On Jason's Watch [Paladin Protection Agency 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Hayes, Susan

  Paladin Protection Agency 2

  On Jason’s Watch

  Jazz Masters wants to be normal. It’s just that normal isn’t easy to achieve when you’re a werewolf. Living in fear of the monster that lurks inside her, Jazz has created a safe, isolated world for herself where she can maintain control of her darker half. That carefully constructed world comes crashing down the night she crosses paths with a pack of vicious werewolves. With the pack on her scent and her life threatened, Jazz turns to the Paladin Protection Agency for help.

  It only takes one look at Jazz for Jason Waters to know he wants her, and not even the revelation she’s a werewolf can make him change his mind. Now that she’s found Jason, Jazz finally has everything she’s dreamed of. She just needs to survive long enough to enjoy it. With her world threatened and her very soul at stake, Jazz must find the courage to come to terms with her wolf before she loses everything.

  Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 42,602 words

  ON JASON’S WATCH

  Paladin Protection Agency 2

  Susan Hayes

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

  ON JASON’S WATCH

  Copyright © 2013 by Susan Hayes

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-244-9

  First E-book Publication: February 2013

  Cover design by Christine Kirchoff

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of On Jason’s Watch by Susan Hayes from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Susan Hayes’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Hayes’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  For my parents, for more reasons than I can ever count.

  And for Karen, for being my best friend, my sounding board, and an eternally patient listener.

  ON JASON’S WATCH

  Paladin Protection Agency 2

  SUSAN HAYES

  Copyright © 2013

  Prologue

  “You’re here late again,” Tim noted. He glanced down at her from his vantage point halfway up the stepladder, a burned-out lightbulb in his hand. “You do realize you own this joint, right? You don’t need to stay after hours to impress the boss.”

  Jazz adjusted the gym bag that hung over her shoulder and grinned up at the head of her maintenance staff. “Someone’s got to keep the paperwork flowing, Tim. If I don’t sign on the dotted lines, you don’t get paid.”

  “Fair point.” Tim chuckled as he fished a fresh bulb out of the box and screwed it into the socket. “I do like getting paid.”

  “Don’t we all.” Jazz held the ladder for him as he descended. “I’m heading home now, though, so you’re on your own. Have a good weekend, Tim. I’ll see you next week.” She started heading back down the hall toward the main doors, then stopped and glanced back at him. “And remember, no wild parties!”

  They both laughed at her joke, even though it was the same one she made every night they saw each other. Which is damned near every night. I really need to get a social life.

  She unlocked the doors and stepped into the middle of one of Seattle’s infamous winter storms. “Somehow snow seems preferable to this misery,” she muttered as a gust of wind blew the rain sideways, drenching her from head to foot. “Ugh.”

  Jazz pulled her hood further down over her face and headed for her car, head bowed to avoid getting another face full of ice-cold water. She picked her way around the largest of the puddles, which meant the path to her car was more of a meandering track than a straight line. Anything to avoid having to drive home with soaking-wet socks and cold feet.

  She had just about made it to her car when she heard the noise for the first time. It sounded like a low, rumbling growl that came out of the darkness beyond the border of the parking lot. Jazz froze in place and cocked her head, praying she had imagined that sound. This was Seattle, for god’s sake, not the middle of a forest. There was no way an animal big enough to growl like that was wandering around the city. The threatening noise came again, and her heart started to race as a bucket-load of adrenalin was dumped into her system. Jazz lifted her head slowly, straining her senses to the limit as she tried to pierce the rain-soaked darkness.

  Somewhere out there something was growling, and she needed to know where it was, and what it was. A flicker of movement caught her attention, and she tried to make out the details. But the night was full of movement, and it was impossible to pick out a single shape amongst the shadows of the storm. Something snarled behind her, and she spun around, her eyes widening as she recognized the creature standing only ten feet away. There was a wolf in her parking lot.

  What the hell? She stood her ground, knowing that if she ran now, it would easily catch her before she got anywhere near her car. The animal’s dark gray coat was slicked down with the rain, and drops of water dripped from its sides as it stood, watching her with yellow eyes that gleamed with a terrible intelligence.

  “Oh please, god, no. Not again,” she whispered into the wind as fear welled up and threatened to overwhelm her. The wolf’s ears pricked forward at her words, and its lips curled up into a vic
ious sneer, revealing its fangs.

