Lion’s Claim (Shifter Chronicles Book 6)

by Crissy Smith

  “I knew you’d catch on eventually,” Mac said.

  Logan shrugged. “I’m kind of embarrassed that it took me this long.”

  “I can’t believe you figured it out at all,” Annabelle said.

  He turned toward her. “You’re what I couldn’t fit into the whole plan.”

  “Why me?” she asked.

  “You lied to me. Said you never saw Samantha,” he reminded her.

  “I did.” She didn’t sound a bit sorry.

  “I couldn’t tell at the time what you were hiding,” Logan admitted. “Not with any of you. And I never scented Samantha here.”

  “We use a neutralizer,” Annabelle told him.

  “And we’ve had years of practice making up cover stories,” Mac added.

  “I’m impressed.” Logan gave them credit. “How many people have you helped?”

  “Too many to count,” Mac said. “We’ve been doing this a long time.”

  “Any problems?” Logan had to ask.

  “Not until some do-good Coalition agent showed up,” Mac said.

  Logan laughed. “I hear he’s a prick.”

  “I kind of like him,” Annabelle stated.

  “Me, too,” Mac agreed.

  “I’m not going to say anything to anyone,” he promised. “I also won’t interfere with your operations.”

  Annabelle gasped. He reached and captured her hand with his before bringing it to his lips.

  “Did you think that I’d try to stop what you’re doing?” he asked her.

  She nodded, still appearing shocked. “You just seemed so strait-laced.”

  “Well…” Logan blushed. “That’s not really how a man wishes to be described.”

  Annabelle smiled. “Apparently, I didn’t mind strait-laced, stuffy or—”

  “Okay, that’s enough.” Logan held up his hand. “I agreed to being somewhat rigid but that’s it.”

  Her giggle warmed him and he found himself smiling, too. Then he remembered what else they needed to discuss.

  “I have something else to tell you,” he said.

  “What?” She turned her palm before twining her fingers in his.

  He looked at Mac, who nodded. “It will be okay,” Mac told him.

  “After I graduated from the police academy, I was approached by someone from the government who’d figured out what I was. In order to protect anyone from knowing about shifters I went to work for him.”

  “What kind of work?” she asked. Her hand didn’t leave his, though. Instead she scooted her chair closer.

  “They sent me and an entire group of shifters on missions that were labeled too dangerous for humans. We went to other countries. All around the world.”

  “What did they make you do?”

  “Sometimes we rescued American citizens,” Logan said. “But sometimes we took out the people who our government deemed the enemy.”

  “Oh.” She bit her bottom lip. “I’m so sorry they made you do that.”

  “No,” Logan corrected her. “I chose to join. I didn’t know what the job would entail at the beginning and they offered me a lot of money. I wanted the money. I didn’t do it out of some sense of loyalty to my country. I agreed because I didn’t want to end up like my parents.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she told him. With her free hand, she cupped his face. “You were just a kid and you didn’t know what you were agreeing to.” She looked at Mac. “Calvin is a part of this, too?”

  “Yes,” Mac confirmed. “He’ll tell you his story if you ask, but it’s hard for him to talk about. The missions he went on took a lot out of him. It was why he left the police force and how he ended up here.”

  “I don’t need to know his story,” she said. “If he wants to tell me someday, I’ll listen, but it’s enough that he’s a part of us now.”

  Mac beamed at her with pride, but Logan still wasn’t finished. “It’s not done. Even if they haven’t called on me in a while, it’s always possible that they’ll request me at a moment’s notice.”

  “You’re still in?” Mac asked in alarm.

  “It’s a forever commitment,” Logan said. “There’s no way out.”

  Mac grinned. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Let me make some phone calls and I’ll see what I can do.”

  Logan’s pulse spiked as excitement zipped through him. “You might be able to get me out?”

  “Yes.” Mac nodded. “I’ve been trying to get the entire program shut down and hope that will be the eventual resolution.”

  Logan’s mind spun. He couldn’t believe this. “I want out,” he said firmly. “I don’t care what it takes.”

  Mac tapped his fingers on the table. “I’ll take care of it.”

  Mac stood and Logan didn’t feel right leaving it at that. Logan walked around and held out his hand.

  “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to thank you for this,” Logan told him.

  “You don’t have to thank me,” Mac said. “You never should have been placed in the situation to begin with.” Mac shook Logan’s hand. Before Logan could react, Mac then pulled him into a quick hug. “Now I suggest you both turn in. It’s been an exciting night.” Mac released him and Logan was embarrassed at how good the attention from Mac felt.

  Logan held his hand out to Annabelle in order to help her to her feet. “Sounds like a good idea to me.”

  Annabelle wrapped her arm around his lower back and they walked out of the kitchen together while Mac headed into the main bar area. Logan hadn’t even thought about the fact that the bar was still open. It wasn’t closing time yet at just past midnight.

  “You are sleeping in my room, right?” she asked.

  “Of course,” he said. “As long as that’s where you want me.”

  “It is.”

  The walk down the hall had a completely different feel than it had last night. The previous evening had been filled with possibilities and nerves. Now, as he leisurely strolled with Annabelle by his side, Logan was more content and happy than anything else.

