by Lisa Oliver
“That was one of the reasons I left Cam alone even after I scented him,” Levi admitted. The blue sky was a brilliant contrast to the greens and yellows of the leaves. “I always felt dirty somehow, no matter how many people threw themselves at me when I went out. I didn’t want that dirt to tarnish Cam’s light.”
“You forget, he’s taken a lot of lives himself. He’s saved me more times than I can count,” Ranger said quietly. “Him and Aiden, I think they were just born that way. Good natured, never letting anything faze them. Personally, I think having someone like that in our lives is like getting a gift from the Fates. A reward for all the horror we’ve been through.”
Levi had never thought about things that way before. He’d never dreamed anything he did in life was worthy of a reward. And yet, Cam accepted him, held him, possibly even loved him, and for the first time in his life, Levi wondered if he could be worthy of that – even love his man in return.
“Did you know I’m a hybrid?” He asked, the summer sun and the blue sky prompting his confession.
“I guessed. No pure wolf could’ve stayed away from his mate as long as you did.”
“It doesn’t bother you having a loose cannon in the pack like me?” Levi could still remember the taunts and hatred poured on him when he was younger.
Ranger’s eyes met his. “You are who you are. You’re one of my brothers from another mother. The day you raise a hand against my mate I’ll rip your throat out. But if you’re asking if I’ve ever worried that you would turn against me or the man who means more to me than breathing, then the answer is no. I trust you. Maybe it’s time you trusted yourself.” He nodded over Levi’s head and Levi turned and saw Cam striding through the trees; his perpetual smile on his face.
“God, you guys sure made a mess. Where’s the shovel?” Cam’s laughter rivaled bird song in its beauty. Levi smirked. His vampire apparently had a poetic side.
“Sean’s working that out now,” he jumped up and brushed the grass from his ass. “How about we go and find some lunch?”
“We’ll stay and keep Ranger company,” Cam countered firmly. “You aren’t working for the council anymore. That means you clean up your own mess.”
For some reason that struck Levi as funny. Tipping his head back, he let out a long laugh, frightening the birds and causing Ranger to raise his eyebrow. Maybe it was simply the fact that Levi finally felt free. Ranger knew his secret and didn’t care. Cam knew and pandered to his vampire side. Cotton was dead and Tron said killing him was their last job. Even the knowledge he’d always be marked by that wretched tattoo on his face wasn’t enough to quell his happiness. I am finally free to love.
Chapter Eleven
Dinner was an interesting affair. Cam had never had a lot to do with Tron, preferring to stay out of his way when Ranger was in training. The enforcers were given the night to acclimatize themselves and get settled into their new rooms. Marcus and Shadow planned to put them through their paces in the morning. So, for now, just the assassins and their mates were at the dining table. Tron’s lack of desire for chit-chat must have been contagious as barely anyone said a word beyond “pass the salt, please.”
It wasn’t until the plates had been cleared away and the men were lingering over coffee that Tron planted his giant-sized elbows on the table and scowled at his former trainees. “You boys have caused me a lot of trouble with the council.”
The four men with identical tattoos on their faces looked at each other. Ranger spoke first. “Perhaps you need to be more specific as to what you mean by trouble. Was it because of that shit with Dominic? Because you should know I was prepared to kill him the moment he ordered me to kill my mate. But I didn’t lay a hand on him. He was jailed for his own stupidity.”
“I’m not saying you did the wrong thing with your mate, although I’ll be having words with you, Levi, later.” Cam dropped his hand on Levi’s knee as he felt his mate flinch. “A mate is a precious gift. You’d have been a lot more efficient if you’d claimed him sooner.”
Levi looked as if he wanted to respond but Marcus interceded. “Regardless of what Levi and Ranger did or didn’t do with their mates, why are you in trouble with the council? We haven’t seen you in months and you had nothing to do with us ending up here.”
