by Anya Byrne
"And if I'd known about it, what then?" Jessie asked quietly.
Andreas sighed heavily. "Enforcers like me are mostly assigned to contain the problem. Basically, we try to clean up the mess without unnecessary bloodshed. If the human is found exceptional in any way, he is integrated in the system, found a job, if you will. If that's not the case, the next course of action would be to discredit the human and make sure he is deemed insane by the humans. We have special facilities that don't ask questions and don't listen to rants about monsters with fangs and fur."
"And if none of that works?" Jessie inquired, his voice so low now it was almost inaudible.
"If the human is particularly 'noisy' or considered a higher-than-average risk, silencers are dispatched. They're basically… assassins."
Jessie paled. "You wanted to kill me?"
"Not me," Andreas immediately rushed to assure the other man. He knelt next to the bed, taking his mate's hands once more. "I'm only an enforcer. I don't make the rules and I've always tried to keep information from leaking. So far, no one's died on my watch." And now that he thought about it, Erdi had always cooperated with him so that everyone would stay safe.
He paused, giving Jessie a few moments to process what he'd explained so far. "Are you all right?" he finally asked.
Jessie nodded. "Yes. I think so. But what I don't understand is… Why are you telling me all this if it's so risky?"
"There's one exception to the rule," Andreas replied. "You kind of guessed it when you asked me about the bite. When a werewolf meets his or her mate, he isn't required," or able, "to maintain secrecy, no matter the species of the mate. Naturally, most people don't like it when that mate isn't a werewolf, but it's not against the law. A werewolf's mate is protected by the provisions of the Secrecy Accords."
Jessie's eyes widened. Obviously, he was beginning to understand. "And I'm your mate. Just like Gav is for Saul. Does that mean that… Will I… What will…" He shook his head, apparently unable to focus on any of the aborted questions. "Is that why it feels so right to be with you?" he finally managed.
Andreas didn't even know whether to dread replying to the question, or relish in it. Whatever involvement Jessie might have in the paranormal world, he clearly thought like a human. Nevertheless, he'd sworn to be honest, so he nodded. "We largely identify our mates by scent. I'm told that there's a specific pheromone that calls to the most basic part of us, helping us with the process."
"You… You smell really good to me," Jessie managed to answer. "Is that why?"
Andreas had never heard of a human experiencing the mating call like a werewolf did, but then, he'd already sensed Jessie was different by tasting his blood. "Probably," he replied.
Jessie frowned, as if trying to make sense of the entire matter. "But if that's the case, what value does our relationship really have? It's just pheromones. Can I really trust you? Can you trust me?"
This was what Andreas had feared. It was so easy for humans to mistake the mating call with simple lust. "The pheromones are merely… guides, helping us find each other. What happens between us from this point on depends on our decisions."
"Have mates ever refused each other?" Jessie asked, his tone completely neutral.
A ball of dread settled into Andreas's stomach. "It's rare, but it does happen. Every werewolf is supposed to have a mate out there, but that doesn't mean every werewolf is a nice person. Sometimes, the choices a werewolf makes as an individual affects the acceptance he or she might receive from his or her mate."
Like in this case, since he'd agreed to the terms of his assignment even if he'd felt the attraction to Jessie from the very first moment he'd seen the photo. At the time he hadn't known the man was his mate, but that didn't change the fact that he'd agreed to go through with the mission that implied hurting Jessie.
He tried to read Jessie's emotions, seeking some sort of answer to what his mate was thinking or feeling. There was so much confusion, so much yearning and desire, and on top of everything, a great deal of doubt. Jessie wanted to believe him, Andreas realized, but he didn't, not really, not yet.
Andreas took a deep breath. In the end, he refused to use the half-way mate bond against his lover, or even to try to manipulate Jessie's emotions. This was Jessie's decision, and if Jessie refused him, Andreas could only accept it.
Perhaps it would be better this way. Andreas still hadn't figured out exactly how to stop the ploy against his life. He'd focused on watching over his mate and making sure Jessie was safe at all times. But if he gave a report that Jessie was no danger for the werewolf community, Jessie would be safe. He could ask Erdi to watch on Jessie for a while. Hopefully, the silencer wouldn't refuse. Then again, he doubted his would-be killers would allow him to leave the territory of Alpha Simmons. If he and Erdi had guessed right, that was the whole point of him being hunted—for Andreas's death to spark a pack war during which the Simmons territory would end up in Alpha Adler's possession.
