by J. C. Diem
Risky Bargains
Shifter Squad Next Gen: Book Three
J.C. Diem
Copyright © 2021 J.C. DIEM
www.jcdiem.com
All rights reserved. Published by Seize The Night Publishing Agency.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Titles by J.C. Diem in chronological order:
Chapter One
DISBELIEF THAT JAX had been replaced by a virtual stranger hovered around me like a gloomy cloud. I waited in the living room with the rest of the team as Liam gave our newest recruit a tour of our base. It wasn’t easy for us to act normal when we were already plotting to get rid of the unwanted addition to our squad. Nick, Syd, Brynn and Crowmon were good at keeping their expressions neutral. Yas and I were the only ones who kept snickering quietly.
“Knock it off, you two,” Nick warned us. “You might as well be wearing signs saying you’re up to no good.”
“We have to get the giggles out of our systems now,” Yas said in our defense. “We’ll be under control by the time they get back.”
A couple of minutes later, the door to the main hallway opened and Liam escorted Heath Franko into the living room. The alpha werewolf was a little taller than the twins. He had reddish-brown hair and vibrant blue eyes. His gaze went straight to me and he smiled confidently. I turned my head away and picked up my mug of tea, hoping that conveyed my complete lack of interest in him.
“You’ve already met the team,” Liam said as they joined us. “Do you have any questions?”
I was annoyed when Heath took the seat next to me. “Just one,” the alpha said and turned to face me. “You’re the long-lost daughter of the supreme alphas, aren’t you?”
My tattoos immediately flared to life. Red light blazed and I doubled over in pain. Yas caught my mug before I could drop it and placed it back on the coffee table.
“Who told you that?” Liam asked as he sat next to his twin. My brothers glared at the new recruit as Yas soothingly patted me on the back.
“No one told me,” Heath replied smugly, showing no concern or curiosity about why I seemed to be in pain. “I can tell by her scent that she’s your sister.”
I let out a groan as fresh agony sizzled through me. It sucked that the arrogant alpha possessed the talent to be able to tell when people were related to each other.
“Can someone shut that idiot up already?” Yas demanded. Emma had scrambled off my lap when I’d doubled over. Now sitting next to me, she stared at the alpha in intense dislike.
Heath glared at Yas. “Don’t speak to me like that, leech,” he said coldly.
“We can’t talk about our relationship with Alex,” Nick said before the pair could begin fighting.
“Why not? She looks just like you two. Why are you trying to hide the fact that she’s your sister?”
The tattoos blazed even brighter and I hissed a curse word beneath my breath.
“Any person with even a few functioning brain cells should be able to see that talking about this particular topic causes the lass harm,” Crowmon pointed out, gesturing at me. “I suggest you keep your gob shut before someone shuts it for you.”
“I’m an alpha, little man,” Heath said arrogantly. “No one here has the authority to tell me to stop talking.”
At that highhanded statement, the squad collectively decided Agent Franko had to go. The twins exchanged a glance. I was pretty sure Liam picked up on our plan to oust the alpha through his bond to Nick. From his set expression, he wasn’t going to try to stop us from pranking the newbie into submission.
“Don’t you even care that Alex is in pain?” Syd asked with a scowl.
“I figured she’s going through some kind of female thing,” Heath said vaguely.
“Yeah, because our bodies usually glow red when it’s that time of the month,” Brynn said with an eye roll. “It’s totally normal.”
Flushing at being scolded by people who were lower than him in the shifter hierarchy, Franko crossed his arms. “Maybe someone should explain what’s going on,” he said belligerently.
I gingerly straightened up and replied before anyone else could tell my story for me. “A witch kidnapped me from the hospital shortly after I was born. She placed spells on me that punish me whenever someone mentions my origins in my presence. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t talk about who I’m related to when you’re around me, because it really freaking hurts.” He sneered slightly at the furious look I gave him. My hands were shaking when I took my mug of tea that Yas handed me.
“I apologize,” he said stiffly, back going ramrod straight, painfully reminding me of Jax. “It won’t happen again.”
“Good,” Yas muttered. “Maybe I won’t have to tear one of your feet off and stuff it in your mouth to shut you up now.”
“No fighting,” Liam said in a firm tone when Franko opened his mouth to retaliate. “Alex is still in danger from the witch, so her real identity is being kept a secret,” he said to our newest member. “She goes by Alex D’Ath rather than her true surname.”
“Is there some significance to that surname that I should be aware of?” Heath asked.
“It’s classified,” Nick said blandly. “You’ll need to earn our trust before we can inform you about some topics.”
“So, you’re going to be keeping secrets from me?” the alpha asked in annoyance.
