by Jo Penn
One of the wolf shifter’s knocked on an officer door. “Sorry to interrupt, Second. You have a visitor.”
“Hey, cutie, come on in.” Tripp stood up from behind a big desk. “I thought you finished at five thirty today.”
“I was let go early. Permanently.” Edward walked around the desk and suddenly felt a whole lot better when wrapped in Tripp’s arms. Everything inside him said this is where he was meant to be, right here, surrounded by this man’s arms and hearing his heartbeat.
“Sorry, Eddie, that’s disappointing. Can we chat later, Drax?”
“No problem.” A tall, very hot man with creamy blond hair stood up and inclined his head. “Good to meet you, Eddie.”
“Eddie, this is Drax Charmers, Enforcer for the Starters pack, Alliance and Shifter Council member,” Tripp introduced.
“Nice to meet you, too.” Edward made sure not to stare. Though Drax wasn’t as hot as Edward’s bear, as far as Edward was concerned anyway, the big man sure was gorgeous.
“I’ll speak to you tomorrow, Tripp.”
“Tell me what happened,” Tripp said as soon as Drax left the office.
Edward explained about the last few days at work and being called in to speak to his boss. Tripp shut down his computer, locked up some files and handed Edward a card.
“If you want, give that lawyer a call, find out what he thinks.”
Edward tucked the card into his satchel and left the police precinct with Tripp. He liked that about the man. While Tripp may have opinions and think he was right, he didn’t try and manipulate or coerce, he didn’t push and get annoyed when Edward made his own choices. After having an ex-husband who whined, manipulated, and made Edward feel an inch tall whenever he didn’t agree with the man, it had taken a very long time for Edward to begin to see his worth again, believe in himself and realize what had happened. Tripp gave a suggestion. He talked, listened and left it with Edward to sort out while still being there for him. And Edward was finding he did the same with Tripp. It was pretty damn good, actually.
Though thankfully their relationship wasn’t perfect, that would be weird and get fairly boring if it was, Edward felt. They barracked for different baseball teams and had a loud argument over the last game. Edward couldn’t stand sushi, Tripp loved it and argued Edward had no taste. Tripp ate so much fish Edward was sure the man would turn into a sea creature, or begin to smell like one at least. And one time they had a huge argument over paranormals. Nope, not perfect, and that was fine. He didn’t need perfect, he needed real and Tripp was certainly that.
Tonight, it was Tripp’s turn to choose the venue for their date and he’d asked Edward to stay at his place. They hadn’t had sex since the first day and he was certain he’d go insane soon from all the wet dreams and constantly craving the bear shifter’s touch, so when Tripp asked, Edward readily agreed to spend the night. Hell, the way he felt now, he may never want to leave. He hadn’t seen Tripp’s house yet, and could just imagine it was big, comfortable and a bit like a man cave. They stopped on the way for Edward to shower, change, and collect his overnight bag, Tripp advising him to dress warm. As he didn’t mind surprises, he was happy to go along with it and not badger too much for more details.
They spoke about Edward’s work options on the drive. He wasn’t too worried, he had a lot of experience and his degree now, so he could do temping for a while until he found a position he enjoyed. Tripp told him more about the pack accountant job. Edward was surprised to learn the pack actually had an accounting firm in the business district not far from Stenhouse Finance. The pack firm looked after all the finances for the pack, plus did the taxes, charity donations distributions, and other things such as commodities, insurance, and whatever else was needed. Apparently, they were expanding and wanted another two accountants and a financial analyst. One accountant was for payroll, the other working with the business manager on setting up and maintaining stock portfolios.
“It’s a newer position and will be working with the Alliance a fair bit as all the different groups have a few joint accounts with stocks. The Alliance has a really good accountant who has set everything up. Do you remember River Aston?”
Oh yeah, hard to forget. “Yeah, why?”
“One of his many brothers is an accountant. Mac. He set up the Alliance accounts—”
“Hell, I didn’t even realize. Mac Aston? I know him. My ex-supervisor said he’s top of the field and kept a picture of him as her screensaver.”
