by Ava Mason
He blinked again. “Hey.” I shook him, enough for his eyes to go wide. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” His voice croaked and he nodded, then his hands went to his belt.. “I’m just, a little out of it.” Suddenly his eyes sharpened. “Yeah, I’m okay. Are you?” When I nodded, he looked over at Easton, who was eyeing Avery warily. “I’m okay, man.”
Christian and James began climbing down with our bags.
“Shit.” The voice came from the pilot. “Did we crash?”
Hunter must’ve healed him.
Easton helped me climb out, then he dropped to the ground next to me. Avery was next, and we reached back in, pulling out our equipment. After collecting everything we needed out of the helicopter we stood back to look at it.
It was smashed the hell up, along with our bodies. But I could feel that I was already healing, and I knew that Hunter would check me out later if I needed it. I could barely see through the rain into the darkness. I sharpened my vision, using my wolfie powers to help me make out the small brick house up the way.
I leaned over, still sore, especially in my neck. My whole body was soaking wet, especially my pants. Then I felt Avery’s smooth hands on my back and I turned to look at him. His eyes were concerned. “You okay?”
I stood up to see that all the guys were looking at me. Except for the pilot, they all took a step in my direction with looks of concern on their faces. Hunter spoke first. “I smell blood. Lots of it.
“What?” And then with a sinking sensation, I realized that I’d started my period when the helicopter crashed.
Damn motherfucking womanhood.
Thank heavens for Easton, because I hadn’t even thought to bring tampons. Not only did he know the brand I liked to use but also the size. Which wasn’t creepy at all, but the sign of an observant and devoted manservant. And the sign of my hero for the next few days. I made sure to give him lots of praise for that, although I think it just made him embarrassed.
Thankfully, the bags were waterproof so we could change into dry clothes. Easton got on the phone, arranging for someone to pick up the pilot, and to take away the helicopter wreckage. I was so glad I didn’t have to deal with that. The U.S. Supe Government was more than happy to collect their pilot and helicopter, even though I was pretty sure the pilot got a good ear-chewing over the phone. We tore into the food and, after eating, I passed out on the floor in the living room.
By the time I woke up in the morning, my body was clear of the aches from the night before and the pilot was gone. Someone had also put a blanket over me and tucked a mildly damp pillow under my head. The weather outside was completely clear, and the sky looked like it hadn’t seen a spot of rain in a year. Even the birds chirped outside our window. The only sign that anything had happened was the big fat helicopter crash in the middle of the field behind us.
My pants and underwear had been cleaned and were out on the front porch drying. Which I loved that someone was man enough and mature enough to do it, although not exactly happy that my purple underwear was out for anyone to see. But I wasn’t going to fuss about that. No one admitted to doing it, so I just thanked them all and then ran off to tuck everything away.
The house was pretty old and stuffy; probably built in the fifties. But the carpet was new and cushy enough and had made for a decent bed over the night. The house had a small sun room, with a view of the valley below us. Looking through the binoculars, we could see Garrett’s obnoxiously grand house, but it wasn’t close enough to see anything of interest. We were going to have to get a better vantage point.
Hunter assigned us to split up into two groups, with me, Avery and Christian in one, and him, James and Easton in the other. I had a feeling there was going to be a chat with James during the time I was gone. Dressed in comfortable boots, but otherwise normal clothes in case we were spotted, my group made our way through the trees on the south end of the property. The only thing we carried was a backpack with the binoculars, snacks, water, and rope. Avery carried a rifle, just in case it was needed.
About three hundred yards away from the house, we were already covered in sweat. The humidity in the air was heavy and I realized how much I didn’t miss it while I was gone. The forest was pretty quiet, and I considered shifting, just to make our way a little bit faster. But the guys weren’t allowed to shift on this mission, not even Avery. So I stayed in my human form and led the guys through the trees.
As we neared the edge of the property, we were stopped by thick fencing. It was spiked logs, running along the whole back property.
I turned to Christian and he looked back at me, amazed.
I shook my head. “Why the hell would Garrett need something like this? Is he trying to keep me out?” I shivered, now regretting waiting so long. What if something horrible was going on there? I walked up to the fence, running my hand over the wood. Then I kneeled down, studying the ground. It looked like it’d been installed by hands. Presumably wolf hands. Garrett was probably making the pack do his dirty work.
I looked back at Avery and Christian. “We need to see what’s going on in there.”
They both nodded, then stepped back to look up towards the trees. Avery spoke first. “We can climb the trees, see if we can get a view from there.”
I looked up. The forest was mostly pine trees, although there were also some smaller magnolias and oak, but nothing grown enough to hold our weight except for the pines, and their branches were pretty high up. I didn’t think that my wolfie powers were going to help out with that.
“All right.” I tried to think of a solution. “Can you throw me up there?”
Christian smirked at me. “I got this, babe.”
He moved towards one that had a couple of good, thick branches then, throwing the backpack over his shoulders, he wrapped his arms around the trunk of the tree and began to climb up like a freaking monkey.
