by Shea Balik
Trygg moved his lips so they brushed along Kellach’s, then along his cheek and down his neck until they settled at the juncture of Kellach’s neck and shoulder. “Then I will sink my teeth into your flesh.” Those teeth nipped at the spot Trygg was talking about. “Drink down your blood before spilling my seed into your body and claiming you as mine.”
Soft lips brushed along his skin as Trygg spoke, sending shivers of delight through Kellach’s body to settle into his balls, which made them churn in their sac. Kellach was torn between wanting to push closer and away. He just wished he could take what he wanted instead of denying himself.
Kellach reached out and grabbed Trygg’s balls, pulling until the man’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head in pain. “As I already told you, I’m not about to mate a dog. Now unless you want me to rip your balls off, I suggest you step back.”
When Trygg didn’t move right away, Kellach pulled even harder on the man’s balls. Suddenly the hands that had been boxing in Kellach’s head were off the wall. Trygg kept them up as if pleading for mercy, but Kellach didn’t have any.
While growing up, Edrick and Lucca had demanded Kellach, Chadwick, and Hudson train tirelessly to become deadly fighters for that day when they had to run for their lives. Admittedly, Kellach was much smaller than his friends and didn’t have the killer instinct they seemed to have, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still lethal.
The most important lesson Edrick had taught him was never to back down. So it wasn’t until Trygg had stepped back to allow Kellach room to get away that he finally released the man’s balls.
As Trygg bent slightly, as if trying to protect himself, Kellach turned to a very proud appearing Edrick. He might appreciate what his friend had done to teach him to survive, but Kellach resented it, too. He’d begged his friends to just leave the pack for years, but Edrick had refused and the others went along with him.
It was because of Edrick that Kellach had to train so religiously to begin with. More importantly, it was because of Edrick that Kellach had nearly died at his father’s hands. Sure, Kellach could have fought back, but he hadn’t because it was his father and as much as Kellach hadn’t wanted to die that day, he still couldn’t have laid a hand on his own father. It would have been wrong. If Edrick would have just listened to Kellach, none of that would have happened.
It was with that thought that he glared at one of his best friends. “I am opening a bar next to the diner.” Kellach wasn’t asking, he was telling. Whether Edrick agreed or not, Kellach was opening that bar.
One of Edrick’s eyebrows rose up. But he didn’t argue with Kellach. “Arrange it with Chadwick.”
His gaze went from Edrick to Trygg, who was still slightly bent over as he stared at Kellach as if he were trying to figure him out. It made Kellach feel like a bug under a microscope, something he wasn’t comfortable with. “Next time you come near me, I will rip those balls right off. So do yourself a favor, leave Miracle.”
Then he turned and walked out of the house to find Chadwick. It was time for Kellach to start doing what he wanted for once.
CHAPTER 5
Even though his balls were still throbbing, Trygg couldn’t stop the smile that formed on his lips as he thought about the way his mate handled himself earlier. Kellach had been a sight to behold as he stood up to Trygg, besting him without even really trying.
It was true that Trygg’s ego had taken a hit, but it was worth it to see Kellach in action. The man didn’t know the meaning of fear when it came to a fight. He just wished he hadn’t seen the bone deep sadness that had been in those lavender eyes. Trygg didn’t know why it was there, but he was determined to find out, just as soon as he won his mate over.
“Is this the guy Kellach dropped on his ass?” A man said as he walked into the office.
From the pictures the Council had provided him, Trygg knew this was Chadwick. He had Edrick’s same dark looks but with gray eyes instead of the blue of the alpha. From everything he’d been able to learn of Chadwick, the man was somewhat of an introvert, so he was a little surprised to hear the man make a joke, especially when he didn’t stop there.
“I have to say, I’m impressed shorty managed to drop one of the Council’s dogs so easily.” Chadwick gave Trygg a grin that was all teeth. “Then again, dogs are all muscle and no brains.”