Tripp quirked a brow. “Sorry, but your ex-supervisor sounds like an idiot. Though Mac is good to look at, it’s probably unprofessional to have his photo plastered on her computer.”
For some reason, Tripp saying he found another man attractive rubbed Edward completely the wrong way. He’d been jealous before, knew what it felt like, but this was on a whole new level. He glared at Tripp and crossed his arms.
“If you think he’s so attractive, why don’t you date him?”
Tripp smiled softly. “Because I want you. I might think Mac’s attractive, but you’re the one I want and need, the one I’m falling for.”
Edward melted faster than a Popsicle at the beach. His bear was so sweet. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Then don’t say other men are attractive! Geez!” Edward exclaimed.
Tripp grimaced. “Right, okay, I was just—”
“Drax is freaking gorgeous –”
“Fine.” Tripp growled. “I get your point, mate.”
Smiling, Edward relaxed. “I’m starved, where are we going for dinner?”
Just like he thought, Edward liked Tripp and his brothers’ house. It was big and comfortable, a bit of a bachelor pad, but had some touches that made it a home. He was glad he listened to Tripp and dressed warm for the brothers put on a barbecue, and about twenty pack members turned up. After spending so much time with Tripp over the last week, Edward had lost a lot of his reservation and indifference toward creatures, and was beginning to see they weren’t that much different in a lot of ways. They had families, dreams, and ambitions, and like humans, there were assholes and there were good guys.
He met Drax’s mate, a Lord and wizard from the Armstrong witch and wizard coven, and for some reason Edward had a peculiar buzzing sensation when around the creature. Mason had just smiled and assured him it was nothing more than Edward’s wizard genes recognizing a powerful one of his kind. Denying he was a wizard just invoked a laugh from Tripp and Mason, which Edward protested.
Mason smiled. “Unless you had been around powerful witches and wizards previously, you probably wouldn’t have experienced this before. It is simply a wizard recognizing a leader. I guess it’s like a wolf recognizing an alpha wolf. It is part of their biological make up, instinctual. It is similar for my kind and you, I can see, have a little wizard biology.”
“My kind? I’m human.” This was freaky. At least the buzzing had stopped.
Mason chuckled. “Yeah, you are, don’t worry.” He grinned at Edward’s alarmed look. “When Tripp claims you, you’ll acquire heightened senses, be stronger, faster, heal quicker, be immortal, and I have a feeling, be able to cast a few simple spells. We’ll make a time for me to train you.”
Edward stared at the wizard a full minute, his brain stopping briefly before rushing over itself. He glared up at Tripp.
“That’s it. You’re never claiming me!”
“Oh, hell no! That’s not going to work!” Tripp exclaimed loudly and waved a hand at Mason. “Isn’t there a spell or potion you can give Eddie?”
Mason, for some reason, leaned closer to Edward and studied his eyes. When the powerful wizard’s brows shot up, Edward had the feeling he may not like what the man had to say.
“Ah, we’ll talk soon, after you two have bonded.” Mason looked at Tripp seriously. “Guards. Lots of them.”
Edward protested, but Mason just chuckled and wandered off to join Finn, Dalton, and a few others. He had no idea what the hell just happened, but something t
old him everything he knew was about to be turned on its head. Edward wondered if he could turn someone into a toad after Tripp claimed him.
“I know that look. It’s one the wizard’s and witches get when they’re plotting to turn someone into something.” Alpha Urian joined them.
“I’m not a wizard!” Edward practically yelled, spilling his drink and freaking out a bit.
“Settle down, mate. You’re not going to turn into a wizard,” Tripp admonished, though he didn’t look convinced.
“You better hope not, or I’ll be turning you into a skunk,” he warned.
“That could be fun to see.” Urian laughed. “Now, I was told you’re in need of another job. I’ll let the accounting firm know you’ll start Monday.”
“What? Wait…hey!” Edward was flabbergasted as the Alpha walked away whistling. “He can’t do that…can he? He’s not, like, you know, Alpha of me too now is he, because we’re in relationship?”
