NAC & The Holly Group - Box set: Alpha Team

by Chelsea Handcock

  Walking around, he tried to determine where it was coming from, but it just seemed to be lingering in the air. It didn’t make any sense. Going behind the desk, Ethan was surprised the computer was still on and in place; bumping the mouse he waited to see if the screen would come to life. When it did and prompted for a password, he noticed there was a warning sign indicating too many attempts had been made and the computer was in lockdown.

  Grabbing his phone out of his pocket, he dialed the one person he knew would do his bidding without asking too many questions.

  “Hi, Ethan,” Peyton picked up the phone on the second ring, “how’s life in kinkland?”

  “Hi, Peyton,” Ethan laughed, “wouldn’t you like to know?” He didn’t have time to play with her right then so he got right to business, “Hey, hon, can you do me a favor and remote access a computer for me?”

  “Sure thing. Do you have the drive I gave you?”

  “Yep, putting it in the port now.”

  “Okay, give me a couple of minutes. Do you want it directed to your laptop? Or back here to Alpha?”

  “My laptop. Once I get back to the cabin I rented, I’ll give you a call if I need more help.”

  “Sounds good. Talk to you later.”

  Ethan was really starting to like Peyton, Wyatt’s mate, the two couldn’t be better suited for each other. She was also Bas’s sister and one of the best hackers he had ever come in contact with, and that was saying something because both Wyatt and Bas were top-notch. What he liked most is Peyton was all business, if he asked, she delivered and didn’t question like his teammates would have. Hell, Wyatt would be going through the computer’s contents even before Ethan got back to cabin.

  Removing the drive Peyton had given him, Ethan left the room and made his way back to the boat house. Lucas always ran a tight ship and there should have been people cleaning and stocking at this time of the day, but there weren’t any. He hadn’t expected any problems, but it baffled him that he hadn’t even sense or scented any staff members within the mansion. Hell, even the administrative staff seemed to be gone.

  Ethan felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, but chose to ignore it. Getting through the boathouse and onto the shoreline, Ethan felt a presence, drawing the hairs up on the back of his neck, but looking around he saw nothing. The weather had changed, a storm was rolling in and, from the looks of it, the storm was going to be a good one. Shaking off the feeling, he ran to the woods, looking back at the mansion one more time, a feeling of foreboding settled in his chest. Shifting, he made his way back to his truck. Once inside, Ethan pulled out his phone and saw that Peyton had texted him telling him the remote access was complete and included the password. He also noticed he had missed a call and voice mail from the mysterious Dom in Residence, William.

  “Good Afternoon, Master Ethan, this is Master William from Free. I was wondering when you’ll be joining us again? We have a sweet little Sub who has been asking for your attention. Please, give me a call back at this number if you’re interested, so I can arrange a meeting.”

  Ethan didn’t even like the sound of the man’s voice. What the hell was up with this guy? Doms didn’t call other Doms to set up meetings unless they were associates or friends, and this man was neither. That he even had Ethan’s private phone number concerned him. Calling Peyton back, he wasn’t surprised when Wyatt answered this time, the nosy bastard.

  “Hey E, Peyton’s busy at the moment. What do you need?” Ethan just bet she was busy, Wyatt probably stole her phone once he found out that Ethan had asked to access Lucas’s computer.

  “Hey Wyatt, can you pull up my phone and track the number that just left me a message?”

  “Sure, thing. Anything specific I should be looking for?”

  “Not sure yet, just the basics for now, but feel free to poke around. Something is going on here, and I haven’t figure it out yet.”

  “Okay, I’ll get right on that. Jacks said your mission was priority, so I should have something for you soon.”

  “Okay, bye and thanks.”

  Chapter 5

  Ethan made it back to the cabin he had rented in record time. The trip was short, only taking about half an hour. It was off-season, so the tourist traffic in the area was minimal. The winding roads and scenery of the area always calmed him and his beast. He didn’t know what it was, but this area had always meant something to him. Turning off M-22 onto Little Traverse Lake Drive, Ethan thought of the many family trips here. Up until he went into the service, his Dad had owned a cabin right on the lake. Ethan had been disappointed when he found out his Dad had sold it without telling him. When he found the listing for the same cabin, he couldn’t resist renting it.

  Pulling in the drive, he instantly noticed the changes. It was still secluded, but someone had done a complete overhaul on the cabin. It was now more of a house then the retreat it once had been; he wasn’t sure if he liked that, but it was a little too late to change his mind now. The scenery was still the same. Located on the north end of Little Traverse Lake this was the only property on this side, surround by 80 acres of untouched land bordering National Park property. Ethan still longed to have it for himself.

  Stepping inside, he missed the knotty pine that used to line the walls and ceilings, now it was drywalled and painted in beach colors of sand, blue, and creams. The furniture was more modern than the stuff his dad had, but the one thing that had stayed the same was the view. The entire back of the house was glass windows and a massive sliding glass door. Ethan was glad the new owners decided to keep them, it was his favorite feature of the cabin. Seeing the dock and the blues and greens of the water made him want to go out there and jump in. Too bad he had work to do. Walking back into the kitchen area, he opened his bags and started setting up his laptop, throwing the bag with his clothes on the floor to deal with later.

