by Wolf, Terra
"Any last questions? I am forced to admit that I must depart. Another appointment demands my time."
"Not today," she replied. "Although I'm sure tomorrow I will have plenty for you and Joanna," she said with a smile.
There was no answering expression or remark from Thomas, who simply rose from the seat he had pulled up next to her and made his way to the entrance. Just before he left, something popped into her head.
"Actually, Thomas," she spoke up, pausing him in his movements. "I was wondering, why do you have so much security here? It doesn't seem like a place that has all that much in the way of problems."
"You have noticed that we are well on the outskirts of town?" he said, replying to her question with one of his own. "Well, there is a gang of hoodlums, ruffians if you will, who reside in Red River Crossing, the next town over. They have made a habit of pulling stunts that I do not approve of. Thus, with our proximity to the border of town, I thought it best to have some people on board who can ensure nothing happens."
"Understood," she said, waiting until Thomas had left the room.
Something weird was going on in Moonlight Canyon, and with Thomas in particular. She was fairly positive after just a few hours that his "security" team was in on it as well, but she wasn't sure what. Either way, it had been fairly obvious that Thomas had been lying to her. If there were such a gang, the police would have taken care of it ages ago.
What had she gotten herself into? The question echoed around in her mind, mixing with the image of Bryce grinning at her and then winking. It proved to be far too much of a distraction, so she decided to call it a night and get an early start. Tomorrow she would meet Joanna and truly get down to the nuts and bolts of the operation.
"I'm impressed," she remarked upon noticing Bryce still at the door. "Not only are you actually where you're supposed to be, but it would appear that you haven't let any trouble happen tonight. Keep that up, and I just might believe you're actually security," she said, putting enough sarcastic emphasis in her words to let him know she would never believe that.
"Yes, Boss," he replied, pulling the door open for her once her coat was secured.
"Oh don't give me that sour-faced bullshit," she said sternly.
"Whatever you say," he said, before dropping his voice to a whisper, "Mistress."
Her face erupted in flames as heat exploded through her at the sexual connotations he managed to inject into the single word. Knowing she would never live it down if she didn't find a way to respond, she summoned her courage and wit, trying to sew it back together from the shambles Bryce had just made of it.
"Aren't you supposed to say that while groveling at my feet?" she said, arching an eyebrow as she purposefully looked down at her boots and back up at him. It was hard to ignore the mischievous smile on Bryce's face that told her he was enjoying himself immensely.
"You set the rules," he said slyly, before walking through the door to outside, forcing her to follow before the door closed.
"Indeed I do, and you should keep that in mind, or I'll have you stationed out here all evening."
"The cold doesn't bother me," he said in an entirely different tone.
She looked back at him, having taken several steps toward a car in the parking lot. Thomas had handed her a set of keys earlier, telling her to make use of the vehicle as if it were her own. He would make arrangements to get it back in a day or two, as she did have her own vehicle.
It was Bryce's eyes that caught her attention now. The humor was gone as they scanned the perimeter of the forest behind the restaurant. Intelligence and awareness flooded through his entire body. Gone was the joker and flirt. Now she saw why he had been hired as security.
"Have a good night, Chief," she said, turning to continue on.
There was a small bridge out front that led over a very little river before she reached the parking lot. The temperature was below zero at this point, meaning everything had frozen over. Her focus was on the glassy-iced surface of the water below, however, and not where she was walking. With a cry, her left foot shot out from under her. She grabbed for the handrail but it was too far away, and suddenly she was falling in the opposite direction.
Chapter Two
Bryce
"Gotcha."
Bryce wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulders, slowing Natasha down gently, before hauling her back to her feet. She whirled and looked at him, taking a step forward. He backed up, feeling his ass press up against the railing of the bridge. She had him trapped. Or at least, as trapped as someone her size could hope to achieve with the large wolf shifter. He liked her strength, so Bryce decided not to disabuse her of the notion of her own power at this time. He remained leaning until she finally spoke.
"How did you do that?" she asked suspiciously.
"Uh, I wrapped my arm around you?" he replied slowly, hoping she would leave it alone.
"Not that. You're not an idiot, so cut the bullshit. You were way over there," she said, jabbing a finger back in the direction of the restaurant. "So, how did you get from there?"
Another jab.
"To here?"
Another jab.
"I was walking that way anyway. I saw you hit the patch of ice, and I caught you. Your back was turned, so you had no idea where I was," he said, injecting a bit of command into his voice for the first time since he had met her.
"You're so full of shit," she said, but there was nothing to prove her point.
Which was a good thing, because Bryce had no interest in revealing to this woman that he was a wolf shifter with enhanced strength, speed, and reflexes. Although Natasha seemed to have a solid head on her shoulders, there was no telling what might happen if she was told the entire truth. Lying to her was not something that was enjoyable, but Bryce had to keep his pack in mind. He wasn't just security for the restaurant; he had to keep their true selves hidden from the public. They weren't ready for the knowledge that shifters existed yet.
