Brandi

by Donna McDonald

  Since Brandi had passed up killing him for a second time, maybe there was still some hope, Maybe he could one day convince her he really did have her best interests in mind with every decision he’d made to date.

  Despite his ego still hurting from her violent rejection, Gareth fell asleep with thoughts of their future on his mind.

  Chapter 9

  The moment his eyes opened the next morning, he knew immediately that Brandi was already gone.

  “Fuck. What now?” Gareth demanded, rolling to his feet. He was glad he’d dressed before going to sleep. It saved time this morning.

  He took care of the necessities and headed out the door at a run.

  Raising his arm to hail a taxi, he allowed himself only a few moments to long for the clean clothes stashed in his company allocated hotel room. He could call Fallon and Lars to have them collect some for him, except for the fact he wasn’t up to hearing their cackling amusement over his dilemma.

  Settling into the non-descript backseat of the first cab that stopped, Gareth realized he didn’t understand it either. Why was he tormenting himself this way? He could just go home to Wasilla. Nothing was really stopping him. Obviously, Brandi could handle things herself.

  Yes, he’d promised Ariel he’d take care of her, but the woman had made it crystal clear she didn’t want his help. No reason was rational enough to let her keep kicking his ass or pointing loaded weapons at him.

  Gareth rubbed his forehead. He hadn’t even taken the time to wash up before leaving her apartment. Being with Brandi was like being on a mission, you couldn’t let your guard down long enough to do anything normal, like washing your face or shaving.

  Two blocks from his actual destination, he climbed out of the cab and paid. He covered the remaining distance at a rapid pace and was soon descending to headquarters level. Outside Crane’s office, Fallon and Lars lurked. They were not really standing guard, but they weren’t loitering either.

  “Your woman is with Dr. Crane and she is fine,” Fallon said tightly. “There was no stopping her.”

  Gareth snorted. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “You should trust her, Gareth. She smelled more like you this morning than she did yesterday,” Lars reported, getting between his anxious friend and the office door.

  Gareth lifted a warning finger and held it close to Lars’s face. “Keep your nose to yourself before it gets lopped off that pretty face Fallon cherishes so much.”

  Fallon laughed at his mostly empty threat, but Gareth chose to ignore him.

  “Move, Lars. I’m going in and you’re not going to stop me.”

  Lars shook his head. “Regretfully old friend, this we cannot allow. She wanted to… what was it she said, Fallon? I never see past Brandi’s flashing eyes when she is in such a temper.”

  Fallon grinned. “It was something about making her own deal with the devil.”

  “Yes. Exactly that,” Lars said, snapping his fingers.

  Gareth put his hands on his hips and told himself to breathe. Brandi could handle her own life. Hadn’t he just decided that on the ride over here? He shouldn’t have to keep reminding himself. What the hell was he worried about anyway? Why did he feel like he had to get through that damn door and find her?

  Was the mating urge overtaking him this hard already? If it was, it was making him fucking stupid.

  “Move,” he ordered sharply.

  Gareth huffed out a frustrated breath when Lars straightened, shook his head, and crossed his arms.

  “I would be remiss as a guard if I let you enter. Forgive me, Gareth. I must choose duty over our friendship this time.”

  “Okay. Suit yourself,” Gareth said softly, his fist swinging out to clip the younger man’s chin. It was just a warning shot to prove he was serious. Hands gripping his arms from the back and lifting him free of the floor, let him know it hadn’t quite been made.

  “Fallon, don’t do this,” Gareth warned.

  “If I had struck your mate in front of you, would you have stood by and did nothing, Old Friend? You are thinking this morning with a part of your body other than your brain. I suggest you calm down and wait with us. Brandi will return when she is done. She is smarter than you give her credit for being.”

  Knowing they were not going to let him pass, Gareth felt the fury rise in him just before his skin rippled in change. Yelling and screaming drowned out his growling as he twisted free of Fallon’s grasp and took the larger man to the hallway floor.

  He hoped like hell he could keep his wolf from actually killing the two of them. But he had no choice except to fight.

  No one was going to keep him away from his mate.

  ***

  Sheldon made a note in his phone. “Okay. Your identity and those of the other two women will be removed from our database. Anything else?”

  Brandi nodded. “Yes.” She took a deep breath and stared at him. “Holy hell… I can’t believe I’m saying this. I want the children.”

  Sheldon chuckled. “Uh… no. The little ones are not for bargaining.”

  “Yes, they are,” Brandi said firmly, crossing her arms. “They need to be raised carefully. They need to be nurtured and loved so they can turn out to be decent people with extra skills. You can’t do all of that here, especially not keeping them under armed guard 24/7. They like you now, Sheldon. You’d be wise to cultivate that affection by being their benefactor instead of their jailor.”

