Wolf Shield Investigations: Boxset

by Dee Bridgnorth

  “Let me get this straight.” She’d heard it explained a half-dozen times already, but it still made no sense. “She’s one of two people who’ve been doing all this killing and whatnot, and she suddenly had a change of heart out there on the road? Her buddy was with her, in front of her, and she hit him to stop him from killing us?”

  Marnie looked around. “Right? Am I understanding this?”

  Sledge nodded, sitting next to her on the couch. Her couch. She’d missed it. “That’s what it sounded like when I talked to her after I first found her. She hit him to stop him from killing us, then ordered us to destroy his phone so nobody they were working for would know the two of them had been talking on the phone before the accident.”

  “They must’ve known where headquarters was located then,” Jace grunted, shaking his head.

  “Maybe. Maybe they just got lucky. Who’s to say?” Logan mused. “Once she comes around, she’ll tell us what we need to know. If they’re killing their own now, not just contractors they hired out to do their grunt work—no offense, Marnie—they’re even more desperate than we ever imagined, which means she’ll be desperate, too.”

  Sledge put an arm around her, a gesture she was insanely grateful for. A chill had settled itself over her, sinking deep in her bones, and she needed his warmth. She needed him.

  Especially now that she’d almost lost him out there. It had been so close. Did she owe everything to that girl upstairs in her guest room?

  The fact that she was playing hostess to the woman who’d broken into her house and who’d maybe tried to kill her wasn’t lost on Marnie as she sat there surrounded by wolf shifters. What was the world coming to?

  “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Sledge murmured, his arm tightening. “We can take her someplace else now that the storm’s passing. She doesn’t have to stay here.”

  “Where else could she go?” Marnie asked with a shrug. “They know about the safe houses. We don’t want them to know about Kara’s family or their house—no sense getting them wrapped up in this. My house is the only reasonable option since they already know I live here. We won’t be revealing any secrets even if they somehow manage to figure out we’re here.”

  “What if they come in and attack?” Zane grunted. “It might be better to take her to a safe house with that in mind. Your neighbors shouldn’t be pulled into this either.”

  “You make a good point,” she allowed. “I never thought of that.”

  “We can move her,” Logan agreed. “Yeah, I like that idea—they don’t need to know we’re holding her in a safe house. We might have to wait a little while though.”

  “Why?” Zane practically barked.

  “Because the roads are shit right now,” Logan barked right back. “I’m sure there have to be fallen trees all over the place. It’s a miracle Marnie has power right now—thousands of people don’t. I’ll try to head out there and get a feel for things, and I’ll let you know when the coast is clear.”

  That was the end of that. Doc left, intent on going home to check out the damage that might’ve been done. Jace and Braxton made up a schedule for keeping watch over the unnamed girl in the guest bedroom while Zane went up there to sit out the first shift.

  “You sure you’re okay with that?” Sledge asked as Zane climbed the stairs.

  “Don’t worry,” he grunted, “I won’t smother her in her sleep. There are much more painful ways to die, and I’d like to see her suffer one of those.”

  Sledge flinched. “He’s never like this,” he whispered, shaking his head with a frown.

  “He’s been through so much,” Marnie whispered back, touched that he cared so much about his friend. “He’ll come around. This will blow over.”

  Sledge went from frowning up the stairs to smiling down at her. “You believe that?”

  “I do because things always blow over. Even hurricanes.” The sun had peeked through the clouds a few times while they were on the phone with Logan, promising clearer weather ahead.

  They climbed the stairs together, both of them answering an unspoken question. They needed rest. They needed each other.

  And after fearing she was about to watch him die, Marnie needed to feel Sledge’s arms around her. She needed that connection, that reminder of what was real—that he was well, safe, by her side.

  Though it would’ve been nice if a murderer wasn’t just down the hall.

  “Nothing’s perfect,” she murmured as they entered the bedroom. Her room. She’d missed it so much, even after only two days. She’d feared she might never step foot in there ever again, after all.

  “Hmm?” Sledge asked, bending to peel off his wet boots.

  “I said, nothing’s perfect. I guess that’s life. Here I am, with you, and there’s an unpleasant houseguest in the guest room.”

  He snorted, straightening up. “There are some perfect things.”

  She sat on the bed, watching as he stripped off his wet shirt. “You’re right. There are,” she breathed, bowled over by the sight of his chest, his abs, his arms. Even with a shirt plastered to his skin thanks to the rain, it hadn’t been the same as looking at him now.

  “I was talking about you,” he murmured, crossing the room one slow step at a time. She forgot to breathe as he came to a stop in front of her.

  “I wouldn’t call myself perfect.” She closed her eyes, sighing as he buried his hands in her hair. It was the simplest touch, but that didn’t stop her from almost moaning out loud.

  “I wouldn’t expect you to.” He was gentle in lowering her to the bed. Was this really happening? She couldn’t believe it, but here they were. They hadn’t talked about this—it wasn’t planned. None of this was planned.

  But she loved him. She’d never been so sure about anything.

  Because of that love, she didn’t hesitate to accept the sweetness of his weight as he settled over her, their bodies sliding against each other as they kissed and touched and stroked.

