up on that offer.
Kaitlyn headed to the Agent she felled to get her head shot in.
There’s still a vampire out there, Kaitlyn. Eyes open.
So, Bennett was bossy with everyone, Spencer mused, not just her.
“There was a vampire that went up in flames at the house. Was there more than one?”
“Woo-hoo!” Kaitlyn gave Spencer an appraising look. “You took out a fanger? Oh, no offense,” she finished quickly and sincerely.
Spencer smiled and shook her head. “I’m not vampire enough to be offended. And no, I think it was an Agent who killed the vampire.” Spencer’s forehead furrowed as she recalled how the Agent helped her and then apologized before he shot her with a silver bullet.
An Agent? Describe him. Bennett helped Spencer stand. It had taken a couple of tries. His sense of urgency at getting her to the lodge radiated off him. Did she look as bad as she felt?
“Tall, dark, and deadly. He even said he was sorry he had to shoot me.”
What? He fired point blank on you and only hit you in the shoulder? Bennett’s tone was incredulous.
“It sounds like Agent E and he doesn’t miss,” Kaitlyn said.
“Well, I tried to get out of the way,” Spencer offered.
Wouldn’t matter. If he wanted you dead, you would be. What are they up to?
“Shit Spencer. Doesn’t hurt to have Agent X and Agent E protecting you.”
It’s likely the only reason she’s still alive, Bennett added grimly. It’s like they were hanging out in town watching us so we’d go into overdrive protecting Spencer. We’ll have to see what the commander makes of it.
They made their way to the lodge, moving at the fastest pace Spencer could muster. She hurt; her shoulder throbbed and her strength was waning.
Bennett stayed in his wolf form, walking next to Spencer so she could tunnel her hand through his fur and use his support as they made their way over the uneven terrain.
Kaitlyn mentally reported the bodies to the others so they could gather them and throw them in the fire.
Spencer should mourn the loss of her house, but she didn’t. Right now, she was glad to be alive, and if she didn’t get to the lodge soon, that might change.
Spencer was weak and draining fast. Standing quietly downwind and out of sight, the large ruddy wolf noted her haggard walk, while leaning on Bennett. He spied on them until Bennett flowed back into human form to swing her up into his arms. She melted into his chest, trying to keep her eyes open. Kaitlyn followed them, studying their surroundings, protecting the couple so they could reach safety.
Pride swelled in the commander while he stayed in his wolf form watching the actions of his pack. This was why they kept going. All those years that their powers didn’t work, the dregs of society draining any optimism of a decent future, and the steady rise of Sigma’s power, he’d felt almost helpless against the wildness that threatened to take down his small pack. Now his boys were finding their mates, his pack was growing, and they would need every resource to not only defeat Madame G, but wipe out Sigma’s presence in this area and deal with the corruption in their own governing body.
Rhys didn’t come out here to haul the bodies to the fire. Mercury, Jace, and Ronnie said they’d take care of it while Rhys told them he’d clear the woods.
He didn’t exactly lie to them. There were no more Agents after them, but there were still Agents among the trees. One of the Agents involved in the gun fight had taken off already, thinking their plan was a success and the hybrid had perished in the flames. With any luck, Agent E thought so, too, but he wasn’t close by. Probably near the road where they had vehicles waiting.
Rhys was only interested in one Agent, and even after what he just witnessed, he doubted he would get any answers from her.
“Looking for me?”
Rhys swiveled his head toward the coy tone and there she stood, dressed all in black with her midnight hair swept to one side of her head, showcasing the shaved side. He wasn’t feeling bitchy enough to change back to a human. Nudity didn’t bother shifters, but his nudity would bother her. He didn’t want to play games, he required answers, and while he doubted he would get any tonight, he sure wouldn’t get any sporting an erection that strained for her.
Don’t suppose you’ll tell me why you saved her, X?
“Why Rhys, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I was aiming for her, but Agent C’s head got in the way.”
Rhys wondered if his wolf could take on a sardonic look. Are you going to inform Madame G the hybrid still lives?
“I have every intention to, but dammit, I get so forgetful.” She put her hands on her slender hips and glanced around. “What were we talking about again?”
What about Agent E?
“Nice guy.”
She was so frustrating he wanted to howl. Rhys should be jealous of Agent E and despise the man for more than being with Sigma, but he didn’t. The two Agents carried the scent of each other, and he’d observed them interact over the years. They were dedicated to each other, thrown together after being captured and forced to work for Madame G, but their intimacy didn’t scream romance.
Why they didn’t try to escape Sigma was only one burning question Rhys wanted to know. Agent X was a shifter, though he doubted she’d shifted for years. She could turn to any of the Guardian packs for help. She should turn to him, but instead they sparred and fought, sometimes even drawing blood. Rhys suspected it was more for show, although that silver crossbolt incident a few years back left a hell of a scar on his flank.
He couldn’t fault her for her relationship with Agent E, but he had an issue with that vampire, Demetrius. A low growl escaped him before he could stop it.
“What’s the matter, boy? Timmy fell in the well?” X crooned innocently.
