“Look, I already told you there’s no way you’ll sleep with me and Zach. I’m not changing my mind, Iggy, no matter what you say.”
“Don’t let anyone hear you, or you’ll fuel the rumors about us,” Iggy muttered.
Kameron arched a brow and Iggy shook his head. There was no way he’d tell Kameron about the rumors.
Iggy knew he wouldn’t get a different answer, so he started thinking about what else he could do. He’d probably be able to sit in the hallway without being found out by Kameron or Zach. He’d just have to wait until they were asleep. Besides, once they were in their room for the night, they rarely came out of it.
Kameron worked until late, and Iggy stayed in the office. He took advantage of the fact that the house was mostly quiet to doze in one of the chairs in front of Kameron’s desk. He’d need the sleep if he was going to stay up all night. He probably should tell Kameron he needed help, but he already knew what the answer would be—Iggy didn’t need to stick with Kameron all the time, especially not during the night, so he didn’t need help. Sometimes Iggy wondered why Kameron had even asked him to do this if he didn’t take it seriously, but he wasn’t about to ask.
“You should go to bed,” Kameron said.
Iggy blinked at him. Kameron was already rising from his chair and stretching. Iggy almost fell from his chair in his haste to follow suit, and Kameron chuckled.
“Really, Iggy, you should go to bed.”
“What about you?”
“That’s where I’m going in a few minutes. Zach is already there, so you don’t have to worry about us until tomorrow.”
Iggy nodded. He let Kameron go ahead, waving at him but not following him. He went into the kitchen instead, preparing a pot of coffee and texting with Zane while it percolated. They were in the same boat, although Malik seemed to be easier to protect. Tom was after Kameron mostly because he was the guy who’d killed the previous alpha and taken the position Tom had coveted. The fact that he was also a council member was just the icing on the cake.
Iggy waited about an hour in the kitchen, sipping coffee. Once he was sure everyone upstairs was sleeping, he got up, turned the light off, and silently climbed the stairs. He settled next to the door to Kameron’s room, his back against the wall, a travel mug full of coffee by his side.
The hours crawled by, and Iggy struggled to stay awake. He’d known it would be hard, and he needed to stay awake until morning. Then he’d have to sleep, though. He wasn’t sure how he’d explain it to Kameron, but maybe he could try with Zach instead. He was bound to be more reasonable.
Something moved downstairs and Iggy tensed. It was the middle of the night, and no one should be awake. It was possible someone was, but Jago was at work and Corbin was probably in the hospital’s parking lot stalking him, while Aranck slept through the night and had been for several months. Besides, Iggy hadn’t heard crying, so he didn’t think it was either Merle or Nootaw.
He got up and rolled his shoulders to relax them. He crept downstairs, freezing when one of the steps creaked. If there really was a killer in the house, then maybe it wasn’t a Nix. A Nix would have shimmered right into Kameron’s room, right?
Something creaked again, and it wasn’t the step Iggy was on. There really was someone down there, and the noise had come from the hallway where the rooms every member of the pack could use were.
It could be a pack member who needed a place for the night, of course, but Iggy needed to be sure. Whoever it was wasn’t making much noise, and that was weird if it was a pack member.
Iggy moved slowly, peeking into every open room he passed by to make sure they were empty. He got to the last one of the hallway without finding anyone and started to turn to go back upstairs. Something moved just out of his vision and he tried to move out of the way, but it was too late.
Something hit him on the back of the head, and the last thing he saw was the hallway floor coming his way.
* * * *
Zane’s phone rang, and since it was the middle of the night, it couldn’t be a good thing. He rolled on his side and grabbed it, then sat up and answered without checking who it was. “What happened?”
“Iggy’s fine, but he’s been hit on the head,” Zach said.
Zane’s breath hitched. “Hit?”
“One of the killers we were expecting attacked tonight. Everyone’s fine, even Iggy. He’s just a bit groggy.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes tops.”
