Risky Bargains

by J. C. Diem

  “Sure thing, boss,” the werecougar said with a lazy salute. “Come on, Franko,” she added. “Let’s see if you’re as good as you’ve boasted.” From the way the alpha swaggered after her, he was confident he was going to impress her.

  Liam waited for the pair to be gone before he rounded on his twin. “What are you lot up to?” he demanded.

  “It’s best if you don’t know the details, bro,” Nick said. “That way, you can’t be held accountable.”

  “I need to know what you’re planning to do to Franko,” Liam insisted. We didn’t usually refer to each other by our surnames, but I noticed were all doing it to the alpha.

  “No, you don’t, lad,” Crowmon said without bothering to turn away from the TV. “All you need to know is that we’ve got it covered. The annoying alpha won’t be here for long, we’ll see to that.” His tone was smug and confident of our success.

  “How are we going to explain my utter inability to fight, shoot and do anything else that remotely resembles fighting?” I asked.

  “He knows about the spells now,” Liam said with a shrug. “There’s no point in hiding that they’re responsible for your lack of progress.”

  “I hate the new guy,” Yas said with a scowl. “But not as much as he hates vampires and zombies.”

  Emma’s nose twitched in agreement. She was still staring at the door he’d vanished through and I could sense her plotting her revenge.

  “I’d like to borrow Emma for a while,” Crowmon said in a nonchalant tone as he stood up.

  Liam knew the trickster was up to mischief, but he didn’t protest. “I’ll be in the coms room,” he said and trotted over to the stairs.

  I crossed to Crowmon and Emma leaped onto his shoulder. The pair exited through the door in the kitchen as I followed Nick over to the boxing ring. Brynn started her workout routine, while I concentrated on avoiding my brother’s kicks and punches.

  Sensing Emma moving around outside, I wondered what she was up to. I couldn’t take a peek through her eyes while I was training.

  Feeling an intense gaze on me a while later, I flicked a look over my shoulder to see the alpha staring at me. Syd must have finished testing his abilities already. When I turned my head away, Nick’s fist was coming directly at my face. Thankfully, he pulled his punch before he could hit me, but it was a close thing. I was just glad I hadn’t dropped to the floor and curled into a protective ball again.

  “You must be really new to training,” Heath said with a hint of derision as Nick called a halt to our session. “You didn’t land a single punch.”

  “It’s the spells,” I said as I climbed between the ropes. “They prevent me from attacking others and from defending myself.”

  He seemed skeptical about my explanation. “I guess they don’t stop you from driving like a maniac.”

  “Nope,” I said and caught the water bottle Yas tossed to me. “That’s one skill the witch couldn’t take from me.”

  “Who is this witch?” the alpha asked, moving closer to encroach on my personal space.

  “That’s classified,” Nick said, stepping between us. “It’s your turn in the ring, Franko,” he added with a challenge in his tone.

  Instantly distracted, Heath grinned. “You’re on, Nicky.”

  “Don’t call me Nicky,” my brother said with a grimace. “That’s a girl’s name.”

  “Sure thing, Nicky,” the new recruit taunted him. “I’ll try to remember that.”

  Yas cut a look at me and I subtly rolled my eyes. Franko wasn’t even trying to fit in. He was being a royal pain in the ass to everyone.

  “How did Franko do at the range?” Liam asked as he ambled downstairs to join us. I was pretty sure he wanted to be closer to the ring, just in case things got out of hand.

  “He scored well,” Syd reported grudgingly. “He’s as good as he boasted.”

  The Shifter Corps troops had proven to be effective during our battle with the werewolf-like creatures in Jade Falls. Shooting stationary targets was different from firing at moving creatures, but it was still a good way to assess his abilities.

  “Figures,” I heard Brynn mutter dourly as she continued her exercise routine.

  Franko stripped his t-shirt off, even though Nick left his on. The alpha had a beautiful body, but I felt nothing for him at all. There was no spark of lust like I felt when I was with Jax. He flicked a look at me, then scowled when he saw I wasn’t drooling over him like he’d expected me to.

