by Silver James
Her throat clogged and her chest was so tight, Lauren didn’t know how her heart could still be beating. Tait. It had to be Tait finally coming to get her. Only it wasn’t. An older woman, with cropped blonde hair, strode in like she owned the place. Hank jerked to attention and even Sadie peeked out from the kitchen.
The blonde’s gaze traveled between the three of them before settling on Lauren. “Treece says hi, and that you need spy lessons because you totally suck.”
Lauren blinked away confusion as she put the pieces together. This was the infamous Major Hannah Jackson. Err, McIntire. And no longer an army officer. The woman strode forward and extended a hand to her, though the woman’s gaze remained on Hank. “Hannah McIntire.”
Hannah recognized the second woman in the room. Sadie McClain. She’d starred in some big-budget action films that Liam was crazy about. Maybe she’d get the kid an autograph. She turned her attention to Lauren Reilly. She was a little mouse, but Hannah sensed a fierce loyalty as the younger woman raised her chin and took Hannah’s outstretched hand.
“Nice to finally meet you, Lauren.”
“What are you doing here, Major—”
“Hannah. Just Hannah now. I hitched a ride with the cavalry. I figured we could have some quality girl time while the men are out there thumping their chests and blowing shit up.”
Sadie’s laughter burbled out. “Sounds like you’re an expert. I’m Sadie and that’s my husband, Hank.”
“I’ve been running herd on a pack of SpecOps macho men for years. And while we’ve never met, I recognize you, Sadie.” She offered the other woman a smile. “Glad Mac and Tait sent your man home in one piece.”
“He’s not very happy about that,” Sadie teased. “He was a SEAL, same as Tait. He wants to know why Tait got to stay and he didn’t.” She flashed a cheeky grin toward her husband as he glowered at her.
There was no way Hannah would explain why Hank and his buddy Kujo had been ordered to transport and ostensibly protect Lauren. Currently, she was more interested in the woman Tait wanted. She’d been around for a lot of mate claimings since her own. She feared Lauren might not stick around. Sadie continued to watch Hannah, pulling her attention back to the actress. Hannah raised one brow in a “bring it” challenge.
“I’m guessing, since you’re married to the hulking dude with the scary command presence, you know what this is all about.” Sadie crossed her arms, her expression stubborn. “And don’t give me any of that top-secret clearance BS. No—” She made air quotes. “If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.”
Hannah’s expression didn’t change, and a shiver skittered up Lauren’s back. For a woman who started life as a paper pusher in the Pentagon’s Inspector General’s office, the legends swarming around Hannah Jackson McIntire had some basis in fact.
Turning her attention to Hank, her expression neutral, Hannah offered a sanitized version of the story. “Black Root is a privately held corporation with its tentacles in all sorts of sushi pie. At one point, they had a government contract for some fu…” She had to bite her tongue. She’d promised Mac to watch her mouth. “They had an effing clandestine lab where they were doing so-called research. On humans.” Sort of. As far as the general public knew, Wolves didn’t exist. Neither did a handful of SEALs who’d been surgically and genetically altered with gills. She let the gasps from the women and a muffled curse from Hank wash over her. “A group of…white hats have been pursuing the remnants of this group for years.”
Lauren jerked her head up and stared at Hannah. “That terrorist raid in Virginia. That…that…” She shuddered.
Hannah nodded. “Yeah, that.” She didn’t elaborate about the raid meant to wipe out Mac’s merry band of Wolves or the retaliation the Wolves took on the cabinet level assholes responsible. “That’s who is after you, Lauren.”
Slumping back against the couch, Lauren’s brain went into overdrive. She didn’t have an eidetic memory or anything, though the images from the files she’d scanned remained on the edge of her dreams. And she’d never claimed a photographic memory, though she was pretty good at pinpointing where in a file a certain page could be found. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers. Why her? “I was never supposed to see those files, was I?” she mumbled. Raising her head, she exhaled and stared at Hannah. “No one was. They should have been destroyed, not scanned.”
