Fate’s Reaping

by Becca Fanning

  “I can’t believe you,” she snapped. She hadn’t meant to say it; it had just slipped out of her lips. Marcus looked alarmed and she considered keeping her mouth shut, but she’d already said too much. “Whether or not you’re the Sheriff doesn’t change who you are. You can’t just sit back and wait for someone else to figure this out. For all you know, West never will. He’s not you. He doesn’t care about this town. He doesn’t care about the people in it. The only person who can do this – and do it right – is you, Marcus.”

  He just grunted, a hard look on his face.

  “Fine,” Angie said, holding out her hand. “Give me the keys. If you won’t try to stop my crazy ex and save Joanna Rivers, then I’ll do it myself. I can’t sit idly by and wait for someone else to die because of what’s going on around me.”

  Marcus stood and looked at her, his golden eyes boring deep into her. He nodded and handed the keys to her. Angie felt her heart drop.

  Is this the same man that I fell in love with? Can he truly sit back and watch all of this unfold without doing anything to stop it?

  She grimaced and nodded back. Then Angie turned and headed towards the car.

  “Don’t leave without me,” Marcus said from behind her. She paused and looked back. “I’m going to grab a couple of my pistols. I’m not going to look for him unarmed. I won’t let you get hurt again.”

  Angie felt relief flooding through her chest. She watched as Marcus went inside of the house for a few minutes. He came out with a duffle bag which he tossed into the back seat. Then he climbed in the car and Angie climbed in the driver’s seat.

  She fired up the car as Marcus reached into the bag and started pulling out guns, checking their chambers, making sure they had clips, doing whatever it was he needed to do to make sure that they were ready for whatever was to come next.

  “Where do we go first?” Angie asked, guiding the car into Charming.

  “Swing us by the Sheriff’s Department,” Marcus said, handing Angie a pistol. “That’s where the Wolf Shifters are.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Angie asked. “What if they tell you to stand down? That they’ll handle it?”

  “The hell with them,” Marcus said. “I’m only letting them know so if they do decide to go after Hall – which is highly unlikely – we don’t get caught in the crossfire.”

  Angie nodded, unsure. She had felt that Marcus was slipping away from her after he’d lost his job. She’d been afraid that he would lose his way. She’d felt that he truly had when Jimmy Rivers had showed up outside of the house.

  They pulled up outside of the Sheriff’s Department. The familiar black SUV was parked outside. Marcus led the way inside the Sheriff’s Department, Angie following close behind. She was surprised to find that West didn’t meet them at the door.

  Instead, the other two FBI agents were inside. One was seated at the desk, the other leaning up against the wall.

  “Where’s West?” Marcus growled. The two other Shifters immediately jumped to attention, anxious and at the ready. A bad feeling moved through Angie.

  “He’s gone.”

  “Where’s he at?” Marcus growled.

  “None of your business,” the one behind the desk growled back, getting to his feet.

  “Lester, right?” Marcus asked. He then looked towards the other Shifter against the wall, who was now standing straight up and at attention. “Waller? Where’s your boss?”

  “I said it’s none of your business,” Waller repeated. He moved his jacket to the side and Angie saw that he was putting a hand on the butt of his pistol.

  “Angie,” Marcus said softly, turning halfway to her. “I think we’ve made a mistake.”

  A mistake? By coming here? Why? They would never.

  “Marcus… what do you mean?” she asked, feeling a creeping unease running along her spine. Marcus was breathing deep, taking in the scent of those around him. Angie glanced over at Agent Waller. He was looking uneasy, as well.

  “It wasn’t Jonathan Hall who kidnapped you or the Rivers’.”

  “What? Marcus? What are you saying?”

  “Your ex didn’t kidnap you that day on the road. It was the Shifters. I can smell Joanna River’s on them.”

  No. Why would they do that?

  But there was a snarl from one of the FBI agents that all but confirmed it.