I stared at him in shock. “What the hell, Christian? I didn’t know you could climb like that!”
“I’ve got lots of skills you’ve yet to discover.” He glanced down at me, winking.
“Like what?”
“Like rope tying.”
“I already know about that one.” I grinned, and he didn’t respond.
Avery put his hand around my back and pulled me closer to him. We both watched as Christian struggled around the first branch. “So. You know about Christian’s rope tying skills, huh?”
I looked away from Christian to judge Avery’s reaction, but his face was clear of any emotion.
“Maybe.” I grinned.
He leaned closer to whisper in my ear. “Maybe you could show some of those skills on me one day.”
I shivered, but he didn’t give me time to respond, he just pulled me tight. “You ready?”
“For what?”
“To go up.”
“How?”
Suddenly his wings unfolded from his back; he was wearing one of his specially made shirts.
“But you’re not supposed—”
He didn’t wait for me to finish, but shot off the ground and in an instant we were sitting next to Christian, who was pulling the rope out of the backpack. When we appeared on the branch next to him, he jumped, startled, and nearly fell out of the tree. I grabbed him as his hold over the branch tightened.
“Avery! You’re not supposed to shift here!”
Avery shrugged. “Fuck that. It was easier. And no one was looking. I checked.”
Christian sighed, putting the rope back into the bag. “Whatever.” He looked a little bit annoyed, but he pulled out the binoculars and held them out to me.
“Hold up a sec.” I climbed up a couple of branches, making sure that it was sturdy. “Avery, can you give them to me?” I straddled the tree, wiping the sap off my hand, then leaned down to grab the binoculars. Avery climbed up next to me and settled in next to my back, while Christian pulled out another pair of binoculars.
I leaned back into Avery to steady myself then I put the binoculars up
to my eyes.
It took me a while to figure out where the hell I was even looking and cursed myself for not having someone show me how to use them. All that training and we never covered binocular focusing. Avery finally showed me how to work the thing, and then I could see better.
I started with the wall right next to us and followed it as far as I could possible until it disappeared in the woods. I used the same line of sight to keep going forward until I saw a wired fence connected to the wooden one. From there on out, the woods had been cleared, and the wired fence ran all the way towards the front road, which I could barely see.
I finally found the house. I immediately looked for any signs of Aaron; I was getting so nervous to see him. But I couldn’t find him, or his car, anywhere. I looked back at the house, studying it. It was impressive. “Where the hell did he get the money to build this thing?”
“He didn’t have the money for something like this?”
I shook my head. “Nothing like this.”
“Easton probably knows.”
I nodded. There were a few guards in the back property, and I could only assume that there were more in the front. I followed the driveway towards the front road and saw that there was a gate, and several guards with guns down there.
I could only stare in shock.
“What the hell is going on down there?”
Avery’s voice was at my neck. “What?”
I handed the binoculars back and pointed in the general direction of the house. “Look at the front gate.”
Avery was much faster than me at finding the front gate. “Did your dad ever do anything like that?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Any of the other Alphas that you know of?”
“No. None were ever like that. None that I know of.” I bit my lip, thinking, wondering, worrying.
Avery handed the binoculars back over to me. “Someone is driving up to the gate. See if you can recognize them.”
I found the gate and squinted my eyes, trying to see if I could recognize them. It was too far away to tell, though it looked like a guy. I watched as he was waved through, then followed him as he drove up the long driveway. Just before he was swallowed up by the house, I thought I recognized him. “It looks like Shayne. It might be him.”
“Good.” Christian’s voice called up. “Probably means that he’s still on good terms with Garrett.”
I nodded, even though Christian couldn’t see me. “Probably.”
The bark scraped at my arms and my thighs were starting to throb. Shit, things were getting uncomfortable fast. We needed to find a way to get in closer, even just so I could actually see who these people were. I scanned back towards the guards at the back of the house but didn’t recognize any of them. Then I studied the house. It was so freaking huge. What would he need something like that for?
Growing up, most of the pack had their own lives, and it was easy to go in and out of the pack. There was no pressure to stay within it. If new wolves came into the area, we strongly encouraged them to at least visit the pack.
Lone wolves could cause big trouble for an established pack. Especially if they didn’t follow a moral code, which some didn’t. So we always kept an eye on them, especially if they chose not to join the pack. If they ever ran around in their wolf-form where humans could see them, or even acted abnormal for the regular wolves in the area, we made sure they received notice that crap wouldn’t fly around our pack. And if they ever got close to hurting a human, they were forced to leave the area, or we’d threaten to turn them in.
That in itself was good enough reason for them to either leave or behave. Shifter wolves didn’t like being shut up in a cell.
We were too wild for that.
But my dad had been an incredible Alpha, and more often than not, a lot of the lone wolves ended up joining us.
But this. All this crap that Garrett was doing.
I didn’t even know what to think of it.
It was almost as if…
As if he wasn’t only trying to keep people out, but…
I jolted upright, clinging to the tree and trying to think.
