by J. D. Tyler
Any retort he might’ve made was waylaid by a loud whoosh and a blast of heat. Automatically he turned, glancing over his shoulder at the orange and yellow flames that engulfed the car and its occupants. The conflagration shot into the air and spread out to lick at the pavement, erasing all signs of the blood Jaxon had spilled.
Aric was standing with his feet spread and arms outstretched, palms out. The inferno intensified in response to his unspoken command. After another few moments, he lowered his arms to his sides and strode toward the rest of the group.
“Oh, my God! Did he just . . . No, he didn’t. That man did not just start a fire with his bare hands!” Kira was staring at Aric, a mixture of disbelief and astonishment etched on her pretty face.
“Well, that’ll attract attention,” Aric muttered as he reached them. “Let’s hit the road.”
“Come on.” Jaxon pulled his reluctant new charge along, forcing her to abandon goggling at the fire and get moving.
Ryon remained behind the wheel and Zander got in front with him. Aric climbed in back without a word, taking up position to watch their tail, Jaxon knew, and eliminate any pursuers if necessary. A fact he didn’t mention to Kira as they took the middle seats, Jaxon behind the driver.
Ryon floored it, getting them away from the scene as fast as he dared without gaining unwanted attention from the Las Vegas PD. By the time faint sirens could be heard in the distance, they were well on their way.
Beside him, Kira cleared her throat. “Where are we going?”
If not for the subtle tremble in her voice, he might’ve snapped at her. But for some weird reason, it made him want to soothe her worries. Protect her from harm as he’d done earlier. Fuck. “To our plane. We have a private jet and landing strip in a hangar not far outside the city.”
“And from there?”
“Wyoming.” Silence. He looked over to see her holding the purse on her lap in a death grip, eyes wide. Hoping to ease her fears, he elaborated a bit. “Shoshone National Forest. We’ll land at our compound, and you’ll stay there with us for the time being.”
“I don’t get a say?”
“No.” The thought of letting her leave burrowed under his skin like a stinging nettle, though he had no clue why. What the hell was wrong with him?
Her voice rose on a note of hysteria. “So I’m going to be held captive at an unknown facility by a group of weird, mind-reading, fire-starting, vicious werewolves?”
“Hey, we’re not weird,” Ryon protested from the front.
Jaxon ignored him. “You’re our guest, not a captive. Besides, would you rather be dead right now at the hands of those guys back there for stealing whatever’s in that bag? You want us to put you out and leave you at the mercy of whoever sent them?”
She looked away, swallowing hard. “Of course not.”
“Then we’re your only option at the moment, so sit back and enjoy the trip. You’re in safe hands. Nobody in Alpha Pack will hurt you, including me.”
This brought her head around, and she scrutinized his face as though she could read the truth of his words there. “You want me to believe you’re the good guys?”
He gave a soft, humorless laugh. “I’m not so sure about that. But we’re not the guys you have to worry about. Let’s put it that way.”
She bit her lip for a moment, then sighed. “So are you going to introduce me to your friends?”
She seemed genuinely interested, and he hoped that boded well for how the next few days would shape up. He didn’t want her to be afraid. “Sure. The guy driving is Ryon Hunter, and next to him is Zander Cole.” The pair said their hellos, and flashed her charming smiles over their shoulders. “The warm and cuddly pup in the back is Aric Savage.”
“Fuck you, man,” the redhead responded, but with less rancor than before.
Kira smiled nervously at Jaxon. “Nice.”
Jaxon stared at her, struck speechless for a few seconds. He could see in the dark just fine, and the shadows did little to hide how her smile lit the inside of the SUV, which tightened his groin into a painful knot. She wasn’t just pretty—she was incredible.
“I suppose I can look forward to more intros when we arrive?”
“Um, yeah. You’ll meet our boss and another teammate, as well as a bunch of doctors and scientists who live and work there.”
Her brow furrowed. “All of you live on-site?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Hmm. Your compound is located in Shoshone National Forest,” she said slowly. “That’s government property.”