“You’ve caused a lot of shit because all of you are in the same place.” Tron thumped the table and the coffee cups all flew up. “I get that you want to be with your mates. You’ve all worked hard for a long time. Sean basically retired and no one blinked an eyelid about it. No one had a problem with you, Marcus, when you started turning down jobs too dangerous for your mate.”
“You did what?” Shadow slapped his mate hard. “We’ll be talking about this later.”
“You mated an Alpha, Ranger, so it’s expected you’d want to stay here,” Tron continued, “but did you have to invite all of the assassins to stay in one place?”
“Yes.” Ranger looked at Aiden, a warm smile on his face. “Yes, I did. None of us had a home before. Aiden offered us all a chance to have a normal life.”
“None of you are normal.” Tron was still snarling but Cam wasn’t sure why. “That’s why you made it through the assassin training in the first place. Because you were loners. Because you had nothing to lose. Now, look at you.”
“Now we have plenty to lose,” Levi leaned his arms on the table too. “And that makes us stronger and deadlier. Don’t forget that.”
“And that’s what’s got the council’s knickers in a twist.” Tron shook his head. “I thought you guys were smarter than this. How do you think it looks to the council, when all four assassins are enforcers for one alpha, protecting one region above all others?”
“They see us as a threat,” Cam whispered, aware everyone heard him.
“Now you, Cam, you always did have smarts and I’m glad to see your mating hasn’t stopped you thinking.” Wow, approval from Tron. Cam wasn’t sure the guy even knew his name. He was always just Ranger’s sidekick.
“Well, I don’t give a damn about the council.” Aiden shook off Ranger’s arm and stood up, pointing his finger at Tron. “I know you looked out for these men even when you tortured them half to death during your so-called training. But all men, regardless of how they are trained or raised, deserve a home. You couldn’t give them that. The council never even bothered to try. My home is open to these men and I don’t care what you say or the damn council thinks, these men aren’t going anywhere unless it’s their choice.”
Tron didn’t seem bothered by Aiden’s confrontational stance but Levi’s thigh tensed under Cam’s hand. Cam tried to think of what he could say to defuse the situation and Ranger pulled Aiden onto his lap, but it was Tron who responded.
“You’ll make a great alpha one day, boy, and with Ranger by your side, I imagine you’ll be pretty powerful too as you get older and have more experience under your belt. But this business with Cotton today is just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve spent the past two weeks trying to smooth things out with the council. Some think you should all be put down like dogs; some want to see you back working the way you were trained to and only a few have come forward and said you’ve earned your retirement and should be left alone. But all of them agree having all four of you in one place, in one territory, upsets the balance among the four main packs.”
We’ll have to leave. Cam’s heart dropped at the very idea. He hadn’t been separated from Ranger since he was a boy. He watched as the four men in question all looked at each other.
“Then we’ll take on the council, too,” Ranger said finally. “We won’t draw first blood, but if they come after us, we’ll protect our home and territory. Marcus, Levi, and Sean are my brothers. We’re a family and family don’t split up just because some old farts who have no idea of how the real world works feel threatened by our existence. They made us who we are. If we stick together, then hopefully no one else will be made to go through what we went through during the early years. The council ruled our every
movement for decades. They are not in a position to tell us where we retire to. You agree with me, don’t you precious?”
Ranger looked at Aiden with so much love in his expression it was tangible. Even Tron cleared his throat as Aiden nodded. “You know I consider these guys my brothers too. I’m not kicking them out of their home just because the council, who never did anything for this territory before, says so.”
Tron sighed, but Cam noticed he didn’t seem surprised. “Well, I hope you’ve got another spare suite somewhere in this fancy-dancy mansion of yours. My bags are in the car.”
“You are staying to help us?” Sean leaned across the table, his claws showing. “You know I respect the fuck out of you, old man, but is there something you haven’t told us? Have the council got some ridiculous plan to attack this territory?”
