Bodyguard of Love

by Lane, Terri

  We entered the library through a service entrance, then walked along towards one of their collaboration rooms. How fitting.

  “This should be interesting,” Case murmured just before we entered the room. I smirked and led our fighters inside. Kai was at the head of the room, in front of a whiteboard. The wolves were already seated on one half of the table.

  “Welcome everyone,” Kai said. “Take a seat. I’m sure you all are ready to get this started and over with, let’s try to make this process as easy as possible,” he said. I stood near the foot of the long, oval shaped table.

  “So, Gifford Pinchot,” Kai said. He drew a crude diagram of the forest and the border between Washington and Oregon.

  “But also…the many parks in Portland and Seattle which the Hunters are occupying,” one wolf pointed out. I didn’t recognize her.

  “And our blood banks,” Case said. There was a brief pause in the room as the wolves wisely decided not to question Case’s statement.

  “Right. There is one main concentration of Hunters and that’s here. So, the Preserve is where the bulk of our forces have to work together. These satellite locations, various parks and smaller preserves will have to be separate battles,” Kai said.

  “With our new firepower either of our kind can keep the banks and parks clear of Hunters,” I said. The table seemed to agree on that with nods and mumbles.

  “How do you all operate when sweeping through a forest?” Kai asked.

  “We usually keep to the trees,” another vampire answered. “We call it a wraith formation. Swooping down on anyone unawares pretty much ensures victory,” he added.

  “We’ll be in human form for the most part, on the ground,” Kevin said. He was sitting nearest Kai at the head of the table.

  Kai shared how we’d worked together in that forest before getting cornered in the safe house. After some discussion, eventually we figured out the logistics of taking back Gifford Pinchot. We’d group off in vampire-wolf teams. The vampires would take wraith formation in the trees while the wolves kept flush to those same trees on the ground and slowly sweep through the forest until each Hunter was taken out. We knew where their concentrations were. On the state border, and around hiking trails. Not to mention the area around the safe house. It seemed to be a hot spot for them.

  Once the bulk of their force was wiped out, it would be up to our respective fighting teams to handle whomever was left. The official coalition wouldn’t go past the Gifford Pinchot battle.

  After the meeting, it seemed like everyone was surprised that we were able to have such a productive meeting. The vampires and wolves slowly meandered out of the room.

  “That was…oddly easy,” Kai said.

  “It wasn’t easy, just simple,” I said.

  “True. So, you have to go back to your father’s coven?” he asked.

  “Yes, we have to present all this to the coven leaders…our own red tape,” I mumbled.

  “Alright, will I see you later?” he asked in a low voice.

  “Yes,” I told him. Soon after that, I left with the vampires. The coven leaders were convened just in time for us to arrive.

  “Sophia, what of this coalition meeting?” Wraith asked.

  “We have a strategy; a plan actually. It’s all a matter of when we’ll carry it out,” I said.

  “Will our fighters need training in using these weapons?” Paelin asked.

  “All our fighters know how to use a gun and other weapons. It’s always been a matter of having enough to equip them,” Case said. “We’re ready to deal with the Hunters,” he added. The leaders all glanced at each other briefly, then Wraith stood.

  “Then we will fight one night from now, under the full moon,” Wraith said. “Prepare your teams, do what you must.”

  They all left to get back to their covens and round up the army.

  “Well Sophia, you’ve certainly proved your leadership,” Arya said.

  “We all have our time,” I said pointedly. She smirked.

  “I suppose we all owe you a great debt as well. You’ve armed us for the future,” Paelin said.

  “No thanks are needed, it’s my duty,” I said. With that the meeting was concluded.

  “Alexis,” I called her just before she left the room. “I need to speak with you on something,” I said.

  “Anything, what do you need?” she asked.

  “It’s nothing I need, in fact, it’s something I need you to have.” I gave her the card with the weapons dealers’ contact information on it. “This is for the future. I know we’ll need to restock. But until we create our own vampire armory and weapons source, you can have them supplied by these men,” I told her.

  “Why are you giving this to me?” she asked. “Wouldn’t it have more purpose in your hands?”

  “No Alexis, the Portland Coven will have this,” I said. She studied my gaze for a moment and I knew that she put it together. She knew I was leaving.

  “Thank you, Sophia,” she said softly. I smiled, then left to go back to Kai.

  “So, when’s the big date?” he asked. I shut the door behind me and took a deep breath.

  “The night of the full moon. I said. That will certainly draw out a lot of Hunters,” I said. “Do you want to fight? We can slip away whenever we want at this point.”

  “I want to make sure the Hunters get decimated,” he said. I nodded. “But I don’t want you fighting,” he added.

  “Yes, but that is ultimately my choice,” I said. Kai nodded, we didn’t talk about it again. He knew I wouldn’t let him walk into battle without me.

  * * *

  I could taste the energy in the air. Both vampire and wolf alike were ready for the fight. The moon was just rising over the looming trees. I was with Case and Kai. Together our squad count was thirty-four. It was enough of a force to take out fifty Hunters and more.

  “Well? You ready?” Kai asked me. I tested the weight of the gun in my hand. It wasn’t an automatic like what everyone else sported. It was a simple silver nine-millimeter.

