Reggie exhaled and tried to understand. She would need time. Sal was a leader, an Alpha female in all aspects whether human, Magi, or wolf. This was her way and he needed to help her through this.
“Listen, open the glove compartment. There are two clips in there. Reload your revolver with one and replace the ones you have with those.”
She eyed him suspiciously.
“Why?”
“Just do it. If you won’t let your mates protect you, and if you’re insistent that you’re going to continue to work, then at least I can prepare you somewhat to defend yourself if necessary.”
“What types of bullets are these?” she asked, looking at the clip.
“Silver.”
“Why are they wrapped in this stuff?”
“So I wouldn’t die handling it.”
“What?”
“Silver is very powerful and can kill a wolf. We can’t even handle the stuff it’s so potent. So please be fucking careful. I know how you like to shoot first and ask questions later.”
“I do not.” She loaded her weapon.
“Oh really? Tell that to Angus.”
Her cheeks turned a nice shade of red and Reggie had to hide his chuckle. Little did she know that there was no fighting the bond between intended mates. Even though it seemed that Sal and Angus would fight it tooth and nail for their personal reasons, once the others arrived, she didn’t have a chance. He knew he was jumping the gun, but he had a feeling that Sal would belong to all six Fennigan brothers. He smiled. They were in for a hell of a fight, and she was in for a hell of a ride.
As he pulled the car along the shoulder near the entrance to the main bank, he spotted Quinn driving the SUV around the corner. Even though they would remain out of sight, Reggie knew they were nearby.
They both got out of the car and he locked it up.
“So how do you want to handle this?” she asked him.
“I do all the talking, you do what you do best and read the guy.”
“Okay. Let’s do this.”
“Hey, is that lip gloss you’re wearing?” he asked her as they entered the building, passed security, and headed toward the elevators.
“What? Oh, yeah, why?” She slid her finger under her lip as if she forgot she put it on. In fact, she also had an extra button undone on her blouse, which was still not what he would consider risqué, but it was for Sal. She looked good, sexy, and he swallowed hard. He’d known her for years, and she was his cousins’ mate and all, but he was a man and he did recognize a sexy, attractive woman when he saw one. It just stunned him a moment when he saw Sal in that way. He was trying to figure out why he felt like this. He looked her over again, feeling something he hadn’t felt before. He sniffed the air, then moved closer.
She turned to look at him.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked softly.
He squinted his eyes and inhaled again. There was something about her scent. It was different.
“Did anything happen between you, Quinn, and Angus last night?”
“No. Why?”
He looked away and then turned back to her as the doors opened.
“You’re freaking me out, Reggie. You’ve never sniffed me before.”
“There’s something different about your scent. It’s very appealing to my wolf, and well—”
She walked out of the elevator, interrupting his sentence as they entered a seating area and main desk. “Hello, we’re here to see Mr. Francisco,” she told the receptionist.
“And you are?”
“Detectives Fennigan and Santos.”
“Is he expecting you?”
“No, but he knows what it’s about. Is he inside now? We can show ourselves in,” Sal stated.
“Let me just buzz him. He is in a meeting but it should be over by now.” The secretary picked up the phone to buzz Mr. Francisco.
Reggie couldn’t believe what he smelled. It was Carbarone pack. Someone from the pack was here, and maybe in the office with Francisco.
Sal turned to look at Reggie. He tried to relax.
“Reggie, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
The doors opened and three men walked out, shaking hands and ending their meeting. Both she and Reggie looked. Reggie recognized Vargon Carbarone and Jaydin, his nephew and an Alpha in his pack.
Reggie felt his hackles rise and had to force his wolf to remain calm. But then Vargon and Jaydin looked at Sal.
“Detective Santos and Fennigan, this is a surprise. I was just ending a meeting with some colleagues. Was there something I could assist you with?” Mr. Francisco asked. Reggie pressed closer to Sal. He placed his hand against the small of her back and she gave him an odd look over her shoulder. He hoped she didn’t step away from him. He needed to protect her from these men.