"You're welcome?" he said, stressing the fact that she had never thanked him, doing anything to try and take his mind off of the other thoughts.
"Thank you, Chief," she gritted out.
He had never doubted for a moment that she was appreciative of his efforts, but it was still nice to hear, even with the forced tone to it. A smile would likely infuriate her more at that point, so that's just what he did. It worked. Better than he had expected even.
"Goodnight Bryce," she said, turning and making her way over the rest of the little bridge.
She did so very carefully.
That made him smile, but this time it was genuine. Bryce Holland was not interested in having to escort his future mate everywhere she went. He needed someone that would be able to take care of herself, and judging by the first few interactions he had had with Natasha, there was little doubt in his mind that she was perfect for him.
The moment she was out of sight, he let out the breath he had been holding, reaching back to grab hold of the railing. His knees felt oddly weak all of a sudden, as his balance swayed off-kilter, threatening to tumble him to the ground. The force of the knowledge that his wolf had picked up on from the brief moment of contact when he had caught her was enormous.
He had found his mate.
A huge weight vanished from his shoulders as he walked around the property, doing his job. There was still the matter of courtship and claiming, he told himself. Neither of those were likely to be easy, but just knowing that she existed was the pebble that caused the landslide of what would come. Bryce knew he could handle the rest. He had seen several examples of things go horribly wrong with his packmates as they paired off one by one. What would he do that would make things any worse?
Abruptly his senses tingled. Someone else was out here. His wolf leapt to the surface, its senses fusing with his intelligence. He looked into the darkest corners of the lot, trying to pick someone out with vision that made shadows evaporate as if they were smoke, bathing everything in a soft silver glow.
He couldn't see them, but he could sense them. Out behind of the restaurant, Thomas had painstakingly installed a hedge maze. It was not huge in size, but it blocked off a large portion of visibility between the building proper and the forest line beyond it. Whoever he was sensing had to be within the maze itself.
There was something familiar about what he was sensing. He was upwind from his quarry, so there was no scent to go by either, which frustrated him. Ready to shift at a moment's notice, he padded toward the hedges, still green even in the depths of winter. Stalking his prey in here would be no easy feat, but Bryce was up for it.
Before he could enter, however, he saw movement at the front. Whoever it was, they had found him first. He tensed, waiting until he could make out details. As they moved into the light he saw there were two of them.
"Dammit guys, you know better than that!" he called, straightening upright, gently soothing his wolf as he closed the link in his mind that allowed him to call the animal forward.
"Sorry Bryce. We thought we saw something," Holden said, approaching to embrace his friend and packmate.
"I swear I sensed something too, but I couldn't find a thing," Ethan agreed, coming up a half pace behind Holden.
"Well, now I have no idea. I did sense something, but it turns out to just be you two jokers," Bryce grumped.
This was boring. The job was so dull. The wolves had been providing security since before the place had opened.
"It's been what, two and half months now that we've been out here, right?" he queried the others.
"Yep, ten weeks of seeing absolutely nothing. Just like we told Thomas, this place doesn't need any security!" Ethan said.
The wolves were angry. The pay was great, which was the only thing that kept Bryce around. At least that's what he told himself, though in truth he had nowhere else to go.
"What does he even expect us to find out here?" Holden asked.
It was a question they had all been asking themselves and each other for two months. Thomas, each time they asked him, was certain that there would be trouble, though he couldn't say when. Or wouldn't. Bryce suspected that he knew more than he was letting on. A lot more.
Thomas wasn't human, that much he knew. The pack had established that fairly quickly after they met him. Ethan had met and mated with Joanna, the operator of The Silver Bullet, back when she was just the bartender at Thomas's other establishment in town. It had been fairly obvious from the start that there was more to Thomas than they suspected, but he had never told them. Bets ranged from him being a dragon shifter, to one of the faerie kings—who, contrary to popular opinion, were neither small nor kind folk—and everything in between. What he was doing in Moonlight Canyon was also of concern.
"Are you not paid well?" a silky smooth voice said, interrupting the griping.
The wolves spun as one to face the building. Unbeknownst to them, Thomas had slipped outside and approached their position.
"What have I told you about doing that?" Bryce snarled, his anger up. The wolves all hated how he was able to get the drop on them every time. They prided themselves on their ability to hear or sense anyone approaching, but with Thomas, it seemed that the only times they detected him was when he wished to be detected. That was irksome.
"Doing what?" he replied demurely, acting as if he had no idea what Bryce was talking about, even though everyone knew he was aware.
"Oh, forget it. What do you want?" Some of the anger had left Bryce's voice as he accepted the futility of trying to put Thomas in his place.
Sometimes he hated the paranormal world and the beings who inhabited it.
"I came to see why you had not completed your rounds," the strange being replied.
"Bullshit. You heard us talking about the ridiculousness of our job, and came to stop it before we got too worked up," Bryce said bluntly, taking the role of spokesperson for the others.
"Yes, that too. You feral sorts are always so impatient. But please, let us not fight. There is more important work to be done."
