by Angela White
His sharp eyes went to Brady, who tensed, also expecting the blond to be mad about how he'd taken over.
“Same with him, he just hasn’t accepted it yet.”
“I’ll work on that.”
Adrian turned back to the curious new arrivals. “Me too, and when they find out he saved your life today, so will the camp.”
Hoping to calm things down, Angela looked at Kyle and Neil. "Sorry for putting you guys in a hard spot and I'm sorry Marc's so pissed at you."
Marc let out a sigh, understanding she wanted him to let it go. "I'm cooling off, but yeah, they fucked up. Adrian wouldn't have let you go back alone."
Adrian slid onto the seat across from them. "No, I wouldn't have, but I’ve served all my life, learned the tricks. Now they know. It won't happen twice.”
Marc's answer was fast. "Because you'll train them better or because she won't be there?"
Angela waited to see if she was as free as Adrian claimed and was surprised by how much he meant the words.
"Neither. She's to have full reign among my army, though I prefer only the higher people know it for now. As her protector, I expect you to teach them to not make these mistakes. Who better for that job, than the man who brought her over a thousand miles through this new hell?"
Marc’s heart fell. There was no way she'd turn that down. Stupid, Angela was not. "Kenn won’t let this happen without a fight."
Marc could feel her growing anger, her annoyance with the conversation, but didn't take it back.
Adrian gestured toward the college kids. "It's already begun. You'll have roughly 24 hours to work openly, while you’re in quarantine."
When the Wolfman said nothing, Adrian pushed. "Would you deny the others like them a chance at a new life?"
Marc's voice was edged with scorn. "I'm not that selfish. But she's going to keep putting herself in danger and I'd have that stopped!"
Angela's protests were ignored by both men and she inhaled a calming breath as they continued.
"I won't hold her back or tell her no on the things she wants to try here and neither will my men, unless they have to."
Marc sighed, understanding the promises he wanted weren't coming. "Don't get her killed Adrian, or the men she's bonding with might turn on you."
His warning drew scowls from the Eagles, but Adrian held out his hand. "If I lose her, I'll resign and the camp will vote in a new Guardian. I wouldn't be worthy of leadership."
Marc's eyes relaxed the tiniest bit. "You believe in all this that much?"
"It's everything I am, Marine."
Marc reluctantly shook with him. "If I only have a day, I'll need some boundaries."
Adrian smiled ruefully. "So do I. We'll talk and then you and the Eagles will draw up some plans. We'll do switches where we need to. She's never to be alone."
“I sure hope you two are done!"
Angela stood up with a frown. She was angry enough to fight, and Marc doubted Adrian had adequate leverage to get her to agree if she didn’t want to. He’d forgotten to account for her reaction, but things were happening fast.
"I have defenses. I'm not some helpless pup you guys picked up on the side of the road!"
“I never said you were," Marc muttered, drawing fire from Adrian without even realizing it, and Angela's lips curved into a dangerous line.
"Our deal stands!"
Some of the listening Eagles exchanged looks. A deal? There wasn't love between them, but an arrangement?
"Not above your safety." Marc squared his shoulders. "If you mean to do big things here, and I can already see that you do, then you'll accept the protections we come up with..."
They all felt the ultimatum coming and Adrian respected the Wolfman for continuing as her hands clenched at her sides.
"…or I'm leaving. Tonight."
There was a shocked silence as tension crackled violently. It was broken by Dog’s low whine.
Angela didn’t even try to hide how much that hurt. "You mean it?"
Marc kept his eyes on hers. "I do. Next time, the bullet will get through, or I won’t be close enough to save you, and I can't take that.”
The pain in his words surprised her, hurt her again. None of them - Angela included - knew if he was bluffing.
"You'd leave me?"
"Yes."
"Then I agree!" She sneered. "I need to piss and dunk my head in some cool water before I explode. Should I pick a guard?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
Marc and Adrian spoke at the same time and both males saw the very real flames shoot through her eyes.
