Walk on the Striped Side

by Jessie Lane

  Elena nodded her head and he knew his little Amazon was ready for action.

  The truck made a sudden right turn and Elena grabbed his thigh to keep her balance. Ignoring the heat of her small hand so close to where he would love to feel it, he pointed to the flamethrower’s shooting half and explained, “This is called the gun housing. The next thing you do is flip the ignition valve here, on top, backwards. That valve keeps the fuel from flowing out of the gun nozzle when the trigger lever is released. When you squeeze the trigger, the fuel will be able to flow through the nozzle, but only if that valve is open.

  “There are two handles and two triggers. The one up front is the ignition trigger. You need to pull that first. You’ll see a small flame appear at the front of your nozzle after you do that. The second trigger down by the stock handle is the fuel release trigger for the napalm. Don’t waste your fuel. When you use it, pull the trigger for five second bursts to conserve what’s in your tank. The flame will shoot out up to sixty feet.

  “Since it has an extended reach, I’m going to face you towards the basement entrance. It won’t take long for the enforcers down there to try to come out in force once they know we’re in the mansion. The minute you see them coming, light ‘em up. I’m going to concentrate on the front entrance of the house and the stairs leading up to the second floor. I need to keep both of those clear of any threats. If one of the wolves happens to get too close to you, scream for me. Nothing will keep me from getting to you, do you understand?”

  This time her nod was somewhat somber, though it was also determined. Gage could tell her trained soldier-mentality was clicking back into place after lying dormant over her time as a civilian.

  “How long do you think we’ll have to hold the first floor?” she asked him.

  The truck started to jolt rapidly beneath their feet and Gage knew they were now driving over uneven ground instead of pavement, which meant they were probably nearing their stopping point.

  He tried to take a calming breath and shrugged at her question. “Not long, hopefully. No more than ten or fifteen minutes, if we’re lucky. Anything longer than that and we risk pack members in the house calling for reinforcements to come to the compound. We have no idea how many wolves live in close proximity to their compound, so we’ll need to be in and out as fast as possible. You ready for this?”

  Elena smiled and answered, “Hooah.”

  Gage barked a laugh, as did some of the other occupants of their truck.

  Ignoring everyone else, he leaned into her space so that they were close enough that the tips of their noses were touching. “Remember, you’re my mate first and a soldier second. Nothing is more important to me than you are. So don’t be proud and think you can handle all of this on your own. We work as a team, and the nanosecond you think you might be in trouble, you yell my name.”

  Wrapping his hand around the back of her head, he then touched his forehead to hers. “I can’t live without you again, Elena, and I don’t want to anyways, so please don’t do anything stupid.”

  She gave him no response, and as tough as he was, he didn’t think he could take another one of her denials about how they weren’t mates while he was so on edge about her safety. His tiger was already yanking at that inner leash he kept it on, anxious to come out to protect their mate.

  As the truck slowed down to a stop, presumably at wherever they were going to park it for a quick getaway, Gage was afraid that he might lose the battle on keeping his beast locked down, when suddenly Elena brushed her lips against his own in a kiss that held no hesitation but plenty of promise, and the enraged roars of his animal inside his head melted away.

  In that moment, nothing else mattered except the kiss of his mate.

  CHAPTER-TWENTY

  Elena

  What says ‘I love you’?

  A flamethrower.

  That Gage had given her a fire wielding weapon of mass destruction to defend herself on this mission was proof of two things. One, the man knew her inside and out; he would know that having her hands on such a piece of equipment would almost send her into fits of glee. Two, he’d given her something that would not only defend her, but it would do so in such a way that the hostile wolves wouldn’t get anywhere near her. That was proof that, although he was placing her on a battlefield where she was grossly unequal to her opponents, he had faith in her to survive it anyways. For that alone, he had definitely earned that kiss she’d just given him.