"Such as?" Bryce asked sarcastically, raising his eyebrows. He didn't believe for a moment that Thomas had "important work" to be done.
"Complete your rounds, please. I do pay you well enough for this, do I not?" he asked for a second time.
"Well enough to make me nervous. It's like you're giving us hazard pay," Bryce remarked.
"I am," Thomas said without elaborating, turning and heading back into the house.
"What the fuck?" Kevin said, the first to find his voice after the revelation. It was the most information they had ever gotten out of Thomas in regard to their current "jobs."
"I have no idea. I'm going to complete my rounds. You two make sure word of this conversation gets to Jake. He'll want to know that Thomas is expecting trouble of some sort, and that we're expected to die in his defense."
"Gee, this job just gets better and better," Kevin remarked, shaking his head.
"C'mon, let's go tell Jake," Holden said, yanking Kevin along after him.
"I'll be inside in a bit," Bryce said, heading back toward the maze.
He scouted the inside of it, trying to focus on his job. The task proved harder than he would ever have expected. It started simply; his mind would wander for a moment, his thoughts elsewhere. That was easy enough to push away, to remain focused. Then the image that would pop into his brain began to move. As it did, the imagery around it came into focus. It was always him. He was doing something. He was holding a little wolf pup. Then he was waiting at the altar as a woman walked toward him. In every scene, he realized, he was accompanied by this woman. He could never make out any details. She was always cloaked in shadow.
Shaking his head violently, he brought his wolf back to the surface, soaking in the feral, wild side of himself. The shock to his system as he constantly battled with his animal side to remain in control was enough to allow him to refocus on the job at hand. The images could wait; he would try and decipher their sudden appearance later. He wondered if it had anything to do with Natasha.
The thoughts continued to bounce around in his head until, when exiting the far side of the maze, he saw the footsteps. They were printed into the snow, dainty, almost as if someone had eased their feet into the snow slowly. He crept closer, his wolf senses at full alert as he scanned the trees, trying to pick out anything out of the ordinary.
He called in the others, speaking softly into the phone, telling them to get to his position. Surveying the area, he looked at the tracks again. There was something odd about them, something that didn't fit.
"What are you trying to tell me brain?" he muttered, pacing around the tracks from front to back. He looked at the line they traced back to the forest.
Whoever it was had walked out of there, surveying the property. He stood just in front of them, careful not to disturb them, then turned and faced the building. From the angle he was at, he had a perfect view of the upper story, and Natasha's office in particular. Much of the rest of the restaurant was obscured by the hedges.
Then, as he turned back to face the footprints, it hit him. He knew what was bothering him about them now. The tracks came out of the forest, then stopped. But they didn't go anywhere else. He walked alongside the footprints, inspecting them closely. The bottoms were muddled, unclear.
As if they had been stepped on twice.
Whoever it was had retraced their steps carefully. They had not wanted to leave any more marks than was necessary. He judged by the size of the print that they would belong to a woman of average height, or a small male, though the thinness of the track spoke toward it being female.
"What is it Bryce?"
"Come over here, follow my steps," he told them, waving a hand behind him.
They approached carefully, and he pointed out the tracks and what he had figured they said. Bryce told Kevin to stay there, while he and Holden followed the tracks back into the forest. Which took them all of thirty seconds. The tracks went into the canopy for a dozen feet, then disap
peared.
"What the hell?" Holden wondered aloud.
"Look," Bryce said, pointing at a tree near where the tracks ended.
"'Fuck. What the hell does that mean?" his friend exclaimed as he saw what Bryce had found.
Slightly above head height on the tree closest to where the tracks stopped was a huge gash. It was almost as wide as his palm. Looking closer, he examined the cut.
"This was done by fingers," he said in surprise.
Showing Holden the individual scrape marks, he mimicked the action with his own hand. The small grooves inside of the mark all lined up.
"What kind of person does that?"
"No one human," Thomas replied from behind them.
"Yeah, I had kind of picked up on that one, thanks," he said sarcastically.
Bryce was nervous. The mark meant someone of immense strength was in the area. Any of the wolves could have done it with their claws, as could a bear shifter. But it wasn't that big. It was the size of a smallish human hand. One, he thought, which would belong to a female of average height, just like the tracks.
"What, exactly, are you expecting for trouble?" he quizzed Thomas, but the man never replied.
"Right, I forgot, we're just your hired goon squad, who you tell nothing," he growled, heading back toward the house.
The next thing he knew, he was all but flying through the air. He hit the tree solidly with his back, knocking the air out of him. Before he could fall, Thomas was upon him, holding him up loftily with one hand, as if he weighed nothing.
Shit this guy was strong, Bryce thought. Remind me not to mess with him again. Not fair at all.
"W-What are you?" he croaked, gasping for breath.
"It does not matter. I will ask you to refrain from slighting me, however. I promise you, I only have the best interests of Moonlight Canyon and its inhabitants in mind. To do my best to protect them, I require help. That is where you and your friends come in. You are doing this for them, at my request, and are being compensated for it extremely well. Please, do not force me to teach this lesson again. I will not be as kind."