by V. A. Dold
“Since I have a day of relaxation planned, why don’t you tell me why you’re here so I can get back to it?”
“I bought you a dress for the gathering. I was shopping for one for myself and saw this. It’s your favorite color, and I’m sure it will be stunning on you.” Lucinda held it out to Julia a little hesitantly.
Interesting. She’d never seen her mother unsure of herself.
I’m going to have to tell her off more often.
“I wasn’t planning on wearing a dress, but I’ll try it on later and see what I think of it.”
“Wonderful. We’ll pick you up at six-thirty.”
“No. You won’t. I’m going by myself.”
“But you have to ride with the family.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s the way you travel to these gatherings. You arrive as a family pack.”
“Then I guess I’m starting a new tradition because I’m going by myself.”
Lucinda narrowed her eyes. She was so furious. Julia checked to see if steam was rising from her ears. “You wait until I tell your father.”
“Go ahead. I’m still going by myself.”
Lucinda growled, spun on her heel, and slammed the door on her way out.
“Well,” Julia chuckled to herself, “that was pleasant.”
Chapter Two
Thomas scowled at the crowd below. He had little patience for parties on his best day. And this wasn’t even a good day.
The main yard was filling with family packs, as one after the other joined the celebration. Glancing to the right, he checked on the band doing a sound check. Near the rear of the designated party area, the caterer was busy filling the buffet table with every meat, salad, and dessert imaginable.
Scanning the milling crowd below, he observed a woman weaving through the throng of people. His position on the raised deck attached to the rear of his grandparent’s house gave him the advantage of elevation. He scowled as his attention kept returning to her. Sure, she was pretty, and curvy, and sexy as hell, but he had a job to do. Besides, he avoided getting involved with women. Hookups—yes. Serious interest—no. Still, he felt the woman’s presence and found himself staring at her again.
Glancing at the parked cars, Thomas watched as yet another family emerged from an SUV. Cade immediately greeted the alpha and welcomed them. No threat there. Stefan joined Cade as Sam, a longtime friend of the family and foreman on the construction site for both his and John’s homes, arrived. His brow furrowed. Odd, something felt off about Sam.
He glanced at his watch. It was time to do a check-in. “I need an update from each of you.”
One by one, the men checked in with an “all clear.”
The security squad had been personally handpicked and organized, each member equipped with an earpiece for coordinating the safety of the royal family. Someone was engineering accidents, and this huge gathering, with Isaac out in the open, was a logistical nightmare. First, Stefan’s mate, El, had her truck tampered with, so it would break down and expose her to an attack. Then his personal house was sabotaged while being built. An entire brick wall was rigged to collapse. When it was triggered, the impact of the cement blocks almost killed Stefan.
He tried to talk Isaac into canceling the gathering, or at the very least change the location, but Isaac insisted it happen here in their seat of power.
For about the millionth time, he rubbed his burning stomach. He wasn’t even thirty yet, and his grandfather was giving him a damn ulcer. Sighing, he resigned himself to do the best he could with the situation he was stuck with.
Privately, Thomas grinned. Isaac didn’t know it, but he brought in a few of Simon’s military buddies with sniper training and had them laying low in strategic positions around the party. Until recently, Simon had been unaware a few of his fellow servicemen were also shifters. How they had gone undetected by Simon had been a much-debated topic. He was still trying to figure out why he hadn’t scented them. For Thomas, that new information came in rather handy.
A chuckle rumbled in his chest when Isaac gave him a small salute. His grandfather appreciated his ability to size up anyone. Human or supernatural, it made no difference. Little got past him and his gift. Which was exactly why he’d been chosen to lead the security team.
The yard was filling with shifters and humans visiting as they stood or sat at the beautifully decorated linen-covered tables. Males and their mates, most of whom she knew, circulated with cocktails in hand. This gathering had all the earmarks of the event of the season.
The only way to avoid her mother was to locate her first, so she scanned the area. That’s when her gaze zeroed in on him. Julia stared in disbelief. It was like he had stepped off the pages of the novel she was reading. Her heart pounded loudly. Undoubtedly, anyone standing within ten feet could hear it. Attempting to swallow was more than difficult with a throat as dry as the Arizona desert. Even her lips were dry, which was crazy since she wore lip-gloss. How was that possible in the humidity of the bayou? No man had ever had this effect on her before.
Her smile widened as she realized who the man was. Thomas, Anna’s son, the one Stefan mentioned at The Backwater. He had said Thomas was in charge of security for the royal family. This man must be him.
Her mother caught sight of her watching someone intently. She turned to see who’d managed to capture her daughter’s interest and scowled. “He’s human and far below your station as a lady in the royal family. Stay away from him.”
Julia stepped away from Lucinda, unwilling to respond, and at the same time afraid of what her mother might do. Wandering through the crowd nonchalantly, she made her way toward the new chief of security. It would not only be embarrassing but downright disastrous if her mother got wind of how deeply her interest went.
