by Golden Angel
She was feeling too good to be mad about waking up in his bed, but she was also curious. Apparently, she'd fallen asleep on the ride home and-
"Where's Bailey?" She tried to sit up, but Mr. Huge-and-Heavy-and-Still-Inside-Me didn't budge.
"Bailey's downstairs in my guest bedroom, and she knows where to find us," he said. "She's fine. And I didn't want to enter your house uninvited, so I brought you both back here after you fell asleep in my car." The pleased way he said that had Bethany narrowing her eyes at him. Sneaky man. Yeah, she didn't buy that excuse for one second; he'd just manipulated the situation into the outcome he wanted.
On the other hand, she really couldn't object... she'd slept so well. Better than she had in years. The wake-up call had been pretty great too, so she couldn't really complain about that.
Dropping another kiss on her lips, Mr. Smug-and-Sexy smiled down at her. "Take your time getting up, and I'll make us breakfast."
Yawning, Bethany reflected that she might as well let him do that. She turned onto her side, pressing her legs together as she sleepily watched him go into the bathroom, hearing the water in the sink turn on a moment later. The warm fuzz in her brain dragged her back into sleep, feeling absolutely wonderful.
She woke up half an hour later, much more alert and horrified to realize several things:
1. Mr. Unhygenic had put her sister in the bed that Bethany and Steele had had sex in last night!
2. The stickiness between her legs meant that Mr. Sex-in-the-Morning was totally irresponsible and hadn't used a condom - and she had let him!
3. She was way too comfortable and happy to be waking up in his bed!
Dammit!!!
******
Shoving the chocolate chip waffles that he'd made in the oven (having so many sisters had finally been useful to him - he'd known exactly what to make his mate and her sister this morning. He'd never known chocolate chip waffles to not help with getting on a woman's good side.), Steele scowled at Eli. The wonder of smartphones, allowing him to talk face to face with his boss without having to leave his house.
"I wish this was some kind of elaborate joke you were playing on me."
"Unfortunately not," Eli said, looking grim. "I just wish I could tell you more. If they weren't hiring mercenaries, we wouldn't have even known they were coming."
Yeah, that was a lucky break. One of Eli's contacts, a former soldier turned mercenary, had been one of those hired. Raoul Sanchez was 100% human, which was probably why he'd been approached, but he was also Eli's cousin by marriage. They didn't have a whole lot of contact - Steele had met Raoul and calling the guy taciturn was an understatement - but they occasionally shared information back and forth.
Raoul was convinced that the people who had hired him (they called themselves 'The Company' - what kind of crap name was that?) had no idea he had any ties to Steele or Eli, even remotely. He wasn't entirely sure they even realized Steele worked for Eli. The job he and his men had been hired for was to distract the guards while another team entered the town and extracted two targets. From the description, it was obvious to Eli and Steele that The Company wanted the Bunson sisters and somehow they knew that the brothers were no longer at the compound.
That had Steele on edge. How the hell had this mysterious Company found the females? Would the brothers be secondary targets? Or did they want Bethany and Bailey more than the brothers for some unknown reason?
The threat to his mate had Steele's wolf pacing and growling inside of his head, making his skin itch as he longed to shift and defend her. That was pure animal instinct; the man inside of him knew that he needed to remain in control to protect her and her sister.
Unfortunately, Raoul's band of men was only five strong; his company was always hired to do very specialized jobs that only required one or two men. If he'd been the main outfit hired to come in and take Bailey and Bethany, that would have been more convenient for everyone - well, everyone except The Company. Raoul didn't even know who had been hired, but he'd been told to watch for ten SUVs that would be surrounding the pack lands tonight. It was Raoul's job to keep an eye out for possible escapees from the town, or possible assistance if someone in the town called for help.
