by Evans, Bryce
Larsen punched his brother in the arm. “Where is Jonas Glenn and what have you done to the sap?”
Jonas smiled at how Larsen kidded him.
“Your right, Jonas. It will be the simple things that make her fall in love with you. She may be already, but don’t push her to fast. Okay?” Ash advised.
Jonas nodded. He knew Ash only wanted the best for him.
She got up, walked over to Jonas, and hugged him. “I’m so happy for you, my friend.”
Jonas hugged Ash back even though Larken and Larsen growled at him. He smiled back at them, teasing them by hugging their mate.
*****
“How did it go with River?” Levi asked Reece when he walked in the front door.
Reece smiled at the mention of his mate’s name. “I’ve got a lot to do for tomorrow and I will need your help. I want this to be special for River. I want to bring her here tomorrow and meet the clan. I want it to be magical outside with the lights. A barbeque would be good. Do you think people will pitch in and help so we can get it done before tomorrow night?”
Levi smiled at his Prime. He had never seen him like this. He was almost giddy and he smiled, but he still carried that intense way about him. He had heard stories of how it would be when you met your mate and poor Reece was a walking testament on every one of those stories.
“Sure they will. People already know that you have met your mate. They have been calling all day wanting to meet her. I think it will be fine. Just leave it to me.”
Reece inhaled sharply. He wanted everything to be perfect for River. She deserved everything to be perfect. He wanted to go all out and take her shopping, buy her a new car, and pamper her. He had to be patient with her. She reminded him of a fine piece of china that needed to be protected at all times. She was his piece of china. His piece of happiness he never knew he was missing.
“Levi?” Reece said his name, getting his attention. Levi had gotten up to get Reece a drink.
“Yeah,” Levi answered as he turned around watching the serene look on his best friend’s face.
“You know how lucky we are? We take it for granted. All of this.” Reece looked around at his beautiful house. “It was like we gave her some money and she never had to work ever again. We took her on a sleigh ride at first and…”
Levi sat down across from Reece. Leaning over, he placed his elbow on the table, listening to Reece as he spoke about his mate. He had never seen him like this. He was so calm.
“You would have thought it was the best time of her life. She has never done anything like that. Her clothes have been worn so much that I could see where she had sewn her sweater. She didn’t even have a coat.”
Levi swallowed hard as he listened to Reece tell River’s story.
“Then we took her ice skating and she told me the first time she went ice skating and it was when she lived at the orphanage. The pond behind it had frozen over and she found some ice skates. The skates were so big she had to put two pairs of socks in it so she could wear them. She said that was the most fun she had ever had until today. She broke my heart. She is so kindhearted even if she tries to act tough, but she has the kindest heart I’ve ever seen. She believes in hard work and she will not take a handout for anything. All I want to do is take care of her.”
“I didn’t know,” Levi said sadly.
“None of us did. I’m not sure Ash knows everything about her. But I will tell you this. I already love her and if anyone ever tries to hurt her, I will kill them.”
Levi had never seen his best friend like this. He could see the protectiveness in his eyes. “We all will protect her. I promise, Reece,” Levi said as he placed his hand on Reece’s hand.
Reece nodded. He was so emotional tonight. She made his heart come alive and all he could think about was making her happy.
“What’s in the bag?” Levi asked. Reece smiled then grabbed the bag and took out his copy of the picture they had made at the ice skating ring. He held it up and showed Levi. “Wow, look at all those teeth. Look at Jonas too and we know he has a lot of teeth.” Levi kidded Reece. “No really, my Prime. You deserve to be happy and she is beautiful. She looks happy,” Levi added.
Levi watched as Reece ran his fingers over her picture.