  “Do you honestly think you can give them something better than I can provide? You don’t impress me as the motherly type, Agent Jenkins.”

  “Call me Brandi. Since I’m signing on your dotted line, you might as well call me by my given name until I change my mind and kill you.”

  She could see her threat didn’t faze him. Did the man think she was kidding? Well, it didn’t matter. If he crossed her, Shitty Sheldon would just learn the hard way.

  “I can see why you shortened your moniker,” Sheldon said, peering into the room where the children played.

  Brandi tilted her head. Was there anything the man didn’t know? “Was my birth name in my records too? Lane was supposed to get rid of it. That’s why I got the privacy veil put on my information.”

  “No. Lane told me over dinner once and I have a memory for the unusual. You were the first Brandilenna I’d ever heard of.”

  Brandi looked into the window. The children were circling the armed guard again. She saw the guy back up to the wall and cross his arms. They laughed to be figured out and took off to throw themselves on the giant jungle gym that had magically appeared in the room since yesterday. She turned and watched Sheldon Crane watching them.

  “You big ass faker. You honestly like them,” Brandi stated flatly. Not turning to look at her, she watched Crane shrug a shoulder as he nodded in agreement.

  “I do,” he admitted.

  “Then you have to see that they need a family… a real family. And no, I am not mother material, but I think Gareth’s pack could offer them more stability than they have here. If the pack accepts them, they will be raised well and by more people than you could ever imagine.”

  “You sound awfully sure for someone who was only there a couple of months. Your idealism continues to surprise me.”

  Brandi snickered and then gave in to her laughter. “Now you know my weakness. I’m an idealist forced to live life as a jaded agent.”

  She sobered when Sheldon shifted his gaze to her.

  “On the contrary—I think your reluctant optimism is the thing that makes you the most powerful. You would no doubt put everything you are behind what you believed was fair and just. I may disagree with your interpretation of what justice for the children is, but I do not doubt your belief that you would be doing them more good by what you propose.”

  Brandi stared back. She had nothing to say in rebuttal to the best compliment she’d ever received from a handler. They were both quiet as he looked back into the room.

  “If I were to agree to let them
go with you, do you suppose I could visit them from time to time? As their… concerned benefactor.”

  Brandi felt her resentment cracking like a deep crevice ripping through a frozen glacier. She nodded while glaring. First Gareth stripped her bare emotionally. Now she was letting Sheldon Crane do it.

  “No promises, but… yes. I think it would be best if they did see you occasionally. It didn’t escape my notice yesterday that they genuinely like you back.”

  She watched the elegant man shrug again at her statement.

  “They know I rescued them from my brother. They know I care. And I do… for all that you might think otherwise. For this reason I agree you may arrange something better for them. But I will consider you their personal guardian and hold you accountable for everything that happens.”

  “Yes. I figured as much,” Brandi said tightly.

  They both turned as they heard people whispering and clattering behind them. Turning, they faced an angry, glaring Gareth striding towards them. He was beaten, bruised, and bloodied. It shouldn’t have been funny, but she’d never been someone with proper thoughts about such things.

  “What the hell is going on here?” he barked.

  Brandi arched an eyebrow at Gareth’s angry demand. “Nothing that’s any of your business. What the hell is going on with you?” she asked calmly in reply.

  Gareth took a menacing step in her direction. She grinned when Sheldon Crane put a hand on his vibrating chest. Gareth looked ready to murder the scientist, but Shitty Sheldon just laughed. For all his intelligence, the scientist had no clue how much danger he was in.

  “Congratulations, Gareth. I’m sure you’re going to make a fine father figure,” Sheldon announced loudly.

  Brandi couldn’t help giggling at the man’s ploy. Damn it. She was not going to like Shitty Sheldon, who still seemed as bad to her as his siblings. She covered her mouth, but knew her eyes still laughed. Gareth glared at her over the scientist’s head.

  “What the hell have you done?” he demanded.

  Brandi dropped her hand and drew in a breath. “Just what I said I was going to… except I added the children to my deal. They’re coming with us when this is over.”

  “You did what?” Gareth ran a hand through his messed up hair.

  “When I bring in Sheldon’s evil sister, I’m trading her in for the children. I’m taking them back with me to the pack.”

  “What in the hell are you going to do with three hybrid toddlers?”

  Brandi snorted. “I don’t know if you can still call them toddlers at age four, Gareth. I plan to find a home for them. A child needs to be raised in a home with a real family, not this asylum for misfits.”

  “Who do you think is going to raise them while you look for a proper home?”

  Brandi shrugged. “I have no idea yet, but I’m sure Ariel and Heidi will help me figure it out. If Matt doesn’t want them in his pack, I’ll take them to Reed’s. My gut says they don’t belong here. I’m going with that right now. The rest can be worked out later.”

