“Who? Pixie, do you know her?”
“No.” Looking at Tuck, he asked the only thing he could,” Is she yours?”
“Pixie?” He responded, baffled.
Fuck, these two really needed to get with the program. Bas needed answers, and he needed them now. The woman had triggered him, and he needed to know who and what he was going to have to kill to get to her.
“Yes, Pixie, or whatever the fuck her name is. Is she yours?” he said to Tuck again.
Tuck never got the chance to respond to his question because an ear-splitting scream pierced the air. Bas knew instinctually that scream had come from a woman, Pixie, Sky, whatever the fuck her name was. This time he didn’t hold back his instincts and barreled toward the door. His bear was close, but allowing him to take the lead, for now. Bas hoped the reprieve continued, then knew in an instant it would be short-lived.
The sight of the woman on the ground, apparently hurt, with a man standing behind her with blood spilling from his nose was not something his beast wanted to let his human side handle. Bas was breathing hard, trying to control himself. He could feel the prickle of hair sprouting from his hand and face. His bear was close to the surface, and there was no holding him back right now. The man had made the sprite scream, and to make matters worse, he was also a Shifter. Bas could smell him. Fucking hell.
“You need to step away from the woman,” Bas growled.
The Shifter didn’t move. He only sneered, either oblivious or not caring about the threat Bas represented. The guy was young, and Bas had never seen him before. The Shifter community was small, so not meeting this man at one time or another seemed impossible. Shit, half of the Shifter species worked for NAC in some way or form.
The Shifter in front of him had committed the cardinal sin in their community. Shifters did not attack humans, and by doing so, he had signed his own death warrant. If Bas was scenting him correctly, the man was a big cat, Lion or maybe Tiger. With his adrenaline pumping through his veins, he was unable to narrow the species down. That didn’t stop him from scenting what else was coming from the Shifter, and that was his emotions. Each emotion had a distinctive smell, and right now he was putting off disgust, hate, and anger in waves.
However, there wasn’t a damn thing Bas could do about any of it at the moment. Showing humans what and who they were was akin to signing his own death warrant, and Bas wasn't stupid. No, right now Bas needed to use words and possibly fists. Claws and teeth would have to wait, no matter how much it cost his bear, because with Link and Tuck at his back and the woman in front of him, there was no way he could let his beast out like he wanted to. Bas also scented the other members of the RBMC starting to circle the area.
The situation was fucked beyond recognition. Bas' instincts were riding him to save the woman, and his loyalty to the Shifter community told him to slow down and think before he acted on anything. His bear was clawing to draw blood. In the two-point-five seconds he battled with himself, the situation went south even further.
A glint of metal shined, and the next thing Bas knew, the Shifter was pointing a gun right at him. Things had just gone from bad to worse. Bas wasn’t carrying any weapons, having left everything in the car to meet up with his brother. He was pretty sure both Link and Tuck were packing, but if they engaged, they would need to go for a kill shot because anything less would only enrage the Shifter.
Hoping to dissuade Link and Tuck, Bas put his hands out with the intention of talking the man down from doing something stupid, like shooting him. He never got the chance because the little sprite on the ground took matters into her own hands. Swinging her foot out, Sky was able to kick the gun from the Shifter’s grip. The move not only shocked him, but the Shifter as well.
When Bas heard the weapon discharge, he was even more shocked to see the gun in the woman’s hand, smoking like some bad B-flick. But that wasn’t even the kicker. The kicker was the shot from the weapon didn’t result in any blood or guts. Where Bas expected to see blood, he only saw a dart. And the fact that the dart had downed the Shifter quickly meant it wasn’t a common tranquilizer. Shifters metabolize stimulants at an accelerated rate. Shit, it would take consuming all the booze in the bar behind him in seconds for Bas to even get a buzz. Fuck, were Shifters now working with Pandora and Davis? Because until this moment, all of NAC and The Holly Group thought they were the only ones who possessed this type of weapon.
