Shifted Perceptions (Alpha Division)

by C. E. Black

  “Headquarters,” he replied, as he pulled up to a gate. Rolling down the window, he punched a code into a little metal box. The gate slowly opened, as I caught sight of the cameras lining the tall brick walls on either side.

  “This...” I began and shook my head.

  “Is the new place,” Paul confirmed.

  “I thought finding a new place was all talk. Why didn’t Teij say anything?”

  “It was a surprise. For all of us.”

  “Hmm,” I huffed. Then my jaw slackened and I gaped at the huge building. “What the hell is this, the Bat Cave?” I asked, astonished at the architecture.

  Paul chuckled, but I was serious. The building was modern, made of steel, concrete, and tinted glass. A tall dome stood predominantly in the front and on each side was more of the building, only less prevalent, looking plain and rectangle with windows dotted evenly down the sides.

  “The glass is bullet proof,” Paul said, noticing the way I looked at all the windows skeptically, especially the top of the dome.

  We parked and I slowly stepped out of the car. “It’s completely state of the art,” he continued, as we began walking toward the entrance. “There’s everything we need –meeting room, offices, weight room, training room, an indoor gun range...”

  I looked at him in awe, “Really?”

  “Yep, and there’s what we’re calling the war room. It’s amazing.” He sounded so close to giddy, I smiled. “I’m not all into computer shit, like Hawk, but damn that place can find us anything, using satellites and maps, it’s crazy. Oh, and a weapons room. And bedrooms just in case we want to stay over.”

  Damn! “Is that all?” I asked, deadpan and he turned to me, eyes wide like I’d grown another head. I laughed and he relaxed. “Just kidding. This is fucking brilliant,” I said in awe as we went inside. And it was brilliant, all shiny and new, I thought, as I looked up at the high ceiling made of glass. But it felt like just another thing I wasn’t privy to. What else were they hiding?

  We stopped in front of a pair of double doors. “Teij is waiting in the meeting room,” Paul pointed to the doors. “But I need to tell you something...”

  Suddenly, a voice filled the marbled floor hallway from an intercom above us. “Get your asses in here,” Teij demanded. I raised an eyebrow, impressed, as Paul sighed and opened the doors.

  The room looked fairly similar to our old meeting area. The same long metal table sat in the center of the room, but I didn’t get to take in anything else. Because Teij stood next to the table, looking fierce and commanding, as usual. I began to step forward to greet him, when I noticed who was standing next to him. My eyes narrowed and I froze in my spot, wishing I’d carried my gun with me.

  “What the hell are you doing here, Stone?” He wore a dark suit, looking as handsome as ever, as he gave me a nod.

  “This is Agent Nolan Yates, CIA. Looks like they’ve been on the same case as us for some time. They just forgot to mention it.” Teij’s tone hardened, but other than that slight giveaway, his face was unreadable.

  I looked at Stone, or Agent Nolan Yates, my breath frozen in my lungs. He didn’t say a word and I just didn’t know what to say.

  Then I turned to Paul. “You knew about this?”

  “Yes.”

  I looked back at Teij, “And you knew?”

  “Not until Paul told us.”

  I nodded, and sucked my bottom lips in my mouth, trying to keep from lashing out. It felt like everyone in the room was holding their breath.

  “Okay,” I finally said and I almost smiled at the sound of their exhales. “Can I talk to you and Paul alone?” I asked Teij.

  He nodded and led us into another room, the desk telling me it was probably his office. As soon as the door shut, I turned, ready to give both of them a piece of my mind, but before I could, I was suddenly being smashed against a very large chest.

  “Thank fuck!” Teij growled, his massive arms squeezing me tightly. “We were so damn worried.” I began to relax when he pushed me away, holding me at arm's length as he glared down at me. “Don’t fucking do that to us again, you hear me, girl!”

  “Yes, sir,” I said, my eyes blinking furiously, trying to keep back the tears.

