by Jana Leigh
“Okay, let me get this straight. Simon had good aura, so therefore, I should believe him, and Phillip is your brother, which you are a dragon, and he is a cat, I am not sure how that works, but I really can't have any more explanations today. Can you just leave me alone and let me think this through? Tell everyone I will come out when I am ready,” Rissa said with a touch of hysteria in her voice.
“Ris, I am sorry, Phillip and I grew up in a ménage family, we each took after one of our fathers—one dragon, one tiger. Look, you and the others are like sisters, please talk to them. This last month we could all tell there was something going on. I didn’t tell anyone about Phillip because I was worried about what was going on with the Prentiss Agency, we need to know how much they know about Phillip and me.” Pilar grimaced.
Rissa looked at her sharply and narrowed her eyes. “What other little surprise do we have coming? I mean, if you tell me his tiger has like, three heads, I would pretty much knock my head against a brick wall.”
“No, but we do have an issue,” Pilar said.
Rissa sighed, shit, she was gonna have to be the better person. Damn it, she hated it when that happened, right now, she wanted to be a spoiled brat and stay in her room and sulk. Her apartment had been a bust since she opened the door, and so Rissa had nowhere to go but here to be alone. Now she was gonna have to suck it up, go out, and act like a grown up. Damn it, well, she may have to, but she didn’t have to be happy about it.
“Fine, I will come with you, but if I am not directly needed I am gone, on vacation, hasta la vista, see you later…” Rissa said.
“I get it, you will be gone,” Pilar said calmly, knowing how to deal with Rissa was a requirement for anyone who she had contact with. She was a little high maintenance.
Rissa settled Billy B into his bed and gave him a chew toy before following Pilar down the hallway. She took a few deep breaths as they came closer to where her friends were, she could hear and feel them all in the large conference room.
***
Calli and Cherri paused as they felt their best friend coming to the room. They held their breath as she walked into the room behind Pilar. Phillip, who was sitting at the table, stood quickly, and went to his sister.
“Pilar, what the hell is going on?” Phillip hissed.
Rissa stepped forward and said, “Don’t yell at her, she was up talking to me.”
Phillip grimaced and looked at Simon before he turned back to Rissa who was standing with her hand on her hip. “We need to talk,” he said firmly and reached for Rissa’s arm.
“I don’t think so, at least not yet, let’s get this whole thing out on the table before I let you leave with my best friend,” Calli said, stood up, and walked to Rissa. She pulled her away from Phillip, to the table, and settled her in-between Cherri and her. Calli leaned over and whispered, “I did not betray you, nor did Cherri.”
“Keep telling yourselves that and maybe it will come true,” Rissa whispered back.
“Hey, Kade is the one who told us we had to be nice and talk to you about how you had to give Simon a chance,” Cherri said with vehemence.
“She's right, he did, don’t worry he will be paying for that,” Calli said and the three of them turned and looked at the male Alpha with a glare.
“Now what the fuck did I do?” Kade yelled and everyone at the table jumped.
“Never mind, first off, we need to figure out what is going on here. We have a murderous Beta, and a man who claims to be Rissa’s second mate. Pilar, apparently, you have something to do with this and have chosen not to talk to us about it. Why should we allow you three to stay here? As far as I am concerned, we should hang you from the highest tree and let the birds eat your gizzards,” Calli said flippantly.
“Shit,” Phillip laughed.
Pilar rolled her eyes, “Enough of the dramatics, ladies. I get it, I screwed up, but when you hear the whole story, maybe you will understand.”
“Fine, get it out,” Calli said waving her hand. Rissa leaned forward since she knew they would be talking about her mates. She really wanted to give them a chance, but she wasn’t sure.
“Ladies, I have known you all for a long time. I realize that I have held a lot of things back from you, and it is coming back to bite me in the ass. It began so long ago, before all of you were born. We talked about the prophesy of the Chosen and their children. Basically, they were to organize and bring the magical world and the human world together. They did that, they accomplished their goal, and for hundreds of years it worked. However, there was something none of them knew. You see, the head of the Rogues was the first Ulfer, and unbeknownst to them he had a child, and so on, until one of the descendants of the Rogue leader figured out a way to make Ulfer. During the war where the humans decided they needed to control us, there were many things the public did not know, which is why I joined the Drekinn. The first thing you need to know is I am a lot older than what you believe. Phillip and I are the twins of Trinity, Blaze, and Lagon. They were part of the original Chosen and we were there for the coming out,” Pilar said slowly and waited for the explosion in the room to hit.
“No, no, no, no, no. I have a Grandpa for a mate, as well as a murdering bastard? Why me? I mean Calli gets the hunky, brooding guy. Cherri gets the smart and sexy guys, and me? I get the ‘I am butt ass crazy and like a thousand, million years old’ guys. WHAT THE FUCK!” Rissa screamed in frustration.
Just then Kiki popped his head in and demanded, “Where is the person I scented earlier? I swear they are playing hide and seek. Hey, cat boy, how do I get into your compound?”
“Meeting here!!” Calli growled.
“Mating here, crazy bitch!” Kiki muttered and left the door.
