A Pack of Two

by Jacky Russell

  “He thought he offended you. Something about Breanna having his number?”

  I didn’t respond. What could I say? Cody was the Alpha’s son and I was nobody. And only an idiot lied to a werewolf.

  Galen watched intently, one eyebrow cocked. “Did Cody offend you?”

  My wolf rumbled as I met Galen’s eyes. “Yes.”

  The eyebrow went higher.

  Chapter 19

  Breanna

  The screeching Donald Duck alarm clock meant it was time to tug on my fatigues. I was due on base at zero nine hundred for New Recruit Day, the day when all the supernaturals who want to join Bravo Company came for tryouts.

  The newbies separated into two groups. Simon and I each took a group and went toe-to-toe with the wannabes. Later, we compared notes and evaluated the potential of each candidate. The majority of new recruits were werewolves. There were usually a few vampires. I was the only non-werewolf or non-vamp who had ever tried out. Simon had added an “other” category to the sign-up sheets because of me.

  “Hey, Bre,” Aaron called as I strolled through the groups of new recruits. Musk was heavy in the oversized gym, as was the smell of hot, sweaty bodies. The testosterone could have choked a moose.

  I ignored Aaron and made my way to Simon. A few of the recruits growled as I passed. They all liked to talk about what they would do to the witch and none of their suggestions involved dinner and a movie. In the past, the comments would infuriate me. Now I just smiled. I’d do my talking in a few minutes.

  “Oh, Bre, I said hello,” Aaron snipped as he loped alongside me.

  “Go away.”

  He didn’t. “Where’s the pizza maker?”

  WTF? “Aaron, get away from me or I’ll kick your ass in front of everyone,” I snarled low enough only he could hear.

  Aaron cocked his head. “Yeah, right.”

  I turned and he scurried toward Ordy, who was putting the recruits into groups.

  “Greetings, my dear,” Simon called suavely. “I trust your evening went well?”

  “I need to talk to you about that.” I had jotted down some notes when Lucas was going over his brother’s disappearance and wanted to run the intel by Simon.

  “Your evening was not pleasant?” Simon asked, looking very confused.

  “Oh, yeah, Lucas was, um, well, he was great. I mean we had a good time.” I shook my head, realizing what my words sounded like. “Oh, no, not like that kind of good time, I mean we spent time on my floor.”

  Simon arched an eyebrow. Oh damn.

  “No, not like that. I mean, he was helping fix the tile in the bathroom.”

  Simon tilted his head. “He worked on your floor?”

  Oh, geez, this was not the conversation I wanted to be having before I squared off with werewolves who thought I was a squeaky toy. “I’ll explain later, all right? Just tell me which group I have.”

  “Two.”

  Simon introduced me and the whistles abounded. A few of them came from the newbies but most came from my unit. They knew how much that ticked me off. A particularly mouthy and large wolf from the first group complained about the unfairness of having to fight Simon while his friend got a free pass because he was in my group.

  “Hey, you,” I called to the obnoxious wolf. Behind me, my unit whooped. “What’s your name?”

  He bared his teeth. My unit went wild, whooping and clapping when the idiot took a step toward me in a pathetic attempt to intimidate. Dumbass thought the cheering was for him.

  “As your ranking superior, I expect your respect and compliance.”

  He rolled his eyes.

  Oh, how I hated the eye roll. I looked at Simon and he nodded slightly.

  I looked at the wolf’s name patch and then straight into his hazel eyes. “Let’s go, Edmondson. If you can take me, you’re in Bravo.”

  He scoffed. “Yeah, right.”

  “She’s right, Edmondson. If you can take her, you’re in,” Ordy echoed as he closed the distance between us. “That’s how I got in.”

  Ordy winked at me. Yep, he had challenged me and my first roundhouse kick had sent him flying over the ropes and into the crowd. He didn’t tell Edmonson that part.

  I leaped into the ring and held the ropes. Edmondson bounded over the corner post like it was nothing, apparently insulted by my offer to hold the ropes for him. He bounced, aching to engage what he mistakenly believed was a weaker adversary. He was about to learn a life lesson.