Bas walked over and squatted in front of the woman. Her eyes were as big as saucers, and she wasn’t breathing. When he gripped the weapon in her hand, she gave it up quickly, almost cringing back, like she hadn’t realized she’d fired it or because of the opposite that she had fired it. Taking his unoccupied hand, Bas couldn’t resist touching her skin. Rubbing a finger down her cheek he asked, “Are you okay?”
When she didn’t answer, but both shook her head and nodded seconds after each other, Bas figured the woman was in shock. Taking her hand in his to pull her up, so she was no longer sitting on the ground, Bas had no choice but to pull it right back out of her grasp. Her touch had felt like it was burning him. The woman looked at him strangely, like maybe she’d felt the same thing, but didn’t move. The sensation only lasted a second and settled on his wrist, but the adrenaline running through his body caused him to dismiss the feeling. Reaching for her again, this time the burning sensation wasn’t as intense, so he held her hand and pulled her up.
At first, his only intention had been to get her on her feet and out of danger, but once she was standing, he couldn’t resist pulling her into his chest and hugging her too tightly. He expected the woman to be stiff and resist his offer of comfort, but when she wrapped her hands around his waist and laid her cheek against his chest, he wanted to fist pump the air. He had no idea why the action was so important, but it was. Having her in his arms felt like coming home.
At that moment, everything going around the two of them vanished, it was only Bas and Pixie. Bas leaned down and smelled her hair, getting more of the honeysuckle and vanilla he had scented earlier. He also smelled fear, shock, and pain, but under all of that, he also smelled arousal. Pulling his hips back, so she wouldn’t feel the steel rod he was sporting, he kissed her forehead.
“It’s all going to be all right, okay?” She didn’t answer. He looked at her wide hazel eyes, making sure she understood what he was talking about. The lights seemed to be on in there, but Bas couldn't be sure because she wouldn't talk to him. His reaction didn’t make sense, then again, nothing that had happened in the last half hour made much sense.
Bas heard a groan from the man on the ground. He didn’t want to take the chance of the unknown Shifter waking up and possibly exposing himself to the people who had gathered due to Pixie’s screaming and the altercation. Bas didn’t want to let the woman go, so he brought her into his side, placing his hand on her head. He turned her into his body, so that she wouldn't have to witness what he was about to do. Then he shot the man again.
Bas’ problems were only adding up because right now, he needed to figure out his next move. He also needed to gather enough strength to let the woman go. He feared that would be the harder of any of his current needs. Bas looked for his brother. Bas knew he needed help with what had to be done, and Link would hopefully provide that for him. Involving the RBMC right now was a risky move, but he was a lone man with little to no resources at the moment. Getting the Shifter out of there and into the NAC’s hands had to be his first priority. That and making sure the RBMC and everyone else was none the wiser about him or the other man.
He hoped that the RBMC, his brother, and Tuck would look the other way without asking any questions, so he could get the unknown Shifter out of there and back to a NAC facility. Senior and Matthias could figure out what was going on.
Looking at Tuck instead of his brother, Bas asked, “Is there somewhere safe we can put her for a couple of minutes, so we can get this situation cleaned up?”
“Take her back into the bar and get her a drink,�
�� Tuck addressed Link. The man didn’t wait for a response, but walked over to the prone man and looked at the darts sticking out of his chest.
Letting the woman go, Bas looked her in the eyes. They were glossy, but alert.
“Honey, go with Link. I’m going to talk with Tuck for a few minutes, then I have to take care of this guy, but I’ll come back for you. Okay? Do you think you can do that?”
The action should have been an easy one, but as Bas watched his brother lead the woman away, it was almost like a part of him was tearing apart. And from the look in her eyes as Link led her back to the bar, she was feeling the same thing. Bas wanted to drop everything and go back to holding her, and it seemed like she was pleading with him to do just that. He had to force himself to turn away from her when she looked over her shoulder because the intense want and need she was projecting his way was almost too much for him to handle right then, shit, maybe ever.
