Furever Loyal

by Riley Storm

Kirell rocked back as she dropped the biggest obstacle to proving his innocence that she’d been able to come up with. It wasn’t ironclad proof he was guilty, not even close, but it certainly made his theory a whole hell of a lot less believable.

  “You see?” she asked when he didn’t respond. “Someone had to tell them. Unless you expect me or anyone else to believe the idea of a lucky guess.”

  Shaking his head, Kincaid turned left into a parking lot. She scanned the business names but couldn’t find the one they wanted. Nowhere on the sign did it say Granted Holdings Company.

  “It’s not here.”

  “I know, it’s across the street.” He chose one of the parking spaces that faced that direction and shut the vehicle off. “We’re going to watch it for a bit. See who goes in or out.”

  She spied the baby-blue sign that had the company name on it. It was the end unit on the left of a u-shaped building, with parking in the middle. A big rolling garage door was just to the right.

  “Great. A stakeout. Did you bring blankets and hot chocolate?” she asked.

  “There’s as much of a supply of that as there is of you and good jokes.”

  Biting her lip, Haley slumped down into her chair and glowered at the business, wishing she could direct it at him. But she wasn’t going to let herself drop to that level of pettiness with the jacked criminal.

  Not yet, but if he keeps this up…

  8

  Her patience didn’t last very long.

  “I’m starting to think it’s closed.”

  They had been sitting in the car for almost forty-five minutes. The ambient heat from its operation was fading and a chill was starting to set in. Kincaid didn’t seem bothered by that in the least, even without a jacket, but she was starting to get chilly. Being cold made her cranky, and she was about ready to start taking that out on Kincaid if he didn’t make the decision that this had been a waste of time—and make it soon.

  “You’re right. Let’s go.”

  Sighing in relief, she pulled on her seatbelt to do it up at the same time Kincaid pulled on the door handle.

  “Waitaminute,” she yelped, the sentence coming out as a singular word. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Kincaid hung his head as he got out, shaking it slowly back and forth. “To check it out.”

  “It’s closed,” she hissed. “A waste of time. Let’s go back to the office. Maybe we can find something else of interest there, something else to follow up on.” She fervently doubted that would be the case, but this was her Hail Mary, a desperate attempt to get him back into the car.

  Her instincts told her that if they went across the street, it wouldn’t be just to peer inside the window. Haley couldn’t do that, she couldn’t let herself be dragged into something like this. Nor was she about to let Kincaid commit even more crimes but there’d be no way she could physically stop him. He was simply too big, and those muscles that constantly strained at his shirt would easily push her aside if she tried to get in his way.

  “Kincaid!” she shouted hoarsely, not wanting her voice to follow. But he was already closing the door.

  Cursing at the situation, she got out of the SUV and went after him, chasing him across the street and into the next lot. Those damnably long legs of his powered him forward fast enough she had to run to catch up, grabbing his arm and hauling back on it.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, walking forward as if she was little more than a gentle breeze.

  Haley was pulled along, stumbling to catch her balance when her attempt to stop him failed unexpectedly.

  “Stopping you,” she said lamely. “Trying to.”

  “Stopping me from what?”

  “Whatever it is you’re going to do.” She let go of his arm, trying to forget how firm it had felt, and got in front of him, blocking his path. “Let’s go, there’s no one here.”

  “Good. That’ll make everything easier then. Now stop making a scene.”

  She poked him in the chest. “I am not making a scene.”

  Kincaid finally stopped, looking down at her, condescension filling his face. Blue eyes looked at her calmly. “You ran across the street after me, starting yanking on my arm and now you’re standing in front of me arguing with me. That is called making a scene. Now if you want to make up for it, hug me, take my hand and walk at my side.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “We’re lovers who just made up on our way to a business meeting here. Now act the part, will you?”

  “Absolutely not. I am not your lover. Nor your girlfriend, mistress, side-piece or anything else. There is nothing between us.”