  Edmondson made a kissy face at me. I laughed. My unit catcalled. The new recruits let out howls of support for their comrade, who stood directly across from me. The dull gray room was electric and I loved it.

  I bowed to Simon, nodded to Ordy, and patted my chest twice over my heart as a salute to my unit. A big “bu yah” echoed throughout the training area as Bravo Company responded to my acknowledgement.

  The power of an Alpha surged through the room, Galen undoubtedly hiding somewhere in the dark seats. He often came and watched New Recruit Day. It was like a scouting report for him, checking out potential new pack members before he had to deal with them one on one.

  Edmondson was bouncing on the balls of his feet, his eyes flaked with silver. He was a big wolf, standing a formidable six-three and weighing around two-forty-five. He dwarfed my five-eleven frame but I was faster and, though he didn’t believe it yet, a hell of a lot better trained.

  Chants of “Bre, Bre, Bre,” rose from the rafters as Edmonson and I began to circle. He was predictable and typical werewolf, relied too much on his size and strength. He dove, I darted. He lunged, I sidestepped. Simon tapped his watch and I took control, three spinning whipkicks followed by a groin shot and a nasty uppercut.

  Edmondson hit the mat like an oak. I straightened my hair and leaped over the ropes. When he woke, Edmondson would have a headache the size of Texas and he’d have to take a lot of ribbing from his buddies, but unless Simon overrode me, I’d let the brawny werewolf into Bravo. He was arrogant and cocky. He was also strong and, with the right training, he’d make a good addition to our already extremely cocky and arrogant group of werewolf soldiers. Every one of our present soldiers had challenged me when they tried out for Bravo. Once they’d had their heads handed to them like I’d just done to Edmondson, they’d been more than ready to buy into our rather unorthodox regime.

  My guys whooped and yelled, chants of “witch” filling the air. The new recruits sat in stunned silence.

  “Anyone else doubt Master Sergeant Welker?” Simon asked the group of newbies.

  I waited, hands on my hips, for any of them to step up. Nobody took the challenge.

  I gave a little bow to my commanding officer once again before taking my group of recruits to the far corner of the training area. Celeste arrived to tend to the groggy Edmondson.

  As my group meandered toward our ring, I looked into the high seats and tried to find Galen. He had an uncanny ability to hide in plain view, an Alpha mojo magic thing I guess. I wouldn’t see him unless he wanted to be seen.

  It was almost sixteen thirty before our day with the recruits was done. I’d taken a couple of shots and would have some bruises, but none of my blood stained the mats. I considered it a good day.

  The day would be better once I talked to Lucas. I’d missed hearing his voice today.

  I was sitting cross-legged on the mat, putting the finishing touches on my reports, when a surge of power washed over me. It felt like Galen, sorta. More like Galen on steroids.

  “Hi, beautiful,” he said in a lyrical voice thick with Italian accent. Sparkling brown eyes flaked with a tiny bit of silver met mine as I looked up to find Galen, Lucas, and Tristyn approaching.

  “Hi, handsome,” I responded, my heart rate tripling as I jumped to my feet. He swallowed me in a hug and gingerly touched my bruised cheek.

  “Ouch,” he empathized as his fingers brushed the red skin under my eye. His arm tightened as he whispered in my ear. “You were amazing.” He lifted me slightly off the flo
or.

  When my feet touched the floor, I let out a breath. “How long have you been here?”

  He nuzzled my hair and my hormones started to fire. “Since about noon. Galen invited us to come along and watch the new recruits.”

  Galen laughed good-naturedly. “I told Lucas he needed to know what he was getting into.” My face got hot–really, really hot–as Galen continued. “When that first wolf went after you, Lucas wanted to go down and save you. I told him you wouldn’t appreciate his interference, but it still took both Tristyn and me to stop him.”

  That explained the silver flakes in Lucas’s eyes. “So, you saw all of it?” I asked, realizing there was no hope of convincing him I was Barbie in camo.

  Tristyn grinned. “Galen’s not kidding about it taking all of us to hold him back. He was ready to kill that first wolf who took a swing at you.”