  “What a douche nozzle,” Yas muttered. I had to clamp down hard on my laughter. I wasn’t sure what that was, but it had definitely been an insult.

  Straight away, Heath made it clear that he was going to try to dominate Nick in the ring. I felt him subtly using his alpha power to subdue my brother as the pair sparred. My brother was good, but he was a lesser wolf compared to the new recruit. He shook his head as he tried to ignore the insidious command for him to bend his knee.

  Franko didn’t hold back and he didn’t pull his punches or kicks. Ruthless and brutal, he grinned when he landed a punch that snapped Nick’s head back. I saw Liam flinch, but our boss didn’t order the pair to stop. He stood there stoically as the newbie pounded on his twin.

  Anger began pulsing in my head as the alpha increased his power, making Nick falter and become slower. Landing another punch on his opponent’s jaw that made him reel backwards, Heath went in for another jab, but Yas was suddenly standing directly in front of him. Once again, I’d used her as my puppet without thinking. “What the hell?” Franko asked at the bloodsucker’s unexpected arrival.

  “It’s my turn to spar with you,” I said through Yasmine’s lips. “You can’t use your alpha power on me to make me weak and slow, asshat.”

  Heath gaped at her, seeming to be astonished that she’d known what he was up to. She grabbed hold of his arm before he could defend himself. Spinning in a half circle, she let him go and he sailed across the room. Hitting the wall in the living room, he fell to the floor with a thud.

  Instead of being annoyed that I’d used her as my plaything again, Yas nodded at me, glad to have been a part of the alpha’s humiliation. “Are you okay?” she asked Nick.

  My brother had already recovered from his injuries and nodded. “I’m fine,” he said, but his tone was annoyed.

  Crowmon entered through the kitchen door just as Franko was climbing to his feet. “Oh, dear, did you have a wee accident, lad?” he asked. Emma was perched on his shoulder. Her nose twitched and she cut a look at me. If she’d been alive, she would have been quivering in excitement about what she and the jester had been up to.

  “Did you use your alpha power against Nick?” Liam demanded.

  Franko wiped blood from his temple where he’d split it when he’d hit the wall. “Of course not,” he said hotly. “I don’t need to use my status as an alpha when I’m fighting lesser wolves.” The cut had already healed.

  I knew that was a flat out lie, but the twins hadn’t felt him using his power. “Yeah, you did,” I said flatly. “I can feel it when alphas use their power. You were using it the whole time you were beating on Nick.”

  “That must be one of your talents,” Syd figured. Knowing he’d been caught cheating, Heath’s lips thinned.

  “You just proved we can’t trust you, Agent Franko,” Liam said in heavy disapproval. “Not only did you abuse your alpha power, you lied to us about it.”

  “That’s not wise, boyo,” Crowmon said, shaking his finger chidingly. “That’s no way to treat your team members.”

  “You’re not even a shifter,” the alpha said with a glare. “Stay out of this!”

  “Or what?” Yas asked. “You’ll beat him up, too?” Her hands were planted on her hips and her chin was thrust forward. She was ready for a fight and she didn’t need me to control her. The vampire would be all too happy to rip the alpha apart.

  “Training is over for today,” Liam declared. His expression told Franko that he’d failed his hand-to-hand training.
It wasn’t going to be easy to gain our trust now that the alpha had screwed up so badly.

  Chapter Four

  INSTEAD OF SCAMPERING over to me like she usually did, Emma remained perched on Crowmon’s shoulder. Franko headed upstairs to his room, in a huff that he’d been caught out. I delayed taking a shower and crossed to the living room. “Why do you two smell like pine trees?” I asked, wrinkling my nose. Sap was stuck in the squirrel’s fur.

  Crowmon looked alarmed, then clicked his fingers. Both the sap and the smell vanished. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, girly,” he said with a sly look.

  I delved into Emma’s mind to see what the pair had been up to, then put a hand over my mouth to muffle my snickers. “Franko is going to freak out when he sees what you two have done!” I predicted.