Chapter Fourteen
Jonas woke up early the next day. All he could think about was how much he wanted River with him. He wanted to wake up to her every day. He had to dig deep and find the patience to stop himself from going to her room and bringing her back to his bed. He got dressed and went down to the conference room, staring at the board looking for something. Something was bothering him about this vampire. He couldn’t figure out what it was yet but he would find out and then kill him. He stared at Paddock’s name and could only see red every time he thought about how close the vampire came to killing his mate. The door to the conference room opened as Larken allowed a mountain of a man walk in. Jonas watched as the man had to duck to enter the room. He had to be around six foot five. His shoulders almost stretched the width of the door. He knew the new member to the unit was coming in today.
“Jonas, I would like for you to meet another member of the unit. This is Jansen Vega who is a wizard.” Jonas stood and had to look up at the man. Jonas knew he was big and tall but this man was freaking huge.
Jonas reached out to shake the mountain’s hand. “Jonas Glenn. Nice to meet you.” His hand looked and felt more like a club then a hand. The man’s hands were freaking big too. As Jonas shook his hand, the man’s eyes rolled back into his head. The energy in the room began to grow warm as the mountain continued to hold his hand. Jonas narrowed his eyes because the mountain man wouldn’t release his hand.
“He is having a vision, Jonas. Let him finish,” Larken muttered as he closely watched the wizard.
“I can see that,” Jonas muttered back to Larken. Jonas watched as the mountain man’s eyes rolled back forward. His eyes focused on Jonas as he released his hand.
“Danger comes to the mountain. He will bring another who is strong too. You must taste the healer’s blood if you plan to defeat them. But this will come at a cost. One will die. To save her you must work together and play the game.” Jonas and Larken stared as Jansen Vega stepped back from Jonas.
“Sorry about that. I never know when they will happen.” Jansen Vega stood straighter as he watched his new boss and Larken stare at him like he was a freak in the freak show at the carnival.
“Amazing,” Larken muttered.
“So you mind telling me what you saw and mean by that,” Jonas asked as he sat back down in the chair propping his feet up.
“I don’t know. I saw a woman being bitten by a vampire, actually two of them. Draining her of her blood. Then I saw you and another man but he wasn’t a wolf like you. He was a vampire too. Both of you are drinking her blood. I don’t know what happened next, but I do know that you and the vampire play a game to try to win.”
“Did we defeat the two vampires?” Jonas asked as he tried to keep his cool.
Jansen Vega shrugged his shoulders then sat in the seat across from Jonas. “I don’t know. It doesn’t look good for you or him. Loss of a mate does that to you.”
Jonas jumped up from his seat. The look of fear on his face as he yelled, “What did you say? My mate is going to die?”
“I don’t know what the outcome will be. Futures can be changed,” Jansen explained.
Ash and River walked in the door before Jonas could question Jansen any further. Jonas ran over to River and hugged her hard. She wrapped her arms around Jonas, feeling him tremble.
“What’s wrong, Jonas? You’re shaking.” River hugged Jonas harder, trying to stop the shaking.
Jonas mumbled in her shoulder. “Nothing, baby, just happy to see you.”
Ash looked over at Larken, wondering what was going on. They apparently missed something before they walked in.
Jonas rubbed River’s arms up and down. He reached down and kissed her lips lightly then looked ov
er at Jansen Vega. He didn’t want River to know about the vision, not yet anyway. She would try to leave, thinking if she did then Paddock wouldn’t get to them.
“River, Ash, I would like for you to meet Jansen Vega. He is joining the unit. He is a wizard.” River smiled as she shook Jansen’s hand.
“You are a healer?” It was a statement even though it sounded like a question to her.
“What is a healer?” River asked as she looked up at the Wizard.
Jansen frowned. “It’s a powerful person who can heal the sick and dying even.”
River didn’t understand why the first thing that popped in her head was Mary. If she really was a healer then maybe she could heal Mary. “I can heal people? How?”
Jonas reached out and took hold of River’s hand. He needed to feel her heat. Calm his nerves. He didn’t like what the wizard said. He would never let Paddock hurt his mate. Never again!