“We aren’t allowed to call them that!” Declan yelled after Kiki who flipped them off.
Calli and Cherri snickered, looked at her, and laughed aloud. Pilar held up her hand again. “Let me finish and then I will answer all of your questions. The war was brutal. Roarke, the leader of the Ulfer, killed many magical creatures in his quest to prevent the coming out. He would have used anything to stop the Alphas and the Council. However, the war is a story for another time. Right now, you need to know that I am hearing chatter similar to what we heard then. The Ulfer are trying to rise, and use the humans as their own personal slaves, and to be honest, if he makes enough Ulfer, he will be able to. They would only have to secure the leadership of each country and the people would be helpless. We need to find out how close they were to making a serum to change Ulfer into more stable Breyting, and there is even a little bit of talk they will take it a step farther and change humans, also. Now, I know we have a lot going on, but with Calli, Cherri, and now Rissa finding their mates, I believe we may have something they might want, and therefore we will have to make sure the three ladies here are protected at all times.”
Rissa frowned and looked at Pilar. “Why?”
“You three combined blood as children when you were the most vulnerable. As magical children, your blood was adjusting and getting ready for your first change, you combined your blood at the right time. I believe your blood has the ingredient that is needed to make the serum stable and also change humans,” Pilar said and paused to let the information digest.
“What does being their mates have to do with anything?” Kade said.
“This is all speculative, and more tests are needed. However, I feel confident enough to say that when each of you claim the girls, the more potent their blood becomes,” Pilar said. “I also believe the Bondi King knows this and they will actually have plans to use one or all of you to get what they want,” Pilar said.
Kade stood up and began to run a hand through his hair. “So what you are telling me is, these crazy ass fuckers are going to try to kidnap one of the girls?” Kade roared.
“I think this whole takeover of the Drekinn has been just that, a plan to get them under their control. When we ran, then it was on. Now we deal with the fall out. The basics are they want y
our blood to finish what the Rogues in the past started, their persistence has made us question who is actually in charge. They have unusually specific information about Roarke's original plans,” Pilar said.
“So what's the plan? I mean, we have to stop them and gain the Drekinn Agency back in order to make sure they don’t succeed. I don’t know, but it seems to me that we are a little behind the ball right now,” Rissa muttered and looked around the table. She refused to meet the eyes of her mates, although, she could feel both of their gazes boring into her.
“We need to figure out what the hell the future prophecy has to do with now. Calli, Cherri, and Rissa seem to be the key,” Pilar said and looked around the room.
Many of the people sitting there were confused, since this whole thing started, it was as if they were fighting an invisible enemy with no idea how to defeat them. Kiki, Sabrina, Thomas, Trina, Brooks, and Pilar had something to do with this also, but apart from being descendants, they didn’t know what role they would play in this whole thing.
“Pilar, maybe we should talk about what we think is happening,” Brooks said gently. Pilar’s eyes went to his and she glared at him. The tension in the room was pulsing, from Rissa and her men and now, Pilar and Brooks, what the hell was going on?
“Fine, we need to study your blood after you have mated, that seems to be the key. We think that this Pack is supposed to be a bit like the Chosen, you need to find the descendant and bring back the solidarity they had. We have lost that in these many years. The magical community needed a leader besides the Drekinn. The Agency has outlived its purpose and therefore even if we do gain control again, many things will have to change. We have to show the humans we are not going to try to take over the world and use them. I believe it is that simple, back before the war, the humans really wanted peace, but something happened, something that is not in the history books, something the Ulfer do not want us to know about. That is what we need to find out,” Pilar said and looked around the table. Rissa noticed that she avoided making eye contact with Brooks, hmmm, something was going on there.
“My cover is completely blown or I would go in,” Simon said. “I know where the files are. They have a large database in the Prentiss Agency that only a few people are allowed access to. When I tried to get the info before I left, I was caught. Holy shit, did they over react.”
Rissa pursued her lips and looked up. She loved the deep sound of his voice but refused to acknowledge him in anyway.
“Well, I can cloak, I think I could get in there and get to the data base. However, I wouldn’t know what I was looking for,” Phillip said.
“This sucks, because we all know who is the best one with a computer,” Cherri snapped and looked at her best friend.
Rissa nodded slowly and said, “I'm up for it.”
“Fuck no you're not,” Simon growled.
“You don’t get to tell me what I can and cannot do,” Rissa said slowly and her friends nodded.
“You are my mate, therefore, I do get a say in exactly what you do,” Simon said.
“I think you should really keep your mouth shut,” Rissa ground out.
“Maybe we need to give the three of them a few minutes alone before we proceed,” Pilar said diplomatically.
“NO!” Rissa yelled and the room stopped moving. “I don’t want to be in a room alone with them.”
Calli stood up, walked to her friend, and then pulled her to the side. Cherri joined them and they began whispering frantically.
“Time to put your big girl panties on,” Calli growled. “You need to get the fuck over this shit, Simon may be a freak, but he is your freak. I really don’t think he did the things we thought.”
“Yeah, if he did, then there would be a birthmark on his ass. Let’s make him drop 'em and we can see.” Cherri laughed. Rissa thought about the files she watched and Cherri was right.
