Shifter Wars Complete Series

by Sarah J. Stone

  Leonid raised his glass at one of the passing maids, rattling around the ice in it in order to get her attention.

  "Anyone need anything else?" asked my father, looking around the table.

  "I could use a little more whiskey, but I can get it myself," Connor said, heaving himself out of his seat.

  "Oh, that's what the help is for," Leonid said as the maid silently took the glass from his head.

  "Nah," Connor said, walking over to the dining room bar and pouring himself another measure. "Bears feel more uncomfortable than anything else havin' people wait on them like this. Feels better just to do it myself."

  "Nothing wrong with earning your reward," my mother said, that same little smile on her face.

  Oh, God, please no flirting.

  "My thoughts exactly," Connor said with a little wink.

  Once the drinks were refreshed, the first course of salads was brought in.

  "So, Connor," my father said, "please tell me what the current situation is with my daughter, and whatever trouble it is she's found herself in. I've been losing sleep like you wouldn't believe over this."

  "Well, Mr. Ainsworth," Connor said. "I'm not gonna lie—this is a really bad situation. If it were up to me, I'd be jamming your daughter into the tightest back closet down at Sapien HQ and keeping her there until we get this whole caper resolved."

  "That's simply impossible," my father said. "A family like ours can't just send their daughter away without explanation for an indefinite period of time like that."

  "And why's that?" Connor asked. "I'd think her safety would be your top priority."

  "People would talk," Leonid said. "I don't know who things work in your little bear world, but here if a girl disappears for a time and comes back with some sort of outlandish reason, then people think one thing."

  "And that is?" Connor asked.

  "Do you really need it spelled out?" I asked. "Everyone would think that I got knocked up or something, and that I went away to have it…taken care of."

  "Or that you were in some sort of rehab program," my father said. "Either way, it'd look terrible."

  "What's wrong with gettin' knocked up?" Connor asked. "I was born outside of the bounds of holy matrimony and I turned out just fine."

  "That remains to be seen," Leonid said. "And foxes do things a little differently; we don't just rut in the back alley after a drunken night at the bar when we're ready to have children. Things are a little more…planned out, than that."

  "Is that right?" Connor asked.

  "That's right," my father said. "Which is why we're so charmed that Leonid and Jane have hit it off so well. We think they'd be just a perfect match. Isn't that right, darling?"

  "Um, sure," I said, trying to sound as enthusiastic as my conscience would allow me to.

  "We're both very, very excited about what's in store for the two of us," Leonid said, placing his hand on my leg and giving it a squeeze.

  Gently, as diplomatically as I could, I took his hand off. I couldn't believe that I was being talked about like this, as though Leonid and I being married was just something that they assumed would happen. Who knows what they'd decided since I'd been with Connor.

  "Wait a minute," Connor said, pointing at Leonid then me with a fork tipped with an olive from the salad. "You, and him? Married?"

  "Well, nothing is set in stone," my father said. "But in light of what's been going on recently, we've decided to move up what we had in mind for them."

  Connor's face tightened, and he burst out laughing.

  "What, might I ask, is so funny?"

  Don't you say a fucking word, I thought, pretending that I had some kind of telepathic bond with Connor.

  "Nothing," he said. "She's just a got a wild streak to her. I mean, I don't think a girl looking to get hitched is the type that goes running off to bear biker bars looking for trouble."

  I let out a sigh of relief, thankful that he had at least that much tact.

  "Well, I had a bit of a wild streak when I was younger too," my mother said, a crafty little smile forming on her lips.

  "Now, that, I don't have a hard time believing," Connor said with another wink.

  "Those days are behind me, however," she continued. "Nothing like a wedding ring and the expectations of family to set you back on the straight and narrow. A young girl like Jana has no business being single once she's out of the academy. She ought get busy making the next generation of foxes."

  Just a broodmare in a fancy apartment. That's all my parents have in mind for me. But what about what I want?

  "But what about what she wants?"

  Connor said the words so closely after I thought them that they were almost like an echo.

  My mother, father, and Leonid all shot the same perplexed expression at Connor. It was as though he'd said something in a language that they not only didn't understand, but had never heard before

  "Come again?" my father asked.

  "You know," Connor said, "I bet your little girls got some big plans of her own. Ones that none of you have ever cared to ask her about."

  My mother and father shared another look. Leonid's eyebrows were raised, and he just seemed shocked that anyone would talk to my parents like that.

  "Well," my father said, gesturing for the maid to take our salad plates away, "we all have our dreams. But dreams aren't anything to base a life around. One's life needs to be rooted in practical, reasonable matters. Achievable things."

  "I might be speaking out of turn here," Connor said, "but I can't imagine that for a family like yours there're too many things that're out of reach."

  I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I never asked him to, but Connor was going to bat for me in a way that I'd never been able to.

  "Money doesn't give you everything," my father said, keeping his tone even and calm. "For example, respectability. If one's children are off indulging their every whim, well, that's a very, very good way to bring a family from high esteem to low. So, it's our job as parents to make sure that our children make the correct decisions, even if those decisions aren't what the child wants to hear."