  “You should have stayed out of this, Stone!” Waller said. The two were moving, springing into action. They were quicker than Marcus – but not by much. He propelled himself across his old desk, hands grabbing at Lester’s throat. The other man had barely gotten his pistol halfway out of its holster.

  They went down in a heap of fighting. Angie looked towards Waller – she’d expected him to be going to assist his friend – but he was pointing a gun straight at Angie. She barely had enough time to drop to her knees before the sound of a gunshot tore through the small room. Plaster fell down on her head but she was unharmed.

  Angie found herself scrambling towards the desk for cover, the sound of gunshots erupting. She managed to get behind it without being hit. She heard the sound of Marcus and Lester fighting on the other side of it but couldn’t bring herself to peek up – Waller probably had his weapon trained on her.

  But she heard footsteps coming around and she knew her time was dwindling. Taking a deep breath, she reached for the pistol Marcus had handed her.

  I only have one chance. Aim for the head.

  Waller wouldn’t be expecting it, she knew that. But she also knew just how tough Shifters were. If she didn’t get the first shot to hit him in the head, chances were she wouldn’t get another.

  Angie took a deep breath to try to calm herself and stood up. Waller hadn’t been expecting it. Angie aimed her pistol and fired.

  The shot missed where she had been aiming – but still hit him. He gurgled in pain as blood welled from a bullet hole in his throat, causing him to drop his pistol and clutch his throat in pain. She hadn’t hit the killing blow, but it was enough to buy her some time.

  She’d never killed anyone before. Last time she’d been in this situation, Marcus had taken the chance from her – and she’d been forever grateful. She spared a glance over at Marcus and the other Shifter and knew that right then it was up to her to stop Waller. He had dropped to his knees but was coming close to her, anger and a ravenous hunger on his face.

  Angie aimed the pistol as best she could with her shaky hands and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit Waller in the head and he fell unceremoniously.

  She turned towards Marcus and flattened herself against the wall. Both of the others had shifted. Marcus was his big, brown bear and the FBI agent had shifted into a long, lanky wolf. Marcus was much larger – but the other Shifter was much, much faster. Angie watched as he lashed out, the wolf dancing out of his grasp at the last second, running around and biting at his flanks. Marcus was covered in blood that was running down his fur.

  He’s going to die.

  “Hey!” she yelled and fired her weapon towards the wolf. It was enough to catch his attention – though he was moving too fast to get a clear shot off. She saw his dull yellow eyes glancing from her to Marcus, judging the distance between them – and she watched as he made his choice.

  He launched himself at her, covering the distance of the small Sheriff’s Department room in one leap. He thought she would be easy prey. One bite and she would be dead and he could focus on killing Marcus.

  Marcus came out of nowhere, intercepting the wolf and slamming him into the wall with such force that the bricks cracked. The wolf yelped in pain – and Angie knew he was as good as dead. Blood frothed from his mouth. Marcus had done some serious internal damage.

  But he didn’t let the other man suffer. He was too honorable for that. He brought his paw down on the wolf’s throat, snapping it.

  Then he was shifting back, breathing hard and covered in blood.

  “Thanks,” he whispered, giving her his best smile.

&nbs
p; Angie ran over to him and checked him over, making sure his wounds weren’t life threatening.

  “I’m okay, I’m okay,” he whispered.

  “Okay,” Angie said – though for some reason, that didn’t make her feel as good as she had been hoping. “Marcus, what have we done?”

  They’d just killed two FBI agents – things were about to get a whole lot more complicated for them.

  Marcus grimaced, but didn’t say anything.

  “Marcus…” she said shakily. “What have I done?”

  Chapter 17

  Marcus found an old pair of clothes in a locker and pulled them on as Angie watched, her face blank. He looked over at her, concern flooding through his body.

  She’s just killed someone. Not anyone good, mind you. But she killed someone just the same. I tried to stop her before but I couldn’t stop her here.

  But I wouldn’t have wanted her to. She killed the man that was going to kill her. That was going to kill me. She did everything right.