“Can you let Malik know, please? He doesn’t need to come here, and we don’t think there will be another attack tonight, but he needs to know.”
“Yes, okay.”
They hung up and Zane thumbed through his phone’s directory. He selected Scott’s number and called him as he got up and started putting clothes on one-handed. “The fuck?” Scott answered.
“I need you to come here and take my place for the rest of the night.”
“Wait, what? What happened?”
Zane breathed out and tried to relax. “There was an attack and Iggy was hit. He’s fine, but I need to see him, and I don’t want to leave Malik on his own here.”
“And you thought to call me?”
“You’re a recruit. You’ll be fine for a few hours. Look, if you don’t want to—”
“No, no, I’ll come. You go ahead and go see Iggy. I’ll be at Malik’s in ten minutes.”
Zane threw his phone on the bed and finished getting ready. He went to knock on the door to Malik’s room, and when no one answered right away, he knocked again. The door swung open and Simon blinked up at him. “Where’s the fire?”
“I need to talk to Malik,” Zane answered.
“What’s wrong?” Simon asked, looking a bit more awake already.
Malik appeared behind Simon and Zane nodded at him. “Kameron was attacked. Everyone’s fine, Quinn made sure of that when he attacked the killer, but Iggy was hurt and I need to go there.”
“Of course you do,” Simon said. “Go ahead. We’ll be fine.”
“I called Scott and asked him to take my place for a while.”
“You didn’t need to do that,” Malik said.
“I know, but I’ll feel better knowing someone’s looking out for you, especially since there’s already been an attack tonight.”
“All right.”
Zane was out of the house and running through the forest not even five minutes later. When he got to Kameron’s house, it was bright with lights, and the door opened before he could even get onto the porch. Zach was there, letting him pass and closing the door behind him. Zane started climbing the stairs, but he realized he didn’t know where Iggy was and he stopped.
“He’s in his room. We got him up there and Jago’s coming back to check on him.”
“Should we call a doctor from the hospital?”
“He doesn’t want to see a doctor. We’re lucky he agreed to let Jago visit him.”
Zane shook his head. “Stubborn ass.”
“That’s what Quinn muttered before going to bed.”
“Do you think he needs a doctor?”
Zach shook his head. “If I thought he needed one, he’d be with one right now, no matter what he wants. He was hit on the back of the head, lost consciousness, but he seems fine now, apart from the growing bump on his head. Jago will make sure, of course.”
“We really need a doctor here.”
“We’re working on it. Dallas has accepted the job, but he’s not here yet. He needs to leave his current job at the hospital first.”
“Right, whatever. I’m going upstairs, okay?”
Zach waved him away. “I’ll be up with hot chocolate later.”
Zane climbed the stairs and went straight to Iggy’s room. He was on his bed, lying on his side, his eyes closed. Zane froze, because he didn’t want to wake Iggy up, but Iggy wasn’t sleeping. He opened his eyes, smiling when he saw Zane, and then closed them again. “I told Zach not to call yo
u.”
“Why not?” Zane asked, inching closer.
“Because I’m fine.”
“The back of your head says otherwise.”
“I’m fine,” Iggy insisted. “I suck at being a bodyguard, though.”
“He got you from the back.”
“So? I’m supposed to be able to defend Kameron, but I wasn’t there tonight. If Kir and Quinn hadn’t been there...”
“Then Kameron would have fought back himself.”
Iggy started shaking his head. He hissed and stopped, and Zane toed his shoes off and climbed behind Iggy on the bed. He gently massaged the one shoulder he could get to and Iggy relaxed, even though his words were still harsh.
“Kameron was sleeping. If Kir and Quinn hadn’t been there, he’d be dead, and Zach too. I didn’t do my job.”
“You’re not invincible. You’re human. You’re bound to make mistakes sometimes.”
“Yes, but those mistakes could result in someone being hurt, and it’s the last thing I want.”
“This could have happened to any bodyguard,” Zane insisted. “Has Kameron said anything? Does he want you to step down?”