  Brandi almost choked when Sheldon Crane patted Gareth’s chest and announced he was going to get to visit them. He glared at the man before lifting his gaze to glare at her again.

  “You’ve lost your mind,” Gareth declared.

  Brandi shook her head. “No. I’ve found it at last. And I know what needs to happen. You can either be part of my solution or part of my problem. The choice is yours. My deal didn’t include you in any way, shape, or form. You can go back to your farm and your cattle any damn time you want. I don’t need you to get this done.”

  “Well, you can’t do it alone,” Gareth protested.

  “Okay. I’ll take Fallon and Lars with me,” Brandi declared, pushing past him. She stopped and sniffed. “Wait… you smell like them. Is that their blood on you? Did you hurt them?”

  “Did I hurt them? What the hell about me?”

  Brandi looked him up and down. “You look fine… which means you won. I hope you didn’t hurt them too badly. They were just doing what I asked.”

  She turned to walk away, but was yanked back and swiveled around to face a growling, angry beast of a man. It suddenly got so quiet in the giant lab she could hear everyone’s individual breathing, as both scientists and hybrids waited to see what was going to happen.

  Brandi wasn’t sure what to do when she found herself nose-to-nose with a version of Gareth even more aggressive than the lover she’d had the night before. Not showing him her fear was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. She felt her body being shaken gently. Instead of alarming her, it made her want to laugh. Man—sometimes she was just not right in the head.

  “Stop running and listen to me. We need to get some things straight. First, no one is ever going to keep me away from you. You need to get that into your stubborn head right now. Secondly, I’m going along on this fool’s mission no matter who else does or what anyone says. And lastly, we will make the apprehension my way. Maybe I can’t stay away from you, but I’m not ready to die for your stupidity.”

  For some odd reason, Brandi instantly recalled her conversation with Heidi, who suggested she should just ask Gareth for what she wanted from him… like a massage or a foot rub. The idea of asking this irate man for anything made her giggle. His increased growling over her amused reaction had her biting her lip to stifle the urge.

  He might be a lying SOB, but he was the only man who’d ever made her appreciate being a woman quite so much. If it hadn’t been for their audience, she would have thrown herself at him and begged for sex again—no matter how humiliating. It was a disgusting response to his show of force, but it was just how it was for her. She’d have to hate herself for it later.

  “Okay. You can come along. But it’s my mission. You’re retired, so I get to call the shots.”

  His prolonged stare and long silence had her swallowing hard. Her gaze went to the throbbing cord in his neck. There was a change happening in him… something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She sniffed, smelling beyond the panther blood and his wounds.

  Finally, she breathed in a lungful of aggressive male werewolf. Her head spun at the scent. It made her sexually ravenous for Gareth in a way she hadn’t felt before, even after all the intensity she’d experienced with him.

  Her eyes flashed as a set of wolf fangs started descending in her still human mouth. At her exclamation of shock, she was pushed violently away. Stumbling backwards, she almost fell and came up growling herself at Gareth’s abrupt rejection. She wanted to launch herself at him so badly—to kiss or kill him she wasn’t sure—but she was shaking with the effort not to do either.

  “Come at me and face the consequences,” he dared softly, smiling at her with narrowed eyes, his fangs throbbing in his mouth. “I won’t care who’s watching. I’m beyond caring.”

  “You must have a freaking death wish. That’s all I can say,” Brandi hissed back.

  “Show your fangs to these people and they’ll be building a cage with your name on it,” Gareth warned in a whisper. He took two steps and got closer. “Show them to me again and I’m going to make you mine forever. It’s about damn time you started understanding what that means.”

  “Don’t threaten me,” Brandi whispered back.

  “Oh, it’s not a threat. It’s an explanation… no, hell, it’s putting you on notice. You’re already my mate, whether you want to believe it or not. So don’t leave again without telling me where you’re going, and don’t put people between us unless you want them dead. I went easy on the cats because I like them. I’m leaving now before I turn you over my knee and truly shock our audience.”

  Stunned at the confidence of his speech, Brandi watched as Gareth abruptly turned away and strode back through the lab the way he’d come. The sea of white-coated people who had been watching their fight, now parted for him like he was Moses walking through the Red Sea. Part of her wanted to laugh at the picture he made growling and glaring as he stalked off.

  The ot
her part wondered if Gareth had really meant what he said about spanking her.

  Damn. Just how angry at her was he? Her urge to run after him and find out was almost too compelling to resist.

  And had she really felt a set of fangs dropping down? She lifted her hand to her mouth and ran an exploring finger along the edge of her normal feeling teeth. Nothing was there now. It had certainly never happened before no matter how turned on she’d been. Yet Gareth had obviously seen them. She had certainly seen his.

  He wouldn’t have just made that up to get his way, would he?

  A throat clearing nearby tore her gaze away from Gareth’s disappearing ass.