  So he went over to her, pulled her close, and told her that. She nodded numbly, tears forming in her eyes. It was more than they’d had to kill someone, though. They’d killed FBI agents and Marcus knew in his heart that he had been right. The kidnappers weren’t Jonathan Hall and his assistant. They were the wolf Shifters.

  “Marcus, why?” Angie finally asked. She pulled away from him and wiped her eyes. There was determination in her eyes now. “Why are they after us? Why are they kidnapping people? It doesn’t make any sense. With Jonathan… it did, in his own twisted way. He’s used to dangerous stuff. But FBI agents? Why?”

  “We’ll have to ask him,” Marcus growled, thinking about what he would do when he got West in his hands. He wanted to wrap his hands around the other man’s throat, squeeze until the life drained out of him. “But if I had to guess… it has something to do with Shifters.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  Marcus looked down and rubbed the back of his neck. Truth be told…

  “I don’t know much about my kind,” he admitted. “Don’t really remember my father. His revolver is the only thing I have to remember him by…” he continued, reaching down to his side – then he remembered that his father’s weapon was gone. “My mother raised me – she was human. But we were always on the move and she passed away when I was still young.

  “So I don’t know a lot of other Shifters. And I’d like to keep it that way. But I’ve heard enough to know that those other Shifters out there – the wolves – our kinds don’t mix. We’ve killed each other for centuries. They’re here to kill me and everyone I’ve ever cared about.

  “And I can’t let that happen. I won’t.”

  “The FBI isn’t going to take lightly to us killing two of their agents… Especially if West has something to say about it. And with everything else going on… Marcus, this doesn’t look good for you.”

  “I know. But there’s nothing that we can do for that, now. We have to find West. And we have to stop him. Even if it doesn’t look good for us, or I get blamed for these murders, it doesn’t matter. What matters is saving the people he’s kidnapped and stopping him in his tracks.”

  “I can’t lose you, Marcus. I can’t let you get in trouble for this.”

  He took her and pulled her close. “It won’t come to that,” he assured her, though in his heart he would be lying if he said he completely believed that.

  The odds were stacking up against Marcus – but he couldn’t sit idly back and let things happen. Looking down at the two dead FBI agents, he gritted his teeth. It hadn’t been his fault. It had been theirs.

  The sound of a phone ringing brought Marcus out of his thoughts. He looked towards the sound and saw one of the FBI agents – the one that Angie had killed – and knew the sound was coming from his phone. Angie looked at him apprehensively. Marcus went over to the body before she could make the decision herself.

  He fished the phone out of the pocket and looked at it.

  “West,” he muttered. Every fiber of his being told him that answering was a terrible idea but he couldn’t resist.

  “Waller?” West’s voice came over the phone. Marcus glanced over at Angie. She was looking at him anxiously. Marcus pulled the phone away and turned on speaker phone so she could hear. “Waller, you there?”

  “Waller can’t come to the phone,” Marcus told the man.

  There was a pause at the other end. “Stone? Where are Waller and Lester?” Marcus didn’t answer. There was a sigh on the other end of the line and West said, “You killed them, didn’t you?”

  Marcus wasn’t going to incriminate himself over the phone.

  “Where are you, West? We need to finish this.”

  “You killed my partners and you want me to tell you where I’m at?”

  “Why’d you kidnap those people?”

  “You wouldn’t understand,” West told him. Marcus glanced over at Angie. There was a fire burning behind her eyes.

  “Enlighten me.”

  “Is she there, Marcus? Angie, are you there?”

  “I’m here, West,” she spoke up.

  “I thought as much. Neither of you would understand why I did it. But it wasn’t personal, Angie. Truly. It had nothing to do with you. Or any of the other nice townspeople of Charming. No, this was personal for only one person. It was you, Marcus. You brought this upon yourself and unfortunately, you’ll never live long enough to find out why.”

  “Why’d you do it?” Marcus yelled into the phone.

  “I’ll find you, Marcus,” the voice hissed from the phone. “I’ll find you, and I’ll kill you for what you did to my Pack Mates. Waller and Lester were good people. Good wolves. And you killed them. So don’t worry about finding me, Sheriff. I’ll be seeing you very shortly.”

