by Shea Balik
Blade's Distraction
Paranormal Wars: Juarez 1
Forest Bradford is a coyote shifter who has always fought against his parents’ need to control him. So, when he met his mate, Blade Castillo, a black panther, and an elite soldier in the Alliance Army, he refused to let the man order him around. He’s disconcerted when he must face his own needs when it comes to his mate, but he fights the urge to submit even though it’s what he and his coyote want.
Blade’s need to keep Forest safe was confusing him. As the second to his team leader, Blade has usually looked out for the others, but with Forest it was much more than that, it was nearly an obsession. When Forest was almost killed by the traitor they were hunting, Blade was forced to face that Forest had become a distraction that Blade couldn’t ignore.
Copyright © 2020 Shea Balik
Copyright © 2014 Shea Balik
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Coming Soon
About the Author
DEDICATION
To those who forge their own path despite the obstacles.
Chapter 1
Sweat ran down Blade’s back in the scorching late summer sun as they waited for Alek Rykov, Alpha Primus of the Alliance, to arrive. Blade Castillo’s job to secure the area for this meeting would be a lot easier if his friends weren’t acting like whiney children. That was one of the downsides to working with his friends. He had to take the bad with the good.
“Seriously, is there a reason we had to drop everything, possibly losing the only lead we’ve had in weeks, to stand out here to meet this yahoo, when it’s hot enough to fry an egg?” Hunter, their assassin, asked over his Communication and Biological Interface (COBI) unit.
Except for Blade and Talon, their team leader, the rest of the team was spread out to watch the surrounding area. They all had the Alliance’s COBI earpiece to communicate. This hindered Blade from smacking Hunter and the others upside the head when they got like this.
“I’m with Hunter,” Paytah said. “I mean just because the great and all-knowing Oz has come to visit doesn’t mean we should have to drop everything for the guy.” Paytah was the clown in the group. He would do anything for a laugh. Egging on the others was just one of his games.
Talon’s body tensed as he listened to the guys bitch. Blade knew that their leader would make them pay later.
“Oz.” Evan, their weapons specialist, laughed. “That is too funny, Pay. I dare you to say that to the Alpha when he gets here.”
Blade and Talon both growled. Paytah never backed down from a challenge and Evan knew that. Of course, that was the problem with having both a water and a fire mystic in their group. They tended to do whatever it took to get the other one in trouble.
Eight men made up their team, and all of them had grown up as best friends. There were no secrets that they didn’t know about each other. From the first day of school when they had become friends, they had shared all their experiences. Even joining the Alliance military had been done together. They may not always have been in the same unit, but they stayed the best of friends.
The Alliance was led by the Alpha Primus, Alek Rykov. The man was a hero to the Alliance for freeing shifters and mystics when the humans had them caged in labs. The Gods had decided to create three new races to save the Earth from human destruction. Unfortunately, the Gods had those new races show what they were at birth, causing the humans to freak the hell out and either killed the new races or locked them up to study.
Shifters, who shared their bodies and souls with an animal, could change into their animal at will. Mystics had the ability to control one of the four elements, fire, water, wind, or earth. Both groups made up the Alliance.
The third race was the psy, who had declared war on the Alliance. The psy had the ability to manipulate things around them, like a human’s mind and emotions, which the humans hadn’t been able to notice, allowing the Psy to not get imprisoned with the shifters and mystic.
But that kind of power, entering a mind and controlling had been a dangerous thing. It created the need for more power. Although, not all the Psy were like that since there were some who weren’t able to take over a human mind. Many instead had the ability to move objects. Too bad those were much more rare.
Now the humans were considered puppets to the psy and used as cannon fodder in the war between the psy and the Alliance. This was the war Blade and his friends had been fighting for the last twenty-five years.
Three months ago, Talon had been called to meet with the Alpha Primus. He’d been requested to hunt down and kill his own brother, Raptor. Talon had been keeping tabs on Raptor, many times confiding to his friends that he was enraged by what his brother was allowed to get away with.
All of them had considered taking a leave of absence to go after the man at one point or another, but they never had. When Alek gave Talon the opportunity to do what he knew had to be done, Talon accepted. The Alpha gave Talon permission to recruit anyone he needed, and so he called the only people he trusted, his friends.
“Yeah, Pay, I think you should do it,” Hunter egged the fire mystic on.
An aircraft suddenly dropped out of the sky to land on the abandoned parking lot in front of them. It was a large aircraft as the Alpha Primus was bringing them some new vehicles to aid in their search for Raptor. He was also bringing someone they were supposed to watch over.
