I just downed a big glass of water, but my lungs are still burning. My whole chest is on fire.
Every breath is like I’m back at the house, breathing in the flames.
I’ve had lung and throat damage before from getting too close to a fire, but my shifter healing has always made quick work of it. Maybe I’m getting too fucking old for this…
But I don’t feel old. I’m only fifty-four and I can still keep up with any of those guys out there, even Westin and Rylan who are nearly half my age. I’m stronger than the two of them put together.
I clear my throat and cough as my polar bear goes nuts inside me. He’s flipping out and racing around, snarling and growling at me to do something.
I am doing something, I tell him. I’m doing the accounting so shut the fuck up.
I cough and swallow as I turn back to the papers, trying to focus. He bounds forward and I clench my body and tighten my jaw as I struggle to fight him back.
What the fuck has gotten into him all of a sudden? I just took him out yesterday.
He sulks back down after an intense struggle, but I can tell he’s not done trying. He wants out badly.
I can feel his desperate need. The fierce yearning. He wants her.
I just shake my head as I stare at the blurry words on the paper on my desk. There is no her.
Our girl doesn’t exist. She’ll probably never exist.
It’s easier to think that than to think the alternative—that she’s out there in this scary world where anyone can just take her.
My body shudders as I try to force out the horrible thought. It would be impossible to do anything if I knew she was alone out there where any man could talk to her or touch her. That thought makes my skin crawl.
“Stop it,” I whisper to him as he claws out my insides. “We’re not going to find her.”
And just like that, she walks in.
My mouth falls open as recognition hits me like a slap across the face. I know it’s her immediately.
It’s like a switch is flicked on in my soul. It’s like looking in the mirror for the first time and immediately knowing the person looking back at you is not just anyone.
This woman is special. She’s the one.
I drop the pen and slowly move my hands onto my lap as I sit up straight. I don’t know what to do. My body feels so awkward as I stare at her in awe.
I’ve pictured this moment a million times over the years. In some dreams, I run to her and pick her up, in some I kiss her, in some I tell her how much I love her and have yearned for her, but in none of them have I sat and stared with my mouth hanging open like a complete and utter dope.
But for some reason, it’s all I can do.
“Are you the chief?” she asks in a voice that is pure heaven to my ears.
Even my bear is stunned. He hasn’t moved since we spotted her. He went from raging and raving to stoic and still in the blink of an eye.
“Sir,” she says as she stops in the doorway. “Are you the fire chief?”
I quickly look her over as my body tingles. She’s fucking stunning.
Big hips and small breasts covered by a pantsuit. Jacket thrown over her arm. Her brown hair goes just past her chin and it looks so damn soft that it’s making me wince. I could stare at her face for hours. Her round cheeks and pouty lips, her adorable chin and fierce brown eyes. I want to study it all for hours, for days, for years, for decades.
I’m finally able to close my mouth and a tentative smile slowly builds on my face as I realize that I’ll be able to do just that.
I found my mate and I am never going to let her go. She’s mine now. She belongs to me.
My bear regains his composure as well and he starts pacing around anxiously.
Mark her.
Claim her.
Do it!
He’s urging me to complete the mating and make her ours. He’s begging me. He’s screaming at me.
But there’s more to this than a polar bear can understand, so I tell him to shut up instead.
“Helllooooo,” she says as she waves her hand. “Are. You. The. Fire. Chief?”
God, she must think I’m such an idiot. Especially since I can’t wipe this huge grin off my face.
“Yes,” I say as I stand up and offer my hand. “Blake Frost.”
Her soft hand slides into mine and my legs buckle. I release her with a groan and fall back into my chair.
She’s looking at me with a mix of awe and suspicion as she takes a seat in front of my desk. I can tell that she feels something as well.
It may not be as intense as what I’m feeling, but it’s there. I can see it in her gorgeous brown eyes.
“I have some questions for you, Mr. Frost,” she says as she pulls a file out of her bag.
My eyes are focused on her lips as she talks. The glimpses of her white teeth and pink tongue are giving me a fluttery feeling in my stomach.
“Please call me Blake.”
She just ignores me.
“What do you know about these men?” She tosses three pictures onto my desk and it causes me physical pain to pry my eyes off of her to look at them.
The warmth circling through me starts to go cold as I stare at the men who have given my crew a lot of trouble over the past year and a half.
“Who are you?” I ask her with my pulse racing.
“I work for the FBI,” she says as she raises her chin in pride. “My name is Agent Lily Burks.”
“Lily,” I whisper under my breath.
“You can call me Agent Burks,” she says in a firm voice.
I shake my head. This is all wrong. She can’t be in the FBI. It’s much too dangerous and she’s way too precious. A possessive urge to pick her up and lock her away in my bedroom tries to take over.
“What do you know about these men?” she repeats.
I look down at the photos and feign ignorance. “Not sure. Is this guy from that new action movie?” I ask, playing dumb as I pick up Sperling’s photo.
“No,” she says with narrowed eyes. She doesn’t look happy. “But he was last seen flying through the roof of your firehouse in his dragon form.”
