by Haley Weir
His fists came down in a blur of movement. Destiny shouted for them to stop, but he struggled to clear his vision. Only when her hand touched his cheek did Brock hold back his next punch. He leaned into her touch and felt his heartbeat stutter. The man wiggled out from beneath him, face bloodied from the punishing blows that Brock landed in the fight. She moved away from him to tend to the human.
“Who is he?” Brock rumbled.
“He’s an old friend.”
“Is he one of the four?” He winced when the words left his mouth, but it was too late to take them back. Destiny’s eyes glared daggers into the side of his face.
“He was the first.”
Brock felt his stomach plummet into the unknown depths. He couldn’t handle the thought that someone else had touched her—had loved her in a way that she denied him. The sleazy smile on the human’s face made Brock want to pummel him again, but Destiny stood between them. “Please just go home and cool off.”
“Our date wasn’t over.”
“I’m saying it is,” she remarked.
“What? I’m not allowed to be jealous that my ma—that my date,” he corrected. “Is hanging around with an ex boyfriend?”
“Not when you’re being a jerk about it. You’ve already gotten into a fight and we both know if you continue, it won’t end well. Go. Home.”
“The name’s Logan, by the way. Logan Vetti.”
Brock lunged, but his fearless mate still stood in his way. He couldn’t hurt her and she knew it. Brock stormed out of the shop and drove to the one place he felt peace since returning. He drove to the forest and tore the clothes from his body. Strips of fabric floated to the ground as he dashed into the tree line. A bone-chilling roar rattled the night as Brock shifted into his bear form.
Dark brown fur covered his body. He needed to blow off some steam before he flew into a rampage and decimated the entire town. Brock needed his brother. He needed Michael to tell him that everything would be fine, to make him believe that the doctors hadn’t broken him. But Michael would never be that sort of brother, not after everything Brock had done to cause Michael to loathe him.
Brock ran through the forest until exhaustion caused his legs to go numb. He then waded into the river and let the cool water roll over his sore body. Slowly he shifted back into his human form. The frigid river helped ease the fever that normally came with the change. Brock breathed through the worst of the migraines and forced himself out of the water. He trudged back onto land.
It was over three hours before he was able to locate his cellphone. There were two missed calls from Corey when he finally checked his messages. Corey was never the type to call more than once unless something serious had happened. Brock drove a bit further up the mountain path and then abandoned his truck once more. When he arrived at the campsite everything had been burned to ash and Corey’s battered body was unmoving at the center.
Brock hurried over and knelt beside his ally. “Hydra is here. They’re close.”
Chapter Five
Destiny helped Logan off of the floor and up the stairs to her apartment. She deposited him onto the bed before disappearing into the bathroom. Destiny looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced. The mascara she applied before her date was now everywhere except for her eyes. She opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out the first aid kit. Logan looked up at her when she opened the door.
“That’s some boyfriend you’ve got. Thought he was going to take my head off with one punch. Where’d you meet him?”
“We have mutual friends,” Destiny replied. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the entire truth either. “And he works at the fire station.”
“I didn’t see him there when I was checking the place out.”
“He was injured on the job and hasn’t been back yet.”
There was suspicion in Logan’s eyes, but he didn’t interrogate her further. He tilted his head back as she dampened the cotton swab with disinfectant and cleaned the cuts on his face. Logan didn’t flinch away like most people would. His eyes never left her face and Destiny felt herself shrinking beneath his gaze.
“Are you going to tell my father?”
“About your boy toy? No. That won’t last.”
Destiny swatted his arm. “Why not?”
“The same reason you run from me and your family. You don’t want to be owned by anyone, Des. And that guy wants to possess you,” Logan explained. “I saw the way he looked at you. I’ve never seen anybody react that way before. It’s dark.”
“And what we had wasn’t?”
“Not like that.”
“What he and I have, it’s eternal. Whether we like it or not.” Destiny grabbed a sterilized needle and thread to sew the largest cut on Logan’s face. Her brow furrowed in concentration as Logan’s hand settled on her hip. “What you and I had was dangerous. One minute we’d be tearing each other’s clothes off and then we’d be trying to kill one another. So, excuse me if you’re the last person I want to take dating advice from.”
“What does he have that I don’t?”
“You mean besides loyalty, integrity, and a functioning moral compass?”
Logan’s grip on Destiny’s hip tightened, causing her hand to still. “We could run.”
“What?”
“We could leave everything behind and drop off the face of the earth.”
Destiny finished closing up the wound and cleaned up the bed. Logan didn’t release her from his grasp until she pinned him with a look of displeasure. “No.”
“Don’t tell me that you don’t want to. You still have feelings for me, Des. I can see it in your eyes every time we’re near one another.”
She jerked out of his reach and locked herself in the bathroom. There had been some truth to his words, but Destiny knew she had to be strong. She couldn’t go back down that road again when she knew where it would end. Instead of sitting around and waiting for Logan to eventually break down the door, she climbed out through the window and onto the roof. His furious shouts belted from the bedroom, but she refused to stop. Even when he took the stairs to meet her in the small alleyway behind her bookshop, Destiny walked right by him. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To a friend’s house.”