“Yeah.”
“Is there any place I can run and hide?”
“We’re working on that.”
“Who’s we?” Hank interjected. He’d walked away from the biker compound in Butte, still angry at what they’d done to a helpless woman but since then, he’d had time to think, time to worry. What had happened after he and Kujo left?
Hannah bit back a curse. The guy was a SEAL after all. “Need to know, Mr. Patterson, and you don’t need to know. It’s being handled.” She gave him her best stare-down—the one that was part no-nonsense Army officer and part exasperated mother of a teenage Wolf shifter. Hank blinked first but he didn’t look away. Fine. She lived with an Alpha Wolf. An alpha human was easier. “You were never in that compound and I can guarantee that there will be no blowback. In fact, there will be no record of tonight events. Anywhere.”
Scrubbing at his forehead, Hank looked away, but his gaze returned to the indomitable woman. “If there was any collateral damage—”
“There wasn’t.” Hannah cut him off. “My word on that.” She held his gaze for several heartbeats, recognizing the moment he capitulated. She focused on Lauren. “You may have to change your name, and maybe your looks, at least for a time.” Lauren flushed under Hannah’s intense perusal. “Do you have any ID photos with your glasses on?”
“My glasses!” In all the furor, Lauren had forgotten about them. She looked around like she’d just taken them off. She turned a stricken face to Hannah. “No. And I always took them off for social pictures as well. I need them for computer work and reading but all my glasses are trifocals because I can’t read a dashboard when I’m driving without them.”
“I’ll pass that info along.” If what Mac said, she doubted they could separate Lauren from Tait. Hannah was pretty sure he hadn’t shared secrets yet even if his wolf had claimed the young woman. She recognized the signs.
Time passed slowly. Coffee. Sandwiches. Stilted conversation. Hank extricated himself and headed outside as more of his men arrived. Sadie retreated to the kitchen supposedly to start a fresh pot of coffee. Sadie didn’t return and Lauren eventually dropped off into an exhausted sleep. With a furtive twist of her wrist, Hannah checked her watch. She wasn’t nervous. Much. She had complete faith in Mac and the guys. Even if she didn’t totally trust the Nightriders who’d joined their merry band of Wolf raiders, she knew they had as big a grudge against Black Root as any of the Wolves. She peered through the window, watching Hank and his Brotherhood Protector operatives who’d gathered in the front yard of his Montana ranch, wondering what they were discussing. Not for the first time, she wished for the enhanced senses the Wolves had.
Wide open spaces stretched toward the horizon. This place reminded her of growing up in Colorado—a place she’d fled from for the crowded streets of Washington DC. And now she lived in a tiny West Virginia mountain town. Life. So damn full of surprises.
“How much longer?” Lauren’s question whispered behind her. Hannah glanced over her shoulder, not too surprised the woman had awakened. She felt it too, that crackle in the air, a quickening in the soul that meant her mate was near.
“About damn time,” Hannah muttered. “The wait’s over,” she said louder. “They’re here.”
Chapter 17
A small contingent of Brotherhood Protectors waited in a loose semi-circle as Tait, Mac, and his Wolves pulled up in front of the ranch house. The Nightriders had accompanied them as far as the turnoff on the main road and were now headed back to their compound in Helena. They weren’t headed there to lick their wounds. All the death and destructio
n had rained down on the Hell Dogs and Black Roots’ operatives. The Wolves sustained only minor cuts and bruises, most of which were already healing.
Tait watched the men who worked for Hank stiffen as Mac climbed out of the black SUV. In his prime, there was no disguising the alpha vibes rolling off the man. Not only was he an Alpha Wolf, he’d left the Army as a command sergeant major. The Brotherhood Protectors had all seen service and they recognized that Mac was a leader in every cell of his body. Unaware of their natural instincts, they’d come to attention in Mac’s presence.