Blade wasn’t sure why the Alpha wanted them to babysit someone while trying to find and kill Raptor. Unfortunately, it wasn’t his job to question Talon’s orders, and he definitely wasn’t about to que
stion the Alpha Primus. Blade never met the man, but he’d heard he wasn’t someone to mess with.
“Paytah.” Blade called the fire mystic by his full name instead of his nickname to make sure the man knew he was serious. “I will only say this once. You are not to do what these idiots are suggesting, or I will have you on every shit job I can come up with.”
The door to the aircraft opened, so Paytah didn’t get to respond. The stairs dropped, and out walked one of the biggest fucking man Blade had ever seen. He stood about as tall as Blade, but had to outweigh him by a hundred pounds of muscle.
“Fuck me,” Evan said as he was able to see Alek from his position. “He’s bigger than Wyatt.”
“Yeah but I’m taller,” Wyatt, a brown bear shifter, groused.
A much shorter, younger man walked off the plane next. Blade’s gaze narrowed as he saw a man about Blade’s size with his hand on the back of the younger man’s neck. It looked like the kid was being forced off the plane.
A growl spilled out of Blade at the sight. He couldn’t say exactly what had him upset, but he wanted to rip that man’s hand off the kid.
Talon turned his gaze to Blade in disbelief. “Want to explain what that was about?” Talon whispered.
If Blade understood it himself, he would have gladly explained. Since he had no idea what made him so uneasy, he just shrugged instead.
Twenty soldiers poured out of the back of the plane. Within seconds they had disappeared, which frankly stunned Blade. Even with his team in hiding, he could still see each of them. Nothing usually got past him, but these soldiers just disappeared before his eyes.
“Where the fuck did they go?” Hunter asked. “Seriously, one was headed for my position and suddenly he’s just gone. How the hell did they do that?”
“Clearly we aren’t as good as we thought,” Kai said.
Blade wasn’t sure what was happening. Didn’t the Alpha trust them to secure the area? Not that he could blame the man, since the Alpha’s soldiers were clearly better as Blade still tried to find any sign of those soldiers.
Talon stepped forward to go meet their Alpha Primus. Spurred into action, Blade followed his leader when the scent of mint, like the autumn sage that grew around the area, hit him. Scanning the desolate area they had picked for this meeting, Blade didn’t see the plant anywhere. It wasn’t until they were a couple of feet away from the Alpha’s group that Blade realized the enticing scent came from the kid.
Blade’s hands clenched into fists as the urge to rip the young man from the other man’s grasp increased. Not wanting to offend the Alpha Primus by attacking the man with him, Blade held himself in check. His mind worked overtime coming up with creative ways to kill the man who dared touch the gorgeous young man.
“Talon, good to see you again.” As Alek and Talon shook hands, Blade studied the young man who was distracting Blade with his scent. He wasn’t even six feet and maybe a hundred and fifty pounds. It looked like he worked out some, although that could also be because he was a coyote shifter and would naturally have some muscle. Either way, he was definitely a civilian.
Every part of the kid was perfect in Blade’s opinion. But the kid’s dark green eyes, full of outrage, captivated Blade as they were spitting nails at everyone. He couldn’t stop his dick from getting hard at the sight before him.
“You too, Alek. I’d like you to meet my second, Blade,” Talon said, pulling Blade’s attention back to where it needed to be.
Getting hard in front of the Alpha Primus was probably not a wise idea. Mentally shaking himself, he tried to get his body under control. To his chagrin it was more difficult than he would have liked. What was it about this kid that so easily distracted Blade from his duties?
Chapter 2
The smirk on the Alpha Primus’s face told Blade he’d been busted staring at the kid. “Nice to meet you,” he said to the Alpha, hoping the man wouldn’t say anything about Blade’s behavior. Even under scrutiny, Blade couldn’t help but return his gaze to the green eyes.
“This is my second, Wolfe.” The Alpha pointed to the larger man who still held the kid’s neck. “And this is Forest Bradford. He wants to join your team while you search for Raptor.”
Blade’s heart stopped as he heard the Alpha’s words. He’d been told they would just be babysitting the kid. There was no way that this Forest could join their team and survive. It would be hard enough keeping the kid from getting hurt with him safely tucked away. Having him join them on the front lines was out of the question.
Talon must have felt the same way, as he asked, “I’m sorry, but do you honestly expect this kid to join my team?”
“I’m not a kid,” Forest replied mutinously. “And I don’t need you doing me any favors.” Forest turned to Alek. “I told you I didn’t need any help. I’ll go after Raptor myself.”
