Argus: Accepting the Challenge

by Jana Leigh

  His parents were probably worse than Cami and the children combined. He would not be surprised if his father hunted Braden himself. All of the elders had been pissed when they discovered whom the leader of the Rogues had been. Braden had been entrenched with them for so long it was like arrow to the heart when they heard.

  There was too much going on. Too much at stake. Quin was starting to feel the pressure from all sides. He could handle it, but it made for more than a few sleepless nights. Cami was starting to notice, which was not a good thing. Soon she would probably try and make him start taking naps.

  “We need a meeting with the Enforcers.” Quin said and looked around.

  Jaden nodded and picked up the phone right when it was ringing. “Blaine? Yeah, Quin and I are both here. Sure, grab Devon and Darien too would ya.”

  Quin waited while he listened to the one sided conversation. He closed his eyes and hoped that something else was not wrong. “That was Blaine; he has to talk to us.”

  Quin nodded and they waited until they heard the knock on the door. “Come in.” He called and watched as all of his friends entered the room. “Wait, where are the females?”

  Teagan held his hand up and said. “In the chick’s room. They are planning something. We have already talked to Cloe and she is keeping quiet. Probably going to all get their nipples pierced next.”

  Sid laughed and said. “Not Casey, she is breast feeding.”

  “Wouldn’t stop her.” Reggie said dryly and then plopped down on the bed next to Levi his mate.

  “I don’t think my heart can stand any more surprises from them.” Levi said and looked around the room as all the men agreed with him. “Ruby wants to get another tattoo on her ass.” They all laughed.

  Ryan walked into the room and closed the door. “Why the fuck we ever decided to stay here is beyond me. Ariel is entrenched with your mates. Its Cami said this and Jordan said that. Men, control your mates.” He yelled and they all burst out laughing.

  “Yeah, like that is gonna work.” Lagon said dryly. “Trinity is the newest one to the group and you would have thought she had been here for years. They have even gotten on to an adult toys website, and began ordering things. I questioned a charge on my card and she grinned and walked away.”

  Quin groaned. “Hell, they probably bought us all cock rings.”

  Ryan sat down and said. “So what’s with the pow wow?”

  “Blaine?” Quin said to the large man standing in the corner and waited. He watched his friend shift from foot to foot trying to decide how he was going to deliver the news.

  “I had a dream.” He blurted out and they all nodded.

  “Isn’t that what you do?” Sevi said and looked confused.

  “Shut up.” Blaine growled at his brother and continued. “There was a woman, she was beaten, and being held against her will, tied up. Kira and I looked at it together and she is not one of the Chosen. But Kira seems to think maybe she is a mate of one. So we tried to have another vision. But it was confusing, I was hoping we could all put our heads together and figure this out. I asked Kira not to tell the females because they would of course want to go off half cocked to save this girl.”

  “Duh.” Dalton said smartly.

  “Anyway, in the second vision we saw a huge community of shifters. Many different kinds all living together, and working together. We saw one of the Chosen, he was a lion. We don’t know exactly where he is though, but they were hunting something. I presume it was the female. But the bad part was that we also saw Devon, Teagan, and Darien all in wolf form helping. So my question is who knows a lion?” Blaine said.

  All of them shook their head and then turned to Ryan, Larkin, and Romy. They were the only cat shifters they knew.

  “Fuck.” Ryan said and ran his hands through his hair. “I should have known.”

  “What?” Quin said.

  “Argus.” Ryan said and Romy and Larkin smiled and chuckled.

  “Argus?” Jaden asked.

  “The Southern Pride leader. He has the only Pride with that many different kinds of shifters and magical people. You say the Chosen was a lion?” He asked Blaine who nodded.

  “Argus is a lion. One of the few full lion shifters around. Arrogant asshole knew he was one of the Chosen. He called me a few days ago saying he was coming up here to see the New Council. He said that he was bringing some people with him.” Ryan said.

  “Do you have his number?” Blaine asked.

  “Yeah, in my phone. Let me go and get it.” Ryan said and walked to the door.

  “Well this is gonna turn into another cluster fuck isn’t it?” Blaze said and leaned against the wall.

  Chapter 11

  Skye rolled over and stretched. She felt all the muscles she had not used in a long time. It was a good ache though. She reached out and felt the warm bodies of her men on either side of her. Her men, she thought, that sounded nice. She peeked open one eye and saw they were both leaning over her smiling.

  “Hey baby.” Argus said and kissed her nose.

  She giggled and said. “Hey.”

  Jacob leaned over and kissed her lips softly. “We have a question for you.” He whispered.

  “I would love to but I think I may be a little too sore right now. Maybe if I took a hot bath or something.” She said and looked at the hungry eyes of the men she was falling in love with. It was crazy, but she really was. She felt the deep connection with them. It was almost as if they had joined souls.