“Yep,” Sydney said flatly. “You’ve been here for ten minutes. We’re not going to spill our guts about everything to someone we don’t even know.”
It was obvious Franko was feeling ganged up on, but he was too arrogant to back down. “I’ll earn your trust,” he said with supreme confidence. “I’ve already proven myself during my training and on the mission we worked togethe
r in Jade Falls.”
Crowmon snorted out a laugh. “It’ll take more than high test scores and one mission for the Shifter Squad to trust you, boyo,” he said insolently. I hid a smile that the jester was already embarking on his plan to get rid of the alpha. “Not everyone can fit into this motley pack,” he added with a wide grin.
Heath’s upper lip lifted as he scanned us. Our mix of species was unusual and wouldn’t normally work together at all. “You consider yourselves to be a pack?” he asked incredulously.
“We’re family,” Yas said with a challenging look at him. “Just because we don’t come from the same species doesn’t mean we don’t belong together.”
“You’re a walking dead woman,” he said in clear distaste. “The only difference between vampires and zombies is that one of them drinks blood and the other eats flesh.”
Emma’s eyes narrowed and her nose twitched.
“Uh, oh, you’ve done it now, lad,” the trickster god said with a mischievous twinkle in his pale green eyes.
“What are you talking about?” Franko asked, brow furrowing.
“You’ve insulted Emma. I’ve heard it’s a very bad idea to have a zombie for an enemy,” Crowmon said solemnly.
Heath looked at the squirrel, who was glaring at him unblinkingly. “Why do you even have that thing in here?” he asked in disgust. “It should be outside with the other animals.”
We broke into snickers, which bewildered him even more. He had no idea about the guardians who stood guard all around our property.
“What’s so funny?” the alpha asked with a hint of anger in his tone. He clearly didn’t like being the brunt of our jokes.
“Step outside for a second, Agent Franko,” Liam said. “There’s something you haven’t seen yet.”
Unwilling to miss the spectacle, we all followed Liam to the door. Liam cut a look at me and I was pretty sure I knew what he wanted me to do. We were keeping my status as a necromancer quiet, which meant I had to make it look like he was in charge of the zombies.
“What am I supposed to be seeing?” Heath asked when we were all standing outside. Yas held the door open and stayed inside, so the sun didn’t fry her to death.
“Behold, our secret guardians!” Liam said and lifted his hands.
At my mental order, hundreds of skeletal animals rose out of the ground directly in front of us. Franko’s hand went to the gun he wasn’t currently wearing and he stumbled back a few steps. We broke into laughter at his horrified reaction to the herd.
“Don’t worry, Franko,” Nick said and clapped him on the shoulder. “You’ll get used to them eventually.”
We filed back inside with the alpha scurrying ahead. He gave Yasmine a wide berth and flashed an ugly look at her on his way past.
“He’s going to be trouble,” Nick murmured to his brother.
“I know,” Liam replied just as quietly. Our newest recruit wasn’t happy about living and working with the undead, but that was too damn bad. There was no room for a snobby elitist in our squad.
Chapter Two
“WHY IS THAT SQUIRREL always sitting on you?” Heath asked as I drank my tea. My zombie had climbed up onto my shoulder before we’d stepped outside.
“She likes me, don’t you, Emma?” I asked. My minion hugged my neck in response without taking her eyes off the alpha.
“I don’t understand why Mrs. Levine-Garrett raised so many animals,” Franko said with a slight shudder he couldn’t quite hide. “Especially those fleshless freaks outside.”
“Our mom thinks out of the box,” Nick said, keeping up the pretense that Lexi had raised the herd and the squirrel. “Emma is smarter than most zombies. She can pass for a living animal.”
“So?” the uninvited alpha asked in consternation. “What possible use can that thing have?”
I was getting sick of his attitude towards my friend. “Emma can transport our entire team around using the zombie highway. She can also infiltrate places we can’t get to. No one is going to suspect a squirrel of being a spy.”
“What use is an animal going to be as a spy?” he pointed out. “It isn’t like it can tell you what it’s seeing and hearing.”
“Emma can communicate with people who come from the supreme alphas’ bloodline,” Liam lied. “She has a stronger connection with Agent D’Ath, which is why she chooses to stay with her most of the time.”
It was obvious Heath wasn’t fully buying our explanations, but he was wise enough to finally let it drop. “What do you guys do in between missions?” he asked.
“We train,” Syd said. “I’m in charge of gun training.”
“I handle hand-to-hand training,” Nick added. “Jax was Alex’s self-defense trainer, but I’ve taken his place now.”
Franko smiled at me invitingly. “I’ll be happy to take over from Agent Remington.”
“Nick has it covered,” I replied in a bored tone. The sooner he got the hint that I wasn’t interested in him, the better off I’d be.