“Nope.” Tron tugged on his ear. “Fact of the matter is, the council expects me to drag three of you back to the offices. Their reasoning is that I trained you and am probably the only person left who can reason with you. They accept that Ranger has to stay here. No one would expect the Alpha to leave his territory and they are happy enough with that. The rest of you are expected to go back with me tomorrow.”
“You would never betray us like that.” Sean shook his head.
“I’m glad you know that, son. Truth be told, I didn’t know what I would find when I came here. But after being here, seeing you all interact with each other, hearing what your Alpha has to say. I’d like to be one of those men who deserve a home, if you’ll have me.”
There was a moment of stunned silence and then Ranger laughed and shook his head. “Tron, you old dog you. If I didn’t think you’d cut me open, I’d hug you right now.”
“Yeah, let’s not get carried away,” Tron said, shaking his fist at Ranger. “I’m not the affectionate type.”
“Neither was I until I met my mate,” Levi’s voice was quiet. “I’m glad you’re on our side. Consider yourself hugged.”
“You can help us train the enforcers,” Shadow was laughing now, his bad mood with Marcus apparently forgotten. “Can you imagine their innocent faces when they cop a load of you?”
“They won’t be innocent once I’ve finished with them.” Tron flexed his biceps as he stretched. “If you’ve got no more questions, I could do with some shut-eye. It was a long drive up here.”
“Will the council retaliate once they realize we aren’t coming back? Cotton had a whole division with him when he turned up.” Cam’s main skill was strategy and if the territory was going to be invaded by men on council orders he wanted to know about it.
“I spoke to the Captain concerned. He was under orders. He was told Cotton was retrieving vicious rogues from the Northern Territories compound. As soon as he knew it was assassins he was meant to go after, he pulled his men back. The council already know they won’t get any help from their guards. There’s been a long history of assassins taking on the jobs the guards can’t handle. No one in a uniform is going to disrespect that service.”
“And economic sanctions won’t work because this territory doesn’t get any council funding,” Aiden added. “I don’t see what else they can do.”
“The only other thing they could do is declare all assassins rogues,” Cam said, thinking out loud. “But they’d have to have proof, so provided you guys keep your noses clean, I can’t see how the council could cause us any problems.”
“I imagine they will try bribery next,” Tron agreed. “For some reason, their losing their hold over their highly trained assassins has got them running around like headless chickens. Don’t accept any favor from them for any reason or they will use that hold over you.”
“Just as well my baby’s rich then.” Ranger kissed Aiden lightly on the head. “We don’t take their money so we don’t have to take their shit.”
Cam snuggled close to Levi, his brain still racing a mile a minute. He wanted the Northern States to be a safe place for all four assassins and the people like Kyle and his family who’d lived under tyranny thanks to Aiden’s father. He needed to talk to his brother Newton – one of the sharpest legal minds around and the man who kept an eye on all Aiden’s business dealings. Aiden might claim the state didn’t take anything from the council, but it never hurt to be sure. He was still working out what he could share with his brother when Levi led him upstairs.
Chapter Twelve
“You’ve got something on your mind and it’s got nothing to do with the plans I had for you riding my dick.” Levi took Cam gently by the shoulders and stared down at him. He still had to shake himself sometimes; the man he’d dreamed of holding for years was finally right there in front of him. “What is it and what can I do to help?”
“I need to speak to Newton. There is something about this council business that is bothering me.”
“Newton?” Levi did his best not to growl but he didn’t think he was very successful given the cheeky grin Cam threw at him.
“Newton, my brother Newton; he’s a lawyer. He’s moved to the Northern States to look after Aiden’s affairs. The alpha’s inheritance was a bit of a mess and Newton’s the best there is.”
“I didn’t even know you had a brother. I thought…didn’t you go through training with Ranger?”
“I was never an assassin, you know that,” Cam said gently. Levi found himself herded over to the bed and he sat down with a thump, Cam landing beside him. “Ranger and I ended up in the same orphanage. My parents were lone wolves, killed when I was ten; Newton was eight. We looked after ourselves for a while, but eventually, the guards came looking for my parents’ killers and found us instead. Me and Newton were separated. Newton was sent to the Eastern State Orphanage and I was sent to the West.”