  “That is not what I was gonna ask but good to know. Jacob can draw you a bath in a minute. No, my parents called and wanted to get together tomorrow for breakfast. Tonight is for us. I was just wondering, if you could handle the Pride. They are all dying to meet you.” Argus said.

  She waved her hand and said. “In for a penny in for a pound. Bring ‘em on.”

  Argus looked relieved. He had not wanted to overwhelm his mate, but there were things that needed to be in place and soon. Her guards for one. Ari and Warren were going to put together a list of Warriors who had already volunteered. Skye needed to be protected so she had to make a decision.

  Jacob jumped from the bed and slapped her on the ass. “A bath awaits you, my lady.” He said and then went into the large bathroom and she heard the water begin running.

  “I am calling up for food. After your meal, we will talk and get things sorted out. Okay?” Argus said and looked down at her. She bit her lip and nodded. She hoped that they were as understanding as they looked.

  She had brought a mess to their doorstep and now she felt guilty about that. How would they look at her when they knew that she was a doormat for a loser?

  Putting it aside, she went into the bathroom and smiled when Jacob turned around and held out his hand to her. The bath was full; she stepped into the warm water and sighed when she sank down. Then she squealed when Jacob stepped in with her.

  “What? I needed a bath too.” He said innocently and she grinned.

  Skye turned until she was leaning against Jacobs’s chest and she looked at Argus who was in the doorway. His eyes turned a glowing yellow. “What a picture this would make.” He whispered and then came into the room fully.

  “Would you like to join us?” Skye said shyly.

  “Of course, maybe we can kill two birds with one stone.” Argus said stepping into the bath and settling in on one side. “So how about you tell us what you are so afraid to tell us.”

  Skye closed her eyes and said. “Now?”

  “Why not. I think when dinner comes we are going to be too busy afterward to actually talk much.” He smirked and picked up a wash cloth and began to wash her legs.

  “Fine. A few years ago, I got involved with this guy. His name is Bob. Anyway, at first it was okay, I mean he was not the most handsome guy in the world but he was nice at first, and to be honest with you I thought he was the best I was gonna get.” Skye said looking at the water.

  Jacob growled behind her and she laughed. “I know, I know, I was just w
aiting for you. So, at first it was okay. Then he got laid off. He did work in construction, but you know with the economy and all it went downhill from there. He couldn’t find another job, and his friends were all in the same boat. So they started hitting the bars when they should have been looking for work. At first, it was just a day or two then, it became every day. He went through his savings and then started demanding mine. At first, I refused. Then he hit me. I was shocked. I never thought I would be the kind of girl who would put up with that.”

  This time Argus growled and she smiled at him warily. “You have to understand. I was alone and scared. I did not have too many female friends because women seemed to ignore me. I mean I was the short dumpy girl who sat in the corner. Bob apologized and said it would never happen again. Until the next time. It became more frequent, and then the emotional abuse started. He destroyed my self-esteem down to the point; I am surprised that I actually made it out. Then the last day I finally had it. I came home from work and the place was a mess, Bob was passed out on the couch and I lost it. Bob got pissed and beat the crap out of me and I had had enough. I packed what I could grab and took his car and left. I knew he would be pissed off. Toward the end, he was very possessive and scary. I knew he would try and find me. But I figured that his ambition was for shit, so if I made it far enough away he would forget. I was going to send him money for the car when I’d had enough.” She said and drew circles in the water as a way to avoid their stares. “This morning I found out he is here. That’s why I was going to leave. And to be honest I kinda used you two. I was going to run when we got to the coffee shop.”

  “We know.” Argus said and pushed her head up until she looked at him in the eyes. “Baby, there is nothing in this world that would make me want you less. I meant it when I said we are in this forever. Now. Is that all? Cause we can solve that easy enough.”

  She smiled at his arrogance. Of course, he thought that Bob would be easy to solve. Skye wasn’t so sure. The last time she saw him the look in his eyes was crazy. He had gone around the bend. She would not be surprised if he followed them to Colorado.

  “Now before we turn into prunes let’s get out of here. We still have some things to discuss.” Argus said and stood up.

  Jacob helped her from the tub and they dried her off and took care of her. She smiled the whole time. This is what she wanted, and she would fight for it, she decided. Bob was history.

  ***

  The next morning Skye smiled when the sun hit her eyes waking her up. Her men had loved her all night long. It had been glorious, they had talked and laughed. Argus explained to her about the whole Chosen thing. She had been surprised when she heard the history. Shifters had been around for a lot longer than she thought.

  She reached out and the bed was empty. Skye sat up and looked around. Argus walked into the room from the bathroom with wet hair.

  “Hey sweetie. We’ve got to get up for breakfast, everyone will be here soon. Are you sure you are okay with everyone coming?” He asked. She liked this side of Argus. The demanding one pissed her off, but she noticed that he was only demanding when he felt like he was being challenged. It must be the lion in him that did that.

