by Olivia Arran
Sentinel
Alpha Protectors
Olivia Arran
Arran Publishing
Contents
Copyright
1. Chapter One
2. Chapter Two
3. Chapter Three
4. Chapter Four
5. Chapter Five
6. Chapter Six
7. Chapter Seven
8. Chapter Eight
9. Chapter Nine
10. Chapter Ten
11. Chapter Eleven
12. Chapter Twelve
13. Chapter Thirteen
14. Chapter Fourteen
15. Chapter Fifteen
16. Chapter Sixteen
17. Chapter Seventeen
18. Chapter Eighteen
19. Chapter Nineteen
20. Chapter Twenty
21. Chapter Twenty-One
22. Chapter Twenty-Two
23. Chapter Twenty-Three
24. Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
From the Author
Copyright © 2016 Olivia Arran
All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.
Edited by Jersey Devil Editing
Cover Design by Jacqueline Sweet
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Chapter One
Angel
I glanced at the older alpha, snapping to attention at his words. “Someone’s trying to kill you?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure. But that’s not why you’re here.”
“Why the hell not?” If that wasn’t a good reason to hire me, then what was?
David shrugged, his body still strong and powerful despite his advanced years. “When isn’t someone trying to kill me? When I contacted your boss I did explain the situation to him.”
Something Jason had apparently forgotten to include in the assignment details. Not that I was surprised.
In the months I had worked for the Freelance Undercover Resolutions division of Sunclaw, or F.U.R for short, I had come to the conclusion that the alpha pair who ran the company liked to leave little surprises for their team to discover for themselves. Macey, the she-wolf in the alpha pairing and my other boss, said it kept us sharp.
Sharp, my ass. She liked messing with us. And none of the five men in the team were safe when it came to her scheming. Given that we were strong, bad-ass alpha wolves, each one of us trained in everything from deadly hand-to-hand combat to assassinations to mounting highly classified covert ops, you’d think she’d exercise caution. But, nope. We didn’t scare her. And I wasn’t surprised—Jason, the white-haired coyote she called her mate, had a few screws loose if you asked me. Luckily he was on our side. One of the good guys.
“Humor me,” I said. It was almost a command. I wasn’t used to kowtowing to other alphas, and I wasn’t about to start now.
Dark eyes narrowed, taking my measure. Then a sharp nod, as though I had passed some sort of invisible test, or some equally asinine bullshit. “My beta was murdered two nights ago.”
“And you’re thinking it’s a message? That you’re next?” The beta was the first line of defense in an alpha’s inner circle, his right-hand man. Remove him and it was suddenly a whole lot easier to get to the main target.
“Like I said, maybe. A development company has been trying to purchase the pack land. They put in an offer, which we refused. Then they increased the price, tripled it, in fact.” He handed over a letter, motioning for me to read.
I let out a low whistle at the amount written there in black and white. Shit! “And you turned it down?” Serious question, because not a lot of people could have walked away from that kind of money.
He spread his arms in an encompassing gesture. “This is our home, where the pack has always lived.”
Yeah, the pack thing. Some packs believed their land was sacred, that the spirits of their ancestors lived on around them, forever tied to their home.
Bullshit.
More like they were stuck in their ways and afraid of change. It would take a bullet to make them move.
Me? I didn’t do the pack thing. I liked my life, making my own choices without anyone telling me what to do or judging me. No rules to follow or feelings to dance around. The guys on the team didn’t give two shits if I had a different woman warming my bed every night. Or more often warming a wall, or the front seat of my truck, but hey, who cared. My teammates, Cole, Vin, Greg, and Abel, didn’t judge me.
But to each their own. Everyone had the right to choose their own path, to do whatever the hell they pleased with their own life. So long as they didn’t try to involve me.
“You think your beta was killed by the developers?”
“Not think. I know he was. He was executed... a bullet through the head not even a mile from here.”
Damn. A fucked-up way to go. “This was after you’d refused their latest offer?”
At his nod, I leaned back in my chair, rubbing the scruff on my chin in thought. “They’ve escalated. Any idea why they want your land?” It was a beautiful slice of nature, acres of rolling pasture with a forest thrown in for good measure. The only downside? It was fucking miles away from anywhere. The nearest town was over an hour, and that was as the crow flies, or the wolf runs. “It can’t be to build on,” I continued, voicing my thoughts out loud. “There’s got to be something else here that they want.”
“Whatever it is, they’re not getting it. That’s where you come in.”
I let out a dry chuckle, my lips curling at his statement. “I’m not exactly a man of words. You’d be better off finding a person trained in negotiation—”
The alpha leaped to his feet, his composure breaking for a split second, allowing me a glimpse at the anguish within. “We’re past negotiation with those bastards. Joe was my friend and they killed him. A man I’d known since childhood, a good man... gone. Just because they want something they can’t have.” His voice rose with every word, punching through the air. He slumped back down into his seat, but his back was straight, his eyes glaring and defiant.
