Taze (Rise of the Pride, Book 11)

by Theresa Hissong

  She kept to herself, mostly, because seeing Taze everyday was getting harder. His scent stayed in her senses, and she could recall it anytime she pleased.

  But she refused.

  She made it to the office and leaned her head back, closing her eyes for a moment. It was important she keep the same level of business sense as she’d done before finding out one of the lawyers at the firm was working with one of the largest drug dealers in the world.

  She stepped out of her car and made her way into the building. The door chimed as she entered the offices, flipping the light on in the waiting area. Spending some time wiping down the tables and straightening the magazines, she thought about the war the Guardians and Protectors were fighting out on the streets.

  Evie, Hope, and Jade were taking what they’d learned and putting it to good use. Calla did miss the females, and she wished things were different, but she truly believed she would be doing good for her species if she stayed on her current path.

  The shifters were going to require representation at some point, and they needed laws to be changed in their favor. Rogues were being reformed, but they were worried when the public found out about their existence, they’d want them prosecuted for their crimes no matter if they’d been brainwashed. Humans wouldn’t understand the magic an alpha had over their people.

  Thankfully, the alpha in Colorado had given the rogues his blood, and the Gadaí alpha’s control over them would vanish. She shivered at the thought of what could happen if the captured ones could still call out to their alpha.

  The day began, and she made sure there was no evidence of her trip to the office so early in the morning to get copies of the files. She may be a great tracker, but Storm had taught her a few things about computers, too. Erasing the footage was easy since the cameras in the office didn’t trigger unless there was movement.

  When the first client entered the building, Calla straightened her spine and greeted them with a perfect smile and a pleasant attitude, but deep inside, she was praying the Guardians and Protectors were going to stop this war before it started causing massive problems within her species. They’d already had enough death and destruction to last a lifetime.

  Chapter Two

  Taze moved around Evie carefully as she crouched behind a dumpster in an alley close to the heart of downtown Memphis. The stench of the rotting trash overpowered the scent of wolves, but they didn’t need their noses to see the two males and one female gathered at the back where the darkened shadows camouflaged their presence.

  Storm, Lucky, and Taze would separate the males from the lone female to allow Evie enough time to get to her. They had the upper hand, but with the possibility of the rogues having Khat in their systems, anything could happen. Noah was off rotation, and while Taze wished he’d been there for the extra back up, the male needed his vacation time with his new mate.

  Evie made a motion with her fingers, pointing two of them at her eyes and then motioning to an alcove near the building across from where they were hiding. On Taze’s nod, she slinked over when the wolves were busy huddled together. As much as he hated the dumpster’s scent, it helped keep theirs hidden.

  Storm patted Taze’s shoulder three times, letting him know it was the count for the strike. His beast was poised and ready for the takedown. Another thirty seconds passed before the group started to separate. He felt his fellow Guardian’s hand on his shoulder again, but this time, the countdown had begun.

  Three…

  Two…

  One…

  Taze used his superhuman abilities to rush the scene, capturing one of the young males before he had a chance to shift. He screamed out as a collar was slapped around his neck, but that didn’t keep the male from fighting.

  Taze took a hit to his jaw, but it wasn’t enough to override the adrenalin coursing through his veins. The other male cursed for all he was worth once Lucky secured a large bag of Khat from his pocket.

  “Don’t fight me,” Taze snarled through his thick canines. “I’m only detaining you so we can get you some help.”

  “Fuck you,” the male replied, getting his arm free, but this time, Taze was ready. The swing connected with nothing. Taze grasped the male’s arm as it flew haphazardly through the air, pulling it behind his back so he could cuff it to the other one he held beneath his knee. It couldn’t be comfortable having a six foot four, two hundred and forty pound male put his knee in your back, but it had to be done.

  Taze felt a bit of compassion for the rogues they were rounding up. They were being brainwashed into doing the deeds of some greedy motherfuckers. He hoped they would get clean and learn to live happily in Colorado with the new alpha after they were shipped there to be reformed with the tiger alpha’s, Gabriel Jackson’s, blood.

  Storm hauled Taze’s guy into an upright position and raised a brow. “You good?”

  “Never better,” Taze replied after stretching his jaw. “That one might be Guardian material.”

  “You’re not right in the head, boy,” Storm drawled as he jerked the rogue in the direction of the transport van they would use to take them to the airport where a plane was awaiting them.

  The FBI had come through with two planes running rotations to get the Gadaí to Colorado as quickly as possible. The males and females were put in a holding area at the airport until the end of each shift.

  Evie whispered to the female wolf whom she’d captured, and Taze moved further away to give them some privacy. He’d noticed how the female had taken to calming them down as much as possible before putting them in the van. He’d overheard her one night, promising a female that the voice inside her head would stop controlling her once she was on the ground in Colorado. He respected the hell out of Evie for the job she was doing.

  There were only three females currently working with them. Jade, Evie, and Hope were exhausted, but they rarely took a day off. They needed more female Protectors. Calla still refused to join them, and he knew Evie had tried her hardest to get the female to rejoin them, but like all the times he’d pushed her, Calla had stood her ground.