Trygg rolled his eyes at the dig. “I’m more than happy to face you in a fight if you think you can beat me, pussy.”
Chadwick scowled when Trygg insulted him. “As if you could beat me when you can’t even win against little Kellach.”
That was the second time Chadwick insinuated Kellach wasn’t much of a fighter and Trygg wasn’t about to put up with it. Turning to Edrick, he asked, “Do you have a training area that I could use to teach Chadwick a lesson?”
But before Edrick could answer, Chadwick asked harshly, “How do you know my name?”
Trygg flashed him a knowing smile. “I know far more than just your name,” he said cryptically, clearly pissing Chadwick off even more.
“Stop,” Edrick barked out. “Both of you, stand down before I drop both of you on your asses.”
Trygg just smiled at Chadwick while Chadwick glared back.
“Sorry I took so long,” Hudson said as he rushed into the room. “I was out at the abandoned farm with Nole and Harper. We managed to follow the ghost all the way out there but lost it when a deer raced out of the forest and spooked it.”
Trygg was pretty sure his jaw had dropped at what he was hearing. “I’m sorry. Did you say you were chasing ghosts?”
Instantly Hudson became defensive. “What of it?”
Not wanting to have everyone mad at him, Trygg kept his expression neutral. “Nothing. I just wasn’t sure I heard you correctly.”
Hudson didn’t appear to believe him at first, but then relaxed his stance a little when Trygg didn’t laugh at him. “You heard correctly.”
These were Kellach’s friends and for better or worse, part of his life. If Trygg had any hope of changing his mate’s mind about their mating he was going to need these men on his side. So instead of making a joke, Trygg said, “That’s cool. I hope you can find your ghost again.”
Hudson didn’t respond as he sat in one of the available chairs and waited for Edrick to get started. But they were still waiting for some people to show up, one of which was Trygg’s mate. He just hoped Kellach didn’t decide to try and rip his balls off as he’d threatened to do earlier.
“You know if we’re going to have meetings like this, we really need to start having them at the diner,” Jari said as he entered with his mate Lucca, one of the other men the Council had sent Trygg to kill. “I had to leave Iniko in charge, which means if anyone wants anything more than a sandwich or piece of pie they are out of luck.”
“At least they can eat, which is more than we get, unless you brought one of Harper’s pies.” Chadwick’s hopeful look morphed into a crushed one when Jari shook his head no.
It was pathetic. “You know, for someone who claims to disdain dogs so much, you sure have that wounded puppy dog face down pat,” Trygg said.
Chadwick gave him the middle finger and Edrick gave a heavy sigh as if he were preparing to tell them to behave again.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Kellach said as he walked in with Nole, Edrick’s mate.
After accepting a kiss from Nole, the Alpha said, “He has news that we need to hear, so if you feel the need to go through with your threat, wait until after the meeting.”
Chadwick sat up straight. “What threat?”
Kellach refused to look at Trygg which hurt far more than it should have considering he knew Kellach wasn’t ready to admit they were mates. Then again, when it came to a mating, normal rules didn’t pertain. “I told him I’d rip off his balls if he didn’t leave Miracle.”
All the men in the room instantly moved to protect their balls. All except for Trygg, who let his legs widen even more in his chair. “I’ll let you t
ouch my balls in any way you want, mate,” Trygg said suggestively, relatively certain Kellach wouldn’t actually hurt him.
But when Kellach made a move toward him, Edrick stopped him by saying, “Seriously, Kellach, wait until after the meeting. He has information we need.”
“Just so long as we all get to stick around and watch,” Chadwick said with far too much glee.
“Watch what?” Harper said as he walked into the room with a man large enough Trygg was sure he could be classified as a giant. That’s when Harper saw Trygg. “What is Kellach’s mate doing here?” Then Harper’s eyes got really big. “We aren’t going to have to watch them mate are we? Because I really don’t think that would be appropriate.”
The man with Harper growled menacingly. “You aren’t going to see anyone naked, petal.”