“Okay,” I murmured. “What do you want me to do?” I was good at my job. Fuck that, I was the best. If he wanted me to go in and kill every last one of those self-entitled corporate pricks, I’d do it.
But I’d need proof first. Which could be tricky, although Greg, the team’s IT specialist and general all-around geek, could get me in. That guy could hack anything, and rewiring? Snap! Easy shit.
“No killing.”
My groan was almost audible. Almost. Not a good idea to appear bloodthirsty in front of a client. “Then, what?” Goddammit, if this turned out to be babysitting duty—
“I need you to protect my daughter.”
My heart sank like a pool ball into a pocket. “That’s not going to make the problem go away.”
Dark brown eyes lasered into me as the alpha let his power trickle out in a little display of dominance.
Whatever. He wasn’t my alpha, and I wasn’
t his pack. I snapped back at his power with a hint of my own.
His eyes widened, flaring burnished gold with his wolf.
“Yeah. Don’t try that again,” I growled. I wasn’t rattled; I was pissed. And reminded once again why I didn’t do pack. Ever.
“You’re stronger than I thought.”
“Looks can be deceiving.”
“In your case they most certainly are.”
I tilted my head, accepting the nearest to an apology I was going to get. Most people underestimated me. It was one of the things that made me so good at my job. Around humans it didn’t matter, but other shifters liked to fit everyone into a nice neat fucking hole. Hierarchical bullshit.
Most of the time I didn’t even remember I was doing it. It was like flicking a switch: I turned it on or off. Not even my teammates could get a read on me when I was playing underdog. Nice, normal shifter guy—just your average Joe Wolf.
“I had wondered how you were planning on infiltrating my pack and coming out of it alive. You might want to turn the dial up a little bit more while you’re here. It’ll make things a little easier.”
“Easier?”
“Around my daughter.”
Ah, yeah, the girl I’d be babysitting.
David continued, “Chloe is a lieutenant in the pack.”
So, she was one of the alpha’s inner circle of wolves, duty-bound to protect the pack. Which meant she was a hard-ass. Visions of a severely handsome woman, her body compressed tightly with muscles, floated through my mind.
Not my type at all. I liked my women soft and curvy, with plenty to grab hold of and sink my teeth into. Blonde, brunette, I didn’t care. As long as they weren’t redheads.
I hated redheads. My wolf fucking loved them though, the sadistic bastard. Still looking for her. Our mate. The woman who had fucked us over.
I bit back the snarl, my teeth aching with the effort. She didn’t belong in my head, didn’t deserve a flicker of my attention. I was over her, had drowned her out. Replaced her with countless faces I didn’t want to remember.
I turned my attention back to the alpha who was watching me, a guarded look on his face. Probably thinks I’m unstable. Most pack wolves thought loners were. “Lieutenant. Got it.” Tweaking power up to a five. That should do it.
“The second part of your task will be to find out who is betraying me.”
Now, that was more like it. “Any idea where I should start?”
“My inner circle. They are the only ones who could have betrayed Joe, who he would have trusted enough that they could have gotten close enough to put a bullet between his eyes.” His voice was hoarse, the reality of what he was asking me to do sinking in.
He couldn’t trust anyone. Not even… “Chloe?”
“She didn’t do it.”
I had to tread carefully and avoid my usual cut-the-bullshit approach. “David, you asked me to come down here so I could investigate your pack. No, screw that, investigate your inner circle, the wolves you should be able to trust above everyone else. You need me to be impartial. If your daughter didn’t do it, then she’ll be cleared, along with everyone else who’s innocent. You’ve got to let me do my job.”
His shoulders sagged, the weight of my words hitting home. “I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to.”
He leaned forward, his hand smacking down on the small table between us. “You’re that good?”
Now that question was an easy one. “Trust me, I’m the best.”
I stood, more than ready to start my assignment. I was already at the door when his words reached me.
“Angel? One last thing. No one can know who you really are and why you’re here, including my daughter.”
Did he think this was my first time at the rodeo? I didn’t even bother with a reply, instead throwing him my best condescending smirk before stalking out of the door.
Chapter Two
Angel
Leaving the alpha in his suite of rooms, I headed back to the bedroom I’d been assigned for the duration of my stay. Not bothering to lock the door behind me, I surveyed the room. It was sparse but neat, a small box of a room filled with the usual furniture: a bed, dresser, and wardrobe, all painted a bland but inoffensive cream. So perfectly nice it made my teeth hurt.