The other members of the RBMC were staying back, and Bas was thankful because he knew his next words were going to cause Tuck to go on high alert.
“Any chance I can make a call, and you’ll turn the other way and forget any of this happened?”
“I’d say that depends a lot on who you’re going to call?” Tuck said looking up at Bas.
“Declan Jones.
Tuck stood and said, “Understood. How about I take a walk over to my bike? You make that call and then we’ll figure out what to do next. Tell Senior it’s been too long, and he owes me some Scotch.”
Tuck walked toward his bike without looking back. Bas noticed some hand signals he was familiar with because of his time in the service. NAC also used them. Tuck was giving him the privacy he had asked for, calling his guys in and away from the scene. Shit, this wasn’t going to be a fun call to make. Pulling his cell phone out Bas dialed Senior. The man answered on one ring with one word.
“Go.”
“Senior, I need a pickup in Defiance, Kentucky. Unknown possible rogue just attacked my person of interest’s cousin in public. RBMC and other civilian witnesses. The situation is contained with three tranqs to the chest from his own weapon. Unsure of recovery time.”
“Fuck!” Senior yelled. “Any chance you can get the unknown undercover until I can get a bird in the air for pick up? Estimated time of arrival is one hour. We will dispatch from Charlie.”
“I can ask the brothers to take us both to a secure location, and I’ll call with details once undercover.”
“Roger that.”
The phone went dead. Time to get to work. Tuck made his way back to Bas.
“What’s the plan?”
“Do you have a place we can take this guy that’s open enough for aerial extraction?”
“Yeah, I know of a place perfect for a discreet extraction. There’s one problem though, it’s wide open and in the middle of nowhere. There isn’t a place to safely store your package. If you’re planning on sitting on this guy for any amount of time that could be a problem.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. Senior said ETA one hour.”
Tuck used hand signals again, and several bikers started walking their way. A cargo van also pulled up to the parking lot. It took all of a few seconds to get the man loaded into the van. Bas turned to Tuck.
“Listen, I have to take care of this. Can you keep an eye on the girl and wait for me to come back? I need to ask her some questions, but it’s going to have to wait until I get this piece of crap taken care of.”
“Listen, man, Pixie is good people, and I consider her one of mine. So yeah, I’ll keep an eye on her, but if she doesn’t want to talk to you when you’re done, that’s up to her. I’ve cut you some slack because of your brothers and Senior, but that only goes so far. That girl has had more crap thrown at her than any one person needs to handle.”
Well, that answered Bas’s question from earlier. Tuck claimed the woman, but didn’t have a claim on her personally. Good to know.
“Understood. Shit, Tuck, you know how this works. I can’t tell and you can’t ask, but it’s important that I talk to her when I get back. If I could send this guy off with one of your guys and ask those questions now, I would, but I have to handle this extraction personally. All I’m asking for is two hours. If you can buy me that much time, I’ll make sure Senior sends you more than one bottle of his Scotch.”
“I’ll do my best, man, but no promises. Get your shit done, and we’ll take Pixie back to the clubhouse. You can meet us back there later.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it,” Bas said.
“Don’t thank me, yet. I told you I would try, but that woman was determined to leave before all this went down. I can’t imagine her changing her mind now without driving her to move on faster.”
“Fuck. Anyway, can you have one or two of your boys check in on the cousin? I don’t want them to engage, just observe. If someone shows up, call me.”
“I have absolutely no love for that bitch, Shelby,” Link declared. “But if someone goes after her and attacks her like what just happened to Pixie, my men won’t hold back, they’ll engage.”
“Shit, fine. Listen, if, and only if, your men find the same situation or some other threat, tell them to use this.” Bas handed over the tranquilizer gun. “If they perceive the tiniest of threats, shoot first, and I’ll ask questions later. Then have them give me a call. Shit, man, I can’t go into specifics. All I can say is it needs to happen that way. It will keep your guys safe and this situation contained. Do you understand?”