“Right again.”
“And if your facility is there, and everyone resides there as well . . . You all work for the government, then. Top Secret stuff. Special Ops?”
“Something along those lines.” He grinned at her. “You’re quick, Miss Locke.”
“Kira, please.” She caught his gaze, held it.
The air thickened, the moment stretching taut. To his surprise, he was the first to look away. Even his wolf was overwhelmed, in addition to being aroused to the point of madness. He cleared his throat. “Call me Jaxon, or Jax,” he said. “And before you ask, yes, the ‘Top Secret stuff’ you mentioned includes the abilities you’ve witnessed in us so far.”
“Something tells me what I’ve seen barely scrapes the surface.”
“You’re batting a thousand.”
At that, she went silent and stared pensively out the window at nothing, because there was literally nothing to see other than the blanket of stars crowning the desert sky.
Jaxon had just begun to be lulled to sleep by the darkness and the motion of the vehicle when they arrived at the landing strip. Ryon hit the opener for the wide door, pulled the SUV straight into the hangar, and the overhead lights came on, activated by motion sensors.
Jaxon straightened as a sudden thought hit him. “Our bags are at the hotel.”
“No, they’re back here,” Aric said. “Z-Man must’ve worked his charm on the concierge to get ’em so fast.”
Zan snickered. “She owed me a favor. I collected.”
Ryon parked and Aric handed their bags forward. Jaxon took his and shouldered it as he got out of the SUV, and then headed toward the jet. A cheery blip sounded from behind him as Ryon locked the vehicle, and the clomping of boots on concrete filled the cavernous space.
As they walked, Jaxon noted that Kira stayed close to him. Which pleased him to no end, and confounded him as his every reaction to her had so far. It didn’t make sense, this need to protect, to place himself not only between her and danger, but between her and the men he loved like brothers. He barely restrained himself from snarling at Zan, who took her hand and politely helped her step into the plane before Jaxon thought to offer.
And her scent is still driving me freaking insane. I’m losing it.
Kira’s voice broke into his musings. “Where’s the pilot?”
Aric climbed in and grinned at her. “That would be me, sugar britches. Still feel safe?”
She leveled him with a frosty glare. “I have a name. It’s Kira. And I never said I felt safe—he said I should feel safe.” The look was pointed as she glanced at Jaxon.
Aric laughed and headed for the pilot’s chair. “Yep, you’ve got a live one, pal. Have a blast with your new babysitting gig.”
“If anyone needs a babysitter it’s you,” she shot back. “Or a spanking, more like.”
Jaxon winced. She’d walked right into that one.
His friend pounced on the opening. “Don’t threaten me with a good time unless you plan to follow through. Whenever, wherever you want me to drop trou, say the word, sugar britches—oops, Kira.” He winked, completely ignoring the lip she curled at him in disgust, then turned in his seat and fired up the engine.
“Don’t mind him,” Ryon advised her as he and Zan took seats behind her and Jaxon. “He’s so immature he still hikes his leg on the sofa.”
That cracked up everyone. Except Aric, who shot the finger to the passengers in general
as he taxied the plane from the hangar.
“Is he always so cranky?” Kira asked in a low voice.
Jaxon shrugged. “Nah, Aric’s a good guy. Don’t know what’s up, except maybe he’s not too happy about our aborted weekend off.”
“Oh.” She grimaced. “Sorry about that.”
“Not a problem.”
As Aric guided the craft into position at the end of the runway and hit the juice, Jaxon was surprised by how sincerely he’d meant what he said. It wasn’t a problem—for him, anyway. He should be at least a little annoyed to be on his way back to their isolated outpost rather than enjoying a two-day romp in Sin City. On the contrary, he just didn’t care.
And that was what really bothered him.
He was hardly aware of the plane lifting off. Instead, he conjured a memory of the last time he’d spent a weekend with Alexa in his bed. The bottle blonde on her hands and knees as he thrust into her heat. How hard he’d been, unable to get enough. The delicious throb as he held off coming, wanting it to last.
