by V. A. Dold
*****
The yard was filling with shifters and humans visiting as they stood or sat at the beautifully decorated tables covered in linen. Males and their mates, most of whom she knew, circulated with cocktails in hand. This gathering had all the earmarks of the event of the season.
The only way to avoid her mother was to locate her first, so she scanned the area. That’s when her gaze zeroed in on him. Julia stared in disbelief; it was like he had stepped off the pages of the novel she was reading. Her heart pounded so loudly; undoubtedly, anyone standing within ten feet could hear it. Attempting to swallow was more than difficult with a throat as dry as the Arizona desert. Even her lips were dry, which was crazy since she wore lip gloss. How was that possible in the humidity of the bayou? No man had ever had this effect on her before.
Her smile widened as she realized who he was. Thomas, Anna’s son, the one Stefan mentioned at The Backwater. He had said Thomas was in charge of security for the royal family. This man must be him.
Her mother caught sight of her watching someone intently. She turned to see who’d managed to catch her daughter’s interest and scowled. “He’s human and far below your station as a lady in the royal family. Stay away from him.”
Julia stepped away from Lucinda, unwilling to respond, and at the same time afraid of what her mother might do. Moving through the crowd nonchalantly, she made her way toward the new chief of security. It would be not only embarrassing but downright disastrous if her mother got wind of how deeply her interest went.
As she drew closer, his lean, hard body became more than evident. Goddess bless heightened wolf sight. The crisply ironed dress shirt and pleated slacks didn’t have a chance in hell of disguising his well-developed, tanned chest and narrow waist. Clenching her hands, she controlled the urge to sprint to him and rip his shirt open, dying to know if his abs were as amazing as his chest appeared to be.
Upon closer inspection, his skin wasn’t overly suntanned like some young humans tended toward, but more of a lovely tawny gold. Julia licked her lower lip as she spied the light dusting of dark hair hiding under his shirt. Biting her lip, she clenched her hands even tighter. Stupid hands. Stupid, stupid, hands.
Glancing at the parked cars, Thomas watched as yet another family emerged from an SUV. Cade immediately greeted the alpha and welcomed them. No threat there. Stefan joined Cade as Sam, a longtime friend of the family and foreman on the construction site for both Thomas and John’s homes, arrived. His brow furrowed. Odd, something felt off about Sam.
“I need an update from each of you.”
One by one, the men checked in with an “all clear.”
Thomas had personally organized the handpicked security squad, each member equipped with an earpiece for coordinating the safety of the royal family. Someone was engineering accidents, and this huge gathering, out in the open, was a logistical nightmare. First, Stefan’s mate, El, had her truck tampered with, so it would break down and expose her to an attack. Then his personal house was sabotaged while being built. An entire brick wall was rigged to fall on any person who stood below it. When it triggered, the impact of the cement blocks almost killed Stefan.
He tried to talk Isaac into canceling the gathering, or at the very least moving the location, but Isaac insisted it be here in their seat of power.
For about the millionth time, he rubbed his burning stomach; his grandfather was giving him a damn ulcer. Sighing, he resigned himself to do the best he could with the situation he was stuck with.
Privately, Thomas grinned to himself. Isaac didn’t know it, but he brought in a few of Simon’s military buddies with sniper training and had them laying low in strategic positions around the party. Until recently, Simon had been unaware a few of his fellow servicemen were also shifters. For Thomas that new information came in rather handy.
A chuckle rumbled in his chest when Isaac gave him a small salute. His grandfather appreciated his ability to size up anyone; human or supernatural, made no difference. Little got past him and his gift, which was exactly why he’d been chosen to lead the security team.
Thomas returned to watching the party. It was dangerous to expose the king and queen to a multitude of possible attackers, no matter the location. And with a known threat existing against the royal family, the danger multiplied exponentially. The last thing he needed was a distraction, especially a female distraction, regardless of how beautiful and interesting she was.