  “Now,” he said with a sigh and letting me go. “Let’s get this shit over with. I know you feel like we’ve kept you in the dark about a lot of things lately and I’m sorry for that. Paul showing up was a last minute decision. I thought it best if someone could keep an eye on you. And as far as Bear,” his eyes narrowed and I had to force myself not to step back. “He told me you accused him of being a traitor. You should know better, Foxy,” he chastised and I nodded quickly.

  “I didn’t want you to know Bear was there and go searching for him,” he continued. “Although, now thinking back, that was unfair of me. I was worried I’d sent you into something you couldn’t handle. You’re good at your job, but at first I thought maybe I’d been hasty sending you in. I was too angry and you hadn't done much undercover work. I was wrong, though. You did good, Foxy. I’m very proud of you.”

  “Th-thank you, sir,” I mumbled, but he barely acknowledged my thanks, as he continued. I’d never heard him talk so much and I had to admit, it was... weird.

  “That was the extent of my sins, Foxy. The situation with Agent Yates is recent.” His eyes glanced behind me to Paul and I was very glad to not be on the receiving end of that look.

  “Terry,” Paul began and I turned to look at him. “I’m sorry to you and Teij. There is no excuse. I just kept letting other shit get in the way.

  “I found out about Stone’s real identity when I searched his place. His dog tags were hidden in his bedroom. At first, I just thought we had a bad ass soldier turned dark to deal with, but I also knew there was a possibility that it could mean something more. I copied the information and later, gave it to Hawk, who did his thing and found out who Stone really was.

  “I found the tags the day you came back to the hotel late and off balance. My worry and anger got the best of me and then you’d found Red and...” He trailed off. “I’m sorry.” His eyes pleaded for me to understand. In fact, I’d never seen him so apologetic or talkative. His voice and expression held real regret that I couldn’t ignore.

  “It’s okay,” I said and his shoulders relaxed. “Just don’t let it happen again. Either of you,” I demanded, adding Teij to my glare.

  “Understood,” they both said in unison and I smiled.

  “Now, let’s get this shit over with. The team is a mess to see you, especially Red. He knows you saved him.”

  I opened my mouth to deny Teij’s words, but he cut me off. “Yes, you did save him. He was right under Bear’s nose, but you were the one with the balls to get in there. Red told us what happened. You tried to take them all out and probably would have if you hadn’t been drugged.”

  Teij winked at me when Paul growled and I couldn’t hold back my snicker.

  “Oh, before we go,” Teij said. “I’m pissed as hell at the US government. We have to keep them updated, so they knew what was happening, but didn’t have the decency to let us know about the CIA’s involvement.” He shook his head, his lip curling into a snarl. “Would have made things a whole fucking lot easier.”

  Opening the door, he said, “We’ll talk about this more later with the team.”

  Stone stood in the same place we left him and as we walked in, he turned to look at us. He smiled, but I gave him nothing in return.

  “Agent Yates,” Teij began. “Why don’t you start with what you were saying before Foxy and Paul came in.

  He looked between the three of us and shrugged. “As I was saying, the CIA has been following this organization for almost a year and we’re coming up empty. Whoever this guy is, he’s too good at cleaning up his tracks. Even when he was in contact with me, phone calls couldn’t be traced and neither could any letters. No fingerprints, DNA, nothing.”

  “So you knew who I was the whole time, didn’t you?” I asked.
All three men looked at me, shocked at the change of subject, but I couldn’t get it out of my head.

  “Yes. I’m sorry, if that makes any difference.”

  “It doesn’t, but then again, I’m starting to realize it really doesn’t matter.” And as I said it, I began to grasp how true that statement was.

  As his brows lowered, I could see that what I’d said hurt him a little, but not enough to protest. He knew I was right.

  He nodded once before sighing. “We want to work with you,” he said, meaning the Alpha Division. “We think it might be best in this situation, with the mixture of humans and shifters. The drug is affecting both.”

  “The drug is affecting humans?” Paul asked.

  “It's causing extreme shifts in personality, especially aggression. We witnessed a woman literally take a bite out of another at a shopping mall last week.”

  “Shit,” I whispered.

  “I think you’re right, Agent Yates,” Teij said. “Working together would be best. IF you can keep us informed,” he stated harshly.