If Madame G knows she lives, she’ll keep coming for her. Rhys was pointing out the obvious, but he had to at least find out if Spencer had any chance at a stationary life. If she had to run, he’d lose Bennett, too.
“You’ll have to wait and see what Madame G’s little rumored oracle says.”
Oracle?
“Mmm-hmmm. A little birdie told me he thinks the madam has a seer at her beck and call. Can’t say she’s always accurate, though.” X muttered the last part, more under her breath than anything.
Who is it?
“Don’t know.” X sighed. “I’m sure if my little birdie ever finds out, we’ll have another vigorous information exchange.”
Fucking Demetrius. The growling started again before Rhys could stop himself.
“Down boy. If it wasn’t the vamp, it’d be someone else. Madame G would make sure of it.” X studied the ground, digging her boot into the growth, almost as if she was ashamed of her confession.
Rhys ground his teeth together, drawing blood as his fangs dug in.
How can you trust what he tells you?
X gave the most undignified snort, her brilliant green eyes flashing, and it made her sexy as hell. “Trust Demetrius? Are you kidding me? No, but he does have an itinerary that I think might conflict with Madame G’s.”
She left it unsaid that she had her own itinerary that conflicted with Madame G’s and so passed information between them would somehow hurt the madwoman’s plans. Maybe Rhys hated the arrogant vampire a little less. Just a little.
“I remember when I was little, my dad would tell me shifter lore. You know, about the ancient ones?” X became reflective and Rhys realized he never thought of her as anything other than an Agent. That she may have actually grown up in a normal shifter family before, according to Dani, they were killed prior to X becoming an Agent. “He told me about all the powers shifters can have, and how they’ve gotten diluted as the ancients bred with humans. But he said any shifters with premonitions or visions were always extremely fair in coloring. Rumor has it, Madame G was pretty pissed about a pale young shifter she kept to herself that Mercury walked out with.”
Well shit. X alluded to the oracle being a female. They would have to get their young Guardian-in-training, Parrish, who fit X’s father’s description of a seer, talking about his family history, like his mother or if he had any sisters. If any of this was true, and that was a big if, it would stand to reason Parrish knew exactly who Madame G kept in her quarters.
A shrill whistle that sounded like it could be a bird filtered through the night.
“Oh shit, that’s my ride. Gotta jet or I’ll miss it. It’s not good for a young woman to be out all alone at night.” She jogged swiftly through the night. Rhys let her go, didn’t move so he could watch her lithe form until she disappeared from view.
Chapter Fourteen
Three months later…
“You sure you don’t want me to come with, just in case?” Jace asked.
Bennett had stopped in at the lodge to grab some supper. Jace was on kitchen duty and no one complained. That male could cook. Tonight was beef medallions with bacon wrapped shrimp. Cassie threw together a salad and grilled some potatoes since she insisted on a well-rounded meal. No one cared but the ladies, yet they all shoveled in lettuce and devoured the potatoes without reservation.
“You’re off the hook, and I can quit having Cassie bitch at me.”
Cassie gave Bennett a wicked smile. She didn’t mind Jace helping Bennett maintain his playboy image going at the club, but she did mind the naked women and stench of sex he came home with, even though he didn’t touch a single female, didn’t sport a single hard-on for anyone other than his mate, and didn’t enjoy any of it.
Actually, Jace told Bennett he did enjoy some of it. After Jace wove the spell around the women in The Den, essentially hypnotizing them into being convinced of everything Bennett should be doing to them but actually wasn’t, Jace and Bennett hung back and chatted. They conversed about work, Jace’s school, and Ronnie’s acquisition and detrapping of Spencer’s farm. When Weston got his turn to have the woman’s full body of attention, they assumed the routine of turning their backs for privacy and talking about guy stuff.
Then, bonus, Jace went back to his cabin and Cassie’s now heightened sense of smell from being mated to a shifter went into overdrive, and she had to lay claim to her mate all over again. Jace gave a shit-eating grin and said he was only doing his mately duties letting her have her way with him.
Bennett was relieved to hear that. Cassie helped him out a lot and kept trying, even as he pushed her away over the last year, and he would’ve felt like a steamy pile of dung if he was the cause of conflict in the couple’s life.
“Good luck, man.” Jace clapped Bennett on the shoulder as he left the kitchen to get cleaned up.
Back at his cabin, he showered and shaved, and dug a nice pair of black slacks and a slate gray button-up out of his closet so he could look like his usual clubbing self. Weston said he’d be at the club hitting up The Den if Bennett needed him. Politely declining, only because he couldn’t punch the male through the phone for offering his services tonight, Bennett hung up on him.
Driving solo to Pale Moonlight, nerves were starting the get the better of him. Was this going to work?
***
Sipping her cheap beer, Sarah’s gut was churning. What if this didn’t work? What if she was made? What if she had to watch him pick up other women because this wasn’t going to go as planned? Well, she put on her big girl knickers this morning, so she’d suck it up and play along. But it would suck.
