by Ava Benton
“I wonder if you were his surrogate family,” I whispered into the darkness.
Nia was asleep in my arms, her head on my chest.
“Hmm? Surrogate family?” She stirred and lifted her head enough for me to see her sleepy eyes. “What were you saying?”
“I didn’t mean for you to hear me,” I confessed.
“Well, I did. I was already awake.” She smiled. “It’s okay. I don’t want to waste a minute of our alone time.”
“That’s true. We won’t have any time to ourselves once we leave. This is a luxury.” I chuckled, moving a little to get into a better position. “Who would’ve thought I would ever call this lumpy mattress a luxury?”
She giggled softly. Her bare leg slid against mine. “Now that we’re both awake, maybe we should make the most of it.”
I stirred a little at the thought. “We don’t have all that much time,” I reminded her. “It’s already oh-five-hundred.”
She sighed. “Can you just speak civilian with me? Besides, I know it’s five o’clock. I wake up at five every morning at the exact same time without an alarm.”
“No shit.”
“No shit,” she grinned. “Just one of many things you don’t know about me.”
“I’ll have to learn everything else.”
“You will. It’ll take a long, long time.”
I closed my arms around her and rolled, pinning her under me. “Well, we don’t have much time right now, but maybe there’s something I can learn really fast. Because I do want to know everything there is to know.”
My lips traveled the length of her throat, finding her pulse. It raced the way mine did.
“Lesson one: I like that.” She giggled softly, then sighed when my tongue traced the curve of her throat and moved further down. Her fingers tangled in my hair. “So nice,” she whispered.
“What else is there?” I asked, going lower, finding her breast, licking the tip.
Her back arched as she bit back a strangled cry.
She opened her legs and guided me inside. “I think you’re doing pretty well on your own.”
It was quarter til six when we stepped out of the cabin, freshly showered and packed.
Nia swung her backpack onto her shoulders. “I guess we’re as ready as we’ll ever be,” she said with a confident grin.
I forced myself to smile back. She deserved my confidence.
“I guess we are.” I looked out over the camp.
Roan and Hope were saying goodbye alongside one of the cabins.
I looked away to give them their privacy.
Alice was checking Carter’s backpack, and I saw the way her hands shook.
I knew my brother. He deliberately pretended not to notice as he called out to a couple of the other guys who were coming with us. Alex and Karl, I thought. They were loading tents into a large, silver truck.
“Mary’s people must’ve already come in,” I muttered, nodding toward the truck.
Lance was passing by and confirmed. “Yeah, they got here around an hour ago. I know your cousins feel a lot better. Mary’s team is with Jordan right now.”
“Got it.” I watched him walk away, toward where Daniela and Layla were just dropping their packs on the ground. Both of them looked flushed, elated.
“I’m glad you’ll have your girls with you,” I murmured to Nia as we walked over to where the others were loading things into another truck.
“Yeah, I know they’re happy to be coming.” She stopped, a hand on my arm, when Lance motioned for Layla to step aside with him.
They got into a heated argument right out of the gate.
Daniela saw us and hurried over—how she still managed to look like she was on her way to a fashion show was beyond me, but she made cargo pants and work boots look like something off a runway.
“What’s going on?” Nia murmured as she watched the two of them.
“No idea. He’s really pissed off. I think it’s because she’s coming with us.”
“He needs to get over it,” Nia growled. “I don’t want any of us getting distracted by petty arguments right now.”
I cleared my throat but didn’t say anything.
She shot me a dirty look.
“She won’t tell me what’s really going on, either,” Daniela whispered.
“They’re a thing,” I announced.
Nia sneered. “You’re such a relationship expert now.”
I shrugged. “Hey. I know what I know. And it’s obvious from the way he’s looking at her that he’s nuts about her. And she’s crazy about him, too. I’m not blind, you know.”
Nia bit her lip and watched as the two of them kept arguing. “Yeah. Me, neither. He needs to back down before they start brawling.”
They had both raised their voices to the point where they were attracting attention from the others.
“I’ll take care of it.” I stalked over to them—they were too busy arguing to even notice I was on my way.
“You two want to explain what’s going on here?” I asked, keeping my back to the rest of the group. I wanted to block the two of them from prying eyes.
Layla’s bronze cheeks burned red. “He’s being an asshole.”
“Hey!” Lance growled.
“Enough.” I turned to her. “He just doesn’t want you coming with us because he cares about you and he’s too pig-headed to admit it. I went through the same thing with Nia and, frankly, I still don’t want her coming along. But she’s an adult and Jordan believes she’s an asset to the team, so she’s coming with us. Why don’t you make sure you’re ready to go and maybe help loading things onto the trucks?”
She let out a deep sigh, but nodded. We watched her walk away holding her pack in one hand. Her other hand was a tight fist.
I turned to him next. “And you.”
He cut me off. “I don’t appreciate what you just did, man. I know you’re close with your brother and your cousins, but a man doesn’t call another man out like that in front of a woman.”
I snarled and took a step closer to him.