Laughing, Tripp and Trekk shook their heads, laughed some more, and when Edward protested, Tripp pulled him onto his lap, hugged and kissed him.
“No, cutie, he can’t. If you don’t want the job, don’t take it. An Alpha does what is good for the pack, he can’t force anyone to do anything—”
“Well, technically, he can. But Uri’s not like that and it’s against shifter laws.” Trekk frowned. “I need to tell him I want to work on my inventions.”
“Oh, thank fuck!” Tripp practically yelled. “This past week we’ve had dozens of complaints from the soldiers about the assigned teams and their tasks, and not knowing where you are half the time.”
Trekk flushed. “Well, at least I didn’t threaten to gut them all like Drax did.”
It was a good night right up until a dozen phones beeped at exactly the same time. After that, the night went to hell for Edward.
Chapter Nine
“The lights weren’t only deliberately disabled, the bulbs were switched with cameras.” Pack techie Adrian Nosco, held a small computer in one hand while walking and pointing with the other hand. “Every third light, both sides, all the way from the city. They also did the same thing out to the Sanchez Compound, Armstrong coven, Durand coven, Aston Estate, Fae guild, and even the Gargoyle property. When you noticed the lights weren’t working last night, Tripp, you alerted us to a freakin’ brilliant set up.” Adrian was bursting with enthusiasm. “They’ve been recording our every coming and going. They’ll know when the pack patrols are, the soldiers’ movements, the changeovers and our deliveries. Yeah, real smart.” Adrian grinned. “And fucking dumb.”
“I don’t see it as dumb.” Drax growled. “And why the hell didn’t any of the soldiers notice the lights were out? Time to go back to training, this time with Baron and me.”
The soldiers all shuddered and looked alarmed. Baron Sanchez was one tough Enforcer, just like Drax. These soldiers were going to have their asses handed to them.
“‘Course you don’t—err, I mean…” Adrian gulped and stepped away from Drax. “Dumb, yeah, they were dumb in the fact they didn’t route the feed.” The techie frowned. “They weren’t too subtle about the lights, they should have just taken out one light a mile, we wouldn’t have noticed that too soon, and they would have gotten a lot of information.”
“Who put in the cameras? Renegades? Hunters?” Tripp demanded, furious that someone was spying on them.
“Jerry’s following the feedback to the source. We should know soon. For now, I’ve stopped all the cameras, nothing should be recording.”
None of this felt right. Walking down the road studying the lights, the pedestrian strip on the right, the small strip mall that pack members often stopped at on their way home, and the forest on the other side, Tripp just knew how this went down, and what may be coming.
“Talk to me,” Uri said quietly, keeping Tripp away from others. Drax and Beta Kelly joined them.
“This is a fucking set up.” Tripp looked up. “Vicus was right to tell us to put wolves in trees. But we need more observation points.” He looked down the road. “It’s the Hunters. But what they’re after, I’m not sure. They have access to all the members of the pack…doesn’t make sense. Hunters do strategic, small attacks on groups of two or three. They keep their odds of winning when taking out paranormals in their favor. They won’t change their methodology now. It’s worked too well for them. I believe they’re searching for something in particular. Adrian may say it was dumb taking out so many lights, but maybe they were in a hurry to get information.”
“Right, but we have nothing.”
“We have the feed location!” Adrian yelled out.
Drax slapped Tripp on the back. “Let’s go deal with this before pride or the vamp coven gets there first.”
Grinning, Tripp jogged to Drax’s brand new hotted-up truck. A month ago, Drax’s relatively new truck had been blown up by a disgruntled wizard so this truck was decked out with magic protection, alarms for bombs, and bullet proof glass. Surprising both Drax and Tripp, Adrian jumped in the backseat.
They turned and stared at the techie.
“What are you doing?” Drax growled.