“Why weren’t you allowed to stay together?” Levi couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been for the younger Cam. Losing parents would be hard enough but then to be separated from the only family his mate had left.
“Apparently, I was a bad influence on him.” Cam shook his head. “Newton was always book smart. When the guards found us, I was covered in blood, trying rather unsuccessfully to gut a rabbit and Newton was pristine clean, reading to me from one of my parent’s books.
“You were trying to provide for your brother.” Levi was outraged on his mate’s behalf.
“They didn’t see it that way. If I recall, I was known as the barbarian kid. The separation was hard. We were very close. But being in the East, Newton had access to the finest universities and gained several degrees. I met Ranger. He was the kid no one would sit with at the dinner table. Everyone was shit scared of him even then.”
Levi could imagine that. Cam’s naturally good nature would have seemed like a ray of sunshine to a boy everyone shunned.
“Anyhow, once Ranger finished his training and we started traveling, I used my computer skills to find Newton and we had a tearful reunion. Then Ranger met Aiden and I was trying to help Aiden gain his rightful inheritance, Newton was the first person I thought of to help. He came, solved the problem and when we moved here he decided to get a house in town. Aiden gave him an office at the bank.”
Levi was pleased the brothers had a chance to reconnect, although in his opinion Cam was definitely the smarter brother. Degrees or not, Cam had a keen mind and could apply his knowledge to real life problems. But Levi was struck with a worrying thought. “Does he know about me?”
“No.” Cam shook his head sadly. “I told you, I kept my promise. I never told anyone. I was going to introduce you today, but he wasn’t at the challenges. But if you’re up for it, I’d like to introduce you now.”
“You think this issue with the council is that urgent?” Levi trusted Cam’s opinion. He had his spidery senses; Cam had years of experience in thinking of the bigger picture.
“I think Tron was given a deadline and while I know he’d never rat us out, I’d like to get someone else’s opinion. Newton has worked with the council countless times and hopefully can see anything we might ha
ve missed.”
In all his years of dreaming of his mate, Levi never imagined he’d have to meet blood relatives. None of the four assassins had any family to speak of, which is why, over the years, they formed their own bonds. How bad can it be? Twin rogues? Triple vampires or five drunken bear shifters? Newton is one man. A lawyer. “I’d love to meet him, babe. Shall we take the bike?”
Yeah. He was kidding himself. For a man who never cared what others thought of him, Levi was shit scared one fancy lawyer would disapprove of him. Hopefully, it didn’t show on his face.
/~/~/~/~/
Cam hadn’t deliberately kept Newton and Levi apart, but the tattoo Levi wore raised a complication Cam didn’t want to face. Newton wasn’t physically tough, but he wielded words like a deadly sword. When they’d reunited, Newton was hesitant about Cam’s relationship with the assassins, but he accepted Ranger was a powerful protector and that the two men were only friends. Mating with an assassin was probably not the type of future Newton saw for him. Then there would also be that sticky question of why Cam hadn’t mentioned having a mate before and why Levi hadn’t claimed him sooner.
It didn’t help that Levi was nervous; not something Cam was used to in any assassin. Oh, they could feel fear; they weren’t machines. But with that fear came the confidence of knowing they had a job to do and the skills to complete the work. Levi was out of his comfort zone, Cam realized, and he vowed to trust in the bond he had with his brother and spend his energies helping make Levi feel at ease.
Newton’s house was a grand affair on the outskirts of town. Formerly owned by the now deposed bank manager, Newton had taken an instant liking to the large square façade complete with pillars and ornate windows. The door was open when the bike pulled up and Cam jumped off and hugged his brother hard.
“I need your advice, bro. The council could be about to cause problems for this territory,” he said quickly as Levi came up behind him. “Say hello to my mate, Levi, and let’s head inside. I hope you have the coffee on. Levi takes his black.”