  "No one ever needed to tell me to do the responsible thing," Leonid said, jumping off my father's words.

  "Well, good for you, my man," Connor said. "But in my opinion, there's something to be said for going out into the world and finding out just who the hell you are."

  "You mean like vacation year in Europe, for example?" my mother asked.

  "Uh, something like that," Connor said. "Like, for example, when I was Jane's age, I sold all my shit, just me, my bike, and a backpack full of the essentials. Then I took off cross-country, went all the way across the continent, ended up somewhere in Venezuela. Spent a year down there hanging out with some crazy-ass shifters, then made my way back up to the States. Don't regret it for a second."

  "That sounds…a little extreme," my father said.

  "Extreme's good," Connor said. "Extreme's how you find out just what the hell you're made out of."

  "Such a waste of time," Leonid said, shaking his head. "That's a year or two wasted that one could be spending working for their future."

  "Then I suppose it comes down to just what you think is good for your future. You think it's having a lot of zeros in your bank account, I think it's finding out the person you are, deep down."

  "And just what did you find out?" my mother asked.

  "I found out that you gotta do what you can to make life better for your fellow shifters, you know? So, when I got back into the city, I signed up for the Sapien training academy and I've been with ‘em ever since."

  "Well, that's all well and good for you, Connor," Leonid said, "but for families like ours, we prefer to have jobs that are a little less…risky."

  "Gotcha," Connor said. "Not prestigious unless you're wearing a two-thousand-dollar suit and working in one of the high-rises, right?"

  Leonid let a prim little smile form on his lips. "More or less."

  The arg
ument was broken up by the entrance of a pair of maids with the main courses. Plates were placed in front of all of us, and I saw that the meal was a simple, light pasta dish. I was starving, so I could hardly wait to dig in.

  "Well," my father said. "I think that we've all said our piece as far as Mr. Rickert is concerned. There are more pressing matters that I'd like to discuss."

  "What?" I asked, my mouth full of pasta. "Like what?"

  "Jane!" my mother said.

  "Sorry," I said, swallowing the food.

  "And what kind of matters are these?" Connor asked.

  "The fall society party, of course."

  My stomach dropped. I'd completely forgotten about that.

  "A party?" Connor asked. "What's so important about a party?"

  "It's not just any party," my mother said, spearing a single rigatoni with her fork, "the fall society party is one of the most important annual events in the fox society. It's when all of the young men and women who're on the verge of finishing their academy degrees are presented to society as the ones to keep an eye on, the ones going places."

  "And," Leonid said, "it's a place where the future power couples of fox society can make their first appearance together."

  He was clearly more than pleased to relay this bit of information.

  "Okay, and when is this?" Connor asked.

  "A week from this Friday," my mother said. "We have the dress and everything picked out for Jane."

  I had the ornate, overly formal dress that my mother had almost assuredly chosen already pictured in my mind.

  "Uh, well, not sure how this case is gonna shake out, but if things're still hot with the Thrasher Clan, then little Jane here's gonna have to sit this one out."

  My mother, father, and Leonid all shared the same look once again.

  "You don't understand," my father said. "This isn't an ice cream social. This is the most important social event for Jane this year, possibly the most important of her young adult life. It's not up for debate whether or not she attends. This is part of the whole reason why we were so opposed to her going into protection in the first place."

  My mother closed her eyes and placed her fingertips on her forehead. "I don't even want to think of the scandal that would happen if Jane didn't attend. It'd be the talk of the evening."

  "Let me get this straight," Connor said, setting down his fork and raising his palms. "You guys know the story, right? You know that your daughter witnessed a crime and is being hunted by murderous psychos, right? And that there's a dragon involved? This isn't just a little thing we can sweep under the rug—Jane's in danger!"

  He should've saved his breath. When social issues like this were at stake, I knew just how single-minded my parents could be.

  "But you're a Sapien," Leonid said. "You're trained for these sorts of things. Just bring some of your other agents to the party and make sure nothing gets out of hand. I don't see what the issue is."

  "The issue is that if they figure out that Jane's the one they're looking for, they're not gonna give two shits about how important this party is. They're gonna do whatever it takes to rub out the witness. And I seriously doubt a dragon's gonna be too concerned with decorum."

  "We have…dragons looking out for us," my father said.

  "Oh, really?" Connor asked. "And they're just gonna drop everything that they're doing and babysit your little soiree? In case you've never worked with dragons before, they're not all that concerned with what goes on with any of the ‘lesser species.’"

  "Well," my father said. "It's already decided. Jane's going to the fall social, and there's no discussion about the matter. You, Agent Rickart, are simply going to have to figure out just how to make all of this work while keeping our daughter safe."

  Connor opened his mouth to speak again, but I shot him a glance that made it clear he wasn't going to do anything but dig himself into a hole.

  "And I'm sure all of this sordid business will be resolved before too long," Leonid said. "And things will be back to normal before we all know it."

  That's the kind of thinking that only people who've grown up wrapped in cotton can indulge in. Connor and I shared a look, and I could tell that whatever was on his mind wasn't too far removed from my thinking. Though he likely had a few more expletives in mind.

