by Haley Weir
The unchecked yearning that pooled in her gut felt dark and dangerous. Tilly pulled away and shoved him out of the elevator. She disengaged the stop button. Michael quirked his mouth in a cunning smile. “Is this how you get all of your fundraiser sponsors to fork up a little extra cash?”
That jab had hurt her pride like nothing else. She nearly hated him for it. Michael knew how to get under people’s skin, how to manipulate his way into their minds and she had let him. All it had taken was a kiss...just a simple—extremely hot—kiss that made her toes curl and all she could think about was him. Each night when she tossed and turned, dreaming out those lips on her body, Tilly hated him then.
...She grabbed his shoulders like she was going in for another kiss, but kneed him between the legs and smeared the last of her lipstick on his cheek. “Good luck washing the glitter off of that suit,” she sneered, moving back to press the button again. He knelt on the ground, clutching his manly bits as she smiled down at him. “There, now you look like you had a good time with my services. If you’re going to slander my name by insinuating that I’m a prostitute, I’ll take you down with me.”
The satisfaction of that moment died when she was forced to ride in his car. At first, she half expected a foreign sports car, but the classic Dodge Charger seemed to fit him as perfectly as the suits he wore. Tilly scrolled past Michael, but couldn’t find a single person who would have been available. She grumbled and lifted the box to carry it as she walked home from school.
One block turned into two and then the distance didn’t matter anymore. Her entire body throbbed painfully as a headache prickled at the edges of her awareness. Tilly strolled up the path to her modest little home and juggled the box so she could reach her keys. Once the door was open, she set everything on the floor and tumbled onto the couch. A clock ticked loudly in the hallway, reminding her that it was late and that she skipped lunch to help Billy with anger issues.
Most people didn’t understand that a teacher’s day didn’t end just because the students left. She peeled herself off of the couch and toed her shoes off before shuffling into the kitchen. Tilly swung open the fridge and searched through the half empty takeout containers and expired condiments. She looked in the freezer and spotted a frostbitten pizza that was somewhat edible.
Footsteps came from down the hall and Tilly peered over her shoulder. Dorian Chandler leaned against the archway. “Your door was open,” he chuckled. “Looks like you’ve had a long day. Jenny sent me over here to make sure you were all right since she hadn’t heard from you in a while. Car trouble?”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“Maybe you should trade it in for something that actually works.”
“It was my mom’s before she died,” Tilly explained as she tore open the wrapping on the pizza and tossed it awkwardly onto a pan. “I can’t seem to get rid of anything that belonged to her. So, I’ll continue to bother you with fixing it until it’s unfixable.”
“That thing won’t last another winter.”
“How do you know? Can you feel it tingling in your bear parts?” Tilly teased. Dorian rolled his eyes and took a seat in one of the stools surrounding the center island. “Jenny told you that I have orientation tomorrow, right?”
“She did.”
“Well, I’m sort of nervous,” she admitted. “If I see Michael, I’m afraid he’ll try to kiss me again and things will get complicated once I start using the service. I don’t want him to think that he owns me because he’s helping with the fundraiser, or…”
“Or that you’re available to be one of his little playthings?”
“Yeah...that.”
“Look,” Dorian began. “I know Michael has a reputation. It’s no secret that he has three women on call to give him whatever he needs. He’s not a relationship sort of guy and he’s known for toying with people. But I know him better than that, and not just the face of a global dating agency. It is mostly an act. Michael actually believes in love.”
Tilly swallowed past the lump in her throat and pressed her head to the counter. The cool laminate helped ease the pounding behind her eyes. “He’s too intense.”
“Jenny said the same thing when we met. She kept running and pushing me away, but whenever we were near one another things just clicked. It was only when she was left to her own thoughts that she talked herself out of loving me,” Dorian explained. “It worked out in the end. Just be glad this isn’t a Sapphire and Anders situation.”
“They hated each other and now they’re married with a baby on the way. It can’t be as bad as you think.” The oven dinged and Tilly pulled the pizza out. She served up a slice for herself and a few for Dorian, knowing that the bear shifter could never resist food. “At least it’s not as bad as Destiny and Brock.” She shuddered at the thought.
“I was shocked to hear that they were together, especially when she’s the daughter of the man trying to kill us and the sister of the hunter who got him taken to that damn facility. I’m glad to hear it was destroyed once and for all.”
Tilly shook her head. “It was destroyed before and got rebuilt. The problem is Hydra. So long as he’s in power the facility will always be rebuilt. Hence the whole ‘giant mythological serpent’ reference.”
They talked for hours about the troubling situation their group had ended up in. Dorian finished the entire pizza and then hurried home to his impatient wife. Tilly cleaned up and took a long shower before settling into bed. Though danger taunted them all at every waking hour, the most daunting thing on her mind was Michael Adair.
CHAPTER TWO
Air was punched from his lungs as the four men rained blows upon him in the parking garage of his apartment building. Michael threw his head back and roared, partially shifting his form. The strength of the bear radiated in his bones until he shoved the men off of him. Michael spit blood onto the concrete and smiled. They backed away from his towering figure, but he did not allow them to cower. “Hydra sent you, didn’t he?”