Angela chose Seth by giving him a tilt of the jaw and questioning smile that both Marc and Adrian felt deep in their gut. It said ‘I need an ally and no one else will do’.
Seth saw his boss's face was a bit harder than he was used to, tensing reflexively at the curt nod, but he didn’t hesitate to follow her from the little Mess. He would have accepted her invitation without Adrian’s words of giving her free reign. Her pull was strong too, though not all sexual, and Seth hoped she wasn't planning on going against Adrian. There might be real trouble if she did that.
"He has my support, but my freedom… I will fight for." she stated.
Seth took careful stock of their surroundings, saw Marc wave the wolf after them. Paranoid about her safety, Seth thought, and wondered how long Marc would be able to stand watching her build a life in Safe Haven. It was clear to Seth already, what she would be here, and he couldn’t wait to help with it. "Complete freedom doesn't exist. It's a myth and I think you already know that."
He received only silence and smiled coaxingly, drawing on that spark of kinship he knew she felt too.
“You're gifted, special. Men will want you - kill to take you away from here. Adrian will give you as much freedom as he can."
His blunt words dulled some of her anger and Seth watched fear take its place.
"You're so eager for me to give him what he wants, but when it gets someone killed, maybe him, will you still welcome me then? Because these things always come due in blood; he's right about that."
Seth answered firmly, "America surviving, that's what matters and there's not one of us who wouldn't lay down his life to see that dream come true, including Adrian. He needs you. He knew you were coming and he hoped you'd be strong enough to stand for the women, and you are! Don't let what might happen or will, if you already know, get in the way. The lives we'll save, change, are worth the price. He's worth it."
Using a part of him not seen since before the War, Seth pinned her with a sexy grin, oozing charm she had no resistance to. Seth was ruggedly handsome at the worst of times, but when he flashed those dimples, he was lethal to the camp’s women.
"His Eagles need you, too, Angie. Together, we'll keep him alive."
Angela sighed wearily, leaning down to stroke the wolf. She would agree and follow blindly like the rest, but she had to be careful. For this new life she was creating to work, she had to keep Marc around while she put the pieces in place. There was a tiny chance for them somewhere in the future and she had every intention of taking it when the time came. He'd more than earned it.
2
"Was it the Slavers?"
Kyle shrugged, watching both sides of the Mess clear out. Set up in the middle of the road, the emptiness was making him uneasy, especially after the morning’s trouble. "It could have been a part of their group, the tail we've had, maybe. It felt like a two minute plan, and they had no backup."
Adrian wasn’t relieved. Two spies had seen an opportunity (rookie mistake made by his Eagles when they’d sent her and the kids back alone) and tried to take advantage of it. Just because one of them died in the attempt didn't mean it was over. In fact, it likely added more fuel to the fire. Now the enemy knew it would be no easy task and they would come in force. There was another battle for survival waiting ahead. He had to get his sheep ready.
Kyle took out his notebook expectantly. Under pressure, their Lea
der was at his best.
"All training and testing indoors for a while. Hostage rescue lessons for every level. Double the guard at night and use the disks at 100 feet instead of 50. Seamstresses in my tent an hour after evening chow and all the steel plates and green material you can find. Put it in the back of my rig and have Miller and his two boys brought into it." He paused to light a smoke, sure the Mobster already knew to cover the family’s absence. He couldn’t let the camp know he was worried enough that he was making steel-plated canopies, but it had to be done just the same.
"Mention that we have openings in the defensive driving and hand-to-hand classes and offer vests. Use the reserves if you need to. Go out of your way to keep them calm and stress that it was random, not related to the group moving up 25."
Kyle had no problem with omitting that part of the story. He’d seen panic back in New York before the War and it was as deadly as the crisis.
Adrian glanced at the empty tables being packed up. The big ants crawling along their camp-line was something he stored for later. It would go into the notebook. The mutations didn’t usually get this close. "I'd like one of you to stay with her at all times, out of sight."