  Kincaid’s entire head looked skyward. “No shit. It’s called acting. Pretend. Imagination. I’m not asking you to kiss me in public to make it look like we’re making up, but maybe I should. Now come on, let’s go check this out.”

  He stepped around her and then past, but he paused, extending out his hand, waiting for her to take it.

  The Queen’s words echoed in her head. Shadow him, or else lose your job. Help him. Fuck.

  She reached out to take his hand, wondering why she didn’t just go walk alongside him instead. Why did she have to touch him, to feel the strong, calloused fingers, to have the warmth of his touch cover her entire hand? It was ridiculous. This entire thing was ridiculous.

  “I can’t believe I’m doing this. Was this your plan all along? To get me to hold your hand?” She walked alongside him toward the closed door ahead, keeping a suitable distance between them.

  “No,” he admitted.

  “Good.”

  “It was only part of the plan.”

  She growled at him.

  “Relax. I’m not turning sweet on you, you don’t need to worry,” he said.

  “I never said I was worried,” she ground out. Why did he feel the need to constantly put words into her mouth like that? He was so frustrating!

  “If you say so.” He didn’t believe her at all, and let it show.

  “Look, the sign says its closed. Now can we go? Nobody is here.” She stopped a few feet short of the door.

  “No,” he said firmly. “We need to check it out.”

  “We?” she exclaimed, keeping her voice down. “What is this we business? I did check it out. It’s closed.”

  “That just makes it easier,” he said, coming up and knocking on the door.

  Haley experienced a sinking sensation. “It makes what easier, Kincaid?”

  “Breaking in of course. I need to see their records, find out what’s going on here.”

  “Nuh-uh. No way. That’s a crime. You’re breaking the law. We can’t do that. The police will come.”

  Kincaid rolled his eyes, directing the exasperated look squarely at her. “Trust me on this one, the owners are not going to call the police. They don’t deal with the law like that. We’re fine. As long as we don’t get caught.”

  “There you go with that we business again. I am not a part of this. I am not going to break in. Do you understand—what are you doing?” she half shouted as he leaned back on one leg, bringing the other knee into the air.

  Kincaid paused, looking over at her. “The breaking part of breaking and entering?”

  She shook her head. “Absolutely. No way. We are not doing that!”

  Foot still in the air, his shoulders dropped back slightly, Kincaid lifted his eyebrows. “Do you mind? I’m in the middle of something here.”

  “I do mind,” she said, ignoring the bored expression that came over his face as he balanced on one leg. “A lot. I like my criminal record the way it is, okay? I don’t want to have anything put on it.”

  “You have a criminal record?”

  It was her turn to look up helplessly. “We are not doing this. Okay?”

  Kincaid thought it over, and Haley sighed. She’d gotten through to him. Now all she had to do was get the reckless man back to her office and they would be safe. Safe among her numbers and her spreadsheets, where she was in control.<
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  “No, we’re doing this.” Kincaid’s boot crashed through the door at the handle, breaking it easily.

  “What the fuck!”

  But he was already inside. Wringing her hands, she looked around, but the place was mostly empty. At this time of day, everyone was elsewhere, probably doing work. It didn’t appear anybody had noticed. She almost reached out to touch the door, to pull it closed, but stopped herself. That would leave fingerprints. Fingerprints the police could use to find her.

  Nervously, she pulled up her hood, trying to hide her face as well. The last thing she needed was a run-in with the law.

  “Are you coming?” Kincaid’s head poked out through the door so fast she jumped, squealing in surprise.

  “Seriously, you need to calm down. The only way the police are going to get called is if you stand around outside looking all suspicious, pacing back and forth, hood pulled up, looking around at everything. Just come inside.” Then he disappeared back into the office.

  Haley walked up to the doorjamb but that was as far as she could force her legs to go. “I’m staying here.”

  Kincaid sighed. “Whatever.”