“You know us?”
“Always assume that I know everything,” Michael growled. “Harken Maverick, Victor Neese, Logan Vetti, and Dominic Salvator. You’re part of an elite team put together by the biggest pain in the ass I’ve ever fought against. I know you used to hunt and kill amphibious shifters, but your skills earned you all promotions. Last year you tried to kill my brother and his new wife...but you failed.”
“We won’t fail twice.” Dominic lunged. He landed a punch against Michael’s cheek, but the bear shook it off like it was nothing. They weren’t used to going rounds with a beast like him, and he intended to show them a fraction of his strength. Michael hit Logan so hard he heard the mercenary’s teeth click. He ducked before Harken could throw a punch and then pounded his fists into Dominic.
Hydra’s men moved back, eyeing him like he was prey. A low snarl came from over their shoulder and Michael laughed. “I’m sure you boys remember my friend Corey.” He evaded the next swing and rolled across the ground to jump into a fighting stance beside the jaguar. Since their conversation in Michael’s loft, he had begun to train Corey how to control his abilities. The jaguar shifter surprised him with how quickly he adapted.
Corey moved in one direction while Michael took the other. Michael kicked out and sent Dominic sprawling to the ground. The mercenary pulled a blade from his boot, but hesitated to advance. Corey was careful not to shift, but the feral roar that tore from his throat was enough to give the men a moment of pause. Logan still sported a scar on his neck from the last time the jaguar nearly tore out his jugular.
After Corey’s training had proven successful, Michael and his pupil ventured into the forest each night. They fought against Hydra’s men hiding in the darkness and made them pay for the pain they wrought upon Haden Springs and the shifters they held captive at Sector A. It was strange to think that Corey had been his enemy at one point, brainwashed by his own father and turned into the perfect hunter.
Upon discovering the tru
th and reality of his own shifter nature, Corey quickly became an ally to Michael and his brother Brock. However, the others still fought when it came to trusting the jaguar. Despite having saved Dorian’s life, there was still the threat of the others turning on him. Michael, Brock, and Destiny were the only ones willing to fight at his back. Michael caught Corey’s arm before he could slash out with his claws. The Mercenary’s beat a fast retreat when they saw how close the jaguar was to shifting.
Michael shoved Corey against the wall and roared, a show of dominance that forced the other man to submit. Corey trembled, fighting through the fever that plagued their kind whenever they used their abilities. Michael felt his own fever coming and reached over to press the button that called for the lift. “They attacked you in broad daylight,” Corey groaned. “They’re getting bolder by the day.”
“Bold or stupid? Either way, they’ll make a mistake eventually and then we’ll have them. Come on. Victor got you good. I’ll patch you up and then we have to meet with the others to discuss what we’re going to do moving forward.”
“Are we still keeping our little night walks a secret?”
“We’ll tell them about it, but we also need to tell them that Logan and the others were killed so they don’t go looking for trouble,” Michael huffed. The lift came to a stop and he propped Corey up against the wall to open the gate. “It’ll be a lie of course, but we’ve already been lying to them for so long that it barely matters now.”
“And when they lose their minds when they find out that you’ve trusted me with this and not them? Then what will we do?”
“They have mates. You and I aren’t tied down to anything or anyone. What they think doesn’t matter. We’re getting the results they failed to get. And your sister seems all too keen on the idea of coming with us when we go after your father.”
“I won’t let her.”
“Neither will I,” Michael snorted. He pulled Corey into the lift and hit the button for his loft. The jaguar sagged against his shoulder, trusting him to hold him while his body recuperated. “But that’s precisely my point. If she thinks Logan is dead, then she won’t try to contact him or use herself as bait to get to your father.”
“You were on board when Sapphire was bait to lure me out. Why is it different with Destiny?” Corey asked. Michael waited for the lift to stop on his floor before answering the question. His jaw ached with each word he uttered.
“By that time, I had already fought you and heard your conversation with Jenny. You were a fan of Sapphire’s writing, which meant you respected her in some way. In fact, I bet her life on the idea that you wanted someone to look at you and see you differently than your superiors had.” Michael unlocked his front door and helped Corey over to the leather sectional. He closed the door and walked right over to the back, tossing back a swallow of brandy from the decanter.
“So in your mind...the two of us are going to take on an army of highly trained soldiers as well as whatever hybrid monsters my father has managed to cook up since I last saw him alone?” Corey questioned. “Even if we were able to find the other facilities and set the other shifters free like you talked about, there’s no telling whether they’ll fight with us or not. They’ll despise me just as much as your friends.”
“Anders and Dorian vowed not to fight you unless provoked.”
“But there isn’t a peace agreement between me and the other shifters I’ve hunted and trapped throughout my career.” Corey accepted the bottle of water that Michael handed him and then closed his eyes. Michael took a seat on the cocktail table and lifted the edge of Corey’s shirt. Two large gashes ran down the length of his ribcage. “Why don’t I heal as fast as you or the others?”
“We’ve been at this a lot longer than you have,” Michael said. “Your abilities were suppressed by your father’s serum since you were a child. It must have affected your healing a bit. You’ll get better over time.”