“I have to come with you. I’m under orders to protect you.”
Destiny felt arms wrap around her and she fought against him. The first time she tried to get away, he caught her, but now she knew where to hit him where it hurts. Destiny rammed her head back and bashed him in the face. She sprinted down the street and took a sharp left. The door to the Blue Velvet Room swung open and Destiny rushed inside. Her eyes scanned the foggy room through the cloud of cigar smoke and spotted Jenny on stage.
Logan wouldn’t chance following her inside and alerting half the town to his presence. She moved between the tables and chose a booth near the back. Once Jenny’s performance was over, they ordered a few drinks. “What’s going on? Why are you so flustered? And why are you in a dress that isn’t black?”
“Which of those questions do you want me to answer first?”
Jenny rolled her big green eyes and toyed with a fiery red curl that hung loose from her stylish updo. “Just tell me what’s going on.”
“Logan is back.”
“The hot Logan you used to be in love with?!” Jenny exclaimed.
“I never said that.”
“Right. Lie to someone who hasn’t seen that picture of the two of you, sweetie. He’s gorgeous and the two of you were best friends when you were kids. Why would you run from that?” Jenny sipped her mojito and smirked.
“Because I didn’t tell you the part where he tried to kill me.” Destiny barely averted the spray of liquor that shot across the table. “Under my father’s orders to do so. He claimed that he wouldn’t have actually done it, but I don’t know what to believe.”
“Maybe he just had to make it look like he tried to kill you?”
“Either way, I can’t trust him. Not wh
en he still works for my father.” Destiny sipped the strange blue concoction that her friend ordered for her and gagged. “Jenny! This is too strong! What were you thinking? I just told you I’m on the run.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. You’re not on the run, sweetie, you’re just overwhelmed.”
“He’s so intense. Not to mention Brock—”
“What about Brock?” Jenny snapped. Destiny closed her mouth and avoided Jenny’s fierce gaze. Her friend was quite intimidating when she wanted to be. “Destiny, tell me what’s going on with Brock or I will scream at the top of my lungs.”
“We went on a date.”
Jenny threw her drink at the wall in a fit of rage. “After Sapphire nearly died because of him?! I can’t believe you would do something so selfish. All of our lives were in danger because Brock couldn’t clean up his own mess.”
“Don’t you think what he went through was punishment enough?! Talk about selfish,” Destiny scoffed. “You don’t know the horror that still live in his eyes, Jenny. I’ve looked at him when he was too afraid to even let me near him. And he’s my mate.”
“It’s either Brock or it’s everyone else. Make a choice.”
“Don’t make me do this,” she pleaded.
“We’ve known each other since college. If you throw that away from Brock Wasting, then we were never really friends.”
***
Brock lifted Corey Reed off the ground and tossed him over his shoulder. The smaller man grunted as Brock ran for the truck. They reached the road in time to hear four mines go off in the forest at the same time. “I’m going to take you to my place, but then we need to talk about what you’ve been keeping from me.”
Corey grunted and leaned against the passenger door. “I’ll tell you everything. I’m not in the habit of owing people. But…thank you. You saved my life.”
Brock simply nodded, not wanting to make Corey uncomfortable for opening up. The only other time he had come close to doing so had been to a few of the members of The Ladies In Waiting Book Club. Honestly, it was men that Corey didn’t seem to trust. But the super soldier had a soft spot for strong women.
They arrived at Brock’s flat in less than five minutes. He jumped out of the driver side and rounded the truck to carry Corey into the house. Brock set the other man on the couch and went to lock up. When he returned, he was carrying his med kit that he used to bring on emergency calls. “Alright, take your shirt off.”
“Buy me dinner first.”
“I already had dinner tonight, but you’re welcome to eat the leftovers.” Brock pulled a chair from the kitchenette and sat in front of the couch. Corey finally lifted his shirt over his head and Brock had to school his expression. The scars on his body were nothing in comparison to the ones that littered Corey’s torso. His ally laughed through his nose and pointed to the first of many large scars.
“You and your friend Anders think you’ve been to Hell. I’ve conquered legions of demons and dined on the throne while you swam in the trenches.”
“Dang, man, what happened to you?” Brock asked.
Grey-blue eyes met his silver gaze. “Hydra is my father.”
Brock had been prepared to hear the tale of Corey’s misfortunes, but never had he expected a confession like that. The entire world seemed to spin off kilter for a few seconds. “Your father? Holy shit.”
“I didn’t know until a little closed-door meeting at the facility,” Corey groused as Brock worked hard to patch him up. “Hydra summoned me into a locked office and told me who I really am. What I really am.”
Brock stared at him expectantly. “Go on.”
“All my life I was conditioned to hate shifters, were-creatures, and other freaks of nature. But I never knew that I was one of them. My father,Hydra, told me that I was born different, that my power didn’t develop until my military training. The serum they had been feeding me, the one they said gave me my strength and abilities, was suppressing something.”
They sat perfectly still for a moment, just breathing in the silence and the tension.
“I’m a jaguar,” Corey revealed. “When he told me, I flipped. He’s stronger than I am because of the serum, but I was able to fight my way out. Then it hit me that I had been hunting and killing my own kind for years and never asking questions.”