  She didn’t flinch away from his touch as he unwrapped her, one piece of clothing at a time. Even though she wanted to, even though she wasn’t used to this—exposing herself this way, sharing herself. What if she wasn’t what he expected? What if she fell short?

  “What do I do with all this beauty?” he whispered, his eyes wide and hazy with pleasure as he took her in, exploring her from head to toe. Her heart almost burst.

  “What does your wolf tell you to do?” she took the chance of whispering, and the surprise that registered on his face told her he hadn’t expected that.

  But the wolf was part of him, and she wasn’t about to ignore it or discount it. “Do you want to see him?” he asked, raising himself up on his arms to look down at her.

  “Yes,” she breathed, nodding. “I want to see you that way.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Instead of answering, she nodded again before kissing him slowly. Sweetly. “Yes. I want to see him. You. Both of you.”

  He hesitated before getting off the bed, and her heart went out to him. Even with all his magnificence—and he was magnificent from head to toe, a tower of sculpted muscle and smooth skin—there was a touch of vulnerability underneath it all.

  He was afraid she wouldn’t accept him as he was. That was when she knew this was the right thing to do.

  He stood next to the bed, facing her. “You’re sure?”

  “You already asked me that. Please, show me.” It seemed silly, sitting there with no clothes on, exposed. Waiting for him to expose something about himself he’d probably never shown another woman.

  In that respect, they were both inexperienced.

  He drew a deep breath, his jaw set firmly—and he shifted.

  It happened so fast. What had she expected? Something out of a horror movie? Some prolonged, dramatic shift? It was nothing like that. He went from being a magnificent man to a magnificent wolf—tall, long, his fur shining like a black pearl.

  There was no denying it now. She’d seen it with her own
eyes. There was a massive wolf in her bedroom. A wolf with huge paws, a long tail, compact muscle that slid beneath the skin and fur when he turned in a slow circle for her to examine him.

  A wolf with Sledge’s eyes. Those eyes locked onto hers when the wolf stood facing her again. She reached out—slow, hesitant—and took his face in her hands. “I see you,” she whispered. “I love you, and you’re beautiful.”

  Powerful too. Dangerous. There was no ignoring that and no ignoring the dark, forbidden sort of desire that stirred in her core and sent delicious warmth building between her thighs when she thought of this wolf loving her.

  She leaned back, lying down again, and he was a man when he climbed on top of her. Light shone from his eyes, his face as he lowered it to hers for a deep, searching kiss. He groaned when his hand slid between her legs and found her slick, ready for him.

  “Yes,” she whispered, nodding slowly, opening herself. “Yes, Sledge. I love you.”

  “I love you,” he panted, his muscles corded with tension. “You’re sure? We can’t take this back.”

  “When I make up my mind, I don’t change it.” She dared reach down to touch him, her heart skipping a beat when he groaned in pleasure. She had that power—even a man like him could be brought to his knees.

  But he thrust forward then, pushing aside all other thoughts until there was nothing in the world but their connection. A connection that deepened every time he moved into her, sliding home slowly, tenderly.

  The sense of a flood barely held back behind a shaking dam flashed before her eyes as she stared up at him. He was trying hard to make this sweet for her, to be gentle, and she loved him even more for it while he filled her, stretching her, making her feel whole for the first time ever.

  Still, she wanted more. “Please,” she whimpered, moving with him. “You don’t have to hold back.” She closed her eyes when he thrust again, deeper than before. Stronger. More certain.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he grunted, teeth clenched.

  “You never could.” She touched his face, dragging a thumb over his lip. He trembled at the edge. “Please. Take me.”

  He threw his head back as he gave over to something new, and fire blazed hotter than ever as something new overcame them. Something dark, something scary and hot and thrilling. She dug her nails into his shoulders as his rhythm sped up, his thrusts harder than before.

  “Yes!” she gasped, letting him use her, take her. Letting the wolf have what he wanted. With her eyes closed, she saw the wolf. Sledge. The wolf. Sledge. They were separate; they were the same, and they were both loving her. Making her theirs for always. Tears rolled down her cheeks—tears of pleasure, of deep wonder.

  She barely registered the mix of pain and pleasure as his teeth sank into her shoulder when he finished, all of it lost in the explosive bliss of her own climax. They were drenched in sweat, holding each other, shaking, panting.

  Marnie had never felt more alive, more right.

  Their eyes met, their breath mingling between them.

  She smiled. So did he.

  No, it wasn’t perfect. Not yet, not until he and his team were free to live their lives without fear.

  But it was as perfect as anything could be because he was hers. Always.

  PART IV

  Chapter One

  Wake up. Wake up, damn it.

  Zane stood next to the bed, staring down at the sleeping woman beneath the blankets—the woman who slept curled in a ball, facing him, her hair fanned out over the pillow in an explosion of long, strawberry blonde waves.

  He’d never met a beautiful assassin. Then again, most of the assassins he’d ever been aware of were men.

  This was most definitely not a man.

  His wolf wanted to respond to her, but his human consciousness wouldn’t allow it. No, not her. Anybody but her. The woman in the bed, who he doubted was still sleeping after lying there for two days, was a cold-blooded killer.

