“Yeah, about that, Uncle Hank signed the business over to me and only me when I turned eighteen. I have all the paperwork to prove it. Sorry to burst your bubble, you’re not entitled to anything. But, please, feel free to try any one of those things I can see swirling around in that brain of yours. Without me, the bikes don’t exist. I design them, build them, and sell them. You, on the other hand, do absolutely nothing. I am Junkyard Hogs and have been since I turned sixteen and took over for Uncle Hank.
“You have four days, and that is it,” Sky warned. “I want this place cleaned up and for you to get your shit together and be gone! I’m not kidding this time. Bring your car to the shop in the next couple of days, and I’ll make sure it’s up to snuff. Beyond that, you’re on your own. If you don’t want to wait for the money, then take off now, otherwise, do what I say.”
Turning, Sky was going to leave with confidence she didn’t feel. She knew deep down this was the right thing, but she also felt bad for letting her aunt and uncle down. Not watching where she was going, she tripped on a pile of clothes and almost landed on her ass. Shelby started laughing, and that was the last straw for Sky. Straightening her body, Sky was determined to get the hell out of there before she hurt Shelby or worse. Was it wrong to want to kill your cousin?
She was almost to the door when Sky heard Shelby say,” Hey, wait, you forgot to leave my allowance.” When Sky didn’t show any indication of slowing down in her pursuit of the door, the little tart jumped out of bed and grabbed her by the arm, holding her hand out, tapping her foot like she was put out for even having to move.
Standing there in all her naked glory, Sky wondered how evil could come in such a beautiful package. Shelby was tall, about five feet ten inches and thin with the perfect model body. The long, blonde hair and bright, blue eyes added to her appeal. The fake boobs she conned some man into paying for when she turned eighteen only added to her already perfect figure. At one time in Sky’s life, she was jealous of Shelby. Her cousin had everything everyone ever wanted—classically beautiful looks, if she laid off the make-up and stripper gear and parents who loved and cherished her and placed the world at her feet.
That jealousy was thankfully short-lived. Sky would take her petite, chubby body, work ethics, and morals over anything Shelby had to offer. Shelby was the epitome of every girl's dream until you looked at her eyes. If you paid attention long enough, there was no way to miss the lack of anything behind them. No feeling, no emotion, nothing but cold blankness.
Reaching into the pocket of her jeans, Sky grabbed the money she’d stashed there earlier and handed it to Shelby. Without saying another word, she left, knowing she couldn’t look back. After this build, Skylar Thomas didn’t have any family left. Shelby was on her own. As sad as it was not to have any family left, she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her chest.
Chapter 2
Sebastian ‘Bas’ Frost was pacing the conference room like the caged animal he was. He couldn’t force himself to take his seat. His animal was tearing him apart inside, demanding the blood of his best friend and teammate, Wyatt. The human side of Bas couldn’t wrap his brain around what was going on with his animal. The only thing Wyatt had done was mate with Peyton, Bas’ sister. Bas was all for the union personally, but the beast inside of him was going off the rails.
His control was slipping a little more, and each time, Bas had no idea when or what was going to tip him over the edge finally. He should be feeling some peace right about now; the guys were all together, completing their missions. The women who had joined their group enhanced, enriched, and added to all their lives more than Bas ever thought possible. Thankfully, they all seemed happy as well. The problem was, for the unmated men, it also added to their growing doom of what the future possibly held for them individually.
Looking around the conference room table, he tried to calm his restless beast. His team had gathered for yet another sit-rep with Declan ‘Senior’ Jonas, their boss. Senior ran NAC and in a roundabout way, all of their lives. Bas couldn’t force himself to interact with any of his teammates just yet. He needed to keep pacing and trying to calm himself before he was obliged to sit and endure what was to come. Bas knew this meeting was going to recap all that had been happening recently. They’d been over it so many times before, he wanted to throw a temper tantrum like a two-year-old and insist he didn’t need to be involved, but his loyalty and professionalism dictated otherwise. He would sit there and listen to everything, and then, when it was over, he was going to ask for leave.
Jacks, his Alpha, wasn’t going to like his request, but Bas couldn’t come up with any other alternative. If space and time away from the Team didn’t help what was going on in his fractured mind, he knew his next step would be dire in nature. Bas couldn’t risk going rogue. It was something they all feared, and Bas’ concern was becoming imminent. He believed he might be on the verge. All his irrational feelings were pointing in that direction, and it scared the fuck out of him.
Bas continued his pacing, hoping none of the men in the room would comment on his weird behavior or engage him in any way. If he wasn't stuck in this room and was out in the lodge, the tension in his body would be more controllable. However, confined in the same room with Wyatt, smelling his sister on his skin and clothing was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. He didn’t have any creepy incestual feelings about Peyton; that was gross and abhorrent to Bas. The real problem was his bear was a possessive son of a bitch. If he deemed something his and someone else dared to touch it, all hell broke out.