But explaining that to Jessie would just frighten him, and Andreas didn't want that. Besides, Jessie's decision regarding their mate bond needed to be independent from his concerns for Andreas's well-being. Doubtlessly, if Jessie learned the truth, he'd be inclined to forgo whatever misgivings he might have—and Andreas respected Jessie too much to manipulate him like that.
He waited for Jessie to say something, anything, his hope that Jessie's acceptance would hold diminishing with every second that passed. Finally, Jessie spoke again. "What did the man you spoke with at the club tell you?" he asked.
Given that Andreas had just convinced himself not to tell Jessie about Erdi's suspicions, Jessie's words came like a punch in the gut. Thankfully, he managed to control himself before he stammered out a stupid question like, "What man?" They were both adults here, and Andreas could only go so far with his omission of the truth.
His shoulders slumping, he mentally debated how to explain the situation without scaring Jessie. "Andreas," Jessie prodded at his hesitation, "I know you're hiding something. It's logical. If the only problem had been me knowing about the werewolf world, we wouldn't have had to pretend this morning. That man told you something. I know he did."
Andreas resigned himself to the unavoidable. "Saul's departure caused quite a fuss in the werewolf world. I'm told that before he left the pack, he fought the Alpha—Saul's father—and won."
"A question of shaky authority," Jessie guessed.
Andreas nodded. "Furthermore, rumors say that, in the past, Dean Simmons, Saul's father, had a human mate, just like his son. Now, you might be wondering what any of this has to do with us. Well, the man who came to see me that day is a silencer I've known for a long time. He warned me that you were never the target of this mission. I am. Understand, I can't know this for certain, but my best guess is that the Simmons pack is supposed to be blamed for it. My Alpha, Wendel Adler, plans to use that to spark a pack war and claim the Simmons's territory for himself." Andreas took a deep breath, faced Jessie, and then decided to trust the man whom he was quickly growing to love. "The gist of it, baby, is that I'm supposed to die."
Chapter Five
I'm supposed to die.
I'm supposed to die.
The words echoed through Jessie's mind, chilling him to the core, freezing his blood in his veins. For a few seconds, he couldn't even breathe. He'd never truly acknowledged the danger to himself, because in his heart, he trusted Andreas would protect him. Heck, there hadn't even been enough time to process a possible peril. But now that Andreas had admitted the truth… Jessie's stomach roiled as he realized the implications of Andreas's words. He felt like he was going to throw up.
A few seconds passed while Jessie tried to control himself, until he realized the nausea wasn't solely an emotional sensation. He shot out of the bed and into the bathroom, leaning over the toilet. He heard Andreas coming up behind him, and seconds later, the other man dropped to his knees next to him. "Jessie?" Andreas cursed, rubbing his back. "Shit, are you okay?"
/> It was obviously a rhetorical question, since Jessie was still heaving and he couldn't have answered if he'd wanted to. When the nausea subsided a bit, he struggled to his feet, with Andreas always there, supporting him. He washed his face, then rinsed his mouth, all the while struggling to come up with the right words to say.
"I'm fine," he finally told Andreas. "I just… It must have been the shock."
"Fuck," Andreas muttered under his breath. "I knew I should have never mentioned it."
Anger surged through Jessie, at himself, Andreas, and mostly, at the situation. "Don't be stupid," he said, slapping Andreas's arm. "Of course, you needed to mention it to me."
Even as he spoke, a memory struck Jessie. He remembered his desperate phone call to Saul, Saul's promise that he would contact his brother. So far, there had been no sign of Finn Simmons. But what about the feeling he'd had earlier, just before he'd entered the apartment? Maybe the resentment hadn't been directed at him at all. Maybe it was hostility toward Andreas.
"I called Saul," he admitted. "I told him everything. He said he'd send his brother to watch over me."