  Gage was quickly breaking down all the emotional defenses that she’d erected against him. Little by little, through not only his words but also his actions, he was showing her that he did indeed love her. Which was why she was still unbelievably confused about his reasoning for hurting her like he had. Or rather, the lack of reasoning since he continued to refuse to fully explain it. She was starting to think that, whatever his reasons were, they didn’t matter because after getting Gage back in her life to some capacity, she was loathed to let him go again.

  And this time around, she could tell that he was more invested in her—in them—than he’d ever been before. He showered her with affection. He spoke with her openly in candid ways he’d never done before. He tried to verbally beat it through her hard head that he wasn’t going anywhere this time. He’d apologized profusely for hurting her. And, most importantly, he gave her mind shattering orgasms that ruined her for all other men.

  Elena still wasn’t one hundred percent sold on this mate thing, however she was open to dating him again. After they got home from this mission, she was going to sit him down and be honest. He could consider this a relationship, or whatever it was that he wanted, as long as he let her take it slow on her end. If he was being honest about her being his mate, then it shouldn’t matter to him that she wanted to take baby steps towards that conclusion for their relationship. If he was truly her mate, then he would metaphorically be there waiting for her when she was ready to cross that proverbial finish line with him. It all sounded perfectly reasonable to her.

  When the rear door to the truck was pulled up, she set aside her inner musings. Elena was about to be knee deep in supernatural creatures that wouldn’t hesitate to rip her to bloody shreds and feast on her remains. So, if she wanted to stay alive long enough to go home and finally get laid by her boyfriend, she needed to set aside the personal stuff for now.

  Gage grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the back of the truck with one hand while holding the duffle bag with the M2 in the other hand. When their group was all unloaded, they huddled together to listen to Baines’s quiet words.

  “Ten miles to the north is their compound. Gage, you’ll need to carry your mate on your back if we want to get there at our pace and not hers. You’ll also need to do the same when we leave. Davies’s boy here tells me that you all know your positions and jobs. I’m going to stand outside the house to intercept any incoming trouble.”

  Baines slung a black backpack off his shoulder so that he could dangle it in front of them. “I brought some of my personal stash of fun with me when I came here, so if you hear some loud explosions outside, that’s me telling you that there’s too many incoming threats and to get your asses out of there. Understood?”

  Elena gave her affirmation along with everyone else under Baines’s shrewd gaze. “Good. Let’s get this over with then. I’m ready to put some naughty puppies through some training paces.”

  Between one eye blink and the next, their entire group was gone. The reality of how fast everyone had disappeared shocked the shit out of her. She had expected people to disappear in a trick of smoke and mirrors at a Las Vegas magician’s show, not in the clear night air before her very eyes without the aid of illusion. It was a brief and amazing reminder of how very different all of them were compared to her. Elena couldn’t even make her favorite brownie ice cream disappear that fast, nevertheless herself.

  Before she had time to think much more about such a display of unnatural speed, Gage was squatted down in front of her, waiting for her t
o climb on his back. She stepped forward, plastered herself to his back, wrapped her arms around his thick neck, and barely caught her squeal when he stood up. Gage grabbed her feet to wrap around his waist, and when she took the hint and tightened her legs around him, he reached back with his hand to swat her on the ass.

  “Hold on, Amazon. This is going to be the quickest ride you’ve ever been on.”

  Elena snorted in amusement. “Funny, I thought that would be the time you were drunk and horny after watching that X-rated movi—”

  Her words were lost in the wind as Gage charged forward. Elena’s ponytail flew about her head, and it was hard for her to breathe because the tiger was speeding so quickly to their destination. She made the mistake of looking down at the ground, which they seemed to practically fly over with how fast Gage was traveling, and her stomach turned a bit queasy at the sight of the green blur underneath them. Trying to stem her nausea, she buried her face next to Gage’s neck and closed her eyes.