Thomas had a well–earned reputation for sensing a threat. Whenever someone with criminal intentions was within a two–block radius of him, a frisson of awareness would make the back of his neck tingle and itch. It made it extremely uncomfortable to live in a city of any size. Even a nasty fight between spouses could set his gift off, but he was getting better at blocking the lower level threats. This useful but sometimes annoying gift was just one of many reasons why he had moved from Denver, Colorado to the bayou.
Thomas pulsed the crowd again. Over the years he had honed his gift or was it a curse, he wasn’t sure which, into a precision tool. With a little concentration, he could pinpoint the location of a person emitting a threat with unbelievable accuracy.
Rubbing his palm along the back of his neck, he attempted to ease the itch. There was a low–level threat within the crowd, but with the constant flow of bodies, and the almost imperceptible vibration, he couldn’t target the source. The distraction of the fascinating woman wasn’t helping either.
When he had described his strange ability to his grandfather, Isaac suggested perhaps he was sending out the equivalent of sonar waves once he sensed the threat thus allowing him to pinpoint it. An interesting concept, and one he’d explore further. But right now, hundreds of possible assassins milled around the estate.
Out of frustration, he tested the crowd again to see if the cause of his unease would present itself.
His personal distraction instantly raised her head and locked eyes with him.
Huh. That’s interesting.
No one else noticed the low pulse of energy he emitted, except her. He knew she felt it by her expression.
She held him spellbound with her gaze for a long minute. Startled the breath rushed from his chest. She hadn’t touched him, heck, she was a good fifty yards away, for God’s sake, but he felt her palm on his cheek. With his lungs now completely devoid of air and chest constricted, he struggled to get another breath, the lack of oxygen making him lightheaded. His knees wobbled, and his lungs burned, reminding him to breathe. Worse yet, all the blood had rushed from his brain to lower regions. That was not helping him remain standing, not in the least.
He didn’t dare look away in case the sensation of her hand stopped. Or continued. He was uncertain which he wanted. This reaction was completely unexpected and absolutely against his character. With his heart racing, he remained frozen beneath her invisible touch. The Strange thing was, he had no idea what he was waiting for.
Thomas puzzled out the situation. She wasn’t a threat, at least not to his family. The worst she could do would be to rat him out about his gift. He felt like she’d bewitched him. And honestly, it annoyed him that she intrigued his curiosity and piqued his interest. He had no desire to have any woman peaking anything. Frowning in thought, he’d never met anyone who could feel the pulse when he emitted it. But now was not the time to examine that odd, new development.
He watched the golden-haired beauty continue to wade through the crowd. Try as he might, he couldn’t take his eyes from her. Torn between wanting to drag her away from the crowd and running in the opposite direction. Absently he cupped his jaw. He still felt her touch there, branded to his skin, and he had no idea how she’d managed it.
Shaking his head to clear it, he got back to work. There was no room in his life for women. After watching his parents’ relationship, he realized that was not for him. Ever.
Using signals he’d taught his security team, he put them on alert. A hidden threat was the most dangerous. He couldn’t position his team to strike if he
didn’t have a target. They were blind, sitting ducks, forced to wait for the assassin to make his or her move. Massaging the nape of his neck, he was once again relieved he assigned Cade, Simon, Lucas, and Marcus to remain within a five–foot radius of Isaac and Emma at all times. Let an assassin try to get past that wall of men.
The woman seemed to be making systematic passes through the crowd greeting each person as she went. With every step, she moved closer to where he stood–and increased the tightness of his slacks. He thrust his hand through the thick, damp curls lying against the moist skin of his neck. What was it about this woman that was causing such a strong reaction? He met beautiful women all the time without this level of awareness and distraction.
After growing up with his abusive father, he had no interest in relationships. Sure, he needed to scratch the itch like any red-blooded American male, but never more than once with the same woman. Second dates led to expectations.