Andreas tensed, and guilt played havoc with Jessie's emotions. "I'm sorry, Andreas. I didn't know. I was worried about Gav. It's been such a difficult time for him now, what with…"
He trailed off, remembering a moment not unlike today, when he had been the one rubbing Gavin's back as his friend threw up. No, it couldn't be. Okay, so it was a possibility, since the situations were obviously comparable, but Andreas didn't need to worry about that now.
Andreas must have noticed his vacillation. "What?" he prodded. "What is it? There's something else you're not telling me, right?"
Jessie couldn't just ignore the question, but he didn't know how to answer either. "It's about Gav," he began. It was both true or false, since if Jessie was pregnant, the secret had stopped involving solely Jessie's friend.
Either way, Andreas stopped him from saying anything else. "It's okay," he replied, hugging him close. "I understand. I wouldn't ask you to break your friend's confidence."
Their eyes met and Jessie's heart nearly stopped. It wasn't like in the hallway, when Jessie had read arousal in Andreas's expression. Oh, no doubt about it, Andreas wanted him. But even if he was hard, he didn't do anything about it. He just smiled at Jessie, with a fond expression that held so much emotion Jessie knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he trusted his Dom with his life, with his soul, with everything he was and ever would be.
He opened his mouth, ready to reveal his suspicions, but he never got the chance. Suddenly, that bad feeling returned, and Andreas tensed, his arms tightening around Jessie. Before they could try to figure out what was going on, the entry door splintered and the windows shattered, black-clad figures invading Jessie's apartment.
Andreas pushed Jessie down as a rain of bullets showered over the entire area. Jessie couldn't help a small scream—not that it mattered. The sound of the bullets hitting the tiles and shattering various decorative objects covered any possible shout.
They took refuge against the wall of the bathroom, where the bullets couldn't hit them just yet. "What now?" Jessie asked.
Andreas pointed to the bathroom window. "Can you fit through there?"
Jessie eyed it, comparing the space to his own slender build. "Probably. I've never tried, but I'm pretty limber." He shrugged. "Anyway, it's a moot point, since we'd have to tear the wall down for you to fit."
Andreas just shot him a look, and Jessie's eyes widened as he took in what his mate was saying. "No. Absolutely not. I'm not leaving you."
"We don't have a choice, baby," Andreas replied. "It's me they want. Once I'm gone, they'll leave you alone. You'll be safe, and that's what matters."
Jessie's vision blurred with tears. What was he to do? Leaving seemed impossible —he'd be abandoning Andreas to die. If he stayed, there was a chance that they'd both be killed. He might not have cared about that, except his heart told him that there was someone else he needed to worry about. The child whose existence he wasn't even sure of. Shit.
There had to be another way that wouldn't force him to choose. But how? God, he didn't know, and time was already running out.
The bathroom door burst open, but no one came inside. "I'll buy you some time," Andreas mouthed at him. "When I say, make for the window."
He grabbed a piece of broken mirror, using it to watch their opponents. Jessie didn't realize what he was waiting for, not until he saw a grenade being thrown into the room.
Jessie's eyes widened, but he didn't even have time to move away. At the precise moment the grenade bypassed them, Andreas jumped forward. Mid-leap, he caught the projectile, then quickly tossed it back at their opponents.
Smoke and light filled the other room and Andreas shoved Jessie toward the window. "Quickly. Now that they're distracted."
Jessie's body automatically obeyed Andreas's commanding tone. He was half-way out the window when another rain of bullets showered the bathroom.
It would have been so easy to just jump forward and find rescue outside. His apartment was only one floor up, so it wasn't much of a risk. Instead, he dropped into the tub and curled into a tight ball, doing his best to make himself a small target.
Over the edge of the tub, he caught sight of Andreas, who'd taken refuge a few feet away from Jessie and shot him a look full of despair. It was too late, far too late for Jessie to attempt to make an escape, and he didn't even want to. Jessie couldn't believe in a world that would be so cruel to separate them so soon, not now, when he'd finally realized that he could trust what they had.
They needed to stall. Hopefully, Saul had kept his promise of sending his brother to help Jessie out. In the meantime, their best bet was to stick together.
"I believe in you," he mouthed at Andreas. "I believe in us."