“Fuck, man, this shit is happening in my backyard, and I don’t like it. You don’t want to share, fine, but you have twenty-four hours to clean all this shit up and be on your way. I won’t ban you from the Club or your brothers, but I also won’t allow you or Senior to bring a shit storm down on my door. Understand?”
“More than you know, man.”
Bas slapped Tuck on the shoulder and got into the van. Driving away from the woman in the bar physically hurt him and his bear.
Chapter 10
Sky was sitting at a table in the bar nursing the shot of whiskey Link had gotten her. She wasn’t a big drinker, but at the moment, she didn’t care. Her nerves were shot, and she couldn’t seem to control the shaking. The burn from the alcohol down her throat seemed to be helping some.
She shot a man, and Sky had no idea how to wrap her head around that. She wasn’t a violent person, but she couldn’t let him shoot the guy who had sparked such an interest in her earlier and held her so sweetly moments ago. Her gut told her the man was important, and Sky had learned a long time ago not to question those feelings.
Tuck came into the bar and sat down with her.
“Pix, we need to talk.”
Jeez, didn’t everyone hate to hear those four words? Every time someone said, “we need to talk,” it meant something bad was about to happen, and Sky had enough bad right now.
“The man you saved from getting his ass shot up is Sebastian Frost. He’s Link, Whisk, and Talon’s brother, but he also works for a company named NAC. They are a security firm with a far reach and they handle cases you couldn’t even imagine. Your cousin has made their radar for some reason, and Bas was sent here to look into her. The stuff that happened out there, I can’t explain, but Bas has asked me to keep an eye on you until he gets back. He has some questions he would like to ask you. It’s your choice if you want to talk to him or not. No one will force you. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Sky was numb. She didn’t know what to say or what to think, so she nodded her head. Sebastian, that name did things to her brain. She wanted to say it out loud, so she could feel it on her tongue as well. When he was holding her, Sky felt something happen between them. It was almost electric, like a line connected the two of them and snapped into place from the touch of their bodies. She couldn’t explain it, understand it, or justify it, she just knew it had happened. She also knew, without a doubt, she most definitely wanted to talk with the man again.
“I get it if you
don’t understand any of this, but I have worked with and know this man’s boss. These are good men, but whatever Shelby has gotten into this time is major. You need to understand Bas wouldn’t be here if she were pulling her typical stunts. This goes beyond fleecing little boys. This is far more serious. Do you understand?”
The only thing that kept playing over and over again in Sky’s mind was run. Maybe after she got her and Shelby somewhere safe, she could contact Tuck again, the Sebastian guy, not so much. If he was here for Shelby, then Sky’s problems were only getting started. Shit, she needed to get out of the bar, grab Shelby, and leave town as fast as she could. It might not be the smartest thing she’d ever done, but it was the only thing she could come up with right now. If this Sebastian was here because of Shelby and she was in trouble, Sky felt she needed to at least give her a heads-up and a head start. Sky felt like she owed her aunt and uncle that much at least.
“Pix, I can see the wheels turning in that mind of yours, and I’m going to tell you to stop and think before you flip out and do something stupid. We can protect you. Let Bas do what needs to be done with Shelby and move on with your life. Whatever she’s up to can’t be good, and you don’t need to be involved. It’s for the best.”
Sky did the only she knew that brought these bad ass men to their knees, she started to cry. Not tiny little whimpers either, but full-on sobs with lots of snot. It was a low move, but she also knew a guy like Tuck wouldn’t know how to handle her tears. True to course, Tuck started to freak a little. He began by awkwardly patting her on the shoulder, then tried to hug her. When that didn’t work, he stood up and started looking around. For what? Sky wasn’t sure, but when he leaned down and said, “I’m sorry, Pix, let me go and get you some tissues or something,” she found her opportunity.
“No, it’s okay,” Sky said, exaggerating her emotions and sucking in a breath for effect. “I’ll just go to the bathroom if that’s okay,” Sky replied in a defeated sounding whisper.
NAC & The Holly Group - Box set: Alpha Team Page 91