One look into that woman’s dark, velvety brown eyes sent his pulse tripping. A man could get trapped in those eyes, like Alice down the rabbit hole, and never find his way out. With that thought, he wanted to run for cover.
As he was considering his escape route, his senses went on full alert. A small group of partiers had wandered where they didn’t belong, behind the house. Thomas sent two men to herd them back into the party perimeter. He needed everyone where he could see them at all times.
Relentlessly scanning the crowd, another tingle shot up his neck. Every nerve went on high alert. His frustration mounted–it was still too faint, yet he found himself more certain than ever that something was off, and there was a traitor lurking in the crowd right under their noses.
“Everyone on high alert,” Thomas said into their earpieces. “A threat is moving in the crowd but I haven’t pinpointed it yet.”
The threat remained hidden, within the party, as the wait staff began to serve dinner. Perhaps with the people sitting stationary, he would be able to locate the person responsible for his discomfort.
According to the schedule, Isaac was due to give a speech from the deck. At least he had been able to convince his grandfather to wear a bulletproof vest.
“What’s the situation?” Isaac asked as he joined Thomas to take the microphone.
“Someone has been moving through the crowd. I haven’t located him yet.”
“All right, watch my back and I will try to make this short.”
Thomas stepped back as Isaac called for everyone’s attention.
“Welcome to the first annual shifter gathering. The reason for this celebration is twofold. First, I am announcing I am formally retaking the throne.”
The crowd rose to their feet in a thunderous standing ovation.
“Thank you,” Isaac said, waited for his guests to be seated once again. “Secondly, the elders requested I reinstate the annual gathering. Many of you younger people won’t remember the old days when this was a regular occurrence. Due to the recent events of my sons finding their mates among human friends and family of existing shifters, I modified the guest list. I included all siblings and appropriate friends of our shifter community in hopes some of you will meet your mate tonight.”
Another cheer rang through the crowd.
“I’m very excited to announce two of our men have already met their other half tonight. Please stand with your newly-found mates so we can toast you.”
The entire party raised their glasses to the lucky couples.
“I sincerely hope more of you will meet your mate before the night is over. Please, enjoy your meal and the dance to follow. And thank you again for coming.”
Isaac winked at him and took his seat.
Thomas frowned. What is Grandpa up to?
Thomas’s tension was running high. Dinner had been cleared several minutes ago, and still no incident.
As the band prepared to play, he saw El walk onto the stage and take the microphone from the lead singer.
Quickly he adjusted the security team to cover her exposed position. They were definitely having a talk about safety after this party.
“Stefan Le Beau.”
The crowd went silent waiting to see what was about to happen.
“I will give myself body and soul to complete you as a man and his wolf. I will unite my life with yours, bond my future to yours, and merge my half of our soul with yours. I will complete the mating ritual with you.”
Stefan rushed the stage and snatched El off, laughing like a teenager in love.
Thomas breathed a little easier; at least she was no longer an open target.
*****
While the crowd had their attention on Stefan, the attacker made his move. Stealthy as a cat, he wove through the crowd until he was a mere six feet from the king. The assassin’s boss instructed him to make it very public. It didn’t get more public than this.
He’d hidden a razor sharp stiletto up his sleeve, so the moment he was close enough, he could drop it into his palm.
Casually, he spoke to the next person, greeting each as he stepped closer and closer. There was only Simon between him and his target.
Isaac’s voice came through Thomas’s earpiece. “Thomas, I smell him. His blood thirst is swamping me. Do you have him? I don’t want to tear another shifter to shreds my first day as king.”
Alarms clamored in Thomas’s head, and the hair on the back of his neck was standing on end. He sent a single pulse. Instantly, his gaze shot to the perpetrator. “I have him, Grandpa. Don’t move. Target located. The Man in the blue shirt, standing directly behind Simon, facing the king. Sniper, do you have the shot?”
“I have the shot.”
“Take it.”
A single shot rang out. Thomas watched the guests scramble as some of the crowd screamed while others dove for cover. All of the brothers converged on their parents.