  “Of course, I’ll let my superiors know.”

  “Good.”

  “I want to know what happened with Red,” I demanded. “If you knew who I was, then how could you allow that to happen to him, or even participate.”

  “Truthfully, I had no clue he was undercover. I knew you had a guy in there, but he was good. I never suspected him. Then Emma went missing and the two of them were getting so close, I really thought he’d hurt her.”

  “Who is this Emma? Red was talking about her before he went into surgery and he won’t talk about it now,” Paul asked.

  “She was a wolf shifter, really sweet girl,” Stone shook his head. “Don’t know what happened, but we’re going to have to question him soon if we’re going to find her.”

  “We have to search for a lot of people,” I stated, and Stone nodded his agreement.

  “Whoever this guy is, he’s kidnapped and killed a lot of humans and shifters. Some for blackmail purposes to garner numbers in his organization, the others are dying because of the drugs. I think a lot of those are from experimentation.”

  “Any idea why this guy is getting humans involved?” Teij asked.

  “I wish I’d had more time to question the residents of Cedar Hill,” I added. “But Cassandra’s little stunt blew the whole mission to hell.”

  Teij shook his head, his face registering confusion. “My head is still reeling from that image. A human shifter. Who would have known?”

  We all felt the same and I was sure a similar thought was running through our minds. If there was one, there were probably more. And we had no clue how to sniff them out.

  “For all we know, this guy could be human,” Stone said, referring to Teij’s earlier question. “He could have found out about the shifter race and decided to use them for his own nefarious purposes. But so far,” he sighed, “we’ve got nothing to tell us either way.”

  There was a lot of shit that we were going to have to get to the bottom of, but Teij called the meeting short. “We’ll set up a meeting with the team when we get more information.”

  Before Stone was escorted out, he stopped in front of me. “I’m sorry we’re parting like this, Foxy.”

  “We already said our goodbyes, Agent Yates.”

  “Call me Stone, please. I feel like shit when you address me as Agent.” His gray eyes were sad enough to give me pause.

  I nodded, “You’re right, Stone. It suits you, remember?”

  The corners of his eyes crinkled a little, as he chuckled. I never noticed them before, but that suited him too. “I do remember,” he smiled.

  “See ya,” I smiled back, as he nodded and left.

  An arm wrapped around me, as I sighed in relief. “You okay?” Paul asked.

  “Yeah, absolutely okay,” I responded, looking up into his dark gaze.

  He kissed me softly before pulling away. I tried chasing him for more, but he shook his head and grinned.

  “Come on,” he said, pulling me with him, as he headed for the door. “The team is freaking out. We better go assure them that you’re in one piece.”

  “What, did they think you’d rip me a new one?” I teased.

  His grin turned wicked, “Something like that.”

  Chapter 40

  The team had gathered at Alex, Jordan, and Sam’s place. Everyone was there, even Liz, Sam’s friend. She was human too, but we forgave her for that. She was cool.

  They were all waiting on us when we arrived and were sure to rib us about how late we were. Can I help it if I had to attack Paul in the car? He’s sexy as fuck when he’s driving. Well, really, he’s that sexy no matter what he’s doing.

  “Took you fucking long enough,” Leo said, before gathering me in his arms.

  “Shut the hell up,” I growled, pinching his side as I pulled away.

  “Ouch!”

  “Whiny shit.”

  The laughter made me feel good, as each one stepped up to give me a hug. Paul would growl if any one lingered, which just set off more laughter.

  Red, of course, got a pass, as he hugged me tight and thanked me over and over. “Dude, no big deal,” I told him, with a grin. “Just doing my job.” More seriously, I said, “You’d do the same for me.”

  “In a heartbeat,” he stated, along with the rest of the team, as they each shouted their approval. Though Leo’s shout of, “Bet your sweet ass, we would,” caused me to laugh, Paul didn’t take kindly to the remark, putting Leo into a headlock.

  Once the laughter calmed down, Paul let Leo go and we all sat at the massive oak table. It was covered in dishes and bowls, heaped high with food.