As she drew closer, his lean, hard body became more than evident. Goddess bless heightened wolf sight. The crisply ironed dress shirt and pleated slacks didn’t have a chance in hell of disguising her mate’s well-developed, tanned chest and narrow waist. Clenching her hands, she controlled the urge to sprint to him and rip his shirt open, dying to know if his abs were as amazing as his chest appeared to be.
Upon closer inspection, his skin wasn’t overly suntanned like some young humans tended toward, but more of a lovely tawny gold. Julia licked her lower lip as she spied the light dusting of dark hair peeking out from the unbuttoned collar of his shirt. Biting her lip, she clenched her hands even tighter. Stupid hands. Stupid, stupid, hands.
Thomas returned to watching the party. It was dangerous to expose the king and queen to a multitude of possible attackers, no matter the location. And with the existence of an unknown enemy, the threat level multiplied exponentially. The last thing he needed was a distraction, especially a female distraction, regardless of how beautiful and interesting she was.
His gift was easily triggered. Whenever someone with criminal intentions was within a two-block radius of him, a frisson of awareness would make the back of his neck tingle and itch. It made it extremely uncomfortable to live in a city of any size. Even a nasty fight between spouses could set his gift off, but he was getting better at blocking the lower level threats. This useful but sometimes annoying gift was just one of the many reasons why he had moved from Denver, Colorado to the bayou.
Thomas pulsed the crowd again. Over the years he had honed his gift or was it a curse, he wasn’t sure which, into a precision tool. With a little concentration, he could pinpoint the location of a person emitting a threat with unerring accuracy.
Massaging the back of his neck, he attempted to ease the itch. There was a low-level threat within the crowd, but with the constant flow of bodies, and the almost imperceptible vibration, made it difficult to target the source. The distraction of the fascinating woman wasn’t helping either.
When he had described his strange ability to his grandfather, Isaac suggested perhaps he was sending out the equivalent of sonar waves thus allowing h
im to pinpoint it. An interesting concept, and one he’d explore further. But right now, hundreds of possible assassins milled around the estate.
Out of frustration, he tested the crowd again to see if the cause of his unease would present itself.
His personal distraction instantly raised her head and locked eyes with him. Huh. That’s interesting.
No one noticed the low pulse of energy, except her. He knew she felt it by her expression.
She held him spellbound with her gaze for a long minute. Startled, the breath rushed from his chest. She hadn’t touched him, heck, she was a good fifty yards away, for God’s sake, but he felt her palm on his cheek. With lungs now completely devoid of air and chest constricted, he struggled to get another breath. The lack of oxygen made him lightheaded. His knees wobbled, and lungs burned, reminding him to breathe. Worse yet, all the blood had rushed from his brain to lower regions. That was not helping him to remain standing. Not in the least.
He didn’t dare look away in case the sensation of her touch stopped. Or continued. He was uncertain which he wanted. This reaction was completely unexpected and absolutely contrary to his character. With his heart racing, he remained frozen beneath her invisible touch.
Thomas puzzled out the situation. She wasn’t a threat, at least not to his family. The worst she could do would be to rat him out about his gift. He felt like she’d bewitched him. And honestly, it annoyed him that she was so intriguing and piqued his interest. He had no desire to have any woman piquing anything. Frowning in thought, he’d never met anyone who could feel the pulse. But now was not the time to examine that odd, new development.
He watched the golden-haired beauty continue to wade through the crowd. Try as he might, he couldn’t take his eyes from her. Swallowing hard, he was torn between wanting to drag her away from the crowd and running in the opposite direction. Absently he cupped his jaw. He still felt her touch there, branded to his skin, and he had no idea how she’d managed it.
Shaking his head to clear it, he got back to work. There was no room in his life for women. After watching his parents’ relationship, he realized that was not for him. Ever.
Using signals he’d taught the security team, he put them on alert. A hidden threat was the most dangerous. He couldn’t position his team to strike until the target was identified. They were blind, sitting ducks, forced to wait for the assassin to make a move. Massaging the nape of his neck, he was once again relieved that Cade, Simon, Lucas, and Marcus were assigned to remain within a five-foot radius of Isaac and Emma at all times. Let an assassin try to get past that wall of men.
The woman seemed to be making systematic passes through the crowd greeting each person as she went. With every step, she came closer to where he stood—and increased the tightness of his slacks. He thrust a hand through the thick, damp curls lying against the moist skin of his neck. What was it about this woman that was causing such a strong reaction? He met beautiful women all the time without this level of awareness and distraction.
Sure, he needed to scratch the itch like any red-blooded American male, but never more than once with the same woman. Second dates led to expectations.
One look into that woman’s dark, velvety brown eyes sent his pulse tripping. Like Alice down the rabbit hole, a man could get trapped in those eyes, and never find his way out. With that thought, he wanted to run for cover.
As he was considering escape routes, his senses went on full alert. A small group of partiers had wandered behind the house where they didn’t belong. Thomas sent two men to herd them back into the party perimeter. He needed everyone where he could watch them at all times.
Relentlessly scanning the crowd, another tingle shot up his neck. Every nerve went on high alert. His frustration mounted—it was still too faint, yet he found himself more certain than ever that something was off, and a traitor was lurking in the crowd right under their noses.