  Lucas snorted, his breath tickling against my ear. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep whiff of musk and leather. The countdown to me pulling him onto the floor and ripping his clothes off began.

  The moment ended when Lucas tensed, a growl rumbling in his chest. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know it was Aaron. Lucas tightened his arms around me, his wolf surging in a blatant display of possessiveness. Countdown aborted–or at least delayed.

  “Shhh, he’s no threat,” I said softly, hoping the others wouldn’t hear. Lucas’s breathing was ragged, almost panting, as Aaron came closer. Lucas murmured something in Italian.

  Galen intervened. “Aaron, don’t you have somewhere to be other than here?”

  “Yes, he does,” Simon bellowed. “Miller, to the range.”

  Aaron didn’t flinch. Lucas postured, every cell in his body poised for a fight. Tristyn stepped between the two wolves to break the intense eye contact. Galen placed a hand on Aaron’s shoulder. Lucky thing, I was about to stomp Aaron into the floor myself.

  “Easy, Wolf.” Lucas lowered his head until his forehead rested against mine. “Shh, that’s good,” I said as his body relaxed and his breathing slowed. His wolf was fearless, quick to fight, and difficult to control. Lucas and his wolf had only threads of an uneasy truce. Neither totally trusted the other. I’d never felt this kind of struggle in a werewolf before.

  Ordy marched over and grabbed Aaron by the arm. Galen nodded his approval. Ordy didn’t look at Lucas or me when he retrieved Aaron and led him to the double glass doors that opened onto the firing range.

  “Bonjour, Ambassador Ziccardi, Alpha McGregor, and Monsieur Benelli.” Simon nodded in his typical eloquent greeting.

  “Bonjour, Master DuChard,” Tristyn responded quickly with a nodding flourish of his own. “Please, call me Tristyn.”

  Lucas was best buddies with an Ambassador. Damn, I felt out of place. “Hey, Simon,” Galen said. “What’d you think of this crew of recruits?”

  Galen and Simon discussed the newbies as the five of us walked up the hall toward the offices. Lucas had a death grip on my hand as we passed multiple groups of werewolves. They all gave us a wide berth and none made eye contact with Lucas. A muscle ticked in his jaw as we passed a laughing group of my guys.

  Tristyn walked casually beside Lucas, either unaware or unfazed by the hostility his buddy was giving off. Tristyn leaned forward to see me around Lucas’s broad chest. “Your combat skills are quite impressive, Breanna. You’re not only quick, but your accuracy is amazing.”

  “Thanks. I learned from the best.”

  Lucas stopped glaring at the passing wolves long enough to question me. “And who would that be?”

  He was cute when he was jealous. “Simon,” I answered. “I trained with him over a year before I made it into Bravo Company and then it took another seven before I was good enough to be promoted to a lead combat instructor.”

  “Oh,” he groused before resuming the uber-dominant “don’t come near my woman” looks.

  “So Lucas tells me you are an earth witch?” Tristyn asked politely as we turned the corner toward Simon’s office.

  I nodded. “And you are an Ambassador?”

  His face lit up. “Yes. I work for the Divine Council as the Ambassador for Supernatural Relations.”

  Well, that sounded important. “Supernatural Relations?”

  Lucas chuckled. His steel-trap grip on my hand had loosened since we left the training area. “He talks to everyone.”

  Tristyn frowned at his friend. “I address issues, prevent various factions from killing one another, settle disagreements, and whatever else arises. Lucas and I were both agents until a little over a year ago. I took the ambassadorship and he stayed in the field until he was needed in Italy.”

  I tugged on his hand. “Why did you leave the Divine Council?”

  He shrugged and dropped my hand. “Does it matter? I’m not an agent anymore.”

  If there hadn’t been the hint of sadness in his voice, the bluntness would have bothered me. I had obviously hit a nerve.

  “Do you have time to talk to Simon about your brother?” I asked as we stepped through the open office door.

  Lucas drew in a ragged breath before slowly agreeing. He unclenched his fist and reached for my hand. I met him halfway, slipping my fingers through his.