  A phone rang and Liz looked through her purse and pulled out her cell. “I’m so sorry, guys,” she said. “I’ve got to take this.”

  We all nodded, as she left the room, but I couldn’t help but notice the way Bear’s gaze followed the leggy blonde. I grinned and waggled my eyebrows, when he turned back, catching my eyes.

  He snarled playfully, just as Liz flew back into the room. “So sorry, Foxy, but I’ve got to go.” She gave me a quick hug.

  “No problem,” I said. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, just a demanding boss. We all have one,” She gave Teij a look and we all burst out laughing when he said, “What?” Like he didn’t know how very demanding he could be.

  “You’re working on a Saturday?” Sam asked with a frown.

  Liz sighed, “Mr Wolford has been such an ass lately. If I could find something that paid as well, I would have already quit,” she shrugged.

  “So sorry,” Sam said. “Call me later?”

  Liz went to hug Sam and kissed little Ava’s head before leaving, then Everyone dug into the feast in front of us, talking, laughing, and I began to notice something.

  Sam sat across from me, gently rocking her baby girl, Ava, as she smiled up at Alex. Jordan growled next at him, causing the three to laugh. He took the baby into his arms and cuddled her to his chest, kissing her little head, her blonde locks as light as her daddy’s. The three looked so happy and I smiled brightly at the perfect family they made. They were so lucky.

  My gaze went to Red, looking healthy, not even a scratch left on his skin. He threw back his head and laughed after punching Leo in the shoulder, though his hazel eyes didn’t retain as much spark as they had. Hopefully, we could get him to talk about it soon.

  Teij sat next to them and when he noticed me looking, he winked before turning back to his conversation with Hawk and Sōm. They looked so serious, but knowing them, it was only about the latest book they read.

  A loud, deep guffaw grabbed my attention. Bear’s shoulders shook with hilarity, his head thrown back. Then he pointed at Roman and shook his head. Roman slammed his fist on the table, making the plates rattle, but his tight jaw gave way to a reluctant smile. Bear never lost an argument, I chuckled.

  My laughter faded away when I realized this was all so familiar. Too familiar.

&
nbsp; A warm hand wrapped around mine and squeezed. I looked up, hesitantly at the man sitting beside me. Paul grinned down at me, but I couldn’t smile. Not yet.

  He frowned and tilted his head to the side, worry beginning to etch itself across his face. We stared at one another, as I waited for my nightmare to begin, but it never did. My eyes stung and I beamed up at him, showing this man, this magnificent man how much I loved him.

  He returned my smile, his own dark gaze sparkling with love. This was no nightmare. This wasn’t even a dream, I thought. It was my freaking perfect life.

  “Get a fucking room!” Leo yelled, breaking the moment, as we all laughed.

  Yep, perfect.

  Chapter 41

  Journal Entry – Day 20

  I’ve decided to keep up with this journal thing. It’s really helped me a lot. When Paul pisses me off, which is just about everyday, I just write down what I want to do to him and I feel much better.

  But as much as he drives me crazy, I can’t imagine anything better than waking up to him every morning. He’s still just as demanding in bed as he ever was, but I like it. And I really like trying to get the upper hand. Hell, sometimes he even lets me.

  I thank my lucky stars every day that he’s alive, and though I still have the nightmare every once in a while, it’s slowly starting to die. Paul’s always there to chase the darkness away and remind me that he truly is alive and well.

  I don’t like to write about work, but looks like things are about to heat up. Whoever is leading this organization is getting out of hand. Our labs discovered a component to the drug that no one can decipher. What ever this shit is, it’s bad. Real bad. We’ve got to put a stop to it, and soon. The dead are beginning to pile up and if something isn’t done, we’ll have even more shit to deal with. Like our secret coming out. The humans are getting suspicious.

  I see Stone every once in a while, but not often and not for personal reasons. It’s funny, but we don’t even look at each other like that any more. The mission comes first. No, that’s not true. Paul and me come first, the mission comes second. And Stone is just a nice memory, but nothing more.