Of course, that wasn't going to be what Raoul was doing at all, but he was pretending to go along with The Company's agenda for now, since that was the biggest way he could help. Sadly, he wasn't able to get a whole lot more intel, as The Company didn't feel that he needed to know any specifics. The only reason he knew the targets - and just hearing his mate called that had Steele's hackles rising - was so he knew who to look out for. They'd even helpfully provided him with pictures.
"You're going to have to go about your day as normally as possible," Eli said, almost apologetically. "We don't know if they have anyone watching the town, but they must or they wouldn't know that just Bethany and Bailey are there, so you can't be do anything out of the norm."
"Who knows that we're here?"
His mate's voice was wary, suspicious, and startled Steele badly enough that he actually jumped. He'd been so focused on Eli and on the threat to his mate that he hadn't even noticed her sneaking up behind him. Standing in the doorway, wearing one of his shirts - which hung down almost to her knees because she was so petite - with her hands on her hips and her sister behind her, his mate looked pissed.
"The people who took you," Eli said calmly. "At least we're assuming it's the same people; they call themselves The Company."
Bailey gasped, but Bethany just rolled her eyes. "Totally impersonal and somehow dramatic. Sounds like them."
She didn't seem the least bit upset, which both soothed and aggravated Steele. Of course he didn't want his mate upset, but... shouldn't she be? Instead, she looked more interested in the waffles he'd made. Which wasn't a bad thing, but... he just didn't understand her. The he realized that the seething mass of anger inside of him seemed to have gotten even bigger, even darker and tinged with fear - which he hadn't felt before - and he knew that it was her emotions he was sensing. She was hiding them for some reason - and as she handed some waffles to Bailey, he finally realized why.
Bailey had looked scared, right up until Bethany had acted like it wasn't a big deal. Now Bailey was sitting, calm and composed, pouring syrup over her waffles while Eli updated them on the situation. He could feel Bethany's anxiety growing as Eli talked, but not a bit of it showed on her face.
He thanked every deity he could think of for the bond; his mate had such a stoic poker face, he needed it to get any kind of tap on her emotions. She'd probably had a lot of practice hiding what she was feeling - and that thought just pissed him off all over again. Standing off to the side, Steele had his arms crossed over his chest while he watched his mate and her sister, keeping his face as blank as Bethany's. Every so often, as Eli talked, Bailey would glance at him and he would give her a little, reassuring smile. She seemed to trust him. He wished his mate would look to him as well, but she was totally focused on Eli. It's not that he was jealous that she was paying so much attention to another man, while not even glancing at him. It would just be nice, was all.
"Okay," Bethany said, her voice steady, once Eli had wrapped up his explanation. "So what's the plan?"
The way she said it made Steele think that she intended to be involved in whatever plan was happening.
Hell to the fucking no.
He straightened up, keeping his arms crossed over his chest, using his command tone. The one he used when he needed to restore order or exert his dominance as alpha and leader of his pack. The one that halted everyone in their tracks and had them jumping to do his bidding.
"My crew and I will keep the town safe while you and the other civilians barricade yourselves in the bunker underneath the movie theater. Eli will send men for back-up, but hopefully they won't be needed."
His mate snorted. Snorted! She was finally looking at him, but not the way he wanted her to. "Yeah, I don't think so. There's no way I'm staying trapped inside a b
uilding waiting for the bad guys to come get me. Besides, I'm not missing out on a chance to take out Dr. Montgomery."
"What makes you think he'll be here?" asked Eli, before Steele could respond. He stomped on the urge to end the phone call, relieving his frustration with a sharp growl that had Bailey eyeing him warily before he subsided. His mate ignored him. Fucking typical.
"He's obsessed with us," Bethany said, pushing a strand of blonde hair out of her face. Her waffles only half eaten, she pushed them away from her, as if she couldn't even think about eating more while she talked about the doctor. "And he doesn't know what's happened with Bailey. He's going to want to know how his latest... experiment turned out. If he's not with them, I'll..." She glanced down at the shirt she was wearing - his shirt - and smiled with false sweetness. "I'll eat Steele's shirt."