Harper shook his head. “But I just saw you naked five minutes ago, Kirill.”
There was a twinkle in the big man’s blue eyes when he looked down at Harper. “You can see me naked any time you want, petal.” Then those blue eyes turned frosty as he glared at every other man in the room. “But no one else.”
Trygg wasn’t afraid of many men. In fact, he couldn’t ever remember fearing he’d lose in a fight until this moment. This Kirill person was downright scary and Trygg couldn’t help being grateful he was on the same side as this man.
“Could everyone sit down so we can get started?” Edrick’s voice was laced with frustration. “This was too important not to have everyone here but in the future I will think twice about calling everyone together if this is going to be the result.”
Trygg couldn’t exactly blame the man for wanting to get down to business as Edrick already knew all the details of why Trygg was there. Still, it was good to know these men knew how to have fun with each other since Trygg planned on making Miracle his home.
There was nothing worse than an alpha and his inner circle who had the personalities of statues. Trygg should know. The Council was a prime example. None of them knew what fun was. He’d worked for them for over sixty years and Trygg couldn’t ever remember one of them giving a genuine smile. Fake ones, or ones filled with malice, sure, but none of it was real. Then again, nothing about the Council could be considered real in Trygg’s opinion.
“I called you all here because Trygg came to me with a situation.” Edrick glanced Kellach’s way. “As you have all probably just heard, Trygg is Kellach’s mate.”
When Kellach opened his mouth to refute it, Edrick held up his hand to stop him. “Whether you accept it or not doesn’t change the facts, Kellach, so just let me get through this.”
Kellach didn’t look happy as he crossed his arms over his chest and silently fumed but he didn’t try to interrupt again.
Edrick then turned to Trygg. “Tell them why you’re here.”
There was no easy way to say it, so Trygg decided to just rip the bandage off so-to-speak. “I was sent by the Council to kill Edrick Rapp, Lucca Breck, Hudson Martin, Chadwick Ramos and,” his gaze went to his mate, “Kellach Alder.”
The room erupted in chaos as three of the five men mentioned started threatening to do him bodily harm, while several of the others not mentioned suggested ways they could all run. But it was only Kellach that had Trygg’s attention as his mate stared at him as if trying to understand something. What, Trygg had no idea, but he was pretty sure the need he suddenly had to squirm in his seat was how a bug felt when under a microscope.
CHAPTER 6
“When I started working for the Council, I honestly thought I was doing something good for our kind,” Trygg said when Edrick had finally managed to get everyone to calm down again. If only he’d known then what he knew now, Trygg wouldn’t feel as if he’d betrayed his own kind. Then again, there was no guarantee he would have met his mate.
“At first I was only sent after those who’d gone rogue.” It was the smartest thing the Council could have done. “I wasn’t told why they’d gone rogue, just that they were hurting others.”
Nole gave a bark of laughter. “Most likely because they were forced to forgo their mates or risk being hunted.”
Trygg’s shoulders dropped in defeat. “Yeah, in too many of the cases that was true.” He still couldn’t believe he’d been that stupid. Maybe stupid was harsh but naïve sounded like he couldn’t have known better. The thing was, if he’d just bothered to open his eyes to the crimes of the men and women he went after, Trygg would have realized long ago that he was nothing but a paid hitman.
A murderer for hire. In his mind, the only thing that separated him from any of the shifters he went after, was that he was sanctioned by the Council. Not that it should matter. Murder was murder and nothing could erase the crimes he’d committed against his own kind for something the Council had deemed punishable by execution.
“To be honest, I didn’t want to know what their crimes were.” It was sad but true. “All that mattered was that I had a job to do and nothing was going to get in my way of doing it.” There were times the sounds of his targets begging haunted his dreams. “Not even the fact that the only crime some of these people committed was to be mated to someone of the same sex.”
How fucked up was that?