  Searing heat coursed through her, and she bit back a hiss of pain as she tried to control the fiery agony and channel the change she could feel coming. The bones in her face shifted slightly, and she felt her canines extend. Shit, I’m losing control! The heat grew more intense, flaring bright behind her eyes and scorching her vision. When her sight returned, the world was different and she knew her eyes had transformed. Stop now. She fought hard to control the beast trying to wake from within her.

  She looked around her with her new set of eyes and could easily pick out the second wolf lurking in the darkness. A rough growl rose from her throat, and she drew in a mouthful of air. An inventory of smells flowed through her brain from her heightened senses. Rain, earth, and the dead scent of concrete blended with the murky, muddled odor of stagnant puddles. Strongest of all was the scent of wolves and blood. The presence of blood sent the creature inside her into a howling frenzy as it fought to be freed. Pain lanced through her hands, and she knew without looking that her fingers had shifted into claws. A sharp yelp tore her attention from her inner battle, and she glanced back over at the wolf. There were two of them now. Dark gray and light gray, standing side by side, and both of them were watching her intently. Her beast snarled at them, and she bared her fangs as she prepared to fight.

  The lighter wolf yelped again and took a step back, turning to snap at the darker wolf when it stood its ground. She fought the beast for control, unwilling to abandon her humanity. The wolf inside her howled, and the two other wolves cried out in answer, their voices carried away on the wind.

  “I—will—not—do—this.” She panted each word like a prayer. Her voice was rough and the words were distorted as she tried to speak around the changes the creature within had already brought about. She knew that her newly grown fangs and other alterations had twisted her face into something less than human.

  The lighter wolf made a noise that she swore was a chuff of laughter, and then it turned and vanished into the night. The darker wolf stared at her for another heartbeat, and then it followed its pack-mate into the darkness. It was only as they turned to go that her eyes picked out the detail that confirmed her greatest fear. They were both missing their tails. That meant there weren’t wolves loose in Seattle at all. There were werewolves. There were werewolves here, and they’d recognized her for what she was. The shock of that realization helped her force back the changes. She managed to lock up her wolf once more and sealed it behind walls built of will alone.

  She hadn’t seen another werewolf since the attack that had left her an orphan, nearly eleven years ago. As the burning pain receded and her humanity returned, Jazz turned and ran to her car. She went straight through every puddle along the way, no longer caring about wet feet or anything else. Soaked to the bone and shaking, she threw herself into her car and locked the doors. “I’m in trouble,” she whispered to herself as she curled up in the seat of her car, shaking from fatigue, shock, and cold. “They’ve found me.”

  Chapter 1

  “Welcome back, sir.” The guard at the security checkpoint greeted Jase and handed back Jase’s ID card before gesturing for him to drive on.

  “Don’t call me sir!” Jase barked at him as he rolled up the window and hit the gas, making the tires squeal just slightly as he launched the ’69 Shelby Mustang into the parking garage. “I swear the only reason Remington agreed to promote me was because he knew I would hate it.”

  He pulled into his parking spot and turned off the engine. He gave the steering wheel an affectionate pat as he exited. “Sorry, baby, I know it’s not your fault. Maybe next weekend we’ll go spend some quality time at the raceway, sound good?”

  Sinjin’s familiar voice rumbled in greeting, interrupting Jase’s musings. “If you treated women half as well as you treat that car, your girlfriends would likely stick around longer.”

  “If my girlfriends were half as much fun as my baby, I’d want to keep them around longer,” Jase shot back as he turned around to greet his best friend and the supervisor of his division. “Hey, Sin, how’s it going? Has Michelle come to her senses yet? I’m still waiting for her to realize she’s settling for second best.”

  “In your dreams, lover boy. We’re soul mates, remember? I’m her destiny.” The big man grinned. “You can’t argue with fate.”

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t argue with fate either if it dropped a long-legged blonde babe in my lap. Oh, and a rich one to boot. How the hell did you get so lucky?”

  “I don’t know,” Sin answered, his expression turning serious. “But I’m glad I did. One of these days, you’ll find your destiny. Anya said so. I feel sorry for your future lady love already. Wherever she may be.”

  “Thanks a bunch.” Jase grabbed his duffel bag out of the trunk and fell in beside Sinjin. “So what did I miss while I was gone?”