But here and now. . . The memory shriveled his dick and filled him with a sense of repugnance. As did thoughts of tonight, when she’d rubbed against him like a cat in heat, and he’d responded. Had allowed the call girl to lead him to a dark corner and suck his cock, with the intention of doing so much more.
Suddenly he needed to take a long, hot shower to rid himself of any trace of Alexa’s scent. If only he could scour his brain as well.
I must be coming down with something.
But he didn’t buy it. Kira’s going to bring me more trouble than I’ve ever known. I don’t need to be a PreCog like Nicky to know that. These uneasy thoughts chased around in his mind until he finally gave in to the exhaustion that had plagued him since he’d looked through the eyes of the dead man he’d read.
Settling in for the flight, he fell into an uneasy sleep.
Kira would have to stand in line, because trouble came first in the form of their boss.
The flight was uneventful and Jaxon awoke just as Aric brought the jet in for a perfect landing. The small, lighted runway was a strip carved into the forest and could be seen only from the air. The compound hunkered nearby, silent and dark, shielded by the thick cover of trees. Jaxon had always thought of this place as magical, mysterious, and more than a little dangerous. A line from a movie frequently popped into his head whenever he came home: The Alpha Pack headquarters could be found only by those who already knew where it was.
And his team made up the warriors enslaved to serve it for eternity.
Putting aside fanciful ideas about doomed pirates and bespelled ships, he grabbed his bag. The second Aric pulled the plane to a stop inside the hangar, Jaxon jumped out, careful to put his weight on his good leg, and offered Kira a hand before anyone else had the chance. As she placed her smaller hand in his, he caught a knowing smirk from Zander and chose to ignore it.
“Now what?” Kira asked, glancing around the vast space. Unlike their hangar outside Las Vegas, this one housed not only the jet, but a big military-style helicopter and a variety of vehicles—all armed to the teeth.
“Now we get you settled into a room, and we’re all going to get some sleep. Everything will be better in the morning after some rest, lots of coffee, and breakfast.”
She shot him a dubious look. “Sure. Nothing like a plate of scrambled eggs to make me forget that I’m homeless, jobless, and on Dr. Jekyll’s hit list. Not to mention that I’m feeling a lot like Red Riding Hood realizing that grandma’s nose is just a bit bigger and hairier than it should be.”
“Ouch.”
The young woman shrugged and crossed her arms. He couldn’t help but notice the nice things the action did to the pert breasts pushing against her blouse. “If the muzzle fits. You can hardly blame me for being . . . hell, I don’t even know the right word.”
“Scared? Out of sorts?”
“To put it mildly.” She sighed. “I doubt I’ll sleep much, but I suppose I should try.”
Jaxon could think of one foolproof way to make certain both of them slept like babies. His cock twitched in agreement and he shook himself out of his dirty thoughts. The last thing either of them needed was a messy complication. Even if she was willing. Which she wouldn’t be, if she knew what was good for her.
“Come on, I’ll show you where our quarters are located.”
If she noticed his now-pronounced limp, she didn’t mention it as she fell into step beside him. The others had gone ahead and disappeared one by one through the door at the back that connected the hangar to the corridor leading to the main building of the compound. When they reached the entrance, Jaxon held the door open and ushered her inside.
“Wow, this is nicer than I imagined,” she said, gesturing to the decor. The hallway was done in dark green carpet, the textured walls painted a warm beige. Tasteful sconces were placed at intervals, the bulbs just bright enough to allow them to see, but not so bright as to glare.
“You were expecting sterile hospital white walls and ugly industrial tile?”
“You called it a compound, not the Hilton.”
“True. But we have to live here, so there’s no reason for the place to look stark and gloomy. Besides, there are several women on staff who enjoy sprucing up the common areas whenever Nick allots them more money. They wouldn’t let us guys get away with plain and ugly even if we wanted to.”
“Nick?”
“Our boss,” he reminded her.
“Oh, right. When will I get to meet him?”