My mouth goes dry as a horrible pit forms in the bottom of my stomach. She’s chasing dragons. My mate is going after this dangerous man. This is unacceptable. I can’t have that.
“Does that ring a bell?” she asks as she studies my face closely.
She doesn’t need any of her fancy FBI training. I’m an open book right now. I couldn’t hide my emotions from my mate even if I wanted to.
“You can’t go after Sperling,” I say in a desperate tone.
“Oh, so you do know him?”
I shake my head, desperate for her to see. “He’s dangerous. I can’t allow you to take that kind of risk.”
She’s my mate and my territory now even if she doesn’t realize it.
And she doesn’t realize it.
“I am an Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” she snaps in a wicked tone. “I can go wherever I chose. Do you understand me?”
“You’re more than that,” I say with a wince. “It would kill me if something happened to you.”
Her anger fades as she starts to look at me funny. I’m not making any sense to her.
“I appreciate your concern,” she says as she points back to the photos. “But you can let me worry about my own safety. Which of these three men do you know?”
I swallow hard. I’d give her my life. I can give her a few of the answers that she’s looking for.
“All of them.”
Her big hips wiggle in her chair as she straightens. “How do you know them?”
“From around.”
“From around what?”
I take a deep breath and lean back into my chair.
“I know that Sperling Kirk was here,” she says as she stares into my eyes. “I know there was fighting.” She looks at my arms then my chest and swallows hard. “Are you a dragon shifter as well?”
This is not
something I normally offer up to strangers, but she’s my mate. She’ll know eventually.
“Polar bear.”
“Oh,” she says with her cheeks flushing pink. For the first time, she’s inarticulate and shaken. “That’s a… interesting.”
“How is that interesting?”
“I, uh…” She drops her eyes down to her lap, quickly composes herself, and then turns back to the photos. “When was the last time you saw Sperling Kirk? Do you know his current location?”
If I did, he would be dead. Especially now that I know my mate is trying to put herself in his way.
“Why was Sperling here?” she asks when I don’t answer. “What were you fighting about?”
“Where are you staying?” I ask. I have my own questions I want answered as well.
She looks flustered as her eyes dart down to my chest and then back to my eyes.
“That is irrelevant. Answer my questions please. What were you and Sperling fighting about?”
“I don’t want you to look for this guy anymore?” I tell her in a possessive tone. “If his red tail shows up, I’ll take care of him.”
“What does that mean, you’ll take care of him?”
It means I’ll kill him for you.
“Are you involved in any of Sperling’s business?” she asks when I don’t answer.
We just stare at each other. I’m drowning in awe here. She’s absolutely perfect in every way.
She doesn’t look as impressed.
“I’m with the FBI,” she snaps. “I suggest you start answering my questions.”
“Let’s go for a drink,” I say as I rub my chin and admire her beauty. “Then, I’ll answer every question you have.”
She slams her hands on my desk and stands up so hard that her chair skids across the floor. “I am here on an official capacity for the Bureau. I’m not here for a date!” She’s all flustered and furious as she gathers up the photos and stuffs them back into her bag.
Fuck, she’s hot when she’s pissed.
I’m staring in complete reverence as she yanks her bag off the chair and shoots me a defiant glare. “Are you going to answer any of my questions?” she snaps.
I can’t even speak. It feels like she’s got my heart squeezed in her fist.
“Well, thank you,” she snaps as she shoves the strap of her bag onto her shoulder. “You’ve been no help whatsoever! You haven’t seen the last of me.”
“Thank God,” I mutter as she storms out of my office. I would die if that was the last time I saw her. It was hard enough to live not knowing if my mate was out there, but now that I know, it would be pure hell to be alive when she’s not by my side.
Her delicious scent is still wafting around my office, driving me and my bear crazy. She’s my girl and I’m not about to let her just go, but she’s a feisty one as well and will probably pull a gun on me if I try to take her.
So for now, I do the only thing I can…
I follow her.
Chapter Four
Lily
I’m still pacing around my hotel room in a tizzy even an hour later. That guy had some nerve.
Sometimes it can be hard being a female agent with the Bureau. You don’t always get the same kind of respect that the men do. Like this arrogant asshole. He asked me out!
My heart is still thumping away, but as much as I tell myself that it’s from anger, I’m not sure that it is.
There was definitely an attraction there. An intense pull.
The way he was staring at me with that territorial gaze is still getting me all worked up from just thinking about it.
This is so not like me. I’ve been asked out before while on the job, but it never got to me like this did. I was so flustered. So emotional.
Normally, I’d respond to a proposition in an ice-cold manner. I usually show no emotion at all. My co-workers call me Agent Android because I don’t ever let my emotions show while on a job.
I open the minibar and pull out a little bottle of Vodka. I down half of it with a wince, but that just increases my arousal. The heat is flowing through me and settling between my legs whenever I think back to Blake’s muscular arms and his sexy broad shoulders. He really was gorgeous.
If I wasn’t on the job, I just might have said yes to that drink.