“You were a soldier. Following orders is what you do.”
“Yeah, but at what cost?” Corey asked. “Every war has casualties, but my body count would put entire armies to shame. Nothing can change the darkness that I have tainting my soul for what I’ve done.”
“I don’t believe that.” Brock finished stitching up another gash in Corey’s torso before he moved to the next. He pulled out pieces of shrapnel as he went. “If you aren’t worthy of forgiveness than neither am I. If we’re damned, then we’re damned together.”
“The only thing that felt right in the moment was setting all of them free, but I couldn’t. Some of them were beyond saving, too rabid to be let loose from the facility. The rest I broke out when I flipped the switch to let the ladder down to your enclosure.”
“I remember that. At first I thought it was a trap, but when I looked up and saw you…for some reason, I just knew you were my way out.”
“Finding out I wasn’t an orphan and that Hydra was my father wasn’t anything compared to the realization of what I was.” Corey flinched when Brock poured some alcohol over his chest. “You could have killed me back in the woods. I would have understood. After all, I was the reason you were there in the first place.”
“Like I said, we’re damned together. And if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have made it out of there alive. Thought, while I’m grateful, this doesn’t excuse you from the number of cat jokes I intend to make.”
The frustrated groan that came from the couch caused Brock to smile for the first time since leaving Destiny’s side. He finished his work on Corey and then carried him into the bedroom to rest. Once Brock washed his hands, he responded to the agency’s message and set up a second date with his mate.
Chapter Six
Destiny stepped out of the shower and read the words “I’m sorry” written on the mirror. She sighed and readied herself for the morning book club meeting, but she knew it would turn into a witch-hunt once Jenny told the others about her date with Brock. No matter what they said, she couldn’t turn off the attraction. It wasn’t just the mate thing.
She knew what kind of man he could be and that was why she didn’t want to give up on something that had the potential of being great. Logan slept on the couch all night, so she didn’t have to worry about him interrupting the meeting. Destiny headed downstairs to the bookshop and let her friends in. Sapphire, Jenny, Tilly, and Lori filed in one by one. Destiny led them to the sitting room at the back of the shop.
Pastel hues of pink, blue, lilac, and yellow contrasted with the dark wood eighteenth century furniture. There were two settees at an angle, facing a cream-colored wingback chair, a gorgeous eighteenth century rug covered most of the floor, and a table sat at the center filled with tea and frosted biscuits. The ladies took their preferred seats as Destiny sat in the wingback chair. “So, who’s enjoying the book so far? I like Riker—”
“Enough, Destiny,” Jenny cut in. “You have to be honest. Tell them what you told me last night. If you don’t, then I will.”
Sapphire and the others turned to Destiny with unspoken questions in their eyes. Destiny didn’t feel as guilty as Jenny so obviously thought she should.
“I went on a date with Brock Wasting. We met through the Kodiak Agency. I know some of you might not like hearing that, but I like him. He’s my mate.” Destiny stood up and hooked her thumb in the bet loop of her jeans and pulled it down slightly. She found the pale bear paw on her hip in the shower. “We have another date scheduled for next week. And I’m going whether you like it or not.”
“Why wouldn’t we be happy for you?” Sapphire asked. “Brock has been my best friend since college. I had th
at stupid feud with Michael, but we never let it come between us. He made mistakes -that much is true, but I don’t blame him for my coma or the fires. I think we should all just be grateful that he’s alive.”
Jenny stood up and walked back to the door, heels clicking on the hardwood floor as she left with a flourish. Destiny stared down at her hands that were folded in her lap. She flinched when Sapphire touched her shoulder, but made no attempt to leave. “You understand, don’t you, Saph? He can’t be as bad as she thinks.”
“The Brock I know is the most selfless person I’ve ever met. He’s…different, but I know he would never intentionally hurt anyone.”
Lori gave Destiny a supportive smile. Tilly looked around, confused. She was the only one unaware of the recent events; she’d been so busy with school. “Looks like I should have a little meeting with Dorian this week so he can fill me in, but can I get the details of this date? It’s been so long since I’ve gone on one, I didn’t know they were still in fashion.”
“They are if you go through a dating agency,” Lori chuckled.
Destiny showed Tilly her phone. “It’s simple and takes the pressure away from the meeting part and lets you focus on getting to know each other. What I don’t understand is how Lori and Michael have paired us all up with our mates.” She turned to Lori, who just shrugged as if she didn’t know what Destiny was implying.
“There are tricks to the trade ladies.”
“Oh,” Tilly gasped. “You have a text, Destiny.”
She accepted her phone and glared at Sapphire. “You gave Brock my phone number? What were you thinking?”
“What? Michael Adair isn’t the only one who can play cupid. No offense, Lori.”
The matchmaker simply laughed it off and said her goodbyes. With most of the book club members gone, Tilly left soon after Lori. Sapphire pulled Destiny onto the settee next to her. “Seriously, Des, a few years ago Jenny didn’t even believe in love. Now look at her! She’s married to a hunky paramedic who looks like a movie star.”