For all his bravado, the kid looked ready to pee himself. Blade had to give him credit for keeping his fear in check, but his clenched hands gave him away.
“Keep quiet, brat. You either accept joining Talon’s team or you go back with us. Your choice.” Wolfe’s warning was punctuated by the Alpha’s second shaking Forest slightly. Not enough to hurt him, but to make sure Forest knew who was in charge.
Blade’s panther wasn’t happy at the treatment. The urge to rip Forest away from Wolfe was too strong, forcing him to act. “Could you take your hands off Forest? He’s not a ragdoll for you to control,” Blade spit out.
Wolfe’s look of surprise turned to humor almost immediately. “Yes, I can. There is a stipulation though.”
Blade’s eyebrow went up as his panther paced back and forth inside him, waiting to pounce. Why he hated anyone’s hands on Forest he couldn’t say, but Blade was on the edge and ready to take on the powerful wolf shifter.
“I am entrusting him into your care. When he runs, you get to chase him.” With those words, Wolfe let go of Forest’s neck.
Relief flooded Blade’s body, leaving him almost weak as his panther finally started to calm down. Only one thing would completely satisfy his animal, and that was to have Forest next to him, where he could touch the coyote shifter.
“Now, my soldiers are all in position to cover us. Please call in your team. I would like to meet them.” It was worded as a request, but the order was clear in Alek’s tone.
Talon did as the Alpha asked. As they waited, Blade couldn’t help notice the smirk on Wolfe’s face as he continued to stare at Blade. He didn’t know what the man’s problem was, but he wasn’t about to confront the more powerful shifter.
Blade never doubted his abilities. He was good, one of the best in combat. His parents had made sure Blade always excelled in all that he did. The consequences for not being the best were beatings that left him unable to even shift to help heal himself.
Even then his parents insisted he get up, work through the pain, and excel at whatever they asked of him. Because of this, he was able to block out pain or any emotion actually, since showing emotion was another reason to get beat. Black panthers were an aggressive bunch who didn’t tolerate weakness, and his parents were the epitome of that stereotype.
Even with his drive to be the best in battle, he knew a stronger predator when he was faced with one. Wolfe was definitely stronger. It was clear the man’s wolf lived closer to the surface than most shifters allowed their animals. Shifters may learn to live with an animal inside, but they were also part human, and their human side didn’t want the animal taking control. Because of this, they kept a tight leash on their other halves.
Clearly Wolfe didn’t, for Blade could almost see the wolf inside him as he stared in the man’s gray eyes. If he had to guess, their Alpha Primus gave his tiger the same leeway. The air of unleashed violence in both men made it clear to Blade they wouldn’t hesitate to kill.
Finally, all the members of their team gathered around to meet the Alpha. Alek stared at Talon until he finally got the message and started the introductions. “Alpha, I’d like you to meet m
y team, Kai, Rune, Hunter, Evan, Paytah, and Wyatt,” Talon said, as he pointed to each man in turn. “Guys, this is Alek Rykov, Alpha Primus of the Alliance.”
“Or better known as Oz,” Alek said. The Alpha’s gazed stayed on Paytah when he spoke. At least Paytah had the good sense to blush at being caught. “Next time you decide to talk smack about me, you might want to remember you’re using COBI, the system I designed.”
Blade had always heard about the Alpha Primus as being some sort of God, untouchable. But his teasing Paytah put him on Blade’s level, and he admired the Alpha even more for that.
“Uh, I, uh,” Paytah stammered as his cheeks seemed to get even redder with each second that passed.
Forest rolled his eyes. “Please, like you could ever be Oz.”
Wolfe’s hand once more went to Forest’s neck and gave it a squeeze. Blade growled a warning. Everyone froze as they waited for what Wolfe would do. The collective sigh of relief could be heard when Wolfe took his hand off Forest.
Blade had to grit his teeth when the man bent down to whisper in Forest’s ear. Red bloomed across Forest’s face as he glared at Wolfe. “Fuck you.” The next thing Blade knew, Forest shifted into a gorgeous black coyote and took off across the empty park lot.
So engrossed in watching the beautiful animal run, Blade hadn’t really paid any attention to the fact that Forest was getting away until Wolfe growled at him. “I told you, he’s yours to catch.”
Shifting into his black panther, Blade took off after the coyote. His blood practically sang in his veins at the thought of capturing his coyote, pinning him to the ground, and forcing him to submit. His coyote? Blade wasn’t sure why he thought of Forest as his, but he did.
His panther couldn’t help smiling as he loved nothing more than chasing down prey, and right now Forest was in his sights.
Chapter 3