“Yes you can heal people, shifters, and even vampires. I can help you if you would like me to teach you. It is shocking that you never knew you could heal. Why didn’t your parents show you how to heal?”
“I never knew my parents. This is the first I have heard of this.”
“Sorry about that.” Jansen felt bad for the woman. She didn’t have anyone to teach her. He would teach her.
Surprised that she was something more than just a human, River got excited. “Yes, would you. I would love that.”
River looked back at Jonas almost as if she was asking for his permission to allow the wizard to teach her. Jonas smiled back letting her know it would be fine.
Jonas couldn’t shake the chill that had settled into his chest. Visions were what his kind had and most of the time they were right on target. Everything he had read in Jansen’s dossier was exactly how the man was acting. His visions were very accurate was what the file read. Jonas needed to speak with Reece. He needed to know this and then they could work out how to protect their mate. Taking a chance with her life was not going to happen. They needed to plan now for any possible threats.
“I’ve got some things I need to do. Can you excuse me for a few minutes?” Jonas said.
Jansen Vega could see the worry on Jonas’s face. He liked the man and knew this was the group he had been looking for. His talents would be useful here. He could see that River didn’t have a clue at how to protect herself and he figured with being a healer she would have more powers. He would teach her some spells and see if that brought them out. Helping the unit members would be his first priority, and step one would be showing River how to heal.
“Sure.” River looked at Jonas’s worried face. He tried to hide it from her but she could see it and feel it even in his posture. She reached out and grabbed his arm before he left the room. She stared into his eyes. She didn’t know how long they stared at each other, but she couldn’t help the smile that came up on her lips. Jonas did that to her. He made her smile. She watched as Jonas smiled back. He kissed the top of her head then left the room. She knew now that Jonas was worried about something. She recognized the fear in his eyes. He tried to hide it but she saw it before he hid it away. He would tell her later. She would make sure of that.
Jansen took River into a corner and started her lesson on how to heal. Ash and Pelton stayed and watched their newest member work with River. He was good at teaching, Ash thought. She watched but the man never smiled. He wasn’t mean but no emotion graced his face to show he cared. But he wasn’t fooling her. She could tell that he cared when the corner of his mouth turned up into a smile just a second before he erased it on his face.
*****
Jonas knocked hard on Reece’s door. He was worried sick when Levi opened the door. “What’s wrong, Jonas?”
“I need to talk to Reece. Is he here?” Jonas asked.
Levi had never seen him act like this. “Yeah, come on in.” Levi held the door open for Jonas to go inside. He escorted Jonas into Reece’s office. Two members of his clan were fighting over something when Jonas walked in.
“Now, ladies. You own the business together. If you want to make some changes then sit down and talk about it before you do it. Your partners. But to ease your mind, Melissa I think the changes Emily made were great.” Emily smiled at hearing her Prime tell her the changes she made were great. “However, Emily, you should have spoken to your sister before you did this. You should have shown her the data then talked it out. Your sister is as good at business as you are so she would have understood. So are we okay now?” Reece asked and both Melissa and Emily smiled back at Reece. They both bowed their heads and left the office. Melissa smiled at Jonas as she passed him to leave.
Reece looked over at Jonas and could see the worried look on his face. He got up as Jonas grew closer to him.
“What is it? Is something wrong with River?” Reece asked.
“She is fine right now, but the wizard who is joining the team came in today and when he shook my hand he had a vision.” Jonas explained what Jansen saw in his vision. Reece needed to sit down. He was also a believer of visions and knew that they could be changed.
“Does he believe the vision can be changed?” Reece asked.
“Yes he does, but I want to make sure he never gets to her before we kill him,” Jonas replied. His hands were shaking thinking about River being tortured by this man.
“She has been through enough,” Jonas exploded.
Reece could see his hands were shaking and his eyes were changing. His wolf was coming to the surface. Levi was about to move out of his way when Reece whispered, “Don’t move.” Levi immediately stopped as Jonas half-shifted. He was growling. His wolf was pissed about Paddock taking his mate. All the emotions Jonas was feeling had reached its limit and the wolf wanted out.