“We need to test your abilities before you’ll be assigned to any tasks, Agent Franko,” Liam pointed out.
“I’m ready whenever you are, boss,” the alpha said in a tone that he probably didn’t realize was condescending.
Brynn gave him a flat stare for his disrespect, but he didn’t see it. He was too busy staring at me.
“I need a refill,” I said and stood up. “Does anyone want coffee?” I asked the room at large. Orders came my way and I was happy to escape from the living room for a few minutes.
“Do you guys ever go to the city to party?” Heath asked.
“Nope,” Nick replied. “Our focus is on hunting down monsters before they kill people. We don’t have much time for frivolous activities.”
“This is going to be like working with a bunch of old folks,” the alpha joked. “Doesn’t anyone ever have any fun?”
“Sure, we do,” Brynn said with a sly glance at Sydney. “Some of us have more fun than others.”
Syd grinned at the hint that she snuck out to find men to sleep with from time to time. “There’s always time for that sort of fun,” she said.
“It’s a pity you’re a werecougar,” Franko said with a smirk. “If you were a werewolf, I’d hit you up for some of that action.”
“We don’t date our coworkers,” Liam said with a frown when the alpha looked over at me to see my reaction. “It’s against the rules,” he added.
“Who made that rule?” Heath asked, still staring at me. I watched through Emma’s eyes, since her gaze was still glued to him.
“Agent Steel,” Nick told him.
“Some rules were meant to be broken,” our newest recruit said with a smirk.
“Some legs were meant to be broken if certain rules are ignored,” Crowmon warned him, pointedly glancing at the twins to indicate they were unhappy with him hitting on me.
The newbie was smart enough not to scoff at the threat out loud, but we could all see his amusement. He was used to lesser wolves bowing to his authority and obeying his every word. “I’ll be sure to behave myself,” he said mockingly.
“You’d better,” Yas said. “Because I’m the one who gets to punish anyone who breaks the rules.” She’d just made that up, but I glanced over at Liam to see him nodding in agreement.
“What the hell are you?” Franko asked. “No normal vampire can stay awake during the day, or harm living creatures.”
“I’m special,” the bloodsucker said with a toothy grin. “I live outside the normal rules. I’m stronger and faster than the rest of my kind and no shifter is a match for me in battle.”
He’d seen her in action during our mission to Jade Falls, but a lot had been going on at the time. He didn’t know just how dangerous she could be, especially when she was angry. If I felt threatened by him, he wouldn’t know what hit him until after she handed him his ass.
“You’ve already made yourself an enemy with the squirrel, lad,” Crowmon warned him when he opened his mouth to retaliate
. “You don’t want to get on the vampire’s bad side, too.”
The rookie glanced over at me to see Emma was still glaring at him. He swallowed down his retort, but I could tell it wasn’t easy for him. “I guess I’d better make amends,” he said and stood up.
My back stiffened as he loped over to the kitchen. I ignored him as I poured myself a fresh mug of tea and added it to the tray of coffees I’d made.
“I’d really like to apologize,” Heath said. I thought he was talking to Emma, but he put his hand on mine before I could pick the tray up.
I yanked my hand away and took a step back from him. “Don’t!” I warned him as Emma moved into a crouch on my shoulder. She was ready to attack him at a moment’s notice.
“I barely touched you,” the alpha said in consternation. “Most female werewolves enjoy my attention.” His tone had turned seductive and I felt him reach out with his alpha power. It wasn’t as strong as the lure Colton had used on Sydney, but it was an obvious ploy to try to win me over.
“You probably didn’t hurt any of them by repeatedly setting off spells that caused them pain, then showed absolutely no remorse for it,” I snapped. I heard the others snicker, but just barely. They were too quiet for Franko to hear them.
“I just apologized,” he pointed out sarcastically. “That’s showing remorse, just in case you weren’t aware of it.”
His snotty attitude was almost as repulsive as his touch had been. “Yeah, I can see how sorry you are,” I said with an eye roll and picked the tray up. “By the way, Emma hates your guts. You’d better watch your back around her.”
The squirrel swiveled her head so she could watch him as I sauntered back into the living room. He didn’t know I watched through her eyes as he stared at my butt. The look on his face was anything but remorseful. It was obvious he was going to keep flirting with me despite my lack of interest in him. He didn’t stand a chance with me, but I couldn’t tell him why. I would never be attracted to the alpha because I already belonged to someone else.
Chapter Three
AFTER AN HOUR OR SO of stilted conversation where Heath did his best to pry into our secrets, it was time to get back to training. “Syd, test Agent Franko’s accuracy at the indoor range,” Liam requested as we left the living room. Crowmon was the only one who remained seated. He turned the TV on and began to channel surf.