"We already worked out a rough schedule for the next two days, Boss. There are four of us. Brady we naturally included after today, but Seth wouldn't back off."
Adrian was glad the camp was loading up without any obvious signs of being scared, but he didn’t care for the way a few of the Eagles were staring at Angela. None of this would be easy. "He's like her in some ways, I think, running on a level closer. Maybe he'll catch something we miss. Make sure the lower levels understand to stress that it was a random attack. Some men saw her alone with the kids and thought they were helpless."
"I'm sorry for it."
Adrian met Kyle’s eye with none of the coldness the Mobster had expected to see.
"I don't hold it against you. We will make mistakes. Hopefully, no more like this one. High level security meeting an hour after the camp’s settled for the night. I want all team leaders present and bring Brady along. We have to start on some defenses."
Kyle kept his voice low. "She'd search for you, Boss."
Adrian didn't pretend not to understand. When he’d told the Mobster he trusted him completely, he hadn’t lied. "These people can't find out too fast or we'll lose them all, including her. It is code Raven. You have a better idea what that means now?"
“She’s gonna be one of us.” Kyle was unable to stifle the note of awe in his tone. "She was great. Fell right into it like you thought she would, Boss. You'll get the full in my report tonight." Meaning all the details the college kids wouldn’t have noticed.
Relieved to hear it had gone well, Adrian met Kyle’s eye, thinking of the Arkansas dreams that had haunted him last night. "She'll see your loyalty, too. She'll need it."
Kyle didn't really doubt, he'd seen her in action, but questioning was his nature now, especially after discovering Kenn’s lies and abusive nature. "We can trust her like we do you? She won't use it to her advantage?"
"Of course she will, but survival is all she cares about. She's almost accepted this as her home, her new family. For the first time in her life, she's valued. She’ll protect that security, this camp, by any means we allow and I intend to give her few limits. She'll do what she was meant to. Help us keep our America alive."
Adrian's voice lowered. "And Kyle, she's on the edge right now with all these new tensions and people. She's a little unsure and that may make her slightly dangerous. Don't be the one to insist on the changes if you can help it. Brady's the only one who can stand that heat."
3
"You keep up that fake smile, your face might crack in half."
Kenn turned from glaring at the little Mess, to see Tonya leaning in Adrian's open door, big tits almost spilling from her low-cut red dress. Didn’t she have any other clothes?
"What do you want?"
His curt tone sent a mean smile across her pretty lips. "I thought you could use some... company now that your woman's gone and joined Adrian's super-troopers."
Kenn’s unshaven face set into hard lines. "She got lucky and found some people. So what? She's not an Eagle."
"Then why was she at the center table? Well, maybe we were low on seats. I do wonder why she was the one to check-in for the recon team, though. Bet they were all too busy. But why is she wearing a vest? Hmm... I can't answer that one."
Kenn made his voice sound normal despite the dread in his gut. He'd heard rumors, but he hadn't talked to anyone yet. Obviously, Tonya had.
"Adrian covers that."
Tonya laughed cruelly, hawk-like profile turned toward Adrian’s rig. "Yes, he does and you're on the outside now. She's already done more for his dreams than you and it’s only been a week."
"What the hell are you running your mouth about?" Kenn snapped.
Very aware of his abusive notions, Tonya took the smirk out of her tone, but smiled slyly. "I'm talking about lots of things. You didn't tell Adrian that she's... different, or that her Wolfman was your commanding officer before the War. You didn't tell him about your heavy hands either, but it's more than all that now. She's left you for Adrian."
Kenn was getting hotter as she talked, mind slamming the awful truth into place.
Tonya didn't stop. She needed him as pissed as he could get for her plan to work. It would take guts to eliminate Adrian. "She'll be the first female Eagle, the one that draws the others in, and he'll give Marc your place to keep her here."
Kenn snorted, not quite successful blocking the tremor from his voice this time. "And where does she rank? If she's so important, what's her place?"
