by Jules Tyler
“Ha yeah. We weren’t supposed to. But when your animal scents its intended, there’s really no stopping yourselves. Even with it being against the rules. That’s why I don’t have a claiming mark already. This is the first time neither of us has been on the task force since we got together. ”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Adrian and I tried and failed miserably to fight it. You could say I have trust issues.”
Alicia giggled, “It’s understandable though. I mean, look at what happened to your family. Then all of this? I’m surprised you aren’t hiding in a hole underground like a bunny.”
“The thought had crossed my mind at one point, actually.”
“Shut up. No, it didn’t.”
“Sure did. For like two seconds. Then my dragon talked some sense into me. I wouldn’t do well if I couldn’t see the sky.
“Smart dragon.”
“So I take it you guys had to do some sneaking around then?” McKinzy probed.
“Just a lot. We would go off into one of the empty barracks and fool around before sneaking back to our assigned beds and drifting off to sleep. Things were better afterwards because we updated our paperwork to show we were mated. Then they wouldn’t separate us.”
“Smart move. Adrian and I tried to sneak around the first few days. It didn’t take long for our secret to get out though, considering Adrian was muttering about his ex in his sleep.”
“Wait, are you serious right now? He hooked up with you, but was still dreaming about her? What a nimrod,” Alicia shook her head in disbelief.
“It wasn’t exactly a wet dream. Something happened to Abby. I haven’t said anything to Adrian, but I feel like someone has been watching him a lot longer than they’ve been watching me. The police report and Adrian both say she lost control of the vehicle and crashed. But something that driver said who dropped off Cole just doesn’t sit right with me,” McKinzy skipped a rock down the road as she furrowed her brow in thought.
“What did he say?”
“He asked something along the lines of if Adrian needed reminded what could happen if you messed with the wrong people. Adrian doesn’t know I heard the guy, but something still sets a red flag off in my head. At first, I thought maybe Adrian’s old pride had come to collect on his pairing with Abby, and since there wasn’t a young to collect, they got rid of her. But that didn’t make sense either. I just don’t know. Does this seem like something that the Firebirds would do?” They both came to a stop as McKinzy opened the door to Cole’s cabin and they slipped inside.
“I honestly don’t know. You’ve intrigued me, though. I’d really like to take a peek at that file sometime.”
“Oh, I don’t have the file. It’s up in Grangeville, but I bet I could make a couple of phone calls and get it if you think it will help.”
“It never hurts to have more. Better to have too much than too little, my Nana always said,” Alicia shrugged as she leaned down on her hands and knees and started feeling around on the floors.
“Uhhhh, what are you doing?” McKinzy leaned against the counter and stared at Alicia like she had a piece of lettuce in her teeth.
“Feeling for loose floor boards. Why don’t you go flip the mattresses in the bedrooms for now? You’d be surprised what people can hide in there.”
“I know. I’m a warden remember?” McKinzy giggled.
“Good. Tear this place apart like you’re looking for contraband then,” Alicia smiled as she went about searching the floors. She needed answers fast. The longer she was up here, the more questions she developed without a way to answer them.
Chapter Ten
Duke leaned against the doorframe of his room and stared at his empty bed with a smile. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed Alicia until he had picked her up at the airport the other day. Just the sight of her had eased the ache in his chest that he had grown accustomed to. Having her here was even better, though; it was like the strongest dose of morphine. He felt light and almost floaty. In fact, if his animal didn’t have claws and fur, he’d forget he wasn’t a flight shifter because of how high his emotions were soaring.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Adrian mused from behind Duke.
“Damn it, Adrian! What has McKinzy told you about the knocking? You’re too tender footed for your own damned good.”
“I did knock, but you were so lost in Alicialand you didn’t hear me. So, I just let myself in instead.”
“Whatever, dude. What do you want, anyways?” Duke gave Adrian a playful shove before boxing the air in front of him.
“Just wanted to talk. You never really explained the other night why you let Elijah convince us that you were a gorilla shifter instead of a tiger. We all have spent the last four years wondering why you don’t shift around us and all this time we thought it was something with PTSD from the military or those scars on your back,” he huffed a laugh as he plopped down on the couch.
“Oh, ha. Yeah…” Duke rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “I don’t know Adrian. I mean at first I just wanted you guys to think I was a gorilla because that would make more sense about why I’m built the way I am. Plus, being under cover, people thought I was a gorilla too, so I didn’t think twice about it when I introduced myself up here. Then it was just fun to keep it to myself that I’m a tiger. Hell, I probably would’ve taken that secret to the grave if it weren’t for Alicia outing me in front of everyone the other night.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow, “You have got to be the weirdest shifter I’ve ever met, brother.”
“Not the worst insult I’ve ever heard, to be honest,” Duke shrugged as he picked up his guitar and started strumming a few chords.
“So, what’s the story with Alicia, anyways? I get the feeling you guys aren’t just hook up buddies from back in the fox hole. Pun intended,” Adrian prodded.
“What is it with you and the heavy shit today, huh?” Duke sat the guitar back on its stand and crossed to the fridge and grabbed out a couple of bottles of Little Wolf beer from Barbarian Brewing. Popping the top, he handed one off to Adrian.