“What?” Sam yelled as he tried to stop the bleeding. “Can’t fight your own battles, old man?”
“I could easily allow you to shift and humiliate you if you so desire,” Isaac responded calmly.
“You’re just afraid to fight me and lose in front of an audience.”
Isaac glanced at the faces nearest him. Skepticism permeated their regard. He sighed. “Fine. If you insist on further public shame…” Seconds later Isaac’s massive black wolf stood in his place.
A struggle raged beyond the wall of bodies Thomas pushed through. He needed to be able to see the king and queen if he was going to keep them safe, but the crowd was too thick. He heard two wolves snarling savagely but couldn’t see the fight. Finally, he squeezed through a hole in the circle to see one wolf limping on three legs, dragging the fourth behind, stupidly still ready to battle to the death. The other simply waited.
The instant Sam made his move, Isaac bore down on him, attacking and counterattacking over and over.
For a moment, black and white blurred. Then one pain–filled yelp rose above the din and silence fell as Sam’s white wolf submitted.
Cade took control of Sam’s wolf, allowing Isaac to shift back and force Sam to do the same.
With a nod from Thomas, Simon knelt next to the traitor, zip ties in hand, Cade still gripping the scruff of his neck like a dog.
El’s gasp had Thomas turning her direction. She glanced wide–eyed at Stefan, then at the man again. Slowly she pointed at Sam. “It’s Joe. It was Joe the entire time.”
“His name is Sam. Is this the man who attacked you?”
“Yes, but he told me his name was Joe.”
“His real name,” Stefan said, lifting Sam enough to smash a fist into his face, “is Sam.” Stefan snarled, drew back his fist and drilled Sam in the stomach before Cade and Lucas restrained him.
Thomas directed the men to take Sam into custody.
“Good thinking, ordering a debilitating shot versus a kill shot, Thomas,” Simon said, and then he glared at Stefan. “You can’t question a dead man.”
“I didn’t kill him. Yet, anyway.” Stefan snarled.
“You think this is over?” Sam spat blood on Isaac’s shoe as he scanned the crowd. “We’ve only just begun. I wouldn’t get too comfortable on that throne.”
Thomas scowled at his behavior. He acted like he was looking for someone in particular.
“Get that trash out of here before I finish the job and rip him to shreds,” Isaac whispered to Cade.
Cade and Simon held Sam and looked to Thomas for direction.
“Take him to a holding cell.”
With a single nod, the men hauled Sam away from the party. He would be turned over to the interrogators for questioning. Every geographic area of the world had hand– selected and trained interrogators. The last thing a shifter who had committed a serious crime wanted was to be turned over to them. Talking wasn’t an option.
Emma hugged Thomas tightly. “Thank you, baby.”
“You’re welcome, Grandma. Just doing my job. Speaking of which, I need to get back in position.”
“Before you go, I have someone I want you to meet.”
Thomas heaved a sigh. What was she up to?
“Julia?” Emma called over his shoulder to someone behind him. “Come over here, cher. I want you to meet Thomas.”
As he turned to politely greet Julia, he came face to face with the woman he had stared at in the crowd.
Ah, hell.
“Ma’am.” Thomas nodded his greeting. Julia...what, a beautiful name, and it fit her perfectly. He had an insane desire to whisper it over and over as he licked and nibbled her neck.
What the hell! Where are these crazy urges coming from?
She offered him a small, shy smile, her gaze flicking to his nervously. The moment their eyes met, he felt the impact like a punch to his stomach. When her hand accidentally brushed his, he stopped breathing altogether.
“It’s nice to meet you, Thomas.”
Her voice sang like an electric current through his veins. No one had ever had this effect on him before.
What’s wrong with me?
Normally he was the poster boy for common sense. But he swore as he stood staring at the most beautiful woman he’d ever met, common sense waved bye–bye wearing a shit–eating grin.