It didn’t even need to be something as important as a person. It could be anything—a blanket, book, CD, or his bed. His bear was more territorial than most. It had been that way since his first shift when his brother, Link, tried to borrow one of his shirts. The beast went nuts. His old man had to come in and break up the fight, dragging Bas out of the house, into the woods, and teaching him a lesson he never forgot. The old man was a bastard, and his lessons always involved pain. No wise words of wisdom from Frank Frost to bestow on his boys. No, that would be too civilized and painless for his dad’s tastes. His lessons had always been harsh.
That time, though, Bas had gotten more than the pain. He also got the realization if he didn’t maintain strict control at all times, he could batter someone brutally without even trying. The fight had resulted in Link having a broken arm and ribs. Bas loved his entirely human brother and never dreamed he would snap so fast and been as brutal to him as he had been that day. Link forgave him, but Bas still harbored regret and guilt the incident ever went that far.
For years after that incident, Bas learned to control his bear and fought every day to make sure nothing like that happened again. He conditioned his mind, body, and soul to counteract the beast’s wills and wants. That was why, after all these years, Bas was having such a hard time with the new feelings coursing through his body. He had thought he had complete control over the beast, but he couldn’t have been more wrong.
All of Alpha Team was finally back at their base in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Three of them had been fate blessed and mated to their partners. It was something Bas should have been happy about because those mating’s provided the rest of them with hope. Three of the men on his team had chances at long and happy lives. He only wished all of them had the same opportunity, but the odds were against them. It was hard to believe that only a few months ago, they hadn’t even realized having true mates was possible.
The Shifter in them needed a binder, a ground so to speak, that would anchor their humanity in the here and now. It would unite both animal and man. The bond the mating created would calm the beast and complete the man. Otherwise, the animal took over, and the man lost not only his humanity to the beast, but to everyone else as well. Rogues were unreachable. His human side would disappear and die, causing him to be nothing more than a maniac, a natural born killer with the skills and strength to cause significant damage. That couldn’t happen. Their kind needed to stay a
s far under the radar as possible.
He couldn’t risk exposure to his human brothers, in order to try to gain back some of his control he had been losing, even to them. His only other alternative was to head out to one of the other NAC teams. His bear didn’t have any attachments to any of them, so it might work. The problem was his bear bristled at the thought of being around other animals.
The Clans believed they were safe living under the radar of peering eyes for many years until they discovered some humans knew about them. Knew way too much about them, in fact. Those were the people NAC and The Holly Group were hunting. Even with the threat of discovery, it was still the job of each group within the Shifter race to govern their men. If a Clansman went rogue, they were taken out, generally by an Alpha or the Second. For Alpha Team, it was Jacks’ job, and if for some reason he couldn’t, then Cash would have to take over. Bas didn’t envy either man with that task.
Bas wanted nothing more than all his teammates to find their true mates and live happily ever after, but looking at Cash, he knew that wasn’t possible. The man had changed over the last couple of months, and he wondered if he was having or feeling some of the same things Bas was. Cash had lost his true mate at a young age, and his chances of combating going rogue were slim.
Legend says when a Shifter meets the woman destiny intended for them, an overwhelming peace would settle between their animal and the man. Bas knew it was true because the guys with mates were calmer, happier, and things around base seemed to settle. No random fights or bloodletting, at least for those three. The other two, including himself, were still fighting, clawing, and hanging on by a thread. They were also trying to keep it from the happy couples.
Damn, thinking about the women, Bas could feel the light they brought to all of them; Ryleigh with her quirky personality, Emma with her mothering, and even Peyton with her sense of humor and laughter. They all brought something new and extraordinary to the place. Then there were the babies, Kenna and soon to be Jacks and Ryleigh’s son. Didn’t they say new life was supposed to bring hope? Bas wasn’t so sure that statement rang true anymore.
There were people out there who meant all of them harm, and that killed Bas and the rest of the Team because none of them knew how to fight all the people coming after them. Bas knew if anything ever happened to any of the women, the men attached to them would follow them over the veil of the living into the dead. It was the Shifter way; once you found your fated mate, nothing, not even life and death, kept them apart.
Bas caught himself wondering why the mated men didn’t just take off, go underground, and protect what should have been so precious to them. Bas knew his bear would insist upon that if he was ever lucky enough to find his fated mate. The bruin wouldn’t trust anyone else with her safety, even Alpha Team. Was it even reasonable to think a woman would be okay with that on any level? Bas didn’t know. He just knew how he felt or assumed how he would feel.
Bas found a corner and propped himself up, leaning into it. It was the only way he would ever stop the incessant pacing. He needed the security of having clearly defined boundaries right now. The walls on either side of him provided that security. Looking at his watch, he knew they only had a couple of minutes before the meeting got started and Jacks dialed in the others. He had a bond with the men in the room; Jacks, Cash, Ethan, Wyatt, and Dalton. He grew up with them, and in some ways, he held them closer than his blooded brothers. These men had fought at his side and saved his ass on more than one occasion. But would they be able to help him get over the weakness in his animal, the insanity currently coursing through his mind?
Bas knew getting his shit together was more important than ever. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there were so many shoes left to drop, too many secrets left to be revealed, and too many lives left to be ruined. He hoped they all made it out of the storm yet to come.