The computer in Adrian’s hand shook and his eyes were wide, but Tripp could scent the excitement. He didn’t know Adrian well, though he had vetted the young Halfling when Adrian applied to join the Starters pack a few months ago. All references came back without anything more than great computer technician, friendly, good team player, neurotic and quiet.
No one mentioned the cub liked to dance to hip hop and would take over the entire pack bar by rewiring the sound system so he got to dance all night. Nor did anyone warn them that he went hyper on sausage night at the pack house eating hall, nor did they say he had insomnia and wandered the land and halls day and night until he finally succumbed and would sleep hanging upside down in shifted form in the dorm room house. Urian had kicked some asses over withholding pertinent information about a perspective pack member. Most had laughed at Urian and wished him luck, though they did ask if they could have Adrian for tech help occasionally. Uri hung up on them.
“You’ll need me,” Adrian squeaked, struggling to get the seatbelt on while holding the computer. “I can check the feeds and save the data they were recording. We’ll need it to find out who they are targeting.”
“Get out,” Drax ordered.
Drax was a fierce protector and felt all the creatures and people in Milson Valley were his responsibility, no matter who they were. Except Renegades and Hunters. They were for slaughtering. Tripp was also a protector and had more patience. Not now though.
“But—”
“Out!” Tripp roared. Windows shook and Drax shot him a glare. “What? You didn’t get shatter proof glass? Why the hell not?”
“Well, I didn’t think you bears would be sitting in my frigging truck roaring!” Drax shot back and slammed the car into gear.
“No? What about the felines? You don’t think Baron or Sebastian will be sitting here and meekly shut the fuck up if you tell them to because you were cheap and didn’t get shatter proof glass?” Tripp glared back at Adrian, who was bouncing in the seat and still struggling with the seatbelt. “What is your problem with the seatbelt? Just click it in.”
“It’s defective.” Adrian hiccupped.
“Shit. Do I need to get out and help you do up the seatbelt like you’re a damn toddler?” Drax got out, jerked the back door open and did just that, Adrian remaining perfectly still. “There. Now be quiet and don’t touch anything. Why are we letting him come along?”
“He could be useful.”
Once Drax was back in and on the road, Tripp checked his phone and shot off a text message to Eddie. He hoped his mate wasn’t too pissed their night had been interrupted.
“How’s it going with Eddie? He doesn’t seem angry, though Seb said the other day he yelled at the receptionist for messing up a booking.”
Tripp chuckled, remembering his mate mentioning that. “Marcie’s a mean feline. She tol
d him she was putting him on a list of anti-paranormals and would be watching him.”
“Man, she went for Luka a while ago. Baron should deal with her.”
“She’s just a cranky bitch.”
“You want to go left at the intersection, Enforcer Drax!” Adrian called out and hiccupped.
Drax turned left. “Front or back?”
“I’m partial to both.” Tripp smirked.
Ten minutes later, they pulled the truck to a stop five hundred yards from where Adrian said the feed was coming from. Adrian was still hiccupping, Drax and Tripp ignoring the twitchy shifter who also couldn’t seem to stay still. Having not agreed who was taking the front and back, they did rock, paper, scissors. Drax got back, Tripp front.
“Now stay here and stay down.”
“But—”
“Stay,” Tripp ordered, Adrian shrinking back beneath his alpha voice.
Taking the gun Drax handed him, Tripp and Drax kept to the shadows and crept toward the lovely old house Adrian swore the feed was coming from. This was a good neighborhood with a mix of professionals, couples with children, and empty nesters. Tripp didn’t like the feel, it didn’t fit the Renegades, nor Hunters. So who was it?
They moved swiftly and were nearly at the house when hearing a brush of fabric against a tree. Tripp had heard the sound far too many times not to identify what it was. He’d been trained by big bad bears who didn’t like to be startled, so he knew what he heard. There were feline shifters here. They must have traced the cameras placed in the street lights near the Sanchez Compound back to this location also. Drax pointed to the left, Tripp nodding. They split up, each going a different way. Scenting the air, he knew who was here and crept around behind some vampires, while Drax headed toward the fae.