  The rest of the lunch was an exercise in tongue-biting. And I was shocked at just how much my time with Connor had caused his rebellious ways to rub off on me. Sure, I'd never been a fan of the hoity-toity lifestyle of fox society, but it took all the restraint that I had to not simply make one smart-ass comment after another.

  "A pleasure, Agent Rickart," my father said, shaking Connor's hand as we left.

  "Truly," my mother said, giving Connor one more look up and down that made me want to retch.

  "Yes," Leonid said, "I'm sure that our Jane's in good hands."

  I hated the way that Leonid talked about me as though I were already his. It made me want to sock him right across that weak chin of his.

  "Trust me," Connor said. "I've got no bigger job right now than making sure your little girl gets home safe. I've been keeping a close eye on her, and that's what I'm gonna keep doing. She's in good hands."

  The answer seemed to please my father.

  "Very good," he said, nodding slowly.

  And with that, we left.

  The walk back was in silence, the events of the lunch still washing over me. It was all so surreal.

  "Say," I said, "did you really mean that about me doing what I think is best for me? Or were you just being a contentious prick?"

  He flashed me a grin. "Me, a contentious prick? No way," he said, returning my smirk. "But seriously, yeah, I did. It doesn't take a damn mind-reader to realize that they've got you penned up in there. That's an easy way to get to age forty and wonder just what the hell your life is, and how it got that way."

  "And you're serious about keeping an eye on me?"

  "Ha," he said. "You bet that sweet little ass of yours."

  I don't know why, but hearing him say that made all the difference. I was ready for whatever was to come next.

  CHAPTER 7

  CONNOR

  I was pretty damned surprised that the little luncheon ended up not being a total disaster. Jane's parents had me under the interrogation lamp, but that was easy enough to handle—I'd dealt with skeptical parents before. But that little prick Leonid had me about at my wit's end. Something about rich little brats who think they know what's best for everyone…they just drive me up a damn wall.

  Back at the apartment, I collapsed on the couch with a beer in my hand.

  "So," Jane said. "What's next in your big plan for getting me home in one piece?"

  "Big party tonight," I said, holding the beer up to my forehead and letting the cold glass calm my nerves.

  "Oh, so you can go to parties, but I can't?"

  "Going to parties is part of my job, little lady," I said. "And I don't know if I got the wrong impression, but it seemed like you weren't all that hot about the idea over going to that little shindig."

  "I'm not," Jane said. "It's, like, the last thing I want to be doing, actually. But my parents are right—when you live in the circles that I do, going to something like that isn't optional. If I skip, I might as well get a tattoo on my forehead that says ‘went to Michigan for rehab and an abortion all at once'."

  "Gotta worry about that reputation," I said, needling her just a little bit. Hey, it's not often you get to tease a rich girl.

  "I know it's stupid, but it is what it is," she said, shaking her head.

  "Nah, I get it," I told her. "Just gotta keep you safe during it."

  "So, you've got a thing tonight?"

  I nodded.

  "Thrasher Clan's partying hard, as usual. And they're—without a doubt—still trying to figure out just who offed those three wolves the other night. And I know that the dragon in charge is about ready to get all the shipments underway. Something tells me that this whole s
ituation is about to come to a head real soon."

  "Sounds like a lot on your plate," Jane said. "I'll promise to be a good girl and stay put tonight."

  I snorted.

  "Don't be too much of a good girl," I said with a smirk. "You're pretty fun when you keep the being a bad girl in the right situations."

  She blushed a little, and I knew she picked up on exactly what I meant.

  I headed into the bedroom and got myself dressed in the usual clothes of a white T-shirt, dark jeans, and heavy black boots. I had no idea what the evening was going to hold tonight, and I couldn't help but have a bad goddamn feeling about the whole thing. I still had no idea how much of a suspect I was for the mess the other night, and the best I could do at this point was keep a low profile until I had enough dirt on Mallory to pin him with the drug and weapons shipping charges. I figured that between those and the murders that Jane was a witness to, we'd have more than enough to get the dragons to intervene on our behalf.

  But it wasn't going to be easy.

  I headed out, riding my bike up to the Bronx where the party was taking place. I had a bad feeling from the get-go; the Bronx was a no-man's-land for all of the shifter species, and anything happening up there was happening with the intention of no one knowing about it.

  Was tonight going to be the night that Mallory put everything into action? If so, that'd mean I'd be on a tight, tight schedule for getting my case in order. If he put in the order, then distribution could start in a week or so, then I'd be up shit creek. I had to get hard evidence on him, and fast.

  The warehouse where the party was located was already a madhouse by the time I showed up. Thrasher bears were drunk and wild, chasing around their old ladies and trying to figure out which of the girls who'd showed up for some thrills they wanted. I headed into the packed warehouse, made my way up to the bar, and ordered a beer. Part of me wanted to cut loose, but that the time for screwing around was over.

  I scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of Mallory. But the massive form of Killian stepped in front of me and blocked my view. He slapped down a meaty paw onto my shoulder and pulled me into a tight, drunken hug.