  “What did they do?” Yas asked in anticipation.

  “You’ll find out soon enough,” Crowmon said with a pleased grin.

  Emma was no longer sticky when I picked her up. I cradled her in the crook of my arm and waited for the alpha to discover the prank the pair had pulled on him.

  Heath returned about ten minutes later, wearing a fresh change of clothes. Crowmon slumped a little when he realized the werewolf hadn’t discovered their prank yet.

  I headed upstairs to shower and get changed. Nick was more subdued than usual as he followed me upstairs. He was waiting for me when I opened my door to head back downstairs. “Can I talk to you for a second?” he asked.

  “Sure,” I replied and stepped backwards to let him enter my bedroom.

  Nick shut the door so our conversation would remain private. “Thanks for using Yas to put Franko in his place earlier,” he said. His bruises had faded, but if he’d been human, he would have been a mess.

  “I wish I could have done it myself,” I said with a hint of bitterness.

  “Can you really feel it when alphas use their power?”

  “Yeah. I felt what Colton was doing to Syd at the Shifter Corps base. I thought everyone could feel it.”

  He shook his head at that notion. “Sometimes we can, but Franko was so subtle that I had no idea what he was doing. If he used his talents against the other werewolves, it’s no wonder his test scores were higher than usual.”

  “Is it against the rules?” I asked.

  “It’s considered cheating. Especially when he’s up against us lesser wolves.” Now it was his turn to sound bitter.

  “You guys warned me that alphas aren’t much fun to deal with,” I said. “Now I know what you mean. He’s being a real pain in the butt so far.”

  Nick chuckled and slung his arm over my shoulder. “He’s only going to get worse,” he predicted as he opened the door. He almost let out a yelp when he saw Yas standing on the other side. I’d sensed her presence and wasn’t surprised.

  “Let me guess who you’re talking about,” the vampire drawled. “He has red hair and a huge stick up his butt.”

  I snorted out a giggle as the pair escorted me downstairs. My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I’d missed out on a snack earlier. Our schedule had been disrupted by Heath’s arrival.

  We all worked together to cook dinner, but Franko just sat on the couch with Crowmon. The god studiously ignored our newest arrival, who kept glancing at me constantly. Liam had warned him it was against the rules for us to date, but it hadn’t sunk into his thick skull yet.

  As usual, we scoffed down our meal like a bunch of ravenous animals. I did my best not to glare at the alpha as he sat in Jax’s seat across from me. The rookie was taking Agent Remington’s place in every way possible. It grated on my nerves to have him in my face constantly. Yas and Emma sat on the couch rather than at the end of the table to watch us eat this time. They were both wary of Franko and wanted to keep their distance from him.

  Feeling emotionally wrung out, I went to bed earlier than usual. I was deeply asleep when Emma shook me awake a couple of hours later. “What’s wrong?” I asked fuzzily, then realized I could dimly hear someone pounding on the door. Someone was yelling, but I couldn’t make out his words. My phone buzzed to let me know I’d received a message. Liam had just texted me to tell me to open my door. “It’s time to face the music, roadkill,” I said to my minion.

  Emma’s beady eyes were bright with anticipation when I pulled a robe on and ambled over to the door. I opened it to see the entire team standing in the hallway.

  “I want that thing out of here!” Franko snarled, stabbing his finger at Emma.

  “What’s going on?” I asked sleepily, pretending I didn’t already know what she’d done.

  “That filthy rodent filled my bed with pinecones!” the alpha growled.

  I arched my eyebrows in surprise, then looked at Emma. “How?” I asked in consternation. “She’s just a squirrel.”

  “I don’t know how she did it!” he said in rage. He was so angry the veins on his neck and forehead were standing out. He took a step closer to me and Liam put his hand up to stop him. The alpha’s power rose and the twins instinctively shrank back from him.