In my experience, packhouses might look different, but they were essentially all the same. A big house, filled with people who may, or may not, like each other. Though some packs eschewed the main big house style, preferring more of a village feel. Whatever floated their boat. But the alpha was always central. Present and accessible to everyone.
By the time I had hit twelve, I’d lived in over eleven different packhouses. At six years old, I’d learned not to bother unpacking. Not to bother learning people’s names. If we weren’t gone by tomorrow, it’d be next week. Or the one after. So what was the point?
Not once did anyone ask me to stay. Or stop my mother from dragging me on her whirlwind tour of the country, always searching, always looking for him.
My father.
What the fuck was I doing? I scrubbed at my eyes, my shoulders hitting the wall with a thud. I couldn’t seem to keep my head in the present, my mind fucking off down memory lane at every goddamn opportunity.
It was being here. The whole pack thing was screwing with my head. Something I needed like a kick to the balls.
Get the job done, and get out.
Tugging my T-shirt off over my head, I wadded it up and hurled it at the open suitcase on the floor. Toeing my boots off and slipping out of my jeans, I padded into the adjoining bathroom as naked as the day I had been born.
Ducking into the shower, I flicked on the spray. Tepid water sluiced down my chest, the shower missing my head by a good foot.
Cursing under my breath, I crouched down, tilting and contorting until my six-foot-six frame finally fit under. I’d be showering on my knees for the next week or so.
Ice-cold water hit me, forcing a mortifying yelp from my mouth. Hitting the lever, I spun it around and off. Four days. I could do this in four days. Shivering, I grabbed a towel, the ends barely meeting around my hips.
Okay, this wasn’t even funny anymore. I knew I was a little on the big size for a shifter, but what the fuck?
Tossing the towel, I threw some clean clothes on. Running a hand through my hair, I considered my options for infiltration. Sneaky or ballsy?
Fuck it. I could do this in three days. My balls were made of brass.
Leaving the main house, I followed the sound of people across the courtyard to a low, squat-looking building. Light poured from the windows, casting dancing shadows on the ground. Hazarding a guess that this had to be the rec room or whatever this pack called it, I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and yanked the door open.
When I stepped inside a few people glanced up at me, curious expressions on their faces. The buzz of the room dulled, the crowd parting to leave a good foot of space around me.
It was a large room that had the look of an old-fashioned lodge, all polished wood paneling and dim lighting. Tables were scattered around a makeshift dance floor, where people were gyrating and swaying with abandon to the music being piped through an invisible speaker. A pinball machine tinkled in the far corner and a small crowd was enthusiastically throwing darts at an old board, jeering and cursing their bad luck. Several card games were in play, but from the looks of things the stakes were low, not even worth the bother.
All in all, it was a typical pack bar—hot and sweaty and loud.
I met the eyes of the wolves closest to me and they quickly looked away. I couldn’t blame them; I was pretty sure it wasn’t often they found a stranger in their midst. But noting how quickly they had avoided my eyes, I dialed back my power a couple more notches. It wouldn’t do to reveal who I was too soon.
Scanning the crowd, I easily picked out who was who, zeroing in on a group in the far corner by the bar. Men, all over six foot, all built like brick shit houses. The
lieutenants of the Moonridge pack.
Figuring to get close enough to have a little listen in on their conversation, I cut across the room, taking a meandering path.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the guys tense, his spine stiffening with obvious agitation. He stepped forward and around something, or rather a somebody I hadn’t noticed before.
A woman.
My knees buckled, my feet digging into the floor as flame-red hair filled my view.
No! It was a silent scream, a roar of protest. I staggered to a stop, my heart thundering in my chest. Just because she had red hair, it didn’t mean it was her. There were a lot of women out there with red hair. I should know; I’d turned them all down.
Not that color there isn’t, my wolf whispered inside my mind. Mate…
She’s not, I protested, not knowing exactly what it was that I was protesting. That it wasn’t her? That she wasn’t my mate? Fuck! Nope, there was no way—
The woman turned to the side, revealing her profile. The same profile that had haunted my dreams every night for the last five years. My stomach lurched, panic building.
I took a step forward, my legs dragging me of their own volition, my mind still reeling with the realization that I had found her. I stopped a scant foot away from her. Taking a deep breath, I pulled her scent into my lungs, the familiar pine needles and roses sending my pulse rocketing and my heart thumping.
Words left my mouth. What were they? I didn’t have a fucking clue.
She froze, a tremor running down her spine.
I tracked the shiver down her tight black tank top and over her denim-clad ass. An ass so beautifully flared and rounded that I wanted to fall to my knees and weep in thanks.
She spun around. Green eyes stared at me.
They were exactly how I remembered them, slightly too big, slightly too wide.
Perfect.