  “As I’ll ever be,” I said, smiling. Kai glanced at Case, who gave the order. We entered the forest along one of the hiking trails. Once the trees closed us in, we vampires took to the trees. We moved two miles parallel to the trail, then finally encountered our first group of Hunters. There were five of them and they didn’t expect that we’d be armed with guns. Of course, they saw the wolves first, but they didn’t even get a chance to raise their weapons before the vampires shot them down from above. We continued to comb the woods methodically. Soon our count of Hunter casualties was several hundred.

  “Case, what are the other casualties?” I asked him. He had an earpiece in and was connected to the other vampire squadron leaders.

  “So far, we’ve made a dent. Just under five hundred have been killed or run out of the forest,” Case said. I grinned at him from the branch I stood on. He nodded, his gaze equally as hopeful.

  “It’s almost boring fighting this way; it’s too easy,” commented a nearby vampire. I chuckled.

  “Don’t go getting bored already,” I called over my shoulder. I jumped to another tree and as I did, a bullet whizzed just past me. It was so close that it clipped my forearm. I hissed and made myself flush against the trunk of the tree.

  “Hunters!” Case shouted. We’d gotten sloppy for that brief moment and it cost us. Down below the wolves were trading fire and my heart was in my throat for Kai. Case ordered everyone to drop in order to help them. There were two truckloads of Hunters including twenty elite ones. I realized just how close to the safe house cabin we were. I dropped down from the tree, onto the back of a hunter and shot him, incapacitating him.

  “Sophia!” Kai’s voice called my attention to the left. He was waving me over, away from the thick of the fight. The number of Hunters were quickly dwindling around us. “I think we can make our exit now,” he said. He yanked me behind him, then shot one stray Hunter, trying to sneak up on Case. We still had our full fighting
force and it was down to twelve Hunters. An easy mop up. I laced my fingers with Kai’s and we ran.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “There’s a trail nearby and a truck waiting for us,” he said.

  “Sneaky,” I said with a smile. “You planned our getaway.” Kai laughed.

  When we made it out of the forest and to Kai’s truck, I let out a relieved breath.

  “We did it,” I said.

  “Yeah, and relatively unscathed,” he said, studying my arm.

  “It’s just a graze,” I said. Kai cupped my face in his hands and kissed me deeply.

  “To the future?” he asked. I smiled and nodded my head.

  “To the future.”

  THE END

  = Bonus Book 4 of 9 =

  Wager of Hearts

  “You never would!” Amber exclaimed, squealing a little too loudly as I declared my intentions. “You’re only saying that because you’re drunk, Cassie Symmons.”

  I giggled, the wine circling my brain as I leant across the table in the very posh bar I was currently drinking in with my friend. This wasn’t the usual sort of place we went, but after being ceremonially dumped by her long term boyfriend, Seb, Amber was looking for a new type of guy to whisk her off her feet.

  Seb was a wannabe rock star, going nowhere in the world, whereas the guys that hung out here were bankers, investment types, the sort of men with money. The total opposite end of the scale. That was the reason we had both squeezed ourselves into knock off designer little black dresses, just to try and fit in with the wealthy types, just for one night.

  “I would! Look, I agree, he’s hot, but I would much prefer to get under Markus.” I shimmied on my seat as the idea of finally sleeping with my boss filled my brain. I’d had a crush on him for years, ever since I got hired as his personal assistant, but of course I’d never acted on it. I wasn’t that unprofessional. “He’s just so rugged and manly. I would love those big masculine hands all over me.”

  Then again, the more time I spent with him the harder it was getting to keep on taking the high road. He had the sort of look that made me feel constantly hot under the collar; his gorgeous chocolatey skin, those deep hazel eyes, that big smirk that always seemed to be hiding something more.

  And then there was that body of his. He had muscles that couldn’t be contained by a shirt, I was certain that he needed a new one each day, just because he had to rip out of it at night. I hadn’t ever had the pleasure of seeing his chest, but I could only imagine that abs ran down it… and I’d spent a lot of time picturing it.

  “Oh yeah? Just one night of passion to get it out your system.” Amber winked at me, which sent me peeling into laughter again.

  “Something like that.”

  I couldn’t tell Amber, but my feelings for Markus were no longer just a physical thing. When I first worked with him, it was all about the way he made my body feel, but now… well now I liked him for the person he was too. I’d gotten to know him, and he was sweet, kind, and incredibly funny. He had a wryness to him that he kept under wraps until you got to know him better.

  My fantasies had transgressed from sexual to romantic. I hadn’t even realized it was happening, and now I had no idea what I was supposed to do about it. I couldn’t tell my friend because she’d freak right out and make it a much bigger deal than it needed to be.

  “So why don’t you?” Amber shrugged and slurped back some of her drink. “Just have one night of fun.”

  “Oh I don’t know, maybe because I have to work with him. No, not even with him, under him. He’s the owner of the company and my direct boss. I can’t sleep with him because then I’d need to get a new job.”

  “Life is too short.” She nodded vigorously as if she was the wisest person around. “If this whole messy break up with Seb has taught me anything it’s that you just have to go for it in life. You like someone, you make them yours. Unless you’re already with someone of course.”