“Hell, I don’t know, Duke. I’m just seeing things a lot clearer now. You’re my right-hand man. You know everything about me, but I feel like I don’t know as much about you as I thought I did. I feel like I’ve been stumbling around drunk and I’m finally sober enough to think for myself again,” Adrian said as he took a long pull off of the bottle.
“The right kind of mating will do that to you,” Duke nodded before taking a swig himself.
“Yeah…” Adrian trailed off before bringing his eyes back to Duke, “So tell me about this girl. What is she to you?”
“To me? She’s water.”
“Water?” Adrian looked at Duke with a confused expression.
“Yeah, water. Like, you can live without water because you can have juice or milk or beer instead. You’ll still get nutrition from it. But water makes you feel better after the worst hangovers; it washes away the filth. It just...water makes life easier. You don’t ever feel quite fulfilled after a nice long workout like you do once you’ve downed a glass of cold water and taken a nice hot shower,” Duke got a mushy look on his face.
“Dude. That’s deep,” Desmond said from the doorway, Jasper and Elijah behind him.
“What the fuck is it with people not knocking today?” Duke shook his head at the group, not sure whether to be upset with them or to laugh at them for eavesdropping.
Desmond shrugged before the guys filed in behind him and sat down at the table. He never had been a man of many words.
“So is that why Alicia smells like you?” Elijah edged forward on his seat.
“Is that really any of your god damned business?” Duke laughed.
“Uh, yeah?”
“Fine. Yes, Alicia has been my mate for a long time. If you count the years we spent apart, we’ve been mates for about six years now,” Duke surrendered the information.
“Damn, dude. That means you’ve spent the last four years away f
rom each other. Why didn’t you mention her sooner?” Jasper piped up from the corner.
“I didn’t exactly leave things on good terms with her when I came out here,” Duke murmured.
“Why not? What happened? As far as I can tell from the way it smells in here, you picked right back up where you left off,” Elijah pinched his nose as he feigned disgust.
“Oh, whatever, you big baby. Long story short, the people that Alicia and I think are behind the attack on McKinzy and Adrian are the same people we were undercover trying to get close to four years ago. I left because I thought Alicia would be safer if I did. That instinct to keep her safe was stronger than the instinct to stay close to her was,” Duke tossed back the rest of his beer and set the bottle back on the table.
The guys all stayed quiet before footsteps running down the road towards the cabin broke the silence.
“Duke! Adrian! Guys! I think we found something!” Alicia shouted.
The girls came to a stop on the porch with wild grins on their faces.
“Well, get on with it then. What did you find that Ol’ Sniffer here didn’t?” Jasper nudged Elijah, who was looking a tad embarrassed that the girls had found something that he hadn’t.
McKinzy held up a leather-bound notebook with sticky notes poking out all over the sides, “We think we found Cole’s journal. Rather, we think it’s his or someone who was in charge of sending him up here.”
“What makes you think it’s his and not one of the other inmates’ that are up here?” Elijah’s frown deepened.
“Because Cole’s name is in here. Right next to the pin code that I can put into that damn laptop and finally get into it,” Alicia said, taking the notebook from McKinzy and striding to the table.
“Doesn’t this seem too easy?” Adrian hesitated.
“Considering that we found it lodged behind a loose board in the wall that the toilet is on in the bathroom? No. I don’t think we were meant to find this at all,” Alicia beamed.
“Alright, well, give it a try then,” Duke gestured towards the laptop as he sauntered over behind her.
“One-Nine-Seven-Two-Four-Zero….and I’m in!” Alicia squealed in delight.
“Damn, baby! Good job. Now let’s get to work,” Duke high fived her before kneeling down next to her and watching the windows loading on the computer screen. It was about time they got some answers. Lord knows he had many of his own.
Chapter Eleven
“What do you think we’re gonna find?” Duke stepped up next to Alicia as she started typing away furiously on the keyboard.
Alicia smiled, “It’s more of a question of what we aren’t going to find on this thing, to be honest.”
“What does that mean?” Everyone asked at once.
“Look what I’ve found already,” Alicia moved the laptop across the table so everyone could gather around the screen, “There’s surveillance pictures of every single one of you over the last few years in here. See all of these folders along the side here? They’re all labeled with your last names and animals. I’m willing to bet there’s files with personal shit on each of you in them too. I won’t know until I start to look through them, though.”
“Look, Michaelson’s name is on there too,” Desmond pointed a finger at the top of the list.
“I think I should start there since McKinzy isn’t sure if he hadn’t set her up. It’s too coincidental that his name is on this list of files and he just gave McKinzy his position,” Alicia tapped her chin in thought.
“How about we take a break for some dinner then? That way you can dive in with a full stomach and focus,” Duke massaged her shoulders.
“Sounds good to me. What’s for dinner?” Alicia smirked. She didn’t cook. Hell, she was lucky if she managed to get by without burning water.
“Des and I have some steaks in our cabin. Does someone wanna make some extra sides and we’ll get to grilling?” Jasper suggested, shaking his hands out like he was hoping he could shake the nerves off that were rolling off of him.