Iggy shrugged. “He hasn’t said.”
“Then why don’t you let him make a decision, huh?”
“Because he’s too good. He’ll want to keep me even though I suck.”
“Try to relax, okay? You need to rest, and everything will be better after that, you’ll see.”
“Shut up.”
Zane smiled. “You shut up.”
“What are you, five?” Kameron asked from the door.
Iggy jerked up. He whined and pressed his hand to the back of his head, and Zane helped him get his head back onto the pillow. “Stay still,” he warned as Kameron came in, followed by Jago, who was still wearing his scrubs.
“Kam already filled me in,” Jago said as he sat next to Iggy.
Zane got up, leaving them more space, and went to stand by Kameron. “How is he?” Kameron asked.
“Brooding. This job as your bodyguard means a lot to him, and the fact that he wasn’t able to protect you like he should have, well, it’s messing with his head.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“I tried to explain it could have happened to anyone, but he doesn’t seem perceptive right now.”
“I’m not removing him,” Kameron said, crossing his arms on his chest.
“I never thought you would. You just need to convince him of that.”
“That’s not going to be easy.”
Zane shrugged. “Never said it would be.”
Jago didn’t take long to check on Iggy. When he was done, he rose from the bed and patted Iggy’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine. There’s a nasty bump, and you’ll probably have a headache for a while, but you don’t even have a concussion.”
“Oh, now I feel better,” Iggy snarked.
Jago just grinned. “You will tomorrow morning. Oh, and nothing strenuous for a few days, yeah?” His smiled widened innocently and his gaze flicked to Zane. “Not even sex.”
Zane rolled his eyes. “As if I’d jump his bones when he’s wounded.”
“I’m still here,” Iggy grumbled. “And I have to get back to work.”
Kameron tsked. “You’re not going anywhere. Everyone is going back to bed, and tomorrow morning I want you to come talk to me before doing anything else. You need to be fine to be my bodyguard.”
“I am fine.”
“Shut up and sleep, Ignatius.”
Zane snorted. “Ignatius? Really?”
Iggy groaned. Zane could see he was getting more tired, and he wasn’t surprised when Jago slipped out of the room. Kameron stopped for just the time it took to pat Iggy’s ankle and Zane’s shoulder. “Sleep here. I’ll take care of Malik.”
“Scott’s already there.”
Kameron smiled. “You thought of everything.”
“Not really, but I didn’t want to leave Malik alone.”
“Right. Go to sleep, and make sure Iggy gets some rest. I’ll see both of you around eleven in my office, okay?”
Zane nodded. Kameron left and Zane took care of Iggy, taking his shoes off and pulling a blanket over him. He slid next to him, hugging him close and smiling when Iggy shuffled closer.
Sleep was easy to come.
* * * *
They all were in Kameron’s office—again. Iggy was just about over the place, but maybe it was because he’d been spending too many bad times in it. So far they’d only discussed attacks, spies, wounds, and he was about done with that too.
“You’re sure you don’t want to go back to bed?” Zach asked, and while Iggy understood he was worried, he’d already asked that question four times, and that was about three times too much.
“I’m fine,” he gritted out.
Zane patted his knee. “He’s just grumpy, but then I think he has a headache.”
“Maybe he really should go back to bed then,” Zach said, his gaze on Iggy.
Iggy breathed in, then out, trying to keep himself calm, because it was true he had a headache, and it was true it made him grumpy. Also, he hadn’t been able to sleep on his back because the bump on his head hurt when he touched it. He hadn’t slept well because he’d woken himself up every time he’d started to roll.
Kameron cleared his throat to shut them up and everyone looked at him. The people in the office were the usual suspects—Quinn and Kir, Kameron and Zach, Malik, and Iggy and Zane. That meant they were about to talk about Tom, and that Kameron would probably have to stop fights. That wouldn’t be good for Iggy’s headache, but whatever.
He nodded when everyone was finally silent. “I think it’s obvious we can’t wait for Tom to make his move anymore.”