  “I didn’t mean to snap at you,” he whispered. “I’m just not accustomed to–”

  “I know,” I interrupted. “Me neither.” He smiled but there was sadness in his eyes. “You can trust Simon and if there’s anyone who can help us find your brother, it’s him.”

  His arms slipped around my waist and I found the curls brushing his collar. “Us?” he breathed in my ear. “That’s the best thing I’ve heard in a long time.”

  I planted a kiss on the end of his nose. I really liked “us,” too.

  We talked to Simon for over an hour before heading out in search of food. After grabbing a couple burgers and shakes, we dropped by my house for me to take a shower and change clothes.

  “What did you want to do tonight?” he asked when I emerged squeaky clean and dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt.

  One look at him sent my heart into overdrive. His nostrils flared slightly, no doubt scenting my arousal. Embarrassed enough to want to bury my head in the sand, I chose that moment to rearrange the flowers he bought for me.

  I chewed my lip. “There’s no hockey tonight. How about we rent a movie or something?”

  He crossed the room and placed his hands on my hips, his chest pressing against my back. “What would you like to see?”

  Oh, hell, that was one loaded question.

  If it was possible to die of embarrassment, I was about to do it. “Transformers,” I blurted out, snatching the flowers around.

  “Cool. I loved the first one. Have you seen the second one?” he asked. “I haven’t.”

  “The second one would be great. There’s one of those box things down at the corner. I’ll run down there and get it.”

  I whirled away and grabbed my wallet from the bar. As I reached for the door, I glimpsed the confused look on his face.

  “I’m pushing you, aren’t I?”

  My heart threatened to break into a thousand pieces. He had that scared kid look again.

  “No, you aren’t pushing me,” I answered, my hand falling from the knob to hang limply at my side. “I react so strongly to you and, to be honest, it scares me a little.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said, stepping away. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  I clenched my eyes closed, wishing I was better in situations like this. I wasn’t sure how to act, what to say, what to do. Hell, I wasn’t even sure how I should be feeling.

  “Do you want me to go?” Lucas asked tentatively.

  A walk to the box to get the movie would be good for both of us. “That would be great.”

  He nodded curtly, grabbed his coat, and brushed past me. I darted out the door and ducked in behind him. He strode toward his truck and I skidded to a halt.

  “It isn’t that far. I thought we’d walk.”

&nb
sp; Lucas looked at me like I was a psycho with an ax. “What?”

  “To get the movie.”

  His forehead crinkled. “I thought you wanted me to leave.”

  I opened and closed my mouth like a puppet. “No, no, no, I meant go with me to get the movie. Not go as in go away.” My face began to burn as I realized how poor my communication skills really were. “I’m sorry, Lucas. I don’t want you to go.”

  His eyebrows rose, his face a mask of confusion.

  I banged my hand on my forehead. “Away. I don’t want you to go away.”

  I felt about three inches tall. Lucas closed the distance between us and took my hand as his warm breath tickled my face. “That’s good to hear, because I didn’t really want to leave.”

  His smile was genuine and kind in the face of my blunder. I swallowed hard, gathered my courage and looked into his eyes. “I’m not so good at this kind of thing.”

  “At what?” The back of his hand brushed along my jaw and I shivered. My damn chin would not stop trembling. “Feelings crap.”

  “Me neither.”

  Lost, totally and completely lost in his eyes, I didn’t try to speak. What was there to say?

  “You are so beautiful,” he murmured. The warmth of his body blanketed me, the gentleness of his touch raising goosebumps along my arms. His hands drifted along my back, caressing, pulling me closer.

  My knees turned to jelly when our lips met, his mouth covering mine with tenderness and wanting. My fingers curled in his shirt, urging him closer, needing to feel the hardness of his chest against mine.

  “We’ll go slow, okay?” he whispered, pulling back to look into my face.

  Slow was about the last thing my body wanted right now. I buried my face in his neck, the scent of musky male mixed with leather igniting the slow burn spreading through my body.

  I tangled my hands in his hair and tugged his lips to mine. He growled, scooping me into his arms and carrying me toward the front porch. I should have objected to the manhandling, but everything in me wanted him, craved him, needed him.

  And it felt really good to be held without worrying about name, rank, and serial number.