  They’d gotten two big talks out of the way and that had taken a load off his chest. He’d taken a chance at discussing the missions, but he was glad he had. If Mac really could get him out of them, his entire life would change.

  “You’re thinking awfully hard,” Annabelle commented.

  “A lot has happened tonight,” he replied.

  “True.” They reached her door and she opened it before ushering him inside. “This is it.”

  A black-framed bed dominated the room, catching his eye. She had a black comforter over it, but he saw red sheets peeking out. There was a long dresser against the south wall with a mirror above. What really drew his attention were the ledges that seemed to float from the walls at several different heights. He’d call them shelves, but they didn’t hold anything.

  “Did you just clean up in here?” he asked.

  “No, why?” She’d ambled toward the window to pull the black curtains closed but stopped to glance back at him.

  He pointed to the closest ledge.

  She blushed adorably.

  “What?”

  “I like to climb.”

  “We talked about that,” he reminded her.

  “I also like to jump,” she said.

  He thought he understood. “So you shift in here and play?”

  “Yeah.” She was obviously embarrassed.

  “I think that’s cute,” he said.

  “Cute?” she repeated.

  “Next you’ll tell me you have a toy box full of cat toys.”

  She actually shuffled her feet and looked away.

  “Wow,” Logan exclaimed. “That’s awesome.”

  “Shower,” she blurted out. “You should probably shower before bed.”

  Logan laughed then stalked across the room toward her. She backed away until her knees hit the bed. “I’m not making fun of you.”

  “It’s okay. I know I’m weird.”

  “Not weird,” he correct
ed. “Fun, refreshing and, yes, cute.”

  Her smile grew. “You really think so?”

  “Yes, and do you know what else I think?”

  “What?” she asked.

  “That a shower sounds good,” he said. “As long as you’ll join me.”

  “Okay,” she agreed quickly before grasping his hand and towing him to one of the closed doors.

  Her bathroom was very similar to the one in the guest room he’d stayed in previously, except hers was done in different shades of green. He liked it immediately. She also had a large claw-foot tub as well as a big shower stall.

  “Bath or shower?” he asked.

  “Shower tonight, I think,” she replied. “I am kind of tired.”

  “You got it.” He walked over and started the water. “Now let me see that beautiful body again.”

  Annabelle shut the bathroom door before undressing. Logan watched every move she made so he could appreciate each gorgeous inch of flesh.

  It was obvious that she kept in shape. Her arms and calves were well-toned and her stomach flat, but she wasn’t skinny. No—she was perfectly proportioned. He was a little nervous to get naked in front of her. He wasn’t as built as Mac, Trent or Calvin.

  “Your turn,” she said, walking toward him.

  Logan pulled his shirt over his head and her gaze went directly to his chest. She’d made comments about it and apparently she really did enjoy the look of him. Annabelle even licked her lips.

  “Hurry,” she murmured. “I can’t wait to see you all wet.”

  Logan laughed and the anxious feeling evaporated. He finished a lot faster than he’d meant to, then Annabelle was pushing him inside the shower.

  The hot water hit his chest. Annabelle purred, a not entirely human sound, as she pushed him against the white-tiled wall.

  “Will you let me wash you?” she requested.

  How can I turn down that offer? “Yes.”

  Annabelle picked up a bar of soap from the dish by his hip then lathered her hands. Logan leaned his head back and she started at his neck and worked her way down. She caressed every inch of him until his front was covered in suds and his cock was straining for release. She’d even washed his shaft and balls, which he’d loved.

  “Under the stream,” she ordered.

  Logan moved to comply as Annabelle slipped behind him, where she began giving his back and ass the same treatment his front had received.

  “Turn.”

  He spun around, his cock brushing against her stomach. “All done?”

  “Nice and clean,” she said.

  “Good.” He took the bar of soap from her and repeated everything she’d done for him. Except he’d pierced her with his fingers, drawing out her pleasure. He kept two digits buried deep while finishing, making her all slick from the inside out.

  It wasn’t hard to gauge how much she was enjoying his touch as her moans and gasps grew in volume. When he’d washed, rinsed and teased her into a shaking mess, Logan pushed her back and hoisted her up.

  “Wrap your legs around my waist,” he demanded.

  She was in the perfect position and he wasted no time slowly slipping his cock through her folds and into her pussy.

  “Yes,” she hissed in approval.

  He pulled out leisurely then paused so he could look her in the eye as he pressed back in.

  “So good,” she whispered. “Harder.”

  “Not yet,” he scolded. “I’m going to take care of you right.”

  “You are, you did—please!”

  Logan merely buried his face in her neck and continued the torturously leisurely pace. At first, Annabelle fought him. She tried to move her hips faster, but with Logan pinning her to the tiles, she couldn’t get the right angle to force his rhythm to change. Eventually, she settled down, allowing him to satisfy her needs.

  It wasn’t until he felt the tingle at the base of his spine and he was close to release that he sped up. He still took her gently, though. He wanted to prove to her that he’d be sweet and tender, too.