“We’ll all end up dead,” Quinn grumbled. “If I hadn’t woken up...”
Kameron smiled at him. “I know. We all do.”
“Of course, you could also get yourself a decent bodyguard.”
And there was the Quinn everyone hated and probably wanted to torture. Iggy tried not to take it personally, because he was pretty sure Quinn would bitch and moan about anyone Kameron would have chosen. That didn’t take away the fact that Iggy really hadn’t been a good bodyguard since he’d been knocked out before he could do anything.
“Iggy is a perfect bodyguard, and do I have to remind you that you and Kir went with a guy you’d never seen and almost ended up killed?” Zach said with a feral grin.
“We were tired!” Quinn protested.
“Iggy was, too. He stayed up all night to make sure nothing happened to us.”
Quinn snorted. “That went well.”
“Your trip in Colorado did too.”
“Children,” Kameron said in a tired voice. “We’re not here to talk about Iggy and the way he does his job.” He stared at Quinn. “But I don’t have any problems with him, and it’s not your job to choose my bodyguard.”
Quinn raised his hands. “I get it. I’ll shut up.”
“That’ll be the day,” Zach muttered, but luckily, either Quinn didn’t hear him, or he ignored it.
“As I was saying,” Kameron said loudly, glaring at Zach and Quinn. “We can’t wait anymore. I called the other council members this morning. Celina was attacked. She’s fine, but her lover was wounded.”
“What do we do?” Malik asked.
“We know where Tom’s council meets and we know they have a meeting two days from now.”
“Two days? Isn’t that a bit too close?”
“Probably, but I think the sooner we move the better it is. In the meantime, I’m assigning council enforcers to every council member’s security. They won’t have to stay in your bedroom,” he added, shaking his head at Quinn before he could protest, “but it’s obvious one bodyguard isn’t enough. They need to rest and take turns.”
“What’s the plan?” Quinn asked.
“We’ll attack them before they ca
n attack us.”
“That was kind of obvious. I mean, do you already have something in mind?”
“There are about twenty enforcers living here with us. If I put part of them in charge of our security, we don’t have enough left to attack Tom. I need more enforcers, but that shouldn’t be a problem with the Nix in every team. The next few days are going to be frantic, though.”
“But Tom won’t be expecting us to attack. He thinks we’re cowering and waiting for his killers.”
“We’ll take advantage of that.”
Iggy massaged his temples. He knew this was an important conversation, but his head ached, and he wasn’t sure what he was doing in the office in the first place. He was only a bodyguard, not an enforcer. His job was to stick with Kameron.
“Wait,” he said, snapping his head up and groaning at the pain that flared through it at the movement. “Are you planning to be there during the attack?” he asked Kameron.
“Yes.”
“But... it’s a bad idea.”
Kameron arched a brow. He didn’t look angry, but he didn’t look happy either, and Iggy thought he might lose his job, but still, he didn’t back down. “It is. Tom is after you especially. He’ll gun for you as soon as he sees you.”
“We can use that,” Quinn said, and Iggy had never wanted to strangle him more.
“You want to use Kameron as bait? Kameron, the Gillham pack alpha and council member? Are you an idiot?”
Quinn’s expression went stony. “Not any more than you are. He can’t cower in Gillham while sending other shifters to die.”
“He can’t risk his life just because of what a few people might think. The pack wouldn’t survive without him, and you know it as well as I do.”
“The pack structure exists just for that reason. It wouldn’t be left without an alpha if something happened.”
“Maybe not, but it wouldn’t be the same thing.”
“Stop it,” Kameron intervened. He waited until Iggy and Quinn were both looking at him, then he said, “I understand your concerns, Iggy, but I’m still going. Everyone knows Tom is after me, and I’m not going to back down from the challenge. I’ll be fine, and even if something does happen to me, Zach and Nick are more than able to deal with the pack, and the council won’t have problems finding another wolf member.”
Iggy [Gillham Pack: 15] Page 5