"She doesn't have one." Tonya softened her tone, taking pity. He may have broad shoulders and a strong back, but this would be a hard blow. "Your woman's what the voters used to call an Independent. She'll be above the chain of command, an advisor of sorts… though in time, she might not even answer to him."
"How do you know all this?" Kenn snarled and Tonya smiled, showing an edge of shrewdness that the rest of the camp, including Adrian, would have been shocked to see.
"I don't. I'm the dumb-ass, remember?" She turned away. "The dumb-ass who doesn't play his 'nice people' games, and yet, still gets to stay and be looked after."
"You're wrong!” he shouted, drawing attention, and Tonya turned back to deliver a scornful tone that said they had all underestimated her.
"How many times have you heard him say he could use a little magic, Kenny? Now, he's got it. You and the Eagles are nothing compared to that."
She left him with those unsettling thoughts. When Adrian stepped into his seat a few minutes later, the tension was thick, unavoidable. Adrian didn't try.
"I'm offering them both a place in my Army. They'll be below you in the chain of command, above everyone else."
"You're only giving it to him because of her." Kenn's protest was low, rare.
"He's one of us. If you didn't know them from before, you'd be impressed. He threw himself between strangers and death,” Adrian pointed out, trying to avoid the Angela part, but Kenn knew without being told.
"Would he have done it if she hadn't been in danger?"
"Does it matter? He saved lives, not just hers. He helped complete a mission and eliminated a possible future threat, something you, yourself, are adamant about. If you didn't know them, you'd see it too,” Adrian repeated.
Kenn let the truth slide out. "But… I do know them and I can see why you want her, but he's only here to... It's an insult to me and should be to you, too. He's using your dreams to stay close to her."
Adrian gave the upset man a knowing look. "Like you did when you first got here?"
Kenn didn't deny it, though he flushed, and Adrian laid it out. "You can't keep them from getting close, Marine. Any fool can see it's much too late for that. As to the dream, how or why we join up doesn't matter."
Adrian sighed at the silence. "Hardly anyone here has a good past, but we
all came to believe. Unless you still don't?"
Kenn snorted. "No, I like living on the edge all the time. Of course I believe. It’s our future, our duty to try."
"Angela and Brady are a part of that future and I need you to work with them, with me."
Kenn wanted it badly at that moment, wanted his true place back more than anything else. The desire to be everything that this man needed hadn’t vanished with Angela’s appearance.
"Always, you know that. I'll handle it. The sheep come first, right?"
Haunted pain flashed in Adrian’s eyes. "Yes. Above all else and I do mean all. You're not the only one making sacrifices.” He picked up the mic, held it out. “Start the count-off. I want the Borderlands before our next three day break.”
Book Four: Adrian’s Eagles
Deleted Scene 1-‘Butchering’
It only took twenty minutes and one try to get the canopy up and staked down, and Adrian was pleased as they gathered around him again.
"What's next, Jeremy?"
The lightly bearded man considered, "The bottom of our area?"
"Yes. We'll be here for another day, so we can't let it drain onto the ground. We'll stake down the tarp, but leave the edges loose. Curl them so the mess runs into the watering tubs we have in the trucks. We'll also cut two metal cans in half and keep fires burning to deter the insects." He looked at his watch, "You have fifteen minutes, gentlemen. Go."
It took them less than half that and they were gathered around him again, listening.
"See how Kenn keeps a slipknot in the end? That's for the hooves. Always double your rope over the branch, but not on top of each other. Place them side by side on the limb and you'll get more support because the weight distribution is better. Doug, how thick should the branch be for a cow?"
"At least ten times the size of your rope. You have to account for not only the animal’s weight, but also the lift and struggle, and then the hours it has to hang."
"Alright, we'll need four pullers on each rope and two steadiers with me. Strongest people go on the inside of the rope line while the men on the end stake it down. Those with me should know there will be blood and I will not tolerate being puked on again," Adrian said.