  A text from Agent Tabor rang on all of their phones. There was some activity south of their location. Lucky closed the rear door to the van and shook his head. “I’ll get them to the airport and meet up with you as soon as I can.”

  The three of them took off on foot. When they arrived, Agent Tabor’s blacked-out SUV was sitting at the corner. He slid out of the vehicle and met them on the sidewalk.

  “What’s going on?” Storm asked. The tall, blond Guardian angled his body protectively close to Evie. Storm was an old school Guardian, and Taze knew he did it out of habit and nothing else. Evie could take care of herself. She’d proved that many times over.

  “We may have found a Khat house,” Tabor answered, pulling his phone from his pocket. “The address is about a mile away, and our sources believe it is a distribution point for the drug. If that’s the case, we could cut off the dealers and shut this one down.”

  “So, you believe the Amburos take the Khat to this house so it can be distributed to the alpha?” Taze felt excitement, and the news brought with it the bit of adrenalin he needed.

  “We do,” Tabor said with a nod. “Right now, it looks like there is a guy holding up in the house. We want to take him down, but we don’t know if he’s human or shifter.”

  Tabor took a moment to show them aerial photos of the house, noting the main front and back doors. The yard was fenced, but a drainage canal bordered the property. With ease, the guy could jump that fence and use the canal to escape. The house was owned by a leasing company that had had its fair share of complaints. Slumlords were a dime a dozen in south Memphis, and this place appeared to be owned by one.

  “Evie,” Storm began. “I need you in that canal. There is no proof of females at this location, and it’s best to keep you away from the male if he is a shifter.”

  “No problem,” she replied, reaching into her pocket for the gloves she wore when dealing with t
he rogues. Her protective gear was in place except for the facemask she used when apprehending them. She’d pull that up once they were in place. To anyone else, the female looked like a crook when she was in her protective clothing, and they didn’t want humans thinking the same.

  “Lucky and Taze will take the back while Tabor and I take the front,” Storm continued. “Let’s get this guy and the drugs tonight.”

  Lucky pulled alongside the road, killing the lights on the van. When he approached, Tabor and Storm filled him in on the information while Taze stepped aside to speak to Evie.

  “Have you talked to Calla at all?” he asked, but he knew the answer as soon as the female’s face fell. “I’m assuming she is still declining?”

  “I think we are wasting our breath with her, Taze.” Evie sighed and tucked her long sleeve shirt into her gloves to keep the material from riding up and exposing her arms to a male’s touch. “She wants nothing to do with the fighting. Calla truly thinks she can make a difference by getting her law degree.”

  “I get it,” he replied, shaking his head. “I really do, but we need her here more. Things are getting worse, and the alpha is changing them as quickly as we can round them up.”

  “I don’t know what to do with her,” Evie admitted. The sadness in the female’s icy blue eyes was felt throughout the pride. Everyone knew Calla was the best female to add to the Protectors, but she wouldn’t budge.

  Taze didn’t know what he needed to say to Calla to get her to come back to the program, but he was going to try everything in his power to remind her what a talented fighter she truly was before this whole Gadaí mess was over.

  “Do you want to explain to me what the fuck I scented in the alpha’s office?” Malaki blurted into the phone the moment Calla answered.

  Fuck!

  “I don’t think I need to explain to you what that was,” she replied as she thumbed through a magazine she’d had laying on her kitchen table.

  “Calla, are you two seeing each other?” he pressed. “Are you mates?”

  “I have no idea, Mal,” she replied, closing the magazine and tossing it in the trash. “Plus, it’s really none of your business.”

  “You are my business,” he reminded her. Calla pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it for a second like it had tried to bite her. She was so tired of his protectiveness.

  “Would you quit being an ass?” she snarled. “It’s going to happen one day. I will find my mate, and if we touch, I can’t deny that, and you know it.”

  “But him?” Malaki growled. “Really? Taze?”

  “Look, you two have hated each other for years,” she began, feeling her canines thickening in her mouth. She felt feverish and achy. Tonight was not the night to get into a fight with her brother over his hatred of her old trainer. “I really wish you’d grow the fuck up, Mal. I have enough stress on me as it is, and with you and Taze at each other’s throats every time you are in the same room, it’s driving me crazy.”

  “I don’t like him,” her brother reminded her. She sat heavily on her couch and pulled the blanket over her body as she felt a shiver roll over her exposed skin. “Not since he treated you like shit.”

  “He was a male going through his prime,” she replied, rolling her eyes so hard she thought they’d stick that way. “He was barely twenty, and his temper was on edge with the hormonal changes. If I remember correctly, you weren’t much better either.”

  “This isn’t about me,” he replied.

  “Look, Mal, I’m tired. It’s been a long day, and all I want to do is get lost in some stupid movie on television. Can we hold off on your hatred of Taze Malone for one more night? Hell, one more lifetime?” Calla flipped the covers off her body when her temperature spiked. “Hey, I need to go.”

  “Fine, but stay home and away from him,” Malaki huffed as he said his goodbye.