  Just because she’d had a sudden change of heart or turned over a new leaf didn’t erase the harm she’d done, the lives she’d ended.

  His fists hung at his sides, just aching to make contact with something. Not with her, necessarily—assassin or not, he’d never hit a woman unless in self-defense. And if she was half as skilled as a person would need to be if they wanted to work with the sort of people who pulled her strings and sent her on assignments, she could probably cause him some serious damage if she put her mind to it.

  Granted, none of it would be permanent. He’d heal, and she’d wonder why.

  It would be better for her not to get her hands on him at all, then. Not on any of them.

  Unless she already knew their secret.

  The possibility was there, humming in the back of his head. Always humming. She might’ve been biding her time, waiting for backup to come and descend upon Marnie Harris’s home where his team was currently waiting to question the sleeping assassin after her car wreck.

  Yes, they might’ve been on their way at that very moment—assassins just like her, contract killers, working for whatever government agency had turned him into what he was: half man, half wolf.

  Did she know about that?

  He stared down at her, wishing he could delve into her mind. They all possessed a certain talent for reading or at least comprehending the thoughts in the heads of others—strong feelings always helped paint a clearer picture, one easier for them to interpret—but with her being asleep or pretending to be, her thoughts were calm. Peaceful.

  She didn’t deserve to feel peaceful after everything she’d done. All her evil, all done at the request of others. How could she live with herself? Was that why she’d slammed into the vehicle of her supposed partner—because she couldn’t live with herself anymore?

  Was that why she’d caused the man hell-bent on killing him and Sledge and Marnie to flip his SUV on the flooded road?

  It was what she’d told them, slumped over behind the steering wheel. She’d begged for help, told them the people hunting them were hunting her kind too, that her life was in just as much danger as theirs.

  And Sledge had decided she was worth bringing along, that she might provide answers they so desperately needed.

  So far? Nothing, since she’d been sleeping it off ever since, only waking up here and there before sliding back into unconsciousness.

  If she was faking, she was a good faker. He’d seen guys in the field suffer concussions, knew how they behaved. Unless she’d done a good deal of study on the effects of a head injury, she was truly suffering.

  Good. Let her suffer.

  Amazing, though, watching her now. She looked so innocent. She might’ve been just about anybody, any pretty woman sleeping in on a morning after a hurricane. The roads were still dicey, meaning a lot of people were staying home and repairing any damage done. She could’ve been one of those people.

  He tried to imagine a killer-for-hire raking leaves off the front lawn and couldn’t bring himself to do it.

  Then again, he was hardly normal either.

  This was getting them nowhere. He turned away from her, peeling his eyes from her sleeping form with determination. She pulled him in even while sleeping, even when she couldn’t have consciously tried to do so.

  And he hated her for it. He hated her for so much because she was the physical reminder of everything he and his team had been hiding from ever since their escape from the lab where they’d been turned into the wolf shifters they now were.

  It was so easy to pin it all on her, to take all that hatred and resentment out on the sleeping woman. He couldn’t be alone with her.

  So, he left her there, not bothering to be quiet when he closed the door. It was about time for her to wake up and stay that way.

  “She awake?” Braxton asked, poking his head out of one of the two guest bedrooms. That was the room they’d chosen to set up their surveillance monitors, and it was his turn to man them.

  Zane shook his head. “No, but she needs t
o be. This is killing me.”

  “Join the club,” he sighed, running a hand over his head. “Serenity is dying for me to drive out to the city. For a minute, I thought she was about to drive out here.”

  “That wouldn’t be the smartest move. She knows better than that.” He sat at the foot of the bed—so comfortable like Marnie had put actual thought into the bed her imaginary guests might use one day. Or maybe he was exhausted and just about anything would’ve seemed like heaven.

  “She does, thank God. Though I can’t lie—I’m glad the roads are still shit. Just another reason why she couldn’t make it out here.” Braxton sighed again, slumping slightly. “I’ll be glad when this is over. I only wish I knew what over meant. You know?”

  “Like, will we make it out successfully?”

  “Pretty much, yeah.”

  “I hate to think part of it is up to her.” He nodded at the wall separating the two spare rooms.

  “Tell me about it. But from what Sledge relayed, she was terrified. Scared people tend to spill their guts pretty easily.”

  “Yeah, but the immediate danger has passed, and she’ll know it. The time to jump on her and pump her for every ounce of info was days ago. And what did she do?” He snickered, bitter. “She lies there for two days, probably making up stories to mislead us.”

  “It’s not like any of us expected her to be forthcoming right out of the gate,” Braxton reasoned.

  “No, but she’s wasting time. Meanwhile, these people are bound to wonder what happened to her.”

  “They’ll probably think she wandered off, injured, and died somewhere. Or got picked up and taken elsewhere. If anything, they’ll wanna assume she’s dead.”

  “Yeah, but they won’t count on it,” Zane muttered. “You know that’s not how they operate. They wouldn’t have been able to do everything they’ve done so far if they crossed their fingers and hoped everything turned out for the best. That’s not how they work.”