  “What’s all this fuss about?” Crowmon asked as climbed the stairs to the coms room. He only used his bedroom as a changing room, since he didn’t need to sleep. “Whew! Why does it smell like pine trees in here?” he exclaimed. He strolled over to the newbie’s bedroom and stuck his head inside. “Did you know your bed is full of pinecones, lad?” he asked with an audible smirk. The blanket and sheets must have smothered their scents until the rookie had pulled them back to go to bed.

  “It was you!” Heath realized. “You both did this!”

  Brynn brushed past him to stick her head into his room and inhaled through her mouth. “The only recent scent in there is yours, Franko,” she said flatly.

  Emma didn’t have a scent, since she was undead. Crowmon did, but it was very faint and almost undetectable. Franko grabbed the god by the arm and dragged him closer to lean down to sniff him. He thrust the deity away with a snarl. “I want to know who put the pinecones in my bed!” he said in a near roar.

  “Chill out, dude,” Yas said with an insulting eye roll. “It’s not like someone put a poisonous snake between your sheets. It was probably Jax. I saw him carrying a bundled-up sheet into his room the day he left. He probably set it up to prank whoever took over his position.”

  “Yeah, that sounds like Jax,” Sydney said to back her up.

  “Get some fresh sheets from the linen closet downstairs, Franko,” Liam ordered. “Your old ones will need to be burned.” No one mentioned that the pinecones were too fresh to have been left there by our former teammate. The alpha was too enraged to realize it.

  “I’ll show him where the furnace is,” Nick volunteered.

  “I’ll go with you,” Yas said. The vampire trusted Heath about as much as I did, which was not at all. She wasn’t about to leave the two werewolves alone. Not after witnessing the alpha using his power against the twins.

  Muttering beneath his breath, Franko whirled around and stomped into his room. Syd, Brynn and Liam followed me into my bedroom. Crowmon darted in behind us, shutting the door behind him. We burst into laughter, but tried to keep it down, so the new recruit wouldn’t hear us through the soundproofing.

  “Whose idea was it to put pinecones in Franko’s bed?” Liam asked, wiping away tears of laughter on his sleeve.

  “It was mine,” Crowmon admitted. “I asked Emma to climb into the trees and drop fresh pinecones that had sap on their stems down to me. It took a lot of energy to send them to his bed with telekinesis, but it was worth it.”

  It would take the god a week to recover from using so much magic. I hoped nothing would come up that we would need to use his talents for.

  “Franko really freaked out,” Syd said with a smirk. “He clearly can’t handle being the brunt of our jokes.”

  “It shouldn’t take long for us to crack him,” Brynn added. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t kill anyone when he snaps.”

  “Yas will keep her eye on him,�
� I said. “She’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone.”

  “Was it you, or her who tossed the alpha out of the ring?” Liam asked.

  “It was me,” I admitted. “I didn’t like him using Nick as his punching bag.”

  “He’s part of your pack,” Syd said in approval. “You’d do the same for Liam and the supreme alphas.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that, but I didn’t argue with her. The spells wouldn’t even let me see Lexi and Reece in person now without punishing me. Neither of them felt like family to me. They were still strangers who had abandoned me to suffer the relentless brutality of an evil witch.

  Chapter Five

  ONCE AGAIN, FRANKO sat back and did nothing while the rest of us prepared breakfast the next morning. Liam sent the alpha a few frowns, but it was obvious our new recruit expected to be waited on hand and foot.

  “Does he think we’re his servants, or something?” Sydney whispered too quietly for Heath to overhear her.

  “This is his last free pass,” Liam replied just as quietly. “He’ll have to pull his weight along with everyone else.”

  Crowmon was slouched in his usual spot on the couch. He couldn’t have heard our boss, but he took matters into his own hands. “If you want to be a part of this squad, you need to get off your ass, lad,” he said. Ass came out sounding like ‘arse’ in his Irish accent.

  Franko narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  The god hiked his thumb at those of us who were slaving away in the kitchen, setting the table and generally making ourselves useful. “You’re the only one sitting there like a big, hairy, freeloader.” I snorted out a quiet laugh at the insult.

  “You’re not helping them either,” Heath pointed out with a scowl.