“I tell you what: if Anders doesn’t stop calling me cub, I’m going to drive down to the clinic and egg his car. I don’t care if it’s childish or not. I’m sure Sapphire would help.”
“Never conspire against a man and his own wife,” he advised. “The less we’re involved in their messy relationships the better off we’ll be. For now, until I say so, it’s just you and me, all right? Us against the world.”
“You’re handsome and all, but I’d rather swallow a beehive than walk down the aisle with you. Especially if that’s your version of a proposal.”
Michael felt his mouth quirk in a rare smile and cleared his throat. “I know Brock calls you pretty because you kind of look like your sister, but I’m not my brother. You’re about as appealing to me as the wrong end of a goat. No offense.”
“None taken.”
He leaned forward and gingerly probed around the wounds, checking to make sure the bleeding had stopped. Michael then sewed Corey back together and washed his hands in the bathroom. He stopped to stare at his reflection in the mirror and nearly burst a blood vessel when he saw the pathetic state of his suit. Creases marred his brow as tugged his clothes off. As he worked his slacks down his legs, Michael mentally compared himself to his brother.
Where Brock had dark hair and silver eyes, Michael had a vivid green gaze and light brown hair that appeared blond at first glance. Women often complimented the brothers on their looks, but it was clear that most preferred Michael. His brooding expressions and cold disposition somehow seemed to attract women more than Brock’s general lumberjack aesthetic. Michael stepped into the shower and washed the day away, feeling the tension leave his muscles.
By the time his shower was over, he could walk past the mirror and see his reflection without ridiculing or comparisons. Brock hated that Michael constantly compared them, but Michael hated it too. It caused him to question their mother’s honesty, for Michael didn’t look like any of his relatives. Brock resembled their father so much that it was often hard to meet his gaze.
It made Michael feel like a frightened child again, fighting to protect his little brother against the drunken rage of that bastard they called “Dad” because biology and society insisted. His mother had dark, nearly black hair and blue eyes. Michael once asked his father if he had been adopted and then wore bruises for picture day at school. He learned a long time ago that the world was unfair to those who asked questions.
So Michael joined those who created their own pocket of paradise here in Haden Springs. He protected them and they looked up to him as though he was a god among men. When his friends followed in his footsteps, they became guardians of the town as well. In return, the people of Haden Springs protected them with their silence. No one spoke to outsiders and they worked hard to keep the town hidden. People were kind and waved to their neighbors, so it was easy for hikers to overlook the fact that there were shape shifting bears walking through the streets.
Michael wrapped the towel around his waist and left the bathroom in a cloud of steam. Corey snored lightly in the background as Michael stepped onto the bedroom platform. He pressed a button to frost the glass and changed his clothes. A message beeped on his phone and Michael saw the image on his lock screen light up. His ears reddened from embarrassment even though he was alone.
The image of Tilly Riker with a slight pout as she leaned over the counter at Destiny’s bookshop called to him. He lifted the phone and brushed his thumb over her face before unlocking it. The messages were from his partner Lori. Eight successful matches were made today at Kodiak Dating Agency. And yet Michael Adair, founder and CEO of the company, was still miserable and lonelier than he liked to admit.
CHAPTER THREE
A chicken nugget flew through the air and hit another kid. After the children returned from the senior center and she announced that she had taken the remainder of the day off, Tilly’s students decided to start a revolution of sorts. Three children stood in front of the door to block her only exit that didn’t involve the humiliation of climbing out a window. The rest decided
to behave like a pack of wild animals. “We love you Miss Tilly!”
“The other teachers are icky!” Cole shouted.
The children tossed their lunches around the room and cried for her to stay until Tilly was forced to settle them down. She sat patiently in her chair until they returned to their seats. Part of her wanted to make a mad dash for the door, but she didn’t want to put the other faculty through that. Their little blotchy faces sniveled and whimpered as she folded her hands upon the teacher’s desk. “I know you don’t want me to leave. I’m already late for my appointment and that makes me look bad. We talked about how important first impressions are, right?”
A chorus of agreement rang through the room.
“Well, you all stole from me. I no longer have a first impression. How am I supposed to show the person I was supposed to meet that I’m as wonderful as you all think I am if they already know me as ‘Miss Tilly, the one who’s late’ or something worse,” she said. “I’m disappointed that you all chose to behave this way instead of acting like the wonderful children I know you are.”
The door opened and the class turned their heads, surprised when a giant ducked his head to step into the room. Brock Wasting flushed brightly and waved to the children. “I got a call from Lori. She said you missed orientation.” Tilly could see that he had heard enough through the door that he understood the lesson she was trying to teach. “The president of the company you visited to raise money for the fundraiser won’t be impressed by this. You’ll have to reschedule.”
There were a few whispers that flitted through the air and Tilly gave Brock a thankful smile. She finished up with her speech just as the bell rang. Each child came over to her desk and apologized. When they all filtered out of the class, Brock sat on the edge of a worktable as she sank further in her seat. “Thanks for that.”
“No problem. You look absolutely exhausted.”
“I really wanted to make it to orientation,” she sighed. “I’m afraid your brother will think I went back on our deal. This school needs the funding.”