  It didn’t take him long to the get laptop up and running. The hotspot Wyatt had given him allowed him the internet access he needed without having to log into the cabin’s. He didn’t want anyone to be able to trace what he was about to do. The first thing he did was check out all of Lucas’s appointments and noticed that he wasn’t schedule to be out of town. As a matter of fact, he had several high-status meetings, one scheduled for later today. Working on a hunch, Ethan made a phone call. After a couple of rings, a feminine voice answered his call.

  “Statton Industries. How may I direct your call?”

  “Hello, this is James Peterson. I’m supposed to be meeting with Mr. Stratton and Mr. Krueger today, but my secretary forgot to put the time into my schedule. Can you tell me what time I’m supposed to be there?”

  “Hello Mr. Peterson, let me connect you to Mr. Stratton’s personal secretary.”

  “Thank you, that would be perfect.”

  “Mr. Stratton’s office, this is Lilly. How may I help you?

  “Hello Lilly,” Ethan repeated what he said before, “my name is James Peterson. I’m supposed to be meeting with Mr. Statton and Mr. Krueger today. Can you tell me what time the meeting is? I’m embarrassed to say that my own secretary dropped the ball and didn’t list a time in my calendar?”

  “Oh, no problem, Mr. Peterson, let me take a look.”

  Ethan could hear the sounds of keyboarding in the background when Lilly’s voice came back he was pretty sure he knew what she was going to say already.

  “I’m sorry Mr. Peterson but it looks like that meeting has been canceled. Mr. Krueger’s secretary called and said he had family emergency. At this time, a new meeting hasn’t been schedule.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad, I hope it’s nothing serious,” Ethan paused hoping Lilly would gossip a little, but much to his disappointment, she didn’t. “Thank you, Lilly, I’ll have my secretary get with Mr. Krueger later in the week to find out when the new meeting will be scheduled.”

  “Not a problem. Have a good day, Mr. Peterson.”

  Ethan made a few more similar calls and they call came back the same; supposedly Lucas ha
d cancelled due to a family emergency. The problem with that was Ethan knew that Lucas didn’t have a secretary and he made all his business calls himself. Shit, where the hell was he?

  Using his access code, Ethan pulled up the security feeds for Free, and what he saw shocked the shit out of him. There were people there. He hadn’t sensed any of them and, from the looks of it, they had all been there for a while. How was that even possible? His bear should have sensed them. Looking closer, he switched between the rooms. The main area held the bar and several people were stocking and cleaning. The kitchen wasn’t that far from that area, so he should have a least sensed or heard something. Free had great sound proofing, but that was for human ears, not Shifters.

  Flipping through the channels, he noticed a few people walking the halls and one very unhappy looking chick dressed in a French maid’s costume. She looked like she was on a mission, so Ethan followed her using all the cameras. The only places in Free that didn’t have video surveillance were the bathrooms and locker rooms. All others were monitored twenty-four-seven.

  He watched as the maid went into the east wing of the mansion, a place Ethan knew held some rooms, but none of them were supposed to be in use. Lucas had just contracted a company to come in and do a complete overhaul. When they were finished, he was going to open them up to members to rent by the month, much like Ethan did with his room there. She knocked on the door and stepped back. A couple of seconds later, one of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen stepped out dressed in nothing but a tiny strip of fabric he assumed was some type of lingerie.

  Moving forward, Ethan practically had his nose on the screen. Hell, she was gorgeous, she was on the small side, maybe five-and-a-half-feet, thin, but not stick thin because, damn, she had curves in all the right places. Her breasts were high and tight, but large enough to fill the palms of his hands and he wanted them to, he could practically feel the weight of them. Her nipples were small, but protruded from the fabric, making him itch to clamp them, they demanded to be adorned by his jewels.

  Sweeping his gaze down her body, he loved the way her waist tapered in then expanded out to her luscious hips. Hips he could hold onto while he pounded into her from behind. Her bare pussy was a sight to behold, and he wanted to get a closer view, but decided against being creepy. Hell, he was practically drooling. Sitting back, he adjusted his cock; he had never been this hard before. Just the simple touch of his adjustment caused him to moan.

  Ethan panned the camera up, focusing on the woman’s face, and if he had been blown away before, he was stunned speechless now. Her dark black hair was pulled back, leaving her neck and face free from distraction. She had the face of an angel; small, delicate features graced creamy, white skin, and her eyes were a deep purplish-blue he had never seen on a human. Turning the volume up, he tried to listen to what the two women were saying, adjusting the controls. The first time he heard her voice, his beast went nuts. It was a simple word, ‘Yes,’ but it vibrated through is body like nothing had ever done before. Ethan had to jump away from the laptop. Breathing heavily, he noticed the hair on his arms and body had increased, and his claws were coming out of his usually normal human fingernails. Fuck, he could feel it, his bear was trying to take over.