  “You aren’t going to find anything in here,” she said. “It’s not like there’s going to be a confession written on a chalkboard or something. Just leave.”

  “I’m definitely not going to find any evidence that way.” He was rifling through various boxes and filing cabinets in an office just past the reception area.

  “It was a bank transaction, Kincaid. It’s highly unlikely they left anything here, and even if they did, just finding the printout of it wouldn’t be enough to help your case.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. But you never know. It might lead me to whoever made the deposit, who I could then question, who could tell me who ordered them to do it, etc., all the way up the chain to the person at the top.”

  She bit her lip as he talked and ransacked the place all at once. The sunlight shining through the door from behind her helped illuminate the unlit interior. This was not something she was comfortable with. Haley wanted to go, and she wanted to go now, as far away from here as possible. Breaking the law was not how she was going to keep her job. Even if she lost the Ursa account, she could still find another job somewhere, working for someone else—for a hell of a lot less money. Maybe.

  “There’s nothing here,” she repeated a minute later. “So can we please go now, before someone shows up? This is not what I signed up for when I became an accountant, okay?”

  “Yeah, you’re right.”

  She blinked, surprised. “Okay. Good. Let’s go.”

  “Yeah, I’m coming.” Kincaid slipped out of the office and closed the door behind him.

  Smiling, she leaned against the doorjamb. “You missed a piece. Put it back,” she told him, reaching out with her foot to toe the single sheet of paper on the ground right in front of the door.

  Kincaid didn’t reply, nor did he pick it up. She was about to question him why, when her shadow, draped across the inside of the office, shivered and grew bigger. A lot bigger.

  That’s impossible. Shadows can’t do that. Which meant only one thing.

  That’s not my shadow…

  9

  He saw the shadow move first, even as he was reaching for the paper, and his eyes snapped upward. A tall figure loomed up behind Haley. Though it was muscular, it didn’t have the same thickness as himself.

  The face wasn’t familiar to Kincaid, though he recognized the calm, predatory nature of its movements. Considering their current location, he knew without a doubt who the man across from him was.

  It was a Canis agent.

  Haley yelped and darted inside the office as she too realized that whoever it was, they weren’t friendly. The speed of her movement caught the werewolf off-guard, and he missed as he swiped at the back of her neck, trying to grab hold.

  Kincaid growled, the full-throated noise rattling the windows and immediately catching the attention of his enemy.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” the newcomer snarled, bristling at the noise, his lips pulled back to reveal his teeth.

  “Looking around.” Kincaid was well aware the other man had meant House Ursa when he’d said “you”, and not Kincaid specifically. This was, after all, Canis territory, and Kincaid shouldn’t be there, but right now he didn’t give a damn about the rules.

  “That cannot be allowed to stand. You must pay for this.”

  For a second, Kincaid thought that the Canim was going to shift, revealing the secret to a very unprepared Haley, but instead, he just stepped inside the door.

  “Kincaid, I’m scared,” Haley said from where she hid behind him. “Can we just go?”

  “Too late for that now. You must be taught respect.”

  Kincaid snorted. “Like any of you mangy shits know a thing about respect. I know it’s ass-kissers that usually get ahead, but you guys really took it to the next level with the whole licking thing.”

  His opponent snarled audibly. “I will teach you respect.”

  If there was one thing all Canim hated equally, and that was guaranteed to drive them into a fury, it was being compared to domesticated dogs. Insulting them that way never failed to both make them furious and amuse Kincaid. It was just too easy.

  “This isn’t obedience training,” he said in a deep voice. “But trust me, by the time I’m done with you, you’ll know just whose commands to obey.”

  The Canim swung at him wildly.

  “Bad doggy,” he snapped, ducking under it and lunging forward.

  Haley shouted and retreated deeper into the office as the two men collided and went down hard, Kincaid pile-driving the Canim into the floor. He was up in a flash, only narrowly avoiding having his legs swept up from underneath him. The Canim was tougher than that, and he would require more of a beating before he gave up.