Andreas's breath caught and he closed his eyes, as if Jessie had struck him. When he finally opened them, there was renewed decision in those blue orbs. He nodded at Jessie and quietly replied, "Get ready. They're coming."
Confirming Andreas's words, several men burst into the bathroom. Instantly, Andreas leaped toward them, shifting into his wolf form as he moved. The first man he landed on didn't stand a chance. Andreas zeroed in on his jugular and tore his throat out before his other opponents could even realize what was going on. He then moved out of the way, shifting back into his human form and using the dead guy as a meat shield when the man's companions tried to shoot him.
Despite the circumstances, Jessie couldn't help but admire his mate's deadly grace, his efficient, predatory motions. It also occurred to Jessie that there were very few things that he could do to help. He had no weapons, or anything else that could do any damage to their opponents. Scanning the bathroom, he desperately sought any solution to his predicament.
And then, more of the assassins crowded in on Andreas. Somehow, in spite of the way Andreas had taken refuge behind his meat shield, their opponents succeeded to target him. Jessie's lover hissed as one bullet struck his shoulder. The wound should have been superficial, but the bullet must have been especially designed to harm werewolves, because Andreas lost his balance and fell back.
Just like that, something clicked in Jessie's mind. His world blurred and he shot forward with a no-longer human growl. Distantly, he thought he should have been surprised by the fact that, when he landed on one of the men, his hands had turned into paws. But he couldn't have cared less.
Following Andreas's example, he clawed at his target's neck and back. He wasn't half as experienced at fighting as Andreas, so the man attempted to shake him off. "Shit!" the assassin screamed. "Get him off me. Get him off me."
With the corner of his eye, Jessie caught sight of one of the assassins retrieving a knife and tossing it straight at him. Through some sort of instinct he hadn't even known he had, Jessie managed to turn his body, avoiding the thrown weapon. The knife ended up hitting Andreas's chosen victim, while Jessie jumped onto the bathroom floor, ready to take on
his next opponent.
Maybe he and Andreas might have managed to escape, but there were far too many assassins coming in now. And then, the unlikeliest person stepped into the bathroom—a man Jessie knew all too well.
It was Jake, looking just like Jessie remembered him. He hadn't even bothered to wear a mask like his cronies, or maybe he had taken it off for the exact purpose of facing Jessie. Unlike the last time Jessie had seen him, though, he had a large scar on the right side of his face, from his forehead to the corner of his mouth. Taking into account the eye patch he wore, the source of the scar must have blinded him as well.
Jake grinned down at Jessie. "Hello there, Jess. It looks like I finally found you."
Jessie didn't understand how the man had tracked him down, especially after all this time. Most importantly, he had no idea how he could have known about Jessie's nature when he himself didn't understand it. He recalled now that Andreas had mentioned him not being human, but with everything that had happened, they hadn't even gotten the chance to discuss that.
Instinctively, Jessie backed away from Jake. He could remember the last time they'd seen each other, and it hadn't gone over too well. Judging by the way Jake was glaring at him, Jake hadn't forgotten either.
The other man picked up his rifle and aimed for Jessie. Jessie had no idea where to go, where to hide. He couldn't say he wished he'd have left Andreas, but there had to be some sort of solution, a way to fix this.
Even as he thought this, the world blurred and he found himself kneeling on the cold floor, now human once again. "Jake… What are you doing?" he asked.
Jake hesitated, staring down at Jessie like he couldn't believe his eyes. He blinked, and Jessie had a moment in which he hoped his former Dom might have some sort of human emotion inside him left that would keep him from harming them.
He should have known better. Jake started to laugh, his guffaws echoing against the bathroom tiles, mocking Jessie. "Damn, Jessie," he said. "You haven't changed a bit." His laughter stopped as abruptly as it had begun and he fixed Jessie with an unblinking one-eyed glare. "You ask me what I'm doing. It's quite easy. I'm taking what you took from me, with interest." His hold on his rifle tightened. "You stole my eyesight and you made everyone around me believe I was crazy. For five years I was trapped in a loony bin, listening to other people scream. And then, finally, these people agreed I could be useful to them. How ironic, huh? I ended up working for monsters just like you. But you know what, my pet? I don't give a fuck. Now, I'll finally have what I've been waiting for. Revenge."