He had other things of his that he'd rather she eat... wait, dammit, he was getting distracted. Protect first, then fuck.
"If he's obsessed with you then you're definitely not going to be out in the open where he can get at you," Steele said, aware of the deep growl in his voice that meant his wolf was coming close to the surface. The animal was agitated, just as frustrated as he was, and getting harder to control.
"News flash, Mr. Bossypants," Bethany snapped back at him, "you don't get to tell me what to do."
He stalked forward as she stood up, as if her short stature was somehow more intimidating standing than sitting, until he could lean down with his face mere inches from hers. "You will sit in that bunker and you will be happy about it."
"Uh, Steele?" He ignored Eli.
"No. I will not." Bethany glared back at him, her blue eyes growing darker - not from anger, he realized, but because her own animal was surfacing. Whatever. He was not going to back down from his tiny mate who was way too fucking eager to throw herself into the danger zone.
"I'm not letting my mate run around-"
"Then it's a good thing I'm not your mate!" she yelled back at him, cutting him off. He snarled at her.
"Uh, Bethany? Steele?"
"What?" They both spat the word out at the same time, turning to glare at the phone where Eli's tiny face was looking back at them. He coughed, smoothing his hand over his mouth and obviously hiding a grin. Steele scowled at him.
"Steele... ah," Eli's eyes flicked to Bethany's throat. "Is that what I think it is on her neck? And on yours?"
Smugness swept through him. He'd let Eli tell her. She might not believe him, even if he told her about the bites, but she'd have to believe a third party. Ha. Then, once she'd accepted that she was his mate, maybe she'd shut up and let him do his job of protecting her sassy ass.
"Yes." He said as Bethany's eyes widened and she brought both hands up to her throat, feeling it.
"What is it?" she asked, almost panicked as she turned towards him. Immediately he reached out to tug her against him, holding her reassuringly, as she looked at his throat. "What's on my neck?"
"A mating mark," Eli said, coughing a little. Hiding laughter. This time Steele found that he didn't mind. "You and Steele are already mated."
"WHAT?!" The shriek his mate let out shredded his ears, making him wince. Who knew a person's voice could actually hit that decibel? But like the manly male he was, he didn't relinquish his hold on her, despite the urge to cover his poor ears. "What mating mark? When did it happen?! You're joking right?"
"Nope," Steel replied this time. She looked up at him with wide, panicked blue eyes, and he tilted his head so that she could see the bite mark on his neck that was still there. That would always be there. He grinned at her as her eyes somehow managed to get even bigger. "You bit me first, Princess, just remember that."
******
Bethany's knees collapsed and she sat down heavily in her chair, which didn't help make Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Looming any less intimidating.
Okay, she remembered biting him. She'd never pictured herself as a biter, but it had felt right in the moment. But had it felt right because of human her or because of the thing inside her?
"Congratulations!" Bailey sang out, utterly oblivious to the devastation that had just been wreaked on Bethany's world. She actually sounded happy.
"Thank you," Mr. Way-Too-Happy-About-This replied, grinning at Bailey. "And don't worry, I'll take good care of both you and your sister."
Bailey snorted. "I hope you don't think this means I agree with you about us staying inside."
Steele scowled and Bethany swiveled to face her sister, happy for the distraction from this whole mating thing. She believed Eli when he said that she and Steele both wore a mating mark, but... well, she just didn't have enough information right now. Was it permanent? He wasn't going to be able to make her do anything using the mark, was he? It was too much for her to think about right now, on top of everything else, so she focused on the one thing she could handle - keeping her little sister safe.
Smiling back at them were guileless, blue eyes, the same sweetly, innocent blue that Bethany saw in the mirror every day... but purer, without the cynicism and violence that Bethany's held. That her brothers' held. Bailey was the only member of their family to remain unsullied by their time in the lab, and Bethany didn't want her to lose that.
Plus, she'd been protecting Bailey for so long, she didn't know how to do anything else.