Raised voices ahead—one in particular a deep rumble above the rest—answered the question sooner than he would’ve preferred. “Shit.”
“Guess that answers my question.”
The trepidation on Kira’s pale face made him want to growl at whoever came too close, including Nick. As they reached the end of the corridor and entered the recreation room, Jaxon saw that the head Alpha wolf had met their group and was grilling them intently. He did not appear to be thrilled by what he was hearing as Zander tried to explain why they’d returned mere hours after they’d left.
“We had no choice, Nick. These two assholes were attacking the woman, and Jax had to step in.”
The older man’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “Fine. And you all had to bring her here, why?”
Wasn’t this going to be fun? Jaxon stepped up, angling his body so he was mostly between her and the semicircle of men. “The men had guns, and I had to shift in order to take them down. She saw the whole thing.”
Nick’s stormy blue gaze stabbed him like twin daggers. “Let me get this straight. You let your wolf out in fucking downtown Las Vegas, killed two men, and brought home their intended victim who witnessed the entire fucking episode. That about it?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t do anything different, and I don’t believe you would have, either. They were going to murder her, and I had about two seconds to decide.” He stood unflinching in the face of the man’s formidable anger. His actions had been the right course and he wouldn’t apologize, nor would Nick respect him for doing so.
They stood regarding each other for several long moments. His three friends moved slightly toward Jaxon in unspoken support of what he’d done, even Aric. It was a gesture not to be taken lightly. Jaxon had broken a hardand-fast rule by bringing a civilian into their world, a world precious few could comprehend—or could be trusted to keep quiet about once they knew.
Nick’s stance relaxed, just a little. “No other witnesses?”
“No. We would’ve scented them.”
Their leader studied each of them at length before his expression finally softened, replaced by weary resignation. “All right. Jax, I want to speak with you and our guest in my office. Now.”
After he turned and strode off, Ryon muttered, “Well, at least he’s not going to rip your throat out.”
Jaxon managed a small smile. “Yet.”
“Good luck, bro,” Zan said, wincing in sympathy. The others chimed an agreement, and
they took turns butting knuckles with Jaxon before wandering to their own quarters.
Beside him, Kira watched them go, unconsciously biting her lower lip. In his opinion, she’d held up pretty well in spite of everything, resorting to humor-tinged sarcasm when she was afraid or feeling unsure instead of going off the deep end like many would have. Even so, she was quickly reaching the end of her rope for tonight.
“Come on,” he said, placing a palm on her lower back to gently guide her forward. “It won’t take him long to grill us and lay down the law. Then we can hit the sack.”
She was silent for a few moments as they walked. When she spoke, her voice was tired. “I don’t have anything to wear. All my stuff is at my apartment in Vegas.”
“I’ll loan you a T-shirt to sleep in tonight. In the morning, I’ll borrow some clothes from one of the ladies until we’re able to replace your things.”
“Thank you.” She paused. “I gather that sending someone to pack my belongings is out of the question.”
Looking down at her, he nodded. “Too dangerous, at least right now, and the risk of leading more of your pursuers here is too great. You don’t have any pets, do you?”
“Unfortunately, no. I like dogs and cats, but I’m not home enough to have one. It wouldn’t be fair to leave it alone so much.”
Admirable, and advantageous. He would’ve gone after her beloved pet, but was glad they had one less worry. Another thought occurred to him. “Is there any evidence you might’ve left behind that could clue in whoever’s after you as to how much you know?”
“No. To tell you the truth I don’t know anything, but I never put my suspicions in writing. My laptop is at home, but I never dared to use it to research gene splicing. Instead I accessed different ones in the common areas at work, where it would be hard to prove who was online.”
“Whoa, hold up.” Halting outside Nick’s office, he frowned at her. “Gene splicing? NewLife does medical research, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then what’s so unusual about genetic testing, or whatever?”
“It wouldn’t be remarkable, except—”
Nick interrupted. “Why don’t you both come in and we’ll get the answers we need?” He turned, expecting them to follow.