His wolf didn’t like their human half’’s reluctance to get out of the SUV and go to their mate. He’d smelled blood on her, knew she was weakened by injury and surrounded by strangers. Nope, his wolf didn’t like that at all and was gnawing through his gut to get out and go to her. Which was why Tait currently dragged his feet. He had to tell Lauren what he was. Would she accept that he was something other, something more than human?
Looking toward the house, Tait saw the first woman step out of the door before Mac did. He didn’t recognize her but a nanosecond later, Mac’s head snapped around and his gaze lasered in on the shapely blonde. Hands on hips, feet spread, she all but dared Mac to take her on. Tait instinctively recognized the legendary Hannah McIntire, Mac’s mate. The woman was formidable and every bit as Alpha as her husband. Tait climbed out of the passenger seat and moved around the front of the SUV. When Hannah’s gaze landed on him, he stood his ground. Barely. Then her expression softened. She knew, he realized, and she was worried. Not good.
“’Bout time you got here, big man,” Hannah called. She didn’t have to raise her voice to be heard. Tait decided she would have made a good drill instructor.
Lauren dashed out a moment later and skidded to a stop, teetering for a moment until Hannah steadied her. “Tait!” she called. And then she was off the porch and flying at him. He met her halfway, catching her in his arms as she leaped on him. “You’re okay? You’re not hurt?”
Her hands cupped his face as she peered at him closely, then they moved to his shoulders and chest. She patted and rubbed, alternately plucking and smoothing his shirt. He inhaled deeply. Hot blueberry muffins. Lauren. Home. Mate. Disinfectant. Antibiotic cream. She’d been tended to. He leaned back to look into her eyes. They swam with tears but were clear and focused.
“I’m sorry, city mouse,” he whispered against her lips as he kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs squeezed his sides, ankles hooked at the small of his back. Aware that everyone was staring, he stepped toward the back of the big SUV, putting the vehicle’s bulk between them and the others. One part of his brain remained on alert, clocking where each person stood. The rest of him was lost in the scent and feel and sight of his mate.
“I’m not a mouse,” she complained, breaking their kiss.
Tait relaxed. She would be okay. Maybe. At least from the physical and emotional toll from her kidnapping. He still had to tell her—and show her—his true nature. His gaze collided with those of Mac and his men, and Hannah. Their mates had accepted them. He just had to trust that his would as well.
“Do you have a vehicle here, Tait?” Hannah fished in her pocket for a set of keys when Tait shook his head. His Jeep was at the Nightriders’ compound. She tossed the keys of a rental car to him. “You and Lauren have some talking to do. Better if you do it on your home turf. Mac and I’ll come out later to pick up the rental.”
And that was that. No more stalling. Time to take Lauren home. Time to tell her the truth. And probably time to watch her turn her back on him and run.
****
The drive from the main road to his house was bumpy and took all his concentration. The rental sedan was not made for unpaved and rutted roads. Tait glanced at his passenger, but she stared doggedly out the side window. Conversation had been nonexistent on the drive. He needed to open his mouth and talk to her. Tell her. His wolf just wanted to pounce on her, drag her to their bed, and fuck her. She was theirs. The man wanted to do the same but what little honor left in him declared he couldn’t touch her until she knew the truth. The stench of rotten eggs wafted around him—the scent of his own guilt.
When he parked next to the house, he discovered why she’d been searching out the window. “I was hoping,” she murmured, “that Chewy would meet us on the road.”
He turned to face her, and Lauren’s eyes were stricken. “Sadie said he’d been taken to the vet’s but…” She swiped the back of her hand under her nose. “I was hoping.”
Tait turned off the car and swiveled to face her. “Chewy’s tough,” he began but sucked in a breath when she looked at him. Her grief was carved on her face. “He’s half wolf, sweetheart. It takes a lot to take out a wolf.” Unless his mate was about to cry and he didn’t have the right to touch her, much less comfort her.