  Being a Shifter, you had to fight constantly with your inner beast for supremacy. Ethan had never had a problem with that before, he lived a life of control and structure. His beast did as Ethan wanted and not the other way around, but one simple word, and the mystery woman destroyed years of hard earned structure. Breathing deeply, he pleaded with his inner beast, pushing him back harder and stronger than he had ever before. His beast never communicated to them with words, but on his final push to get the beast under control, Ethan heard one word echoing through is mind and it knocked him to his ass; MINE!

  Shit. Forcing himself to look away, he hit the button on his computer that would change to a different camera. He needed to focus, figure out what Lucas was and then check into the new Dom in Residence. Sitting back down in front of the computer, he was shaking with the need to find the woman again, he wanted to see her, he needed to see her. What the hell was going on? No way was that woman his true mate. It didn’t happen that way, did it?

  Shaking himself, he continued his original task. Free was filled with people. Security had almost tripled from the last time he was there a few month ago. What really concerned him was that the security staff were all visibly carrying weapons. Weapons Ethan recognized, tranquilizer guns. Fuck.

  Picking up his phone he dialed Jacks. Jacks didn’t make him wait picking up on the first ring.

  “Speak to me.”

  “We have problems. I went to Free and entered Lucas’s apartment. I sensed not one being within the mansion, yet I’m looking at no less than twenty-five people on the property. Most heavily armed with tranquilizer guns.”

  “Fuck, you have got to be kidding me!”

  “No man, I was there not even a half hour ago, and my bear picked up nothing. There was something which seemed to permeate the place, but I couldn’t place it. Highly chemical, but almost like the scent of inside a mask.”

  “Shit, what else? Did you find Lucas?”

  “No, his apartment was dusty like he hadn’t been there for a while. His office, on the other hand, had been ransacked.”

  “Okay, what’s your next move?”

  “I’m going to the club and check it out personally. That William guy called me not too long ago pushing for a meeting with this new Sub, again. I think my best bet is to get inside and see if my senses are still dulled and speak with the fucker, try to figure out what his game is.”

  “I agree, but you need to be careful Ethan. Free might be your home away from home, but it sounds like it’s been taken over.”

  “Yeah, listen, there is something else,” Ethan hesitated not wanting to say what he had to next.

  “What is it?”

  “There was a woman on the security feed, and my bear went nuts hearing her voice. I have never seen her before, but she seemed to be a part of the scene. Another woman was leading her from the room.”

  “Fuck, man, if your bear is ripping you apart then the chances of this woman being your mate are high. You need to be careful. If you fuck her, use a damn condom until you’re sure, the bonding happens quickly. I know you like public displays, but trying to explain how a mating mark appeared out of nowhere isn’t something we are prepared to deal with right now.”

  “Shit, that’s not even what I’m worried about, I have no plans of mating now or any time soon. Subs shouldn’t be at Free this time of day, they shouldn’t be in rooms that are off limits to guests, and they shouldn’t be being led around by other Subs. I think she’s in league with whoever did something to Lucas.”

  “I see where you’re coming from, approach with caution and keep me informed. I’m going to give Max a call and see if he has any men in the area to provide you with backup. I don’t like the idea of you going in on your own. Did you recognize any of the staff?”

  “No, that is the other thing, I’ve never seen the people at Free before, and that shouldn’t be possible. Wyatt has been doing the background checks for all employees and members for years. These people are unknowns.”

  “Fuck, make sure you’re wearing a tracker. I want calls both before and after you leave. I also want you to make this a short trip, observe and report, understand?”

  “Yeah, roger and out. I’ll call you later.”

  Chapter 6

  Sophie had been sitting on the bed waiting for the woman to return, it was almost seven. She had done her damnedest to meditate to get to that place she needed to be, but seeing that man near the boat house had unnerved her, her mind kept going back to him. What had he been doing? Why was he there? Why did she even care?

  In her years of captivity, she had seen many men come and go, and not one had caught her attention. So why had that man? He wasn’t dressed like the others she so often saw. Maybe that was it, he was just out of pl
ace. But she knew that was a lie, he was important, she could feel it, but that created all kinds of other thoughts to enter her mind. Why him and why now?

  The knock on the door didn’t surprise her. Getting up, she opened the door to see the woman in the maid’s outfit waiting for her. Didn’t she have any other clothes? The thought was silly, but none the less still there in her mind; for three days now she had worn the same outfit. Sophie hoped she had more than one, but, knowing the people she was dealing with, she doubted it. These men or animals, as she liked to think of them, only thought of themselves. Providing a woman with adequate clothing or anything else would never be on their list of priorities unless it pleased them in some evil way.

  The woman looked her body up and down and nodded

  “Very well.”

  When she didn’t move immediately, Sophie started to get nervous. The woman had kind but wary eyes. Hadn’t she already warned her to keep her mouth shut? Looking up and down the hallway, Sophie noticed they were alone, but something was making her feel watched, she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck tingle. What was odd was she didn’t feel frightened. Normally, the feeling of being watched creeped her out, but not this time.

  Sophie couldn’t help a sigh of relief when the woman wordlessly waved her arm forward indicating Sophie should follow her. She hated being the cause of someone else’s punishment. Over the years it had happened enough for Sophie to have learned her lesson. She only spoke when spoken to or when necessary. She also learned these men were wolves in sheep’s clothing, literally.