We were roughly the same height and build, but I knew I could take him if it came down to a fight. He didn’t have the training I did. Asshole thought he was tough shit because he knew how to delegate.
“Listen up. My father respects you, so I guess there’s something about you worth respecting. And you’re a decent leader, or else he wouldn’t let you take point on this mission. But let me give you a word of advice before we go: stop acting like a bratty crybaby over a woman if you expect the rest of our team to respect you and listen to your decisions. You just let everybody around know your business by picking a fight with her in front of them. That was a dumb move. This is professional now. Stop making it personal.”
Some of the fight left his expression. The lines around his eyes disappeared. His jaw loosened a little.
“Shape the hell up, or I’ll let Jordan know that I don’t think you’re fit to lead. Got it?”
He drew in a sharp breath like he wanted to argue—but didn’t. “Yeah. I got it. Thanks.”
“Anytime.” He walked over to where a few guys were huddled together.
I looked at Nia, who smiled at me over Layla’s head. I hoped our entire mission wouldn’t be spent breaking up little spats like that, because I wasn’t a babysitter.
The door to Dad’s cabin opened, and he came out, followed by eight men who wore plain clothes but had the bearing of soldiers.
I wondered if they thought they could fit in with civilians, then remembered that I wasn’t exactly the sort of person who fit in, either.
Dad looked us over with a proud smile. “I see we’re ready to go. Our security guys are up to speed on what’s expected of them while we’re gone. Unless there are any last-minute questions or concerns, I would say we’re ready to roll out.”
He looked to Lance, and we all followed suit.
Lance opened his mouth, then shut it.
My heart was in my throat—he had the
chance to step up and be a leader or fail miserably. It was all right there in that one moment. What would he do?
He nodded firmly. “All set. I’d say we’re ready to roll, sir.”
I was surprised he didn’t salute.
Our eyes met, and I nodded—I still didn’t agree with the way he had handled himself, but I understood where he was coming from. Even if he hadn’t admitted to Layla that he had feelings for her, those feelings were there, and he was fighting them tooth and nail.
Carter came over to me. “How’s she doing?” I asked.
“She’ll be okay. I think the sight of those guys made her feel a little better about staying here—but she’s still scared for us.”
I saw her standing with Hope and Maggie.
Her bright red hair was like a beacon even in the minutes before dawn.
All of them had splotchy faces and red-rimmed eyes. Would Nia be standing with them if I left her behind?
“They’ll be fine,” I assured him with a smile and a slap on the back. “You’ll be together again before you know it.” I grinned at Roan and Slate, who were finishing loading up the last truck.
The way their jaws were set, it was obvious to me that leaving the girls tore them up inside.
I hoped for their sake that the mission wouldn’t take long.
And for my sake, too, as Nia sidled up to me. “It’s time.” Her eyes were over-bright, her cheeks flushed.
“You ready for this?” I asked. “There’s still time to hang back. Nobody would blame you if you wanted to.”
She shook her head. “No way. I’m coming with you, and there’s nothing you can say or do to stop me.”
“I wasn’t trying to stop you,” I said as we climbed into one of the trucks.
“Yeah, yeah.” She shook her head with a loving smile. “If you say so.”
We were on the road less than a minute later, with Dad driving our truck.
Layla sat up front, looking out the window, chewing her lip.
I wondered if I would need to talk with her the way I had with Lance, then figured it would be better for Nia to do it.
I turned my head to see the camp getting smaller and smaller behind us. If all went well, we’d be back there in a few days—or the rest of the group could meet us where we were.
Or they wouldn’t need to be together again at all and could get on with their lives, whatever that meant.
Everything was about to change. I hoped for all our sakes that it was about to change for the better.
Nia took my hand, and I looked down into her big, shining eyes. She loved me, and I would die if it meant keeping her alive and well.
“Here we go,” she whispered with a smile.
I reached for her, stroking her face.
“Here we go,” I repeated, as Dad drove the truck to where the jet waited.
I didn’t know what we’d be going into, but one thing I knew for sure, I’d do my damnedest to protect this woman. I’d do anything and everything to come out on top of this situation, and I’d do with with her next to me.
What would we do after that? Well, I had half a lifetime to catch up on with my father, and I had a whole lifetime I wanted to spend with Nia.
As for the battle we were facing, I was up for it. I cracked my knuckles, but didn’t even realize I was doing it until she glanced down, then looked back up and smiled at me.
“We got this,” she said, turning her head to kiss my fingers.
“Hell, yeah. We got this.”
Layla turned to look our way, a storm brewing on her face.
I chanced a peak at Nia.
She shrugged.
Layla turned back to the front.
I winked at Nia and leaned in, tasting soft sweet lips.
In the rearview, I caught a tiny smile playing on my father’s lips.
Are you ready for Layla and Lance’s story? Are you ready for our shifter families and friends to take on the enemy?
It’s coming this week!
Afterword
I hope you enjoyed Drew’s story! Lance’s is coming this week!
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Copyright © 2017 by Ava Benton
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