  “What does Laurent want with me?” Kincaid asked, dodging another attack.

  “Why would anyone want anything to do with you?”

  “Good question,” Kincaid said, dancing backward as his foe attacked. Behind him, Haley kept scrambling. He heard her open another door, and a cool blast flowed over his skin. Not enough to be from outside but…

  He glanced over his shoulder. Yup. Just as I thought. Warehouse.

  The perfect spot to continue their little discussion. “Come on,” he taunted, darting through the door. The Canim charged right into the door as Kincaid slammed it shut in his face.

  “Oops,” he yelped, going down in a heap as the wooden door exploded into kindling.

  Instead of stopping or slowing down, the unknown Canim had just lowered his shoulder and accelerated. Now he plowed into Kincaid’s midsection, sending him flying. Kincaid grunted as he bounced off a metal workbench, denting it, and was flung face first into the floor as it abruptly changed his momentum. He barely managed to get his hands up to stop his head from rebounding off the concrete.

  “Can you hurry up and win?” Haley hissed from underneath the table, her presence catching him by surprise.

  “I am winning,” he said. “Everything is under control, don’t worry.”

  She rapped her knuckles off the dented sheet metal of the tabletop. “This is under control?”

  He shrugged. “Mostly.” Then he had to move aside to avoid being attacked again, yelping at how close the punch came.

  “Stop running away.” His foe was getting angry.

  “Make me,” he called back. “I would gladly stay, but I need to find out why your boss has such a hate on for me. If you tell me that, I’ll happily beat the shit out of you.”

  “I told you, I don’t know. I don’t even know who you are.”

  “I don’t believe you.” He ducked under another swipe, this time pausing just long enough to slam a fist into the man’s kidney as he slipped past.

  “Well, that’s too bad,” the Canim said, wincing in pain as he straightened. “Enough.”

  Kincaid relaxed for a half-second
until he realized the man wasn’t asking for a truce but was declaring he’d had enough of Kincaid—and was going straight for Haley now.

  Something in his mind snapped, and Kincaid went berserk. He leaped over another table and flung himself at the enemy. His fists rained down like hammer blows as he bore the man to the ground, roaring with anger as images of Haley being harmed flashed through his mind.

  He picked up the wolf shifter, hurling him clear across the warehouse. As he did that though, his enemy kicked out, catching him in the head. The blow rocked Kincaid around, driving him to his knees, even as he heard the crash when the man slammed into racks of tools on the far wall.

  “You’re going to pay for that,” he snapped.

  Haley’s strangled cry brought his head around to look at the pile of debris and human across from him. Except it wasn’t human any longer. Not completely at least. Clothing ripped as the Canim shifted, his joints jerking and reshaping even as thick whitish-gray fur started to sprout over his skin. Bones cracked as the shifter’s face rearranged itself, jutting forward in a muzzle.

  Bone-white teeth flashed as the wolf scrambled to its feet and snapped at him, reddened eyes glaring daggers before it rushed forward and threw itself at the rear door. The metal swinging door ripped from its hinges and the wolf disappeared outside.

  Kincaid ran to the door, but the creature was long gone, leaving no trace, other than the door’s claw marks. He didn’t give chase. Although the wolf was larger than anything native to the planet—at least, anything that currently lived, outmassing even the extinct dire wolves by over a hundred pounds—it was still faster than he was, in either form. The fight was over.

  Pulling the door closed as best he could, he turned to regard the warehouse. Maybe he would find something in here?

  “Haley?” he called, ducking down to peer under the tables when she didn’t immediately respond.

  His blood still boiled at the image of the Canim going after her, but he forced the anger down. He’d protected her. It was safe now, she could come out. He even told her that, searching around for anywhere she might have taken refuge.

  But she wasn’t there.