That’s why she was here tonight. Living in isolation at the lodge for decades, or going into hiding, with Bennett leaving the Guardians because he refused to leave her side, weren’t options. So between all the brilliant thinkers who planned her death, they planned her rebirth as well.
When they decided her name and appearance needed to be changed if her rebirth was to be successful, Sarah wasn’t sure she could trust the fervor in Kaitlyn’s eyes. The Guardian frantically called Cassie to bring back a hair dye kit, “like the one we used for the great hair debacle of freshman year.” Spencer got the impression Kaitlyn had once tried to go blonde and it ended poorly.
As far as a name change, Spencer became Sarah. Legally, she would soon be Sarah Young once she was officially mated to Bennett. Thankfully, her brother took over her farming for the year, and since Sigma knew he was her brother, it wouldn’t seem odd. The store didn’t know he was her brother, but he told them he was taking over as the previous owner had to relocate for family matters. Maybe a few years down the road, Sarah could openly take over, when the Sigma dust had settled.
First up in her rebirth, stay away from Bennett to keep his scent off her while he continued his pretend womanizing with Jace and Weston’s help. Next, spend time as a wolf. A lot of time. Sarah stayed in the woods for weeks, running and hunting. Or rather, learning how to hunt as a wolf. The first jack rabbit about fell over on his back laughing at her attempt to catch him. After she left home at eighteen, she rarely changed to her other form because she needed to remain as human as possible. Before then, she was never a wolf long enough to need to eat like one. At least the blood from her kills was enough to keep her away from not only Bennett’s blood, but Bessie and Tulip’s as well. Ronnie took care of her beloved cows while he used them for his own blood needs.
After she came back to the city to live in an apartment Jace and Dani set up for her under her new identity, the girls threw a wine and hair dyeing night for her. Kaitlyn, with her love of shopping, bought new clothes for Sarah that were opposite of her country girl look.
Then Sarah went out one night and “happened” to bump into Kaitlyn out clubbing. The shifter pretended to never have met her and they made a show of becoming fast friends. Her new friend then dragged her around town to go clubbing for a few weekends. It was test to see if she was recognized so it would ultimately look less suspicious when she appeared at Pale Moonlight on a night when Bennett was around.
A night out with Kaitlyn was a wild time, but the Guardian shooed off every man, human or shifter, whenever they came near. “Back off, it’s sexy bitches’ night out,” she’d shout.
Sometimes Cassie would join them, and once, Dani met them out, but only for a couple of hours saying her boobs were on call. Sarah hadn’t gotten to meet baby Dante yet, but she heard enough stories to know that the little guy was going to keep the lodge exciting.
Finally, she was at Pale Moonlight to run into her mate. Sigma spies could report he’d met his true mate, a shifter from her scent, and they’d leave them alone…mostly. But at least they wouldn’t target her for assignation.
A quick inhale, told her he had arrived. She missed him so badly. Their forced separation sucked. She missed him, missed her dog, missed her cows, and missed all those little kittens. Her heart clenched, they were probably close to fully grown by now.
Taking another drink, a gulp this time, she scanned the entrance to the club. He was already turning heads, women eyeing him, adjusting their clothing, hoping to approach him as he wove his way through the club.
His navy blue eyes skipped over each one of them, but he kept working his way through the crowd, as if he sensed someone he wanted m
ore.
Running a hand through her shoulder length flaxen hair, she checked out her image in the mirror over the bar.
Not too shabby. Her hair flared up slightly at the ends with the razor cut she’d recently had. Her new shirt fit snugly, showing off her figure without too much skin, and overlapping her first ever pair of skinny jeans.
She felt like she looked hot, and so did a couple of other shifters who had sidled up to her at the bar and tried to use their bad pick-up lines. One asked her to look at his phone because something was wrong with it. When she asked what, he said it was because her number wasn’t in it.
Laughing them both off, she nursed her cheap beer, waiting for him.
Finally, the blond looked her way, his deep blue eyes intense, but slightly amused. He imperceptibly raised an eyebrow at her appearance.
Fiddlesticks. Didn’t he like her new look?
Moving more forcefully through the club, bodies literally getting pushed out of his way, he zeroed in on her.
Her stomach was going to flutter itself right out of her body. The strapping grace of his movements kept her mesmerized until he stood over her. Sliding onto the stool next to her, a Belgian ale was automatically set in front of him, a sign he was a regular.
Nodding to the bartender, he took a long drink while studying her. She mirrored his motions, wondering what was running through that pretty little head of his.
“What’s your name?” was all he asked.
“Seriously, that’s all you’ve got?” she countered. “I’ve had two other offers tonight that put in more effort.”
Irritation flittered across his handsome features and he glared over his shoulder, searching for those who dared to hit on her.
“It’s Sarah,” she finally told him.
A half-smile tilted his lips. “I’m Bennett, but my friends sometimes call me Benji.”
She was about to go on making small talk when he interrupted her. “If I had a nickel for every time I saw a woman as beautiful as you, I’d have five cents. Did it hurt…when you fell from heaven? Can I borrow a kiss? I promise to give it back. Know what’s on the menu? Me ‘n’ you.”
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