She of course stepped away from him. The stubborn woman. Hadn’t she felt the way these men looked her over like their next meal? If they smelled the desirable aroma coming from her scent just as he had minutes ago, then there could be a potential situation here.
“Sorry we didn’t call first. We were in the neighborhood and we thought we would give it a shot and see if you could answer some questions for us,” Sal said. His concern was protecting his cousin’s mate and nothing else.
“I see you’re still working the streets, Reggie, thought they’d eat you alive by now,” Carbarone said, and then looked at Sal.
“I don’t believe we’ve met. My name is Vargon Carbarone. You’re Detective Santos?” he asked as he reached his hand out to her. Reggie went to stop them from shaking hands but Jaydin pressed in the way.
“You’re a lucky guy having such an attractive partner.” As Jaydin said the words and inhaled closer to Sal, his eyes widened.
Reggie knew that both men smelled her scent. He wished Quinn and Angus had gotten her to begin the mating process so that these men smelled Fennigan pack on her, but they didn’t and now both men seemed interested.
Sal suddenly realized who Carbarone was and she stepped a little closer and Reggie had no idea why. She held her ground and gave him the once-over then rolled her eyes.
“Carbarone? How interesting to meet you here. Are you conducting business with Mr. Francisco?” she asked.
Carbarone stepped back, but Jaydin remained staring at Sal, inhaling her scent.
“We’re good friends, have been for quite some time. Well, we must be going. Nice to have met you, Detective Santos. Hopefully we meet again.”
She watched him walk away and Reggie did the same, taking his eye off of Jaydin a moment.
When Reggie turned back, Jaydin lifted Sal’s hand to his lips and leaned down and kissed the top of it. “Such a pleasure to meet you. I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you are quite beautiful, gun and all.” He released her hand, smiling and then winking.
Reggie saw Sal’s face turn a little red, but she whispered a “thank you” before turning toward Francisco, her eyes back on the purpose of their visit.
“Mr. Francisco, if you don’t mind, we have a busy day ahead of us. Could we speak to you in your office? It won’t take long,” she said, stepping to the side. Francisco waved his hand for her to head in before him, and Reggie watched Carbarone and Jaydin.
“I’ll be seeing you around, Reggie,” Jaydin said, but it was more like a threat as the fucker flashed his wolf eyes.
“Anytime, Jaydin. Anytime.” Reggie walked by them. Before he closed the door, he could hear Carbarone giving orders.
“Not a word, we’ll talk in the elevator,” Carbarone said. Reggie inhaled then exhaled. He could relax a little right now. Sal was safe and that was what mattered most.
* * * *
“I can’t believe this,” Carbarone stated aloud with a big smile on his face. He ran his hands over his chin and looked at Jaydin.
“Did you smell her scent? Did you see how lovely she is?”
“How could I not. She was very enticing, just as Luka had indicated.”
“What are the chances that she has some kind of magic blood in her? It could mean anything. She could be a Magi, or a healer, or maybe even wizard. I wonder what she is exactly. What do you think?”
“Slim, but our sense of smell is quite trustworthy. It’s more than coincidental,” Jaydin said as he started to text on his phone.
“We’ll need to confirm and only Torque can assist with this.”
“Well, how do you suggest we do that without revealing that Torque is indeed alive?” Jaydin asked.
“I’ll think of something. In the meantime find out what you can about her. Make an effort to meet her again.”
“It seemed to me that Reggie was quite protective of her.”
“Of course he was. She’s his partner and he knows what we’re capable of.”
“He’ll challenge me and my brothers for her.”
“And you’ll accept that challenge. I know you, Jaydin. You want to destroy all the Fennigan Pack members just as I do, and just as my son Luka does. Taking over Skylar Pack is a stepping stone in that direction. Finding Sal, that is just a very delicious bonus. This was more than just coincidence, us meeting her here.”