“What?”
At Avery’s question, Christian jumped up to the branch that we were on.
“I’m not sure. But I had a thought…” I scanned the back again, looking for cars this time. There were about four cars out back, but that wasn’t really enough for me. I scanned the side of the house for a garage but couldn’t see any. Shayne, if that was him, hadn’t driven out back. So there could be more cars out front.
Suddenly, four guys walked out the back door and one of the guards turned towards them, as if watching them carefully. As if he was guarding against them, not the other way around. I watched them closely, zooming in as much as possible to try to recognize the guys. I had a pretty good clue who they were just by the way they walked. I’d grown up with a lot of the members of my pack and could recognize several of them easily.
They walked towards one of the cars, a Chevy Camaro, and climbed in. When they drove off, they skirted close to the guard who’d been watching them. One of guys held his hand out the window in an angry gesture, kinda like he was flipping the guard off.
The guard began to run towards the car, but it sped off, leaving the guard in it’s dust. The guard kicked at the ground.
I laughed. I was pretty sure I knew who those guys were.
Only someone from the Foxy Four would flip off someone who was supposed to be keeping them in line. They were four guys who’d grown up together. They were as thick as thieves, and just as mischievous. They were careless, reckless, and yet, always managed to get their way anyway. And they were also a hell of a lot of fun. I once had a scar on the back of my arm from bridge jumping with them. I’d landed near a tree, hidden under the water. A branch scraped up my arm and I had to have stitches, although the scar only lasted for a couple weeks until it healed over. If I’d have shifted by then, I wouldn’t have even needed stitches.
I grew serious, thinking of the implications of what I’d just seen. I scanned the property again but couldn’t find anything else useful.
“What’s going on in that head of yours, Pink?”
I paused, thinking. Honestly just not wanting to say the words out.
Avery growled in my ear. “Out with it, woman.”
I sighed. “What if… what if he’s not trying to keep any one out, but trying to keep everyone in. What if he’s forcing everyone to stay there?”
7
We spent a few hours up in the tree. When Christian and Avery could see how uncomfortable I was, they offered to stay up there to keep watch while I went back to the house to grab some more food and to give my sore ass a break. Plus, I needed to change my stupid tampon.
Avery carried me to the ground and I walked up to the house. I went through the back door, slamming the screen door behind me as I walked into the house. The house was made up of small, portioned off rooms and I could hear someone in the kitchen. I followed the noise to see James leaning against the counter, crossing his arms with a smirk already on his face.
“What’s up, babe?”
I wanted to say something, just to see that smirk slide right off his stupid, handsome, sexy face. “I’m not your babe. Where’s Hunter and Easton?”
He scowled and turned back towards the box on the counter. “They’re still out. We’re going to start taking shifts.”
“See anything important?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be looking for.”
I frowned and walked over to his side. “Why not?”
He looked up, his eyes meeting mine. “Because you never filled me in on anything.” His smile was back. “Apparently I’m just here for the ride. That’s what Easton and Hunter said anyways.”
“They did?”
He nodded, not looking at me. He dug deeper into the box and I leaned over to look inside. “What’s in there anyway?”
“MREs. Food.
So while we’re out, we don’t have to carry cans around and crap.”
“Oh.” I looked at the box and recognized the combination of letters and numbers from the list of supplies that Easton had shown me. “When did these come in?”
“I think they came in this morning, after we left. The box was on the porch when I got here.” Finally finding what he wanted, he pulled it out and tossed it on the counter; this time a real smile was on his face. He tore off the top to the box of plastic forks and took one out.
“What’s that?” I nodded towards the package.
He ripped it open and showed it to me.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“Yep.” He had a glimmer in his eyes. “Chocolate brownie.”
Yumm. I needed chocolate right now. I pulled the box towards me and began to dig into it, trying to find another one, but all the MREs looked the same. “What are the letters on the side of that?”
His fork froze halfway up to his mouth. Then he sighed. “Want to share?”
I raised my eyebrow. “You’ll share? With me?”
The mischievous glint was back in his eye. “Lizzy, I told you that from the beginning. I’ve always been willing to share you.”
“I asked if you’ll share with me, not share me.”
“I know.”
His face looked so mischievous that I couldn’t stop the smile that spread up my face. He held out his hand, offering me the first bite.
And I took it.
There was something about sharing food with him like this that felt intimate, even though it was just a brownie. It was like I was showing him that I trusted him.
Even just a little.
We ate it, talking casually, then grabbed water bottles out of the fridge. I leaned against the counter as I opened my bottle. “Alright. The guys aren’t here. It’s just you and me. Tell me the truth.”
He raised his eyebrow at me, then took a swallow. “What do you want to know?”
“Tell me the real reason why you’re here.”
He leaned back against the counter next to me and crossed one ankle over the other. His jeans hung low on his hips and occasionally I caught sight of the way his stomach muscles formed a vee into his pants, and the way his pubic hair curled up over the top. Just the thought made heat simmer in my stomach.
