by Maia Dylan
“Yeah, we took that out of one of our pridemates yesterday,” Mason said quietly, and seemed to swallow around the pain she heard in his tone. “We buried him and another one of ours straight after.”
Violet’s heart ached. “I am so sorry.”
“Not your fault, baby,” Jacob reassured her as he placed a hand on her knee. “But thank you. What you’re holding is the other reason we are here. Kieran has heard that you might have the skills or ability to find out what that thing is coated with, and how it forces a shifter into a spontaneous shift.” Violet eyes widened a little in shock. “Yeah, you heard right. Whatever is on that damn thing not only drives a shifter back into their human form, but also inhibits our ability to heal, which is obviously bad for our health and affects our ability to live.”
Violet smiled gently at Jacob, seeing his attempted humor for exactly what it was, something to break the tension and bring some levity to the conversation. “So, you came here to ask for my help, which I am more than happy to give. I’ll look into it.” Violet paused for a moment and gathered her courage to ask, “What happens now?”
“Now?” Jacob said. “I was hoping you’d have lunch with us. We’d like to spend some time with you and get to know you and allow you to get to know us. There are some things we need to discuss and at some stage our Alpha would really love the opportunity to meet you, but that doesn’t have to be today. There is some urgency around the bullet though.”
Violet knew she had the equipment that would be able to find out what the bullet was coated in. And if she couldn’t then she’d run one of her little hacking missions into Santiago’s systems.
“And the whole thing where I am your mate?” Violet asked. “What do we do about that? What am I supposed to do?”
Mason laughed gently as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “There is no cheat sheet for this, little one. Jacob and I have never been mated before, so we are all in the exact same boat. We just want to take the time to get to know you and for you to take the time to get to know us.”
Violet smiled up at them both. “I can do that.”
And she could. She would take the time to get to know them as they get to know her. She could only hope that once they got to know her, they could overlook where she came from and who she was, because not many of the people in her life ever had.
Chapter Five
An hour later, after Violet had cooked a perfect spaghetti and meatballs dish for them and Mason fell that little bit more in love with the woman, he followed her out a door he thought led to the rooftop of the building. When he stepped out into a small but well equipped gym he let out a low whistle.
“Damn, Violet, this place is awesome!” Mason wondered around, taking in the glass that surrounded the gym and the area he immediately recognized as a dojo. “This is the best damn rooftop conservatory I have ever seen.”
Violet beamed with pride. “I know, right? This is my favorite part of my place. When I had them build the conservatory and they found out it was for a gym, they thought I was crazy. But it has heating and cooling with the air conditioning unit at that end, and LEDs run along the inside of the roof framing so it lights up nice in here when I want to work out at night.”
Jacob walked over to the far wall and looked down over the street. “The conservatory is set back enough you can’t see it clearly from the street, but you are completely out in the open if someone had a drone or a helicopter.”
Mason had been so taken with the room, he hadn’t thought of that, and hearing it know had his leopard snarling within him to insist that she moved everything downstairs and block off the roof access. But he was starting to get to know his mate, and he knew she had already accounted for that. “Let me guess, one way glass?”
Violet rewarded him with a sassy wink. “Something like that. A little polymer of my own invention that makes the glass impossible to see through, and before you ask, yes, it is bullet proof and the roof has cameras and sensors all over it, so no one can get to me from the roof without me knowing about it.”
Mason sat down on the weight bench in the middle of the gym. “So, where do you fit into this Hyacinthinum Corporation? They own the building, and whoever’s behind that business has gone to great lengths to hide the fact you are living here.” Violet just looked at him. “Well, hell. You own the business don’t you?”
Violet nodded as she moved to open the sliding door on the south wall and stepped out into the pool area. “I do, along with a couple of others. When I was old enough to hack into his financial systems, I took some of my grandfather’s money back from the prick that took it from him. I’ve used that to create my own little empire that allows me to be who I am and what I am, and of course mess with Santiago as much as humanly possible.”
Mason and Jacob followed her outside and walked over to where she stared into the still waters of her pool. “How old were you when you did that?”
“Fifteen,” Violet’s voice was flat, and Mason almost regretted asking. “My childhood was not an especially good one, not really. My parents only had me to appease my grandfather, and although he doted on me, my parents thought I was piece of shit and treated me like one. My Poppa was the only one in my life I could depend on, and who loved me for who I am.”
Mason vowed to do everything he had to, to make it onto that list. “Do you think Santiago knows who you are? I mean when we talked with Kieran about you last night. He knew of a woman who matched your description who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere eighteen months ago, taking out some of Santiago’s puppets, but not your name or your story. When he started asking around about someone who could help with a chemical issue we had, people mentioned you, and he worked out that you were one and the same person. He also knew you as someone who was generous to the people who saw you as a protector, and who had a reputation for making the streets a little safer.”
Violet grinned, flicking a glance up at him, mirth shimmering in her eyes. “Yeah, that’s me, a modern day, female Robin Hood.”
“Is that why you do it?” Jacob asked.