“What about Mr. Francisco? Do you think he’ll be able to handle their questions?”
“He doesn’t know anything. What we did, we did behind his back so he wouldn’t be able to give us up. Mr. Francisco is weak, just like the others, but another asset to my plan to achieve more financial power. Notify your brothers about Detective Santos. I have a feeling that things are going to really start falling into place.”
* * * *
“Well, that was a waste of time. Francisco didn’t know shit,” Sal stated as she and Reggie headed downstairs and out the main lobby.
“I wouldn’t exactly say it was a waste of time. I think the man legitimately doesn’t know that he’s dealing with conniving wolves. As a human, he’s unaware of the capabilities Carbarone has.”
“Are you sure Francisco is human? He was definitely eyeing me over a lot.”
“You’re an attractive woman, and apparently that scent on you I’ve been inhaling all morning is appealing even to humans.”
She lifted her sleeve and sniffed. “What scent? You smell something on me? I just got this blouse from the damn dry cleaners.”
“No, Sal, it’s not on your clothing, it’s emitted from your skin, your body, and believe me it is not unpleasant.”
He gripped the steering wheel and Sal felt a bit uncomfortable with this conversation. Reggie was her partner, her friend for years.
She turned in her seat to face him. “Okay, spit it out. Explain this shit.”
“Okay, it’s normal for all Were, all people to carry a scent. It helps differentiate your families, the packs you come from, the bloodline you originate from. It’s how we, as wolves, distinguish who is who. You’ve always had a distinctive scent that was appealing, and sweet. But now, just in the last hours since I left you last night, that scent has deepened and it’s hard to explain but it’s so damn enticing. It’s taking a lot of self-control to not take a closer sniff and even taste your skin.”
“What?” She leaned back against her seat. She didn’t like the sound of this. It gave her the creeps. All this sniffing and licking. She immediately thought about Quinn and Angus. She sure would like to explore their bodies with her mouth and tongue. She shook her head. “Okay, so why this strong scent now?”
“I think it has something to do with you finding your mates.”
“Frigging cool it with that stuff. I do not have mates. I am not a wolf. I will not be beckoned by them to do their deeds as ordered. Now, onto reality of life. I’m a detective. We’re investigating a double murder. What’s the next step now?”
Just then dispatch came over the radio. Shots fired, and it was a block from where they were. She reached for the radio and responded. “On route to location…” As she gave the information and they headed down the block, whizzing through traffic, she felt the adrenaline rush. A car chase. Pretty sick in the middle of the city. As they made their way closer, less traffic filled the streets and Reggie slowed down, trying to find the street where the incident was taking place. The call came over the radio. “Black Tempo, tinted windows, license plate number…”
A car slammed into the side of their vehicle. She looked up, saw the make of the vehicle matched the one that dispatch had just alerted all cars to, and then she saw the driver. He had glowing eyes and Reggie yelled for her to get down. He raised a gun and fired. The shots rang out, shattering the glass. Reggie jumped out the driver’s side and raised his gun. Sal brushed the glass off her shirt, feeling the scratches to her arm as she crawled from the seat and joined Reggie. Three other men emerged from the vehicle. They were wearing masks. She heard the sirens of the additional backup on their way and then a patrol car slammed into the other car. Reggie pulled Sal to the side, she rolled to the ground, and one man with the glowing eyes ran toward her. She pulled her gun, as he pulled his.
“I’m not going to jail!” He reached for her. She shot him and he practically exploded on sight. She was shocked at the capabilities of silver bullets against werewolves.
“Holy shit, run.”
She heard the other men yelling. Reggie fired his weapon and so did the other cops. Two of the three got away.
There were police everywhere and then the sounds of a vehicle skidding to a halt. She looked up as Reggie reached down to help her. She glanced that way, and everyone, including Quinn and Angus, seemed to part as two huge men made their way through the chaos of people.