Lauren blinked hard and as the tears in her eyes cleared, she allowed herself a moment to really look at Tait—not that looking at him was a burden. He looked…spooked. Uneasy. Lines fanned out from the corners of his green eyes and his mouth was drawn into a tight line mirroring the taut clench of his jaw. He was cloaked in weariness as well as wariness. The former made sense, considering what had happened in the past few hours. The latter? That she didn’t understand, unless he thought she had something to do with her own kidnapping. Still, his rugged handsomeness would take her breath away if she focused too closely on him.
She needed a clear head because something was going on. Lauren didn’t understand why Tait had ignored her since leaving Sadie and Hank’s ranch. And wasn’t that just the craziest thing? She’d spent a couple of hours with Sadie McClain. THE Sadie McClain. Who was Sadie Patterson now but still! Lauren had joked with a co-worker once that she wanted to be Sadie McClain when she grew up. Ha. If she’d known then what she knew now. Twenty-twenty hindsight and all that.
“I’m sorry.” She didn’t know what else to say.
“For what?” Tait looked truly puzzled.
“For everything. For dragging you into my mess. For getting Chewy hurt. For…” She waved her hands around. “Everything.”
Tait moved so fast she didn’t have time to breathe much less say something. She somehow was crammed into his lap with his face buried in her hair, his arms clutching her to his chest.
“Thought I’d lost you.” The admission ground out between his clenched teeth.
Lauren wasn’t quite sure how to interpret that. He’d been tasked with guarding her and she’d been taken on his watch. Working in the pentagon, she knew all about duty and Type A personalities who took that responsibility to heart. But he’d left her with another guard. And things had happened. Things no one could predict and he came after her and rescued her and— She couldn’t breathe for a minute, remembering the words he’d said as he placed her in Hank’s arms. “I love you, darlin’. Hank and Kujo will keep you safe until I’m done.”
His thumb brushed across her cheek and Lauren realized she was crying. “Don’t.” Tait was pretty damn sure he would break inside if she didn’t stop crying. “I’m the one who’s sorry. This was my fault. All my fault.”
“No.” She hoped he heard her. At the moment, her face was pressed into his T-shirt as she wiped her cheeks against him. “Nobody’s fault. And I’m okay. Just…adrenaline crash. That’s all.”
Lauren clung to him and in a dizzying feat of contortionism, Tait extracted them from the sedan. Carrying her princess style, he strode to the house and kicked the door with a booted foot. She glanced down as it creaked open and her stomach lurched at the splotch of rusty red staining the boards of the porch. Tait headed to the couch and set her down. He fussed over her for a moment, grabbing a soft throw from a nearby chair and tucking it around her. The glasses that had been knocked off when she was kidnapped sat on the coffee table. He handed them to her before going to close the door and lock it. Then he busied himself in the kitchen. She huddled under the afghan and tried not to shiver as another adrenaline crash hit.
“We need to talk.”
Her head jerked up and coffee sloshed out. Using the blanket, he wiped her hand and set the cup aside before retreating to stand on the opposite side of the coffee table.
“Talk?”
He hated the quiver in her voice and her blue eyes looked huge in her pale face, framed as they were by her glasses. “Yes. We should have had this conversation before I ever kissed you, before I…” He bit off the word “fuck” before it escaped. He hadn’t fucked her. He’d made love to her. Before Lauren, he hadn’t known the difference.
“Just say it,” Lauren whispered. The expression on Tait’s face was scaring her. Now that Mac and Hannah and the others were here, Tait’s duty was done. He could get rid of her. Which he was getting ready to do. She just knew it, despite what he’d said during the rescue.
“There are things you need to know, Lauren.” His head bent forward and he massaged the back of his neck.
A thought arrowed into her heart and she was horrified. “Are you married?” Her voice squeaked.
Tait almost laughed. Him being married would be easier to explain. “No. Never have been.”
Lauren sucked in air and released it in a rush of relief. “Okay. Then whatever you have to say can’t be that bad.”
He did laugh then, but the sound came out dry and brittle. “If that’s the worst you can imagine, I’m in trouble.”
She pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose and blinked at him. “Just say it.”