She turned and looked at her mates who were standing there looking at her expectantly with Kade, Nik, and Declan. “Hey, murderous bastard, drop your pants and turn around.”
“What the fuck are you doing? I meant in private.” Cherri giggled.
“I will not be in a room with them alone until I'm sure he is not the man whore we think he is. I mean, can you say STD’s? I know we have vaccinations for everything, but damn. I am not gonna chance it,” Rissa said.
Calli and Cherri both sighed aloud, as Calli said loudly, “Clear the room please.”
Kiki stood up and looked around the room. “I protest, I mean why do you only get the show?”
“Kiki, really?” Calli said, rolling her eyes and then laughed when Thomas bent and whispered something to him in his ear and Kiki huffed out.
When the room was cleared, Rissa put her hands on her hips and looked at Simon expectantly. Simon looked around the room and frowned, looking for backup. Phillip shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know what is going on. Why do you have to take off your pants?”
“Yeah, why?” Simon said.
“Don’t argue, just do it,” Rissa demanded and then folded her arms across her chest.
“Man, this is what I was talking about. You won’t be right, just do it, and get it over with.” Kade laughed.
Simon glared at his Alpha and Beta males who were both grinning. This sucked, what the hell were they up to? FINE, he thought, turned around, and unbuttoned his pants. He grimaced when he heard Cherri whisper, “Damn girl, he could be a psychopath, but he does have a nice ass.”
“Hey,” Nik growled and then glared at Simon.
“Not my fault, man, those crazy women wanted this,” Simon muttered.
“Hey, this crazy woman is trying to help your sorry ass, so drop them and let us see your ass,” Calli barked and Rissa put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
“Whatever,” Simon said, dropped his pants, and showed them all his birthmark free ass.
“See, he isn’t the man whore we thought, so maybe he isn’t the murdering bastard either.” Cherri clapped.
“Man whore, who the hell thought I was a man whore?” Simon demanded, pulled up his pants, and turned around, glaring at Rissa.
“We all did,” Kade said sheepishly. “Well, until I met you. See, we had these tapes.”
“Surveillance vids?” Simon demanded.
“Yep,” Kade said.
“I told you, I wasn’t even in half the places they said I was. A lot of times I was doing something else for the King,” Simon yelled. “I was undercover, that does not mean I actually did anything illegal to make them trust me. I made sure to note every instance. Seriously, did you think I could be in, like, three places at once? The King had seven men who they called the Second in Charge, or your Mr. Twisted,” Simon said.
Rissa rolled her eyes, went to the wall, and punched in her access code and brought up all of the surveillance. “Really? How about this one, cause I am pretty sure this is you, and that is a whore.”
Simon walked to the wall and frowned. “I was gathering Intel. I didn’t fuck her or anything.”
“She has her damn tongue down your throat, and you look happy as a clam.” She accused.
“Well, I couldn't say ‘ewe gross’ and push her away,” Simon said.
“Just saying, there are parts of your job you seemed to enjoy a little more than others,” Rissa said and went back to where her friends were standing and glared at him. Cherri and Calli put their hands on her as if they were consoling her.
“What the fuck, like you have never kissed anyone before,” Simon yelled and then instantly regretted it when he saw tears form in Rissa’s eyes. “Shit, I am…I'm sorry.”
“As you should be, young man,” Rissa’s mother said from the doorway. “I will have you know I raised my daughter right, she saved herself for her mate.”
Calli let a small noise escape but then recovered and nodded solemnly. “Yeah.”
“Ummm, okay, sorry Rissa. I was just trying to say we all have a past,” Simon said, looking nervously between the wo
men.
Phillip nodded and then frowned at Simon. “What were you thinking?” he said and shook his head in shame playfully.
“Dude, really?” Simon said.
“Every man for themselves in this situation.” Kade shrugged.
“Come on!” Simon yelled.
Kiki stepped into the room and yelled, “I can scent them, they were here, are you all trying to drive my ass nuts?”
Calli rolled here eyes and Kiki stormed back out of the room.
Rissa sniffed some more and looked up through her eyelashes at her mother. She wasn’t certain how long she should play this. Crap, her mom was in the room and she wasn’t going to announce she was not quite as pure as her mother thought. Out of her two best friends, she was the one who didn’t sleep around, she just couldn’t do that.
“We know that Simon here wasn’t the man you all thought he was, so let’s move on. I think it would be more productive if we allow the three of them to have a few minutes together,” Declan said and held out his hand to Cherri.
Calli and Cherri leaned in and whispered to her, “Do you want us to stay?”
Rissa looked at Phillip and Simon and then shook her head and sighed. “Nah, I will deal with it—one way or another.”
Kade walked up to her, gripped her by the shoulders, and then did something totally unexpected, he kissed her on the forehead, leaned in, and whispered, “Cut them some slack, but we will always choose your side. You have to know that.”
Tears formed in Rissa’s eyes for real this time. She looked up at her best friend's mate, smiled, and nodded. Finally, someone sided with her. Calli slapped her on the back of the head and added, “Duh, we were always on your side, you just didn’t want to hear it.”