  A sudden, brutal jarring of her body made Elena feel like she should have launched forward right off Gage’s back and over his head—much like a car crash victim went through their front windshield—except Elena didn’t go flying because Gage had a death grip on her legs that was totally going to leave big, ugly bruises on her tomorrow. Her lungs were burning from lack of oxygen, so she tried to take a deep breath in again and found that she could this time, only that breath didn’t help the feeling that her stomach was trying to climb up her esophagus and out of her mouth.

  Elena started to gag and Gage gently dropped her legs to the ground, keeping a hand on her butt to steady her. As she felt another violent dry heave coming, Elena pushed on the annoying tiger’s back until he finally let her go completely so that she could double over with her hands on her knees.

  After managing to not upchuck her entire stomach, Elena gasped, “ASSHOLE.”

  She expected Gage to chuckle at her, but was met with silence. Elena picked her head up to look at him and found him watching her pensively with the flamethrower in his hands.

  Holding the weapon’s tank-pack out to her, he whispered, “We have to get you suited up to go, babe. There’s no time to waste.”

  Understanding his seriousness, she stood up and turned around so that he could help her put on the pack. He slipped the straps up her arms and over her shoulders so that it hung from her back like a heavy backpack. She snapped the waist strap shut and tightened it so that everything was secure and in place. At that moment, Gage walked around to stand in front of her, still holding the weapon’s gun out to her, yet he didn’t let go of it when she grasped it with both hands. Instead, he held on tightly, seemingly reluctant to let go. Elena looked up to question his hesitation when she saw the reason written as plain as day on his face.

  Gage Ivanov was scared shitless.

  It was a look she’d never seen on him before, and she would never forget it. He closed the distance between them so that the only thing that separated their bodies from touching was the formidable weapon in their hands. “I want you to know that I have faith in your abilities, Elena. I know you’re going to go in there kicking ass and taking names, but I still need to ask you to take care of yourself. You’re not just protecting yourself, you’re protecting me, too.”

  She gave him a disbelieving look. “Gage, there’s not a thing on this earth that I can protect you from that you couldn’t protect yourself from.”

  She felt his grip on the gun tighten, and for a second she was worried that his preternatural strength would bend the metal it was made from and permanently damage it. She couldn’t bring herself to ask him to lighten up, though, because the way he was staring at her made her feel as though he was looking right through the fleshy shell of her body, straight into her soul. At the same time, it appeared to her he was opening himself up in a way he’d never done before so that she had the same privilege of seeing through him to his soul. The sensation was nothing like she’d ever experienced before in her life. She couldn’t have looked away from him in that moment even if her life had depended on it.

  Gage’s low, gruff voice whispered back, “Don’t you get it by now? You carry my heart with you wherever you go. Whether you’re right by my side or half a world away from me, you carry everything I am with you. So, I need you to protect that by keeping yourself alive because, if you die, I die with you.”

  Every molecule in her body froze at his obvious sincerity. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. What remained of her emotional barriers to keep him out of her heart? Gone. Said heart was clenched with so much love and emotion that it was painful. Elena knew, like it or not, she most certainly still loved Gage Ivanov, and quite possibly more than she ever had before.

  She opened her mouth to say something, anything really, but a hard bump against her leg caused her to jump in surprise and then look down. Standing silently, watching her with crystal-clear, light-blue eyes, was a large, black wolf. Perhaps she should have been scared about a wolf big enough to rip her to shreds sneaking up on her like that, but she wasn’t for two reasons. One, Gage was still standing calmly in front of her, and the man would most assuredly rip anything to shreds that could possibly endanger her. And two, those eyes looked exactly like Jenna’s eyes. Elena was ninety-nine percent certain that the wolf was, in fact, Jenna O’Conner. The remaining one percent of her hoped she didn’t crap her pants if she was wrong and the wolf suddenly took a bite out of her leg.

  Keeping her gaze glued to the wolf’s, she asked out loud, “Is that…?”