Her mouth went dry, and her body reacted immediately as Quinn offered her a hand, but her eyes focused on the other two big guys. Both were hard looking, attractive, and very muscular, just like Quinn and Angus. One had reddish-brown hair that reached his shoulders with tattoos on his big-ass biceps. The other had dark-brown hair and looked about ready to kill someone.
“Shit, you have cuts on your arms. What the hell just happened?” Quinn asked as he lifted her up and held her by her shoulders.
“We don’t know. The call came over the radio of shots fired, and then as we approached, this car slammed into us,” she explained. She tried brushing off her pants and blouse after she placed her gun back into her holster.
“What the fuck you shoot that one with, silver?” the big guy asked, all pissed off and also with a deep Irish brogue.
“They shot at us, Delaney. One was about to shoot Sal, so she shot him,” Reggie explained.
“Well, looks like you’re a pretty damn good shot like Quinn told us, lassie,” the other one said.
“She sure is, Eagan,” Reggie replied.
Quinn stared down into her eyes as he caressed her lip with his thumb.
“Dangerous job you have, Salina. I’m not feeling too comfortable with it at all,” Quinn whispered. His gaze was intense.
“Let’s get this cleaned up. Team Seven just arrived,” Angus informed them.
Sal looked away from Quinn and tried to avoid looking at Eagan and Delaney. If these men were Angus and Quinn’s brothers, and also so-called mates to her, she might just pass out. They were gorgeous, intimidating, and so freaking huge she felt as if she couldn’t breathe. Reggie gave her a little push against her arm. She was shaking and didn’t like these feelings that were flowing through her body.
“Who is Team Seven? I’ve never heard of them, or seen them before,” Salina said, trying to get her mind off of the sexy men surrounding her. Then she noticed another five men giving orders. They were all dressed in black, wore dark sunglasses, and had every officer run
ning into position putting up road blocks and blocking people’s views of the accident and crime scene.
She couldn’t even see their faces, but could tell they were tan, extra large like the Fennigan brothers, and assertive.
“They’re here to clean up the mess and make sure the human police don’t get involved. It was a robbery pursuit, but the bad guys were wolves,” Reggie informed her.
“Holy crap. How come I’ve never noticed anything like this before?” she asked, staring in awe. Her mind was whirling with so many questions as she wondered how many times this so-called cleanup crew showed up on her and Reggie’s incidents.
“Let’s find out what we just got shoved into, Sal. I really don’t want to spend the rest of the shift fucking around with paperwork.”
“It’s inevitable. We shot our weapons and I killed that thing,” she said.
Reggie chuckled. “Yeah, the fact that the ‘thing’ exploded on impact from the silver bullet may need a bit more detailed explaining. You get to do the paperwork then,” he teased.
“You gave me the silver bullets,” she retorted.
“It comes with the territory, Sal. You used them, so you get to explain.”
She gave him a mean expression as he walked away. She went to follow but Angus pulled her by her arm.
His hand, huge like a mitt, not only made her feel intimidated but entirely too aroused by his masculinity.
She stared at where his hand was as his brothers gathered close. The four of them inhaled deeply. She saw their eyes glow slightly and so fast she thought she might have imagined it. She swallowed hard. Did they want to touch her, mate with her, or just eat her? How had she pissed them off? This was too complicated. She could foresee the disaster multiple men sharing one woman could cause.
“What the fuck is going on, Angus? How can this be?” Delaney asked as he inhaled deeply while letting his eyes roam over her body. Her nipples hardened, her pussy clenched, and she tried pressing her thighs together. Pulling slightly from Angus’s hold did nothing. The man firmly held her.
“It’s why we needed you to meet us. Meet our mate, Sal Santos,” Angus said, and then Delaney and Eagan looked her body over again as if they could see to her soul and stepped closer to take a better sniff.
Task Force Two: Fennigan Pack's Earth Angel [The Men of Five-O #9] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Page 7