“Everyone on high alert,” Thomas said into their earpieces. “A threat is moving in the crowd, but I haven’t pinpointed it yet.”
The threat remained hidden, within the party, as the wait staff began to serve dinner. Perhaps with the people sitting stationary, he would be able to locate the person responsible for his discomfort.
According to the schedule, Isaac was due to give a speech from the deck. At least he had been able to convince his grandfather to wear a bulletproof vest.
“What’s the situation?” Isaac asked as he joined his grandson to take the microphone.
“Someone has been wandering through the crowd. I haven’t located him yet.”
“All right, watch my back, and I will try to make this short.”
Thomas stepped back as Isaac called for everyone’s attention.
“Welcome to the first annual shifter gathering. The reason for this celebration is twofold. First, I am announcing I am formally retaking the throne.”
The crowd rose to their feet in a thunderous standing ovation.
“Thank you,” Isaac said and waited for his guests to be seated once again. “Secondly, the elders requested I reinstate the annual gathering. Many of you younger people won’t remember the old days when this was a regular occurrence. Due to the recent events of my sons finding their mates among human friends and family of existing shifters, I modified the guest list. I included all siblings and appropriate friends of our shifter community in hopes some of you will meet your mate tonight.”
Another cheer rang through the crowd.
“I’m very excited to announce two of our men have already met their other half tonight. Please stand with your newly-found mates so we can toast you.”
The entire party raised their glasses to the lucky couples.
“I sincerely hope more of you will meet your mate before the night is over. Please, enjoy your meal and the dance to follow. And thank you again for coming.”
Isaac winked at Thomas and took his seat.
He frowned. What is Grandpa up to? His tension was running high. Dinner had been cleared several minutes ago and still no incident.
As the band prepared to play, he saw El walk onto the stage and take the microphone from the lead singer.
Quickly he adjusted the security team to cover her exposed position. They were definitely having a talk about safety after this party.
“Stefan Le Beau.”
The crowd went silent waiting to see what was about to happen.
“I will give myself body and soul to complete you as a man and his wolf. I will unite my life with yours, bond my future to yours, and merge my half of our soul with yours. I will complete the mating ritual with you.”
Stefan rushed the stage and snatched El off, laughing like a teenager in love.
Thomas breathed a little easier. At least she was no longer an open target.
While the crowd had their attention on Stefan, the attacker made his move. Stealthy as a cat, he wove through the crowd until he was a mere six feet from the king. The assassin’s boss instructed him to make it very public. It didn’t get more public than this.
He’d hidden a razor-sharp stiletto up his sleeve, so the moment he was close enough, it could be dropped into his palm.
Casually, he spoke to each person in his path, greeting them as he stepped closer and closer. Finally, Simon was the sole barrier between him and his target.
Isaac’s voice came through his earpiece. “Thomas, I smell him. His blood thirst is engulfing me. Do you have him? I don’t want to tear another shifter to shreds my first day as king.”
Alarms clamored in Thomas’s head, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He sent a single pulse. Instantly, his gaze shot to the perpetrator. “I have him, Grandpa. Don’t move. Target located, the man in the blue shirt, standing directly behind Simon, facing the king. Sniper, do you have the shot?”
“I have the shot.”
“Take it.”
A single shot rang out. Thomas watched the guests scramble as some
of the crowd screamed while others dove for cover. All of the brothers converged on their parents.
“What?” Sam yelled as he tried to stop the bleeding. “Can’t fight your own battles, old man?”
“I could easily allow you to shift and humiliate you if you so desire,” Isaac responded calmly.
“You’re just afraid to fight me and lose in front of an audience.”
Isaac glanced at the faces nearest him. Skepticism permeated their regard. He sighed. “Fine. If you insist on further public shame.” Seconds later Isaac’s massive black wolf stood in his place.
A struggle raged beyond the wall of bodies Thomas was pushing through. He needed to be able to see the king and queen if he was going to keep them safe, but the crowd was too thick. Two wolves snarled savagely, but he couldn’t see the fight. Finally, he squeezed through a hole in the circle to see a white wolf limping on three legs, dragging the fourth behind, stupidly, still determined to battle to the death. Isaac’s black wolf simply waited.
The instant Sam made his move, Isaac bore down on him, attacking, and counter attacking over and over.
For a moment, black and white blurred. Then a pain-filled yelp rose above the din and silence fell over the crowd as Sam’s white wolf submitted.
Cade took control of Sam’s wolf, allowing Isaac to shift back and force Sam to do the same.
With a nod from Thomas, Simon knelt next to the traitor, zip ties in hand, ready for him to take human form.
El’s gasp had Thomas turning her direction. She glanced wide-eyed at Stefan, then at the man again. Slowly she pointed at Sam. “It’s Joe. It was Joe the entire time.”
“His name is Sam. Is this the man who attacked you?”
“Yes, but he told me his name was Joe.”
“The bastards real name,” Stefan said, grabbing Sam by the shirt and lifting him enough to smash a fist into his face, “is Sam.” Stefan snarled, drew back his fist, and drilled Sam in the stomach before Marcus and Lucas restrained him.