Reece continued to stay still and silent. He watched as Jonas jumped up and went to the wooden desk that Reece worked from. Throwing his head back, Jonas howled then brought his arms and hands down on the desk, cracking the heavy desk into two pieces.
Levi stiffened. He couldn’t believe how strong Jonas was. He cracked the desk in half. The desk was specially made for Reece because when he got mad he would slam his hands onto his desk and they made it stronger so it wouldn’t break.
Jonas took in big gulps of air as he calmed down so he could change back. Talking to his wolf, Jonas asked for his wolf to retreat so he could talk to Reece. Jonas continued to take in lots of oxygen as his body shifted again and Jonas was back to his usual self.
“Feel better?” Reece asked. Jonas stared down at his desk that was laying in the floor in two pieces. Reece walked up beside Jonas looking at the desk. Then Reece started laughing. Jonas looked at him as he was bent over laughing so hard tears were coming out of his eyes.
“Sorry…I broke your desk,” Jonas said as he ran his fingers through his hair. Reece laughed harder as Jonas’s apologized.
Once Reece got himself under control, he looked over at Jonas. “Damn, Jonas, you are strong. They had that desk specially made for me. So when I hit it, it wouldn’t break, but I guess it wasn’t as strong as they said.” Then Levi walked over and stood beside Reece.
“Wow. Really wow, Jonas. You hit hard. I’ve never seen a wolf half-shift like that before. It was freaking amazing. How long can you stay that way?” Levi couldn’t believe he broke the unbreakable desk.
“For a while but it drains my energy level,” Jonas muttered.
Reece couldn’t control it anymore. He smiled then burst out laughing again. Levi joined in the laughter as they both pointed at the broken desk. Jonas hesitated then laughed along with Reece and Levi. Laughing was a stress reliever. It was helping Reece and now it was helping Jonas.
“Come on, let’s go in the kitchen and sit and talk about a plan. Hey, but don’t break my table. I like it.” Reece smiled then walked into the kitchen with Jonas. Levi followed as he continued to laugh.
Chapter Fifteen
It was late in the afternoon when Jonas and Reece walked into the room. Ash and Pe
lton were getting the paperwork they would need ready for the group when all the members showed up.
Reece and Jonas waited and watched as Jansen taught River more about healing. “Your breathing is the most important part of healing. You already have the gift but clearing your mind is how you make it work. You see the pain and what is in them then you make it better.” Reece and Jonas walked over and stood beside River. She smiled when she saw her two mates.
“Hey,” River said enthusiastically. She was happy to see them. Then she frowned at the expression on their faces.
“What’s wrong?” asked River then Reece composed his expression.
“Nothing, baby. I was thinking about something I needed to do, but it can wait until tomorrow. Ready for our date?” Reece asked as Jansen looked at him. Reece could tell the man was studying him. Reece extended his hand out. “Hello. I’m Reece Ramsey.” Jansen shook Reece’s hand then looked back at River.
“She is your mate too?” Jansen asked. Reece smiled then looked over at River who was blushing. “Yes she is. I understand you are helping her learn about her gift?”
“Yes. She is a very powerful healer and has other powers but nothing has come out yet. I will need to work more with her. If you don’t mind?” Jansen waited for Reece to respond.
“Sure, but that is up to River.” Reece watched as River smiled. He knew that River didn’t want to be told what she was going to do. She needed this job and he wouldn’t dare keep her from it or from learning about her healing abilities. Healers were hard to come by and needed in their world.
River loved it. They let her make the decision. She didn’t think they would do that. Maybe, just maybe, this could work.
“Thank you and yes, Jansen, I would love for you to continue teaching me. I really would.”
Jansen nodded. “If that is all, I think I will go eat with the rest of the group.”
Reece and Jonas watched as the man walked over to Ash and Pelton. “He is a very big, big man,” Reece whispered.