“I do it because Santiago has gotten rich off the people in those neighborhoods for years.” Violet’s voice was strained. “They traffic young girls into the sex trade, and it makes me sick that all of that is taking place in my city. It pisses me off that he robs, steals, and kills anyone who dares to stand up to him and he allows his men free rein to do whatever the hell they want, to anyone they want. Just as long as he keeps getting more money and more power. So, yeah I do what I can to remove them from the equation.”
Mason tensed. “You didn’t answer my earlier question. Does he know who you are, Violet?”
****
She sighed and moved over to the outdoor daybed and sat down on it. Despite her relaxed demeanor, her mind was whirling. Did she tell them? If she answered that question truthfully, and then explained how that connection worked then everything that she had spent the last twelve years working towards and protecting would be out in the open.
“How likely is it for this mating bond to break?” Her question helped stall for time, but she had to admit she was curious as to what the answer would be.
Mason and Jacob snarled at the question, and from the amber change to their eyes, Violet knew their leopards had drawn closer to the surface. Why did that have her heart skipping a beat and her breath rate increasing?
“Why the fuck would you want us to do that?”
Violet looked up, her expression wary. “I told you both before that I am willing to get to know you, and I am telling you more about myself than anyone else knows. Christ, I have given you enough about myself that if Santiago ever found out who I was and where I live, he would crucify me. I ask because I want to know, as a shifter, is it possible to live and find love after your mate dies, or the bond is broken?”
“We would never break the damn bond,” Jacob snapped, and Violet heard his leopard in his tone. “Hell, I don’t think that’s even possible. There has never bee
n a case of mates breaking the bond, but there have been cases where one has passed into the next life before the others. And what happens then, Violet, is that those that are left behind follow. That is what it is to be mates.”
Violet stared at the two men in shock. “You would commit suicide if I was to die? Is that what you’re saying?”
Mason shook his head sadly. “We wouldn’t have to. Once the bond is complete, the connection between us would be so strong that if you died, we could not survive it.”
Violet couldn’t comprehend an emotion that ran that deep. She had suffered loss, and she had started on this path of vengeance that she was determined to see through to the end, but devotion that deep seemed alien to her.
“What the hell is wrong with you two?” she said in a voice that was at least an octave higher than normal. “You tell me that you believe me to be your mate, then lay this on me? I will not be responsible for your deaths. Why the hell would any woman allow that bond to be completed, if this was the inevitable outcome? When I care for someone, I do it with everything that I am. That’s just the way I am. Being with you and knowing that if I were to suddenly get hit by a bus crossing the road tomorrow, you would both lose the will to live would go against that. So, find yourselves another mate!”
She stood up to stomp past them, but came to a halt when Mason wrapped his arms around her from behind, locking her own at her side. Oh, she could get free if she wanted, but the feel of being held tight in his arms did crazy things to her thought processes.
“Just hold on a minute, little one,” Mason whispered behind her, and she harrumphed at the hint of joy in his voice. “You feel something for us, and that is a start. If the bond falls into place, it will be because you have accepted it and us. Calm down, love.”
Despite the heat that build within her at the endearment, she struggled in his arms, albeit halfheartedly. “I am calm. I am calmly trying to decide if I shouldn’t just walk into the dojo, grab my katana, and take your stupid asses out of the world. There might even be a prize for doing it.”
Jacob laughed as he moved to stand in front of her, sliding the back of his fingers down her cheek and making her shiver. “We have never claimed to be smart, baby. The bond will only snap into place for the three of us when our hearts have made the connection to each other. You can’t explain it, you can’t predict it, and you certainly cannot fight it.”
“You are most definitely our mate,” Mason murmured directly in her ear. “Both man and leopard recognize that you are. The mating bond is now entirely up to you.”
“I’m not sure I can do that, not until this is finished,” Violet whispered, and even she could hear the pain in her tone. Mason tensed behind a moment before he moved quickly to swing her into his arms and strode back to the daybed, placing her on his lap while Jacob tugged her legs onto his lap as he sat down beside them.
“By that I assume you mean the fight you’re waging against Santiago,” Jacob said, watching her intently. “What’s the end game for you, baby? If he’s dead and gone and the streets are safer, is that finished for you? Because I have a feeling that by cutting off one head of this beast, another will simply rise to take its place. Kieran has long believed that Santiago is only a middle man, that there is someone bigger, badder, and meaner out there, looking at Chicago as a lynchpin in their business plan.”
Violet took a deep breath. From her position she could look into both Mason’s and Jacob’s face at the same time. “The only time in the first twelve years of my life that I felt loved, was when I was with my Poppa. The rest of the time it was about training to be the best, trying to remain invisible to avoid punishment, and staying below the radar. I know what it is like to be threatened and to be so afraid you can’t think straight. I will always protect those who need it, that’s just who I am.”
Violet took a deep breath and shook her head. “Why in the hell am I even telling you this? I don’t know you, and I am pretty much ripping the Band-Aid off my past and allowing you both to see the scars.”
Mason hugged her tighter, and Jacob rubbed his palm on her leg.
“Perhaps you want us to know the real you,” Jacob said gently. “Everything I have seen and am learning about you, baby, tells me what type of person you are, but I think that sometimes you are so far gone on the defensive, you see every action as an attack.”