He hated having these thoughts and feelings, and he needed to get his shit together. These people were relying on him, and he wasn’t going to let them down. Being a member of this Team was the most important thing in his life. He liked what NAC did and stood for, saving the less fortunate. It was something that, while he was in the military following orders and doing things no man should be asked to do, he’d never gotten. Now they chose who they would help, and as far as NAC was concerned, no one was expendable to the greater good. That was something the military and government never quite got. Their motto was for the greater good, not lining some politicians or businessman's pockets. NAC's was for anyone that needed them, regardless of who or where they were.
If he went rogue, all those good deeds would be for nothing. He would just be a mindless monster with only one thing on his mind, blood. He would also force Jacks or Cash to take him out, killing a little piece of them. Bas knew if he were in that position, it would indeed destroy a part of him. He didn’t want either of them to be in that position, ever. So, he stood in the corner and breathed deeply, trying to calm his mind and his bear.
These men were his family, not by blood, but by bond. He wasn’t going to let any of them down like he had Link so many years ago. Destiny, the fickle bitch that she was, could kiss his ass. He would find a way to fight this and keep doing what he did best, helping people while still trying to live life to its fullest, even if that meant fighting himself and everything in-between to make that happen.
Bas needed a distraction. All this thinking was getting to him, and his deep breathing wasn’t helping him one bit. Tilting his head up and looking at a small stain on the ceiling, he wondered how in the hell something got up there. He tried to figure the stain out. When he realized in the middle was a glob of paper, Bas chuckled to himself. He wondered which of the guys decided spitballs were the way to break the monotony of having to be in this same room, day in and day out for hours on end. Damn, with the firepower in this meeting room, he was surprised they had reverted to childish antics instead of decorating the walls with bullet holes and fist marks.
They had been on lockdown for a while now because of recent events. Even though Bas didn’t like it, he knew it was the best way to handle all that had hit them lately. Trying to gain some focus and distraction, he cataloged the room. It was like any other conference room—big table, uncomfortable office chairs, utilitarian fixtures, and bland white walls. Shit, maybe they should consider ordering some artwork or something. At least then, he would have a focal point and something nice to look at instead of blank white walls. He had a couple of posters in his room from his teenage years that brought him some inspiration, but he quickly decided the women of the group might not appreciate his choice of artwork. Shit, right about now, even a landscape piece would offer a reprieve.
Having meetings in this room never bothered him before. It was expected and happened frequently, had been happening for years. But with his messed-up mind, the place felt more like a coffin than a room. Emotions, scents, and feelings were bombarding him. None of which was unheard of. Shifters could and did scent emotions and feelings. The problem was Bas was getting them a hundredfold, and it wasn’t helping his already taxed bear.
Trying to distract himself from his uneasy feelings, he started watching the men in the room more intently. He had been so focused on other things lately, he hadn’t taken the time to get a feel for how they were all holding up. Wyatt and Dalton were giving Ethan a hard time. There wasn’t anything unusual there except that Dalton was usually the one standing in the background observing, not taking part in the actual ribbing. He was the youngest of the group and had the hardest time when they were all growing up. Bas never thought the man would change, but the signs that Dalton had were all over the place. Meeting Emma and having Kenna, their little girl, had brought him out of his shell more, and Bas liked what he was seeing.
Wyatt was just Wyatt. Bas glanced at him because he couldn’t focus on the man without enraging his bear. He was their resident computer geek and loved to play jokes on all of them. The man could needle a guy until punches were ultimately thro
wn. They all knew it and accepted it. Bas missed his best friend. Normally, he would have been the first person Bas approached to talk about what was going on with him. But since Wyatt was the cause of the problem, he couldn’t do that, and it was slowly killing him. Ethan, of course, was just sitting there scowling at them. The broody bastard never actually played along much. He even acted like that when they were all children. The man was all business, all the time unless you were talking to him about some weapon. Then he lit up like it was fucking Christmas morning. Noting nothing unusual about Ethan's demeanor, Bas moved on with his observation.
Bas started watching Jacks who was sitting at the head of the table. He had his phone in front of him and was looking at the screen intently. Every once in a while, he would look up, glance at Cash, and then look away with a scowl. Something was going on between the two of them. Those two had been thick as thieves since childhood, just as close, if not closer, than he and Wyatt had been. Now they seemed like they couldn’t even stand to be in the same room together. Bas had no idea what went down or was going down, but someone was going to have to figure it out.
That type of dissension in their Team couldn’t happen. Jacks was Alpha, the lead, but Cash was the heart of the Team. He was the life of the party or the mother of the group, it just depended on what the team needed at the time. Until recently, everyone went to Cash for advice. Now everyone avoided the man. Bas didn’t doubt Cash’s loyalty to the Team, but he was starting to question why he was avoiding even the smallest personal connection or conversation. Maybe he was going through some of the same shit Bas was, and Bas knew when and if he ever needed to talk about it, any of the guys would be there for him. He just doubted the man would ever ask because, like Bas, that showed weakness. Living with Alpha Shifters, you never showed weakness.
Bas noticed Jacks was cleaning up and stacking the papers in front of him. It looked like the meeting was getting ready to start, and Jacks next words proved it.
NAC & The Holly Group - Box set: Alpha Team Page 84