A part of me wants to go to the pub in town and hope that he shows up, but I know that’s not going to happen. The professional part of me always wins out in the end.
I drop down on the bed and stare at the ceiling as I wonder what it would be like to see him change into his polar bear.
He’s not into you. He has a mate for Christ’s sake.
My heart sinks when I realize that. Shifters mate for life with one girl and unfortunately that girl is not me.
So, he wasn’t asking me out? Did I misread the whole situation? Should I have gone for that drink to get some more information out of him?
I rub my eyes with my palms as I breathe out long and hard. Why am I so shaken by this guy?
With my head spinning, I sip on the rest of the vodka and turn on the TV. Some reality show is playing where the contestants are getting slime shot into their faces and it’s stupid, but I can’t help but laugh.
I’m half asleep when my phone rings. I jump up and spill the rest of the vodka on the bed as I check who’s calling.
Shit. It’s my boss.
“Hello,” I say after clearing my throat.
“Look alive, Burks,” he barks on the other end of the line. “We just got a tip through the network.”
I perk up on the bed, breathless with my pulse racing.
“I’m listening.”
“Blackcloud Pub,” he says. “A credit card assigned to Sperling Kirk was used seven minutes ago.”
“On it!” I toss the phone down, grab my coat, and sprint out of the hotel room and onto the street.
The pub is close enough that I’ll get there faster by running so that’s what I do. I’m sloshing and slipping on the snowy sidewalk, but I don’t dare slow down. If he used his credit card, it could mean he’s closing his tab and on his way out. I got to move fast.
My body is urging me to go the other way. It’s not fear. It’s something else… pulling me to go in the opposite direction.
I just ignore it and keep running.
When the pub comes into view a few yards away, I see him walking out.
Sperling Kirk.
I’ve seen his picture enough times to recognize him immediately. He’s tall, slim, and what most women would call handsome, but not me. I know him too well to be attracted to that monster.
I pull my gun from my hip and race across the street.
“Kirk!” I shout as I point the gun at his back. “Don’t fucking move!”
He freezes and then slowly turns around. His bright jade green eyes send cold shivers racing through my body as they bore into me.
“FBI! Put your hands up!”
I’m trying really hard not to let my hands tremble, but they’re shaking a bit. I tell myself it’s from the cold, but my pounding heart thinks otherwise.
He doesn’t move. He just stares at me with a smirk on his face. The fucker is amused by all of this.
“Put your fucking hands up, Sperling,” I warn.
“And then what?” he asks in a light voice. “You’re going to put handcuffs on a man who can rip a car in half with his bare hands?”
“Would you prefer that I put a bullet through your fucking forehead?” I shout.
“You haven’t done your homework, agent,” he says with his chin in the air. “I’m bulletproof.”
“Then I better aim for your eye,” I say as I lift the gun an inch. “Let’s see if they can stop bullets too. Want to find out?”
We stare at each other for a long heated moment and then he puts his hands up with a sigh.
“Now turn around. Slowly! And put your hands behind your back.”
My finger is hovering over the trigger as he does what I say.
<
br /> When his back is to me and his hands are behind him, I slowly move up to him and pull out my handcuffs.
I lock one around his left wrist and then the other around his right.
“Keep your hands behind your back,” I say as I step back and point the barrel of the gun at the back of his head. “Don’t move.”
I know that my boss has already dispatched some backup my way. I just have to hold him here until they arrive, whenever that may be.
“What’s the end game here?” he asks as he looks at me over his shoulder with an amused grin on his face. “You going to put me in jail where I can break through the ceiling and fly away whenever I please? I’m a dragon shifter. Your human laws don’t apply to me. I can do whatever I want.”
“Don’t move,” I shout back. “Keep your eyes on the pavement.”
“I’m a dragon,” he says as he rips his arms apart, breaking the metal chain of the handcuffs as easily as if they were made of cooked spaghetti. “I don’t listen to sheep.”
He turns around and I shrink back as he starts walking toward me. I fire the gun twice before he slaps it out of my hands and it disappears into the snow.
The bullets must have hit him, but I don’t see any blood. He must really be bulletproof.
His hand darts forward and his iron fingers wrap around my throat. I try to scream, but nothing comes out. No air or sound is going up or down my throat.
His grip is so tight. He’s so fucking strong.
My feet lift off the ground as pain sears through my neck.
I claw at his flexed forearm, but it’s like trying to claw through stone.
Just as hints of blackness start to take over my vision, something huge and white crashes into him. His fingers release me and I fall to the ground with a whimper.
Savage roaring thunders down the street as I shake the fog out of my head and focus my eyes. An enormous polar bear is on top of him, viciously attacking him with his deadly paws and giant teeth.
He caught Sperling off guard, but when the dragon shifter gets to his feet, he punches the polar bear in the ribs hard, sending a whimper flying out of him. He then grabs the stunned bear by the scruff of his neck and swings him around. The white bear slams right through the wall of the pub and disappears inside.
Pulled to the Alpha: Alphas in Heat Book Five Page 2