  She dropped the phone on the ground and used the back of her hand to wipe away the sweat that had pebbled on her forehead. How was she going to stop Malaki from hating on Taze? The stress of their fighting was getting to her. She felt sick.

  Taking some calming breaths, Calla used the technique Harold had taught her when she had been rescued from the wolves and brought into the pride. She hadn’t had a panic attack in a long time, yet this one was just as bad as the others. It didn’t matter how many times she inhaled deeply through her nose and blew all of the air out through her mouth, the way her heart raced couldn’t be normal.

  When she tried to sit up, a wave of nausea washed over her. She didn’t have any food in her stomach, but it still protested when she reached her bathroom. Gods, this had to stop. She couldn’t keep up with her brother’s hatred toward the only male who’d believed in her when she was training. If she stayed away from Taze, Malaki was calm, but anytime the male was mentioned, her brother liked to remind her of Taze’s troubles when she had started training.

  Granted, Taze had been an asshole in the beginning, but something had changed for him after the alpha had set him straight. Calla always wondered what Talon had said to him that day. She guessed it didn’t matter, because she had grown from his teachings in that training facility.

  She missed training, but she wanted her degree more. The pull of her nature and her brain, along with the males in her life always at war with each other, was wearing her thin.

  The nausea passed, and she was finally able to get to her kitchen for a glass of water. The panic in her mind finally eased, and she leaned against the countertop and crossed her arms. She couldn’t think of their differences. The alpha had asked her to do a bit of tracking on Holden Manzelli, and she had a lot of work ahead of her.

  She had to find the connection between the Amburo brother and sister, Holden, and Agent Murdock. So far, she’d found nothing on the latter two. The agent would be the hardest to dig up any information on seeing as he worked for the government. The best she could come up with would be an address and phone number, but those were all public knowledge.

  Once she changed out of her clothes, she grabbed a book she’d been trying to read for the past month. It was getting late and she needed to sleep, but a few chapters of reading wouldn’t hurt.

  The rumble of Taze’s truck passing her house on his way off the pride’s land was becoming a nightly thing. Calla had gotten to the point where she anticipated it and couldn’t go to bed until he’d been on his way.

  She didn’t want to look too far into her new routine, but she’d be kidding herself if she didn’t admit the sound was somehow soothing to her. It was a sick, sordid routine to have, knowing he was on his way out to fight and possibly get hurt protecting the species.

  After helping the Protectors with the females they’d rescued a few months ago, Calla finally realized the war they were fighting was a real threat to their species and the humans involved. She’d knuckled down and started her search for Holden Manzelli, and it had led her to the brother and sister who were possibly bringing Khat into the area.

  Everyone reminded her of her excellent tracking skills, but she had her doubts. Sometimes, it was easy to find who she was looking for when it came to her job at the lawyer’s office, but she had some serious doubts when it came to tracking a shifter on foot. Savage and Taze had assured her she had the possibility to be one of the best in the species after months of practicing during her training. She could scent rather well, and her mind would calculate the person’s next move as easily as if there was a road map laid out in front of her.

  So, why couldn’t she find Holden Manzelli? The male had to be using an alias. There was no other explanation for the lack of information, and she had a bad feeling he was doing that for a very good reason, but she didn’t know why.

  Chapter Three

  The two-story house loomed over the darkened street; a lone light shone from a room on the upper level. Taze used his nose to scent for any wolves, but there was only trash and the stench of the sewer from the street below.

  Yet again, they found th
emselves in one of the seedier parts of south Memphis. There were more vacant homes than livable ones. Those World War II era houses were in a decaying state, and from the intel they’d received, it fit the perfect description of a dealer’s hideaway.

  “Everyone into place,” Tabor whispered as he adjusted his bulletproof vest. He was the only one who needed it, because the Guardians could heal a lot quicker from a bullet than he would.

  The agent had weaved himself into their lives, and had learned everything he could about the shifters. He also knew to let them go in ahead. It kept his chances of being hit to a minimum. Taze and the other Guardians were leery of humans to begin with, and with the questions surrounding Agent Murdock, they were tightening their lines of communication with the agents.

  Tabor was the only trusted one of the agents, but even with his admission of surveillance on Murdock, the pride kept a lot of their information to themselves. Secrecy had been an important role of their kind for thousands of years. After the war with the Gadaí, they’d separated, forming their own prides, packs, and clans, and spread out across the world. It was safer that way.

  “Evie, be on alert,” Storm reminded her. She gave a little finger wave and disappeared into a darkened area to the left of the house.

  Taze and Storm took to the front door while Agent Tabor and Lucky slinked around to the back. Taze used his enhanced hearing as they approached the porch. Someone was moving around inside, but the sound was a little farther away, ensuring they were inside. He pulled his phone from his pocket and hid the light from the screen as he sent a message to Lucky. They would quietly go inside in thirty seconds. On Lucky’s reply, he began the countdown.

  Storm and Taze quieted, listening for any other sounds that might indicate another person in the house. When the clock showed it was time to go, he prayed his hearing hadn’t deceived him. Now was not the time to be confronted with lookouts holding guns. The plan was to go in and take down the dealer and be out before anyone heard even a pin drop.