The whole room was tense with Alicia’s discovery hanging in the air. How long had they been watching each of them? What was in the files? There were too many unknowns right now and it was making everyone nervous.
“I mean, I’m pretty skilled with a knife. Why don’t I slice up some peppers and mushrooms and onions, and we can roast those on kabobs with the steaks?” Alicia said to break the silence. Silence had always bothered her; it didn’t sit well with her. Being loud and inappropriate was her specialty, and she wasn’t about to change that now.
“Sounds good,” McKinzy grinned. “Adrian and I will go figure out some baked potatoes for everyone.”
Alicia watched as everyone headed off towards their cabins to prepare the evening meal. While she had been here she noticed, that the men that were up here as inmates had been in charge of their own meals. It was definitely odd, but it made sense. Duke had explained that most of these men were cast offs and rogues that the government didn’t want to deal with because they could cause trouble. That was the unfortunate part of this country; everyone was decided on by who had the most legal power. These men up here, they just knew they were safest here. Sure some of them had gotten sent up here for actual crimes, but they were petty things like shoplifting and speeding.
“Duke?” Alicia said, leaning her head back against the chair as he massaged her shoulders.
“Hmm?” He practically purred. Touch was important to shifters, but more so to big cats. They needed to know their mates were okay and touch was the best way for them.
“Should I be afraid to open these files? I mean, we’ve seen some pretty fucked up shit. But these files are almost guaranteed to have intimate details about your friends. Once I open these up, there’s no going back. Should I be letting McKinzy read these instead?”
Duke paused for a minute to ponder before continuing, “I think you’re the best person for this job, beautiful. You’ve seen things, but you’re also honest. Those two things right there make you the most qualified. You aren’t going to judge our friends for the decisions they’ve made; you’ll simply get the information and move forward. I trust these people with my life, but I think if anyone else were to go through these there could be something overlooked.”
She relaxed and sighed in relief, “If you say so.”
Leaning forward, Duke closed the laptop before kissing Alicia on the cheek, “Let’s get dinner started, shall we? I’m starving.”
“I highly doubt you’re starving, Big Kitty. Maybe I should start calling you Drama Kitty instead,” Alicia teased as she got up and crossed to the refrigerator to get the vegetables out for dinner.
It was funny how easily they had settled back into their routine. Duke couldn’t fathom how he had gone four years without being close to his mate. He felt like he had missed so much. Alicia had started her own business and had put herself at the top of her field, and here he had sat. He was ashamed that he hadn’t come and taken her away with him. He knew he should’ve. He had left her alone and vulnerable. Sure, she could manage on her own and she had. What kind of mate was he if he was willing to just leave her without a moment’s notice or giving a reason?
Alicia stopped slicing and looked at Duke, “You’re awfully quiet.”
“Just thinking about those files. Wondering what we will find in mine.”
“Are you sure that’s all you’re thinking about? I can feel the anger and sadness rolling off of you in waves.”
Duke huffed a small laugh before looking at her, “You were always pretty good with emotions.”
“It’s a gift.”
“I’ve just been thinking about how much I’ve missed these last few years. I mean look at you. You did everything you said you would. You got settled into a place, you started your company, you’re at the top of the security field with the tech you developed. I missed it. I missed all of it when I should’ve been right there alongside of you with all of it.”
Alicia set her knife down and tu
rned to face him, “You did what you thought was best. I can’t fault you for that.”
“I should’ve taken you with me, though. I should’ve come home, packed our stuff, and tossed you in the truck with me. I don’t know what I was thinking, leaving you there alone. How do we know they haven’t been watching you all of this time? Just watching and waiting for me to reach out to you. Forcing my hand. I should’ve kept you safe. We’re safest when we’re together.”
“Oh, you silly cat, you can’t change your past. We can only focus on the future. Sure, you could’ve done things differently. I could’ve, too. I could’ve followed you. I could’ve kept tabs on your movements. But neither one of us was thinking things through. You were trying to protect me and I was hurting because I thought I had messed up somehow. But we’re together again. That’s all that matters,” Alicia smiled a sad smile as she wrapped her arms around him.
“Do you think they were watching you?” Duke whispered into her hair.
“I would be surprised if they weren’t, honestly. Whoever is behind this has been watching all of you for a long time. It’s like a complicated game of chess. It’s all about moves and countermoves. We just have to start strategizing better.”
Giving Alicia a final squeeze, Duke started pushing the vegetables onto skewers, “You’re right.”
“I usually am. Glad you’re finally catching on,” she winked before they settled into a comfortable silence and finished the task at hand.
Chapter Twelve
Alicia leaned back in her chair and patted her full stomach, “I gotta hand it to you, Desmond, you sure do know how to cook a good steak.”
Desmond smiled and nodded his thanks.
“Did you ever think about opening up a restaurant?” Alicia was determined to get the blonde giant to talk to her.
“I was going to, until this dipshit spent my life savings on poker debt,” Desmond’s lips curved up in a smile.
“McKinzy was telling me that story earlier. I actually know of Gregori and his crew. They bought a bunch of security tech from me a year ago. I take it that Jasper never paid you back?”