  With Annabelle climaxed, she cried out his name. Her body clamped down on his cock almost painfully tightly. He continued thrusting inside, drawing out her pleasure until he came, grunting and shaking.

  Annabelle laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. “Wow.”

  Logan agreed. “Still want to keep doing this?” he teased.

  “Oh yeah,” she said. “Again and again and again.”

  “I can’t believe that you accept me, as fucked up as I am,” Logan whispered.

  “Hey.” She lifted her head then cupped his face. “That’s kind of the normal setting around here. We’re all screwed up in one way or another. But you don’t have to feel like you have to hide who you really are. No one is going to judge you.”

  “Maybe they should,” he said.

  “No one has that right. If I had a chance to do things over, I’d make some better decisions when it came to my safety, but I wouldn’t change a thing about what led me here. You were brought to us for a reason. I believe that.”

  “I think you might be a romantic,” Logan teased.

  “Shut your mouth,” she said with a laugh. “Don’t worry too much about why I like you. Just remember that I do.”

  Chapter Nine

  Logan wasn’t sure there was enough coffee in the office to keep him awake and focused. He’d had to climb out of Annabelle’s bed at six o’clock in order to drive home, shower and get to work on time.

  He finished his reports, sent Jamie an email updating him on everything and was now looking into the case files Ruiz had been in charge of. What he was finding did not sit well with Logan. How has this agent been allowed to run amok? Logan saved yet another half-finished call log into the secured file on his computer. Ruiz started reports then left them incomplete. Several times, Ruiz had marked the box for follow-up but there’d been no attempt by him to actually do any investigation.

  There were already more than thirty problems that Logan had uncovered and he’d only gone through the last two years.

  “Such bullshit,” he muttered as he transferred the folder onto a USB drive.

  Logan couldn’t understand why Ruiz had joined the Coalition if he wasn’t going to even attempt to do his job. How did Ruiz even make it past the training, seeing how lazy he is?

  Irritated and tired, Logan yanked free the little device that held his accusations and stood. He’d turn this over to his boss. Commander Parsons was a good agent and leader, but Logan had noticed lately he’d been overwhelmed. As turnover inside the Coalition increased, Parsons had to cover other duties for at least three divisions outside his own. It was time that Logan stepped up and let his boss know what was going on.

  He wished he’d paid better attention before. But, keeping himself separate from the other agents, he’d had no idea that Ruiz had been affecting the entire office. That was going to end today.

  Logan opened his office door and looked down. Parsons’ light was on and the commander was bent over, typing furiously on a laptop. It was now or never. Ruiz hadn’t been in the office yet that morning and it was a good time to take Logan’s concerns up the chain.

  With a casual stride, Logan crossed the bull pen where the newer agents’ desks were. Fredrick was at a filing cabinet when Logan passed and Logan nodded to him. Fabian didn’t even look up from whatever report he was working on. Logan liked the twins and planned to offer them some help in moving up the ranks.

  Even if Fabian was a little too flirty for his taste, the man was smart. He’d handled the transfer of Frank and his cronies, even completing a full write-up of the incident. He was driven and determined, earning Logan’s respect.

  When Logan reached his boss’s office, he rapped sharply on the doorjamb.

  “Agent Coldwell.” Parson motioned him inside.

  Logan stepped across the threshold and into chaos. There were papers, files and old coffee mugs all over the office. He’d never seen the commander’s space like this.
“Everything okay?” he asked.

  Parsons laughed. “There’s a method to my madness. Now, what can I do for you?”

  Logan slid the USB drive across the desk to Parsons.

  His boss picked it up. “And what’s this?”

  “When I first arrived in Brookside, I met resistance from the local sheriff. It seems he’d been making requests for several months now to our office and is being ignored. I looked into it and it seems that the same agent has received all the calls.”

  Parsons sighed but nodded. “Let me guess, the agent on all the reports was Agent Ruiz.”

  “Yes, sir,” Logan responded in surprise.

  “I suspended him yesterday,” Parsons said. “I’m currently doing an audit of all my agents’ cases.” He motioned around the room. “And I found issues with Ruiz’s.” Parsons shook the USB that Logan had given him. “I’ll look this over in case I missed anything.”

  “Oh.” Logan was at a loss for words. “Thank you, sir.”

  “I should have been watching better,” Parsons said. “Ruiz was recommended by another commander, so I had assumed he was good at his job. It appears now that the commander was just trying to get rid of his problem by shuffling him over here.” Parsons grinned. “I’ll be talking to that commander soon as well.”

  “Sounds like you have everything under control,” Logan stated. ‘I just wanted to bring this to your attention.”

  “I know I’ve been out of the office helping at other divisions and you all have had to fend for yourselves, but there are some changes coming that I think will really help us diversify our staffing and get out and help.”

  “What do you mean?” Logan asked. He didn’t do so well with change. Logan liked routine and order. He was having enough worries about the new state of his personal life to go through a major shake-up at work.

  “As the shifter population in this area has decreased, we’ve seen increases in other locations,” Parsons told him.

  That was bad news. The commander had to be thinking about transfers, if not closing their office down.

  “I can see on your face that you know where this is going,” Parsons said.