  “Jenna? Yeah. Now pay attention to me, Amazon. Pretend the nosey wolf isn’t there.”

  Elena returned her focus to Gage. He grabbed her chin with his fingers, holding her in place for his dominating stare. “Answer me. You’ll be safe?”

  She softened towards him. “Yes, Gage. I promise, if I need help, I’ll let you know. The same goes for you, though, cat. If you need help, you let me know, too. Sparky and I will come running to save the day.”

  One side of his lips tipped up and he finally let go of the flamethrower’s gun. “Sparky?”

  Elena petted the gun’s nozzle. “You can’t have something this beautiful and not name it. It was either Sparky or Krakatoa.” She shrugged. “Sparky seems spunkier.”

  He shook his head in amusement. “All right, Sparky, you ready to do this? The others are waiting for us.”

  Elena looked over to where the rest of their group was indeed waiting for them. Jenna, Adam and Logan in their wolf forms; Alec in his white tiger form; and the rest of them in their human forms except for the vampire who was, well, just a vampire.

  Looking back to Gage, she nodded again. “Affirmative. Let’s do this.”

  Gage leaned back into her space and reached an arm around to the back of her pack. Elena knew that he was turning the pressure regulator valve for her tanks on, but she became distracted because he lightly touched his lips to her own.

  Pulling back from the sweet, chaste kiss he whispered again, “I’m going to pick you up in my arms this time and run you to the front door so that you can keep up with us. Hold your breath and hide your face into my chest so you don’t get sick this time. When they have the Alpha and it’s time to go, I’ll grab you and run straight to the truck. Be ready, and don’t forget to cover that basement door because we’re depending on you to keep the enforcers that are down there off of us. Ready?”

  Elena nodded one last time and then, in the blink of an eye, they were moving at what felt like the speed of light. Her stomach dropped away again, but it immediately jumped up into her throat because, that fast, they were stopped in front of the house. Gage placed her on her feet, and though a little woozy, Elena turned to watch Tyson quickly picking the lock on the front door.

  Gage gently pulled her behind his body because Elena wasn’t meant to be in the first wave through the door. She and Gage would be stepping through last and taking their places to hold the first floor while the Pack Master, Minna, Alec, Jenna and Adam ma
de their way up to the second floor where the hostage Alpha was supposedly being held. Gage’s unit, Logan and the vampire would be spread out around the house to combat any wolves who might be protecting the perimeter of the compound.

  The door popped open, Tyson stepped back, and the Pack Master quickly but quietly pushed through the front entrance of the Corvus homestead. After that, things moved pretty quickly. Those who were meant to go inside the house did. Those who were supposed to spread around outside the house were already gone. And, just as planned, Gage and Elena were the last ones through the door. By the time she made it into the house, the others were already halfway up the grand staircase and moving fast.

  Her combat boots thudded against the tile floor as she made her way to the area where Gage was pointing at for her to stand. This place was massive. Minna had informed them that it was ten thousand square feet between the first and second floors, not including the basement. That was a lot of area to cover. Good thing their tactic was standing their ground and securing the front door.

  She had her gun up and ready to shoot at a moment’s notice while she swiveled her head around to take in the interior. It was too quiet and she didn’t like it. Where were these wolves? Sure it was about three o’clock in the morning here, but Elena had thought that at least one person would be up and about.

  Looking for any threats and making sure none of the Corvus wolves snuck up on her, she continued in her attempt to take in the details of the space. Low lighting throughout the first floor caused her eyes to strain, but she guessed it was on that low because shifter eyes wouldn’t need a lot of light to see at night. Everywhere she looked, Elena saw old world charm, rich fabrics and opulent paintings. Knowing that shifters were immortal and sometimes lived thousands of years before they went crazy and had to be put down or were killed off by a rival, she wondered how old some of this shit was. If she had to light up Sparky, she really hated the idea that she might roast some five-hundred-year-old painting or some antique piece of furniture that could be worth a fortune.