  “Yep.” She said and lay back down for a minute. She was still shy enough not to want to get out of bed naked yet. “I have to chose the Warriors and meet the parents. Got it.”

  “As soon as we get settled in Colorado we will talk about changing you. Until then you need to have protection.” Argus said sternly. Yep, it was the lion.

  She rolled her eyes and said. “Yes, Argus.” Jacob walked in the room with a hand full of clothes.

  “Here, baby girl. I had Sierra run into town and grab a few things yesterday.” Jacob said and set down the clothes. She sat up and pulled them to her. Holy shit, these were designer clothes. She had only worn Wal-Mart brand her whole life. These clothes were soft and she snickered when she saw the matching bra and panties that lay there. They were lacy and sexy. “Okay, maybe I asked for a few specific things.” Jacob grinned and bent down and kissed her. “We gottta move, there are people waiting downstairs already.”

  Skye nodded and gathered the clothes in front of her and slid out of bed. She ran for the bathroom and heard her men laughing behind her at her shyness. Oh, they would pay for that later she thought and closed the door. She quickly took a shower and did her hair. When she slid into the clothes, she felt pretty. Sierra had great taste. The clothes fit her like a dream. She reminded herself she needed to thank Sierra personally for getting her these things. Skye would never have picked them out for herself, they made a statement.

  The colors were bold; a deep blue shirt that shimmered a little when she turned and fitted black pants that actually looked good on her. She felt like royalty when she stepped out of the bathroom and smiled when Argus and Jacob turned to look at her.

  They were both dressed in slacks and nice shirts. They were so hot; she thought and felt her pussy contract a little. She needed to stop thinking about them before they missed breakfast all together.

  “Ready?” Argus asked and she smiled and nodded.

  When they reached the door, the phone rang. Jacob ran back to answer it. Argus continued with her until they reached the outer door and they heard Jacob call to Argus.

  “Shit, go ahead sweetie. Ari should be at the bottom of the stairs, go, and wait with him while I take this. It will only be a second.” Argus said and she nodded and smiled.

  She walked out of the room and ran her hands down her pants to make sure she looked okay. Sky stepped down the stairs and continued until she reached the bottom. Ari was not there, he must have been waiting in the dining room. Skye felt a little weird about walking in there by herself, so she went to wait in the small office. She would be able to see when Argus and Jacob came down the steps.

  She looked out the window and saw a catering truck, wow, they pulled out all the stops for this one, she thought for a second before she felt the prick in her neck and turned. The last thing she saw was Bob looking at her grimly with a wild look in his eyes.

  Chapter 12

  Argus answered the extension when Jacob motioned for his to do so. “Hello?”

  “Hey Argus, this is Ryan,” a voice said and Argus grinned. His old friend was probably calling to bitch about the present he had sent him a few weeks ago. The second place trophy he had sent him was probably a little over the line.

  “Ryan, good to hear from you. Would it be possible to call you back later? Jacob and I have found our mate and we are introducing her to the parents this morning.” Argus said and winked at Jacob.

  “Your mate? Does she by any chance have long brown hair, and pretty eyes?” He asked.

  Argus growled into the phone and said. “Why?”

  “Who boy, sorry. Blaine had a vision. We think it was about your mate, but we need to know if you are one of the Chosen first.” Ryan said into the phone.

  Argus sighed and looked at Jacob who grinned. He had been caught. Argus was still trying to figure out how he was going to tell them that he knew he was one of the Chosen this whole time and had not come forward. Well, I guess the cat is out of the bag.

  “Yep.” He said shortly. There was no time for more discussion if his mate was in trouble.

  Ryan laughed into the phone and said. “That discussion will hold for later. For now, Blaine saw your mate tied to a bed and beaten. He could not tell where or when, just that it happened. We are sending you reinforcements. Devon, Darien, Teagan, and Levi. They will be there in a few hours. Until then, keep your mate close.”

  Argus nodded and looked at Jacob who hung up the phone and walked quickly to the door. They had to find her now. The urge to shift was coming over him. His mate was in danger and he knew who it was from.

  “Thanks for the heads up. I will have someone meet them at the airport. Text me their info. Once they are here and we are secure I will call, and talk to you about what our plans are.” Argus said and he heard Ryan chuckle.

&
nbsp; “Sure, welcome to the mad house.” Ryan said and hung up.

  Argus looked at the phone and smiled. He was glad that his friend was in Milliken. It would make it easier to talk to the rest of the Council. Argus was not known for his diplomacy.

  Just as he reached the door, he heard Jacob begin shouting. “Skye? Ari, Warren where the fuck is our mate?”

  Argus felt a cold shiver flood through him. She had been taken. They were too late. Damnit. How had he gotten in the compound, Argus thought and ran down the stairs. By the time he reached the landing Warriors and family alike were in the foyer demanding to know what was going on.