Mason pressed a kiss to her temple. “We do want to get to know you, just as we want to tell you everything about us. It also makes it easier for us to protect you, if we do know everything we can about the people who wish to harm you.”
Violet looked between the two men, and for reasons beyond her comprehension she was starting to believe them.
“Baby, you don’t have to share everything with us now,” Jacob said gently. “We have time. When you are ready you can answer that question you think you’ve distracted us from.”
Violet swallowed the lump that had suddenly appeared in her throat and nodded. A vibration at her wrist had her sitting up and looking at her watch. What she saw was not exactly welcome.
“What is it?” Mason said, his voice little more than a growl. Frowning, Violet looked up at him, her eyes wide in surprise. Both Mason and Jacob’s eyes had changed color. There was no sign of the soft metal gray they usually were. Now they were golden amber, and Violet knew she was looking at her leopards.
When did they become mine?
Pushing that thought from her mind she rolled her eyes at them. “Christ, will you guys turn all fur and fang every time my watch vibrates? You had better tell me now, because it’s also like a Fitbit and when I reach my step target for the day it might go off unexpectedly. That could be embarrassing for you if we are walking past a dog or something, and you get chased up a tree.”
Mason’s eyes cleared to gray, and he growled as he leaned in and gently bit down on her shoulder before pulling away. “Smart ass. Enough with the sarcasm, and get to the reason why you looked alarmed.”
Violet climbed off him and indicated with her head for them to follow her. “That was not alarm. That was simple curiosity. Someone has reached out to me.”
“Is it Santiago?”
Violet shook her head at Jacob’s question. “No, the reaction to that would have been much more extreme and would have been described as fucking amazed, which is a lot closer to alarm than that was. I’d also be trying to find a wooden box big enough for both of you for bringing that fucker to my door. No, it’s a woman who works near where you guys came across me last night.”
“How do you know that?” Mason asked as she led them back down the iron staircase to her loft, and then behind it to the door that led to her office.
“There are a few people around there that know they can reach out and ask for help, or if they see trouble, and Josie is one of them.” Violet walked over to her computers and sat down, typing quickly on the keyboard in front of her and scanned the center screen as it came to life. When the message icon lit up, she clicked on it.
“Umm, hello, this is Josie Cadman.” A voice sounded over the speakers, and despite it being a computer connection and a recorded message, Violet could hear the hesitation and concern in young woman’s voice. “There is trouble in our neighborhood.” The woman gave a nervous giggle. “Again. A group of young guys, all wearing red and white scarves, are running riot. I’ve seen three muggings in the space of half an hour, and there seems to be a group of them walking into the shopping district. By the way they are carrying pipes, wooden planks, and chains, so I don’t think they are coming just to shop. We need help, your kind of help, V. Please.”
The recording ended. “Son of a biscuit!”
A low rumble sounded from deep within Mason’s chest. “Diablo’s gang wears red and white—” Diablo ran a gang on the west side of the city, and prostitution was one of their main revenue streams, “—and if they have actually sided with Santiago, then his foot soldier numbers just went through the fucking roof.”
Violet cursed as s
he pushed back from her desk. “There goes my quiet afternoon doing my nails.” She walked out of the room and headed back towards the lift. When she stepped past the coffee table, she scooped up the bag with the bullet in it. Before she left, she’d set her equipment to run a check on it, and break the chemicals down for her.
Mason pulled his phone from his jeans pocket. “I’ll flick a text to our Alpha. I have no doubt that Kieran is mobilizing the pride as we speak, but it would be good for him to know where we’re at.”
She pressed the button on the lift for the door and stepped in when it opened. She held her palm against the metal panel above the button that would take them to the ground floor. After three seconds it beeped and the lift door closed.
Jacob made an excited sound. “Damn, baby, that is so cool. Biometric?”
Grinning up at him she nodded. “Yep. And now, boys, I would like to show you my lab. You will both need to insert your own mad scientist maniacal evil laughter here as I simply can’t do it justice.” The door opened, and the three of them stepped out. She sighed happily at everything around her.
“Holy shit,” Mason said slowly. “You were right, Jacob. Our mate really is related to Batman.”
Violet laughed. “Welcome to my Batcave, boys.”
Chapter Six
“You look like shit.”
Mason managed a tired laugh at Reggie’s astute assessment.
“Wow, Reggie,” he said dryly, “you’re gonna turn my head if you keep talking to me like that. I mean, what’s a guy to think?”
Kieran laughed as he stepped into the foyer just behind him. “I think it’s pretty obvious. You do look like shit. Most of us who have been awake for the past thirty-six hours simply feel like shit, but you, my friend, have taken it to a whole new level and owned it.”
Mason flipped his Alpha off, much to Reggie’s obvious amusement. “You have already been cleared from upstairs. The lift is ready and waiting for you.” Mason gave him a jaunty salute and walked to the side of the foyer, away from the main bank of lifts as the doors to Violet’s personal lift opened. Kieran’s raised eyebrows as they stepped in made him smile. “Wait ‘til you see the rooftop.”