  Okay, a swift change of subject was needed before she started to fall apart. She was doing really well at the moment, we both wanted her to move past the sobbing for hours and online stalking phase. Nothing good could ever come of it!

  “Okay wild woman of the forest, that’s all well and good but what if it makes me lose my job?”

  “Urgh, who cares?” She flapped her hand in front of her face, making her look exactly as drunk as she probably was by now. “You are always so serious!”

  That floored me a little, her words actually sobered me up a little bit. I wasn’t that serious, was I? Sure I focused mostly on my job but that was because I wanted to get by in life. And also a little bit because of my secret adoration of Markus… not that I was about to admit that aloud. That didn’t mean I was boring, did it?

  “What do you mean?” I practically whispered, shrinking in on myself.

  “Well, riddle me this… when was the last time you got laid?” Amber raised her eyebrows knowingly at me, because she already knew that it had almost been a year. We told one another absolutely everything. “You have to get out there and have some fun. That’s why I think you need to screw your boss. He’s the only guy I’ve seen you show interest in for months.”

  “Hmmm…” I nodded slowly, unsure of what to say to that. Maybe it was the alcohol infecting my brain, but she was getting to me, she was making me question everything.

  “Tell you what, why don’t we make it fun?”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Well, I’m going to make a bet with you. If you don’t seduce your boss at the Christmas party next weekend, then you owe me a hundred dollars.”

  “A hundred dollars?” I screeched like a banshee, probably attracting the attention of every single person in the bar. “Are you freaking kidding me?”

  “Shh,” Amber laughed. We were like crazed school kids having our first taste of freedom. “Will you calm down? I just want to encourage you to have some damn fun.”

  I bit down on my bottom lip, the competitive edge I usually buried deep inside of me floating to the surface. I didn’t want my friend to see me as the bore she so clearly did, I wanted to prove that I was better, that I was more…

  And God damn it I wanted to feel Markus inside of me. I wanted my wildest fantasies to finally come true.

  “Okay, you’re on,” I replied without really thinking it through. “I’ll make the Christmas party one to really remember, and if I do you have to give me a hundred dollars.”

  Amber extended a hand to me and I shook it firmly. This was on now, I was going to have to at least give it a go. I certainly couldn’t afford the hundred dollars at any rate.

  “Right now that’s sorted.” Amber scraped her chair back and grinned at me. “I’m going to get those hotties to buy us a drink. I’m sure at least one of them will want to go home with me.”

  With her long dark hair flowing down her back and her dress clinging to her voluptuous curves I had a feeling she would have more than one guy after her, which was exactly what she needed.

  I rolled my eyes and stood up too, mostly because I didn’t want to be left alone sitting at the table, but also a little bit because I wanted to watch Amber in action. Sure she’d been out of the game for a while but her flirting was on point. Mine was… well, nothing really. I’d always just sort of stumbled into relationships, which was maybe why they didn’t ever work out. There was no passion, no fire, we just always were. Nothing ever ended explosively either, it just fizzled out. That was a pattern I really needed to break.

  It wouldn’t be that way with Markus though, I was sure of it. He was the sort of man that would turn my body inside out, being with him would be a sexual awakening, and now… well, it seemed that I was going to find out the truth of that for real.

  ***

  The music was thumping loudly, the fairy lights twinkling above, everyone was dressed to impress and slowly getting drunk as time ticked past. This was a Christmas party like no other, the festive atmosphere filled the room, it
was utterly impossible not to get caught up in it.

  Well, except for me, but that was only because I had one end goal in mind. I needed to get Markus Smith in bed before the end of the night or I would owe my friend a lot of money. It turned out Amber wasn’t about to forget our wager, and she was insistent on holding me to it. She told me it was exactly what I needed and that was that, there was no getting her to forget the whole thing.

  Luckily, she had stuck around all day long to help me get ready for this mission. She curled my blonde hair into ringlets, she’d achieved that wonderful smoky eye effect which highlighted my baby blues, and she’d plastered my very pasty skin in fake tan to give me a bronze glow. Amber had also leant me her tight red dress, which looked good at home, but now I was in public I felt like I had far too much cleavage on show.

  I just hoped that Amber would be quite as helpful when it came to job hunting in the new year! I was still pretty sure that was where this was going to end up.

  Still, there was no point in worrying about it now, I needed to try and be sexy. If I told myself that I was a beautiful, seductive goddess then maybe my brain would believe it.

  My eyes zoned in on Markus as I took shaky sip of my drink. He was still talking to the same guy he’d been chatting with all night long, there didn’t seem to be a gap in their conversation coming up soon, which left me with one of two choices; did I wuss out and continue down the path my life had been going for months now, just to find myself a whole lot poorer, or did I finally do something brave?

  I tried to imagine myself stalking up there and purring sexily at him, before taking him home and ravishing him, but the more I tried to consider that plan the shakier my entire body became.

  I forced my feet to move towards him, hoping that a plan would come to mind later on. The longer I stayed in the same place, the more time I gave myself to freak out. I just had to try, even an attempt would be something to be proud of.