  “Why? Why are you doing this?” Marcus asked. He wanted answers, though obviously West wasn’t in the mood to give them out. “What did I ever do to you?”

  “You?” the voice asked. “You’d never understand. You’ll never understand what it’s like to be a part of something larger than yourself. Part of a Pack, or a Clan. All you are is some washed up small town Sheriff of a town who doesn’t give a shit about you. You’d never understand why I’m doing what I’m doing.”

  “Enlighten me,” Marcus said. He had the feeling that West was about to hang up and he wanted nothing more than to keep him talking.

  Maybe he’ll slip up. Give me a hint as to where he’s at. Give me a hand up in finding him before he finds me.

  “Has she told you, Marcus?”

  Marcus felt his heart leap in his chest.

  Who? Has who? Angie?

  He glanced over at her and saw she wouldn’t meet his eyes.

  Their silence stretched out and West’s voice said, “I thought not. Angie, you still there, honey? Why don’t you tell Marcus?”

  “Tell me what?” Marcus asked, voice gruff. He hated giving West the benefit of knowing he knew something Marcus didn’t – but he couldn’t help himself. “Angie, tell me what?”

  She looked up at him, a hard look on her face.

  “She’s pregnant, Marcus,” West said. Marcus could hear the smile in his voice. Marcus felt the breath escape from his lungs.

  Pregnant? I would have known.

  Marcus took a deep breath, truly breathing in Angie’s scent – and there, hidden beneath all of the uncertainty, the fear, everything else – was the scent of another life.

  How did I miss it? Even with everything going on, I should have known. How could I be so blind?

  “It sounds like you can cut that tension with a-.”

  Marcus growled and threw the phone against the far wall, shattering it in a flash of sparks and plastic.

  “Why didn’t you tell me? How did West know before me? How long have you known?”

  Angie shrugged. She looked ashamed.

  “Angie?” Marcus asked, more softly. He walked up to her and pulled her close to him again. She buried herself in his ch
est – he’d half expected her to pull away from him, to beat her fists at him, anything to keep him away.

  “A few days,” she said. “I was waiting for all of this to blow over before I told you. I didn’t want to worry you with something else.”

  “That’s what you meant back at the motel,” Marcus said, grabbing her head softly in his hands and kissing her on the lips. “That’s the best news I’ve ever heard. You should have told me straight away. Even with everything going on.” He found he was grinning ear to ear and Angie even managed a small smile when she looked up at him.

  “You’re right. I should have told you – but Marcus, I was scared. For our future. What was going to happen to us. And now, I’m even more scared. What if we get caught for this?” she asked, gesturing around them. “I can’t raise a child alone. I can’t raise a child alone in prison. Marcus, what are we going to do?”

  “We’re going to settle this, Angie. Between you, me, and West – we’re going to get to the bottom of this. I’m not going to prison. You’re not going to prison. We’re going to live a safe life together. Once this is all over. Don’t worry.”

  She smiled again. Then she was crying – but Marcus could tell that it was a happy smile. She nodded at his words and relief was flooding through her. She believed him. And Marcus couldn’t help but smile, too.

  “When did it happen?”

  “Before I left for New York, I think,” Angie said. Marcus reached down and rubbed a hand along her belly, though she wasn’t showing yet and he couldn’t sense his unborn child.

  “We need to get you home,” Marcus said. “We need to get you home and keep you safe.”

  Angie’s eyes narrowed and she said, “What about you?”

  “I’m going after West.”

  “Marcus, you can’t! Not by yourself! You don’t even know where he’s at!”

  But Marcus was already rummaging through the pockets of the dead Shifters – Lester’s clothes, of course, had been shredded when he had shifted.

  “He wants me, Angie. He doesn’t care about you any longer. He wants me and he’s coming for me. I can’t have you be around when he finally catches up to me. It’s not going to be pretty,” Marcus said, digging through the clothes and pulling out the other phone.