  “Nothing too exciting. Jake managed to blow up one of the new servers. He swears it was a hardware flaw and had nothing to do with his tinkering. Oh, and we handled a minor poltergeist problem for the CEO of a major software firm over in Oregon. It’s been pretty quiet.” Sin slanted him a look Jase knew meant he already knew the answer. “How did things go with you?”

  “I had to let Jackson go.”

  “Yeah, I heard.”

  “He’s got a vicious streak, Sin. I don’t know how he managed to hide it from recruiting. He’s got all the skills, but he likes the rough stuff too much. He was too busy looking to start a fight to be watching for real trouble. I know he’s got experience with some of the paranormal stuff, but I still think we’d be better off recruiting Paladin employees and teaching them what they need to know. They already know how to protect a client. We just need to expand their horizons a bit.”

  “Agreed” was all Sin said, but Jase felt a quick wash of relief. Dismissing their newest recruit had been his first serious decision as a member of Paladin’s management. He had really hoped it wasn’t going to be his last.

  “Glad to hear it.” They stepped into the elevator just as Jase’s cell went off, filling the small space with the soundtrack to Ghostbusters. “Your girlfriend is calling me.” He dug out his phone, laughing at the grumpy look on his best friend’s face.

  “Hello, sweet thing. You rang?”

  “Hi, Jase. By any chance is Sin with you? You remember him, right? Big, dark hair, hates it when you call me nicknames?”

  “Yeah, he’s here, glowering at me as we speak. I really don’t know what you see in him.”

  “Right now, neither do I. He’s forgotten to turn his cell on again. Will you be a dear and remind him he’s due to meet a new client in twenty minutes?”

  “You bet, sugarlips.”

  “He’s going to kill you for that…Oh and, Jase? You’re supposed to be at this meeting, too. Don’t be late.”

  Jase ended the call and looked at Sin. “She says she loves me best, and you forgot to turn on your phone again. Apparently, we have a meeting with a new client in twenty minutes.”

  “I hate that thing. It’s like being on an electronic leash twenty-four-seven,” Sin grumbled and tugged his phone out of his pocket. “Oh man, she called four times. I’m going to pay for that.”

  “Lucky man. You go on ahead and make up with the missus. I need to clean up if we’re meeting a client. You never know, she might be hot.”

  “Remington’s rule number three, Jase.” Sin rumbled a warning as he stepped out of the elevator. “Never get involved with a damsel in distress.”

  “Yeah, ’cause that one never works out, right Sin?” Jase laughed as he ducked out of the elevator and headed down the hall to his office. Sinjin had met his girlfriend Michelle while she was being haunted by the malicious spirit of her ex-boyfriend. Breaking the rules of Geoff Remington, the owner of Paladin security, had led to Sin being happily in love. Jase figured it wouldn’t be long before his former wingman was heading for the altar.

  There’d been a time he would have felt sorry for his friend and his
impending loss of freedom. But if Jase wanted to be honest with himself, he knew what he really felt when he looked at Sin and Michelle was envy.

  He dumped his bag into an empty corner of his office and headed to the back of the room. “You’re going soft.” Jase laughed at himself as he stripped down to his briefs and grabbed a pair of dress slacks, a shirt, and a tie out of the dry-cleaning hanging in his closet. Leaving his more upscale wardrobe at the office beat having to come to work in a shirt and tie every day. He tossed his jeans and sweater into his duffel bag and checked his watch. He had just enough time to get dressed and get organized for this client meeting. Michelle would not be happy with him if he was late.

  * * * *

  Paladin wasn’t at all what she’d expected so far. From the guard who checked her in at the parking lot entrance to the well-appointed reception area she’d been escorted to, the whole place had given her a sense of calm and security. It was the first time she’d felt safe since the month before, when the werewolf pack had first crossed her path. Since then she’d seen them three more times. And more than once she’d caught their scent without spotting them. Last night she’d seen one of them skulking in the bushes just beside the gates of her house. It had been watching her car as she had arrived home after a long day at work. She’d backed out and driven away again and gone straight to a hotel, registering under a fake name and paying with cash. If they had tracked her to her home, then they had her name and god knew what other information. They were hunting her now. She knew what that meant. There were not many hard facts known about werewolves. Mostly it was just folklore and fantasy. In all the years of research she’d invested into learning about the curse she carried, she’d learned only a handful of verifiable truths. Silver didn’t affect her. Werewolves did not have tails. And once on the hunt, werewolves never stopped coming until they brought down their prey.