"You are going to the bunker," Bethany said, in very much the same tone Steele had tried to use on her.
That sweetly innocent aura around Bailey didn't falter for a second.
"Nope."
Chapter 6
"Steele? Are you sure you're okay?" Kasim whispered, looking worried. As he had every right to.
Because it was fucking crystal clear that no, no Steele was not fucking okay. He was ready to explode into a giant rageball of... well, rage.
He still didn't understand how he'd lost the argument to Bethany. Or, even more astounding, how they'd both lost the argument with Bailey.
Glancing over at the sisters, he felt his backbone soften. Just one iota. There was something really sexy about seeing his mate decked out in combat gear - well, shifter combat gear. That was, gear that was easy to lose if they needed to shift into their animal, but that would protect them in the meantime. Bailey was just as covered up. They were sitting in the center of Steele's command center in the movie theater lobby, with a small group of his men. The last line of defense. He had three snipers up on various roofs nearby and the rest of his soldiers - three squads led by Jordan, Jacqueline, and a bear shifter named Robert - were spread throughout the town, ready for action.
Steele should have been leading the third squad. Not that Robert was a bad soldier or even a bad leader... but that was Steele's spot. Normally he had Kasim, who has an amazing tactician, running the main show. Instead, Steele and Kasim were both stuck back here babysitting Bethany and her sister, because they wouldn't go down to the fucking bunker and both Doc and Dr. Phil refused to sedate them so that Steele could force the issue. Fucking traitors. Doc said she was doing him a favor, since Bethany would never forgive him for taking her choices away like that, but at least she'd be fucking safe. And he'd be leading his squad, the way he was supposed to.
Hunting. Finding the enemy. Engaging.
Not sitting here waiting. Distracted by the sweet scent of his mate and his wolf's frantic need to do something proactive. Like taking her into one of the movie theaters and solidifying their bond a little more with some -
"Steele?" Kasim whispered again, nudging him.
"I'm fine," he growled, focusing on the maps in front of him again. He was waiting on the call from Raoul, who was going to let him know where The Company's mercs were coming in from. So that he could deploy his squads. While he sat here, unable to leave the command center. Which was where Jordan would normally be, because Jordan had the patience for waiting and keeping track of communications between the squads.
The movie posters on the wall were mocking him, both the romance and the action ones. He wanted both and wasn't
getting either right now. Instead he was stuck behind thick steel walls, reinforced doors, and bulletproof glass. Not a natural state for him. He'd never expected to actually have to use the theater for this when they'd had it built as a last stand location - and he sure as hell hadn't pictured himself in it. Even now he was sure that his squads would keep any of The Company's assholes from penetrating this deep into the town, which meant that it was unlikely he'd see any action at all.
Dammit.
His wolf growled at him, not understanding his impatience or his desire to leave their mate. Not that he wanted to leave Bethany.
Glancing over his shoulder at her again, he couldn't help but think that her expression was remarkably similar to his, as she looked at her recalcitrant younger sister. Bailey had been just as stubborn as Bethany. More. She'd been the one to look at him tearfully, begging him not to let her sister shut her up in a closed-in space with no windows so soon after their escape from the lab. So now they were both sitting in his command center, Bailey looking entirely too pleased with herself and Bethany looking nearly as pissed off and protective as he felt.
"Try to focus, Steele," Kasim whispered loudly, obviously not caring that everyone in the room would be able to hear him. "You gotta keep your head in the game - and I don't mean your little one."
Steele snarled at him, but the big dumbass just grinned beatifically, a flash of white teeth in his dark face. He was way too amused by all of this, especially Bethany and Bailey's presence.
Luckily for Kasim, before Steele could tear him a new one, his phone rang. Finally! Action!
"They're coming?" he asked as soon as he answered, not bothering with a greeting. It didn't seem to bother Raoul.
"Four squads of six men each," Raoul replied, his voice hard. "They're coming in on Water Street, Centerway, Briardale, and Main. Heavily armed."