Trygg just didn’t understand how loving someone, no matter who it was, could be considered a sin. Hell, he longed to find the one fate had created just for him. Whether it was a man or woman, Trygg would cherish that person with every fiber of his being.
His gaze went to the one man who had changed everything. Everything within Trygg soften with just one look into his mate’s lavender eyes. “By the time I realized what was going on, I had killed so many…” he broke off, ashamed at what he’d done. It was harder than he’d imagined to lay his soul bare to his mate, especially after the things he’d done in the name of the Council.
But no matter how hard it was, it was nothing compared to some of things he’d done. So he stared at his mate and confessed his sins. “My hands were already covered in blood. I guess, I figured after years of killing there was no point in stopping.”
The disappointment he saw in those lavender eyes nearly brought Trygg to his knees. It was a mistake to believe he could ever have a life with a mate who loved him. He’d done too many things he couldn’t be forgiven for. If he was smart, Trygg would have never come here. Then again, he’d already proven he wasn’t smart by trusting the Council for so long.
“So now what?” Lucca asked. “Clearly there is no way you’re going to kill Kellach if he’s your mate.”
Chadwick slapped his hand onto the top of his leg. “Now what?” he asked derisively. “Isn’t it obvious? He came here to kill us, just like he did all those others, and now has found himself having to ask for our protection instead.”
Hudson surged to his feet and started pacing. “Why should we protect you when all you’ve done is murder our kind?” His feet stopped at the window and he turned back to Trygg. “How can we even trust that you won’t lead the Council here to do what you can’t?”
“Kellach is my mate. I would never let anyone hurt him,” Trygg insisted.
Chadwick snorted. “But that doesn’t pertain to the rest of us. How do we know you won’t run with Kellach while Council hitmen come and kill the rest of us?”
It was a good point. Maybe if Trygg hadn’t thought the exact thing when trying to figure out what to do, he might have been able to defend himself, but with no leg to stand on, he chose to keep silent.
“Enough,” Edrick said. “I have already talked with Trygg and feel he can be trusted.”
Both Chadwick and Lucca started listing reasons why that wasn’t a good idea. Hudson resumed his pacing. Kirill sat back and seemed to enjoy the infighting. Kellach continued to stare at Trygg as if he trying to pick him apart piece by piece.
“Did you really keep killing men and women the Council sent you after for being gay?” Kellach asked. He hadn’t raised his voice over the arguing going on around him, but for Trygg the words were as clear as if Kel
lach had shouted them.
It was something Trygg never expected anyone to ask. Then again, nothing about Kellach had been as he’d expected. “I continued to be the Council’s hunter after finding out what they were doing,” he hedged. It was the truth, even if he hadn’t exactly answered Kellach’s question. He just hoped no one noticed.
“That wasn’t the question,” Kellach challenged. “Did you kill people whose only crime was to be gay after you found out what the Council was doing?”
Damn. He’d really hoped he wouldn’t have to answer that question. Everything in him wanted to tell his mate they were all dead, but how did he lie to his mate?
“Why won’t you answer the question?” Kellach asked when Trygg had remained silent. The room was quiet now as the others waited for Trygg to answer.
The only problem was he couldn’t tell them the truth. Not for him, but for those who were supposed to be dead.
“He can’t tell you,” Kirill said with way too much authority. “I have five men with me who Trygg was sent to kill.” The big man gave a half smile as if he were amazed to have put two and two together. “They all told me a story that was too unbelievable to actually think was real, but were so similar I wondered if there was some truth to them.”
Trygg shook his head at Kirill, silently pleading with the man to not tell anyone what he’d heard. For decades, Trygg had also heard stories about a shifter who traveled around the country with a band of followers, taking anyone who needed help. The man had managed to stay hidden from the Council, but Trygg suspected Kirill was that man.
First of all, the way the few who had been willing to answer questions about him, always mentioned the man was a giant. The Council had always suspected that was a euphemism for the man’s ability to hide in plain sight. Now that he’d met the man, Trygg knew those reports were an actual description.
