ChangeofHeart

by JANA

  “Trust me?” He whispered in her ear.

  “With my life.” She said back looking into his eyes and willing him to believe what she was saying.

  Reggie nodded and stood up. “Touch her again, and Master or no, I will make sure you never see the light of day.”

  The large men in the room laughed and hit each other on the shoulder like they were sharing a joke. Reggie had the beginnings of a plan. He hoped that he would be able to finish what he thought he was going to start.

  Chapter 6

  Blaine sat in the corner with his head leaned back, and eyes closed as if he was sleeping.

  Cloe knew that he was having one of his walking dream visions and was waiting for him to come out of it and tell them all what they were up against.

  She had been with him for a long time, but never had she actually thought about where he got his powers. Before leaving the compound in Milliken, the Alpha Jaden pulled her aside and asked her about Blaine. She told him as much as she knew, as much as anyone knew.

  A den of Bears raised Blaine. They found him when he was small, alone and beaten in the woods around the Pack territory. His mom never questioned taking the small wolf in. Her father looked for many years for the people that were responsible for hurting the wolf but had never found any information.

  When he was only ten, he began to show signs of changing into a wolf. His mother explained to him what was happening, though she was a Bear. Her cubs went through the change at a different time; she made sure she knew what was going on with her adopted child. She never treated him any different from any of his brothers or sisters.

  His first change had not been normal at all, yes, he changed into a wolf, but then he had begun to have a vision. It scared his mother to death when her child had fallen to the floor mid-shift and began to convulse and talk about a neighbor who was going to be killed by a Rogue Cougar. She never doubted what he was saying and rushed to the Alpha to tell him what was going to happen.

  Cloe's father had been skeptical of course, but figuring he had nothing to lose but the time it would take him to run to the man in questions house to warn him. He took off; later Cloe heard her father and mother talking about the young wolf who foretold the future better than the Seer they knew from before.

  Blaine continued to grow and have the visions; soon, no one in the community questioned when he had one of his dreams. Cloe"s father thought with his dark skin that Blaine had been part Indian. He looked for many years for his father and mother but never found anything. They assumed that they were killed along with many of the wolves who did not have a Pack. Finally, Blaine showed signs that he was coming out of his dream, and she leaned forward and took his hand to encourage him. Sometimes Blaine would have a violent reaction to a dream, and his body would go through terrible spasms.

  Jo, the White Wolf had been interested in the visions that Blaine had, but they had not had the opportunity to actually get together and talk. She could feel the emotions of the Pack, but when they officially joined Packs a few days ago, she said that she could not feel Blaine. It was strange, since he had pledged his loyalty to the New Council, but they had not had time to explore what was going on. Jo was like a dog with a bone, Cloe thought. Her mate Tey practically had to wrestle her to the ground to stop her from coming with so she could watch over Blaine.

  Had she not been pregnant, she was sure she would have won that battle. Cloe was very surprised that she liked all the females on the New Council Pack; they had welcomed her and her mates with open arms. She had never been one to have girlfriends per se, but she could see herself becoming close with them.

  It was the newest member of the Council she was worried about, Casey had briefly explained to her about Reggie and her upbringing, and all that had happened since they came to Denver. It was a cluster fuck to say the least. She only hoped that they could get the two out of the Rogues" hands before too much damage is done. She hated to think about what those slimy fuckers were doing to them.

  Cami, the Pack Alpha mate, said that Ruby had been attacked in the last year and was very timid. She had withdrawn into herself. She remained in her apartment alone for months. Cami said she had to go and see her often to draw her out, and then she would cling to her side.

  Cloe looked around the room and wanted to growl at the man who was standing off to the side with his arms crossed and obviously impatient. He was the mate of Ruby and Reggie. According to Casey, Levi had not claimed Ruby saying she was too young, and he had not met Reggie yet. He had been out defending the Pack against the Rogue attacks. It still did not lessen her anger at him anymore. He could have claimed Ruby and helped her overcome her attack. Instead, he let her draw a shield around her.

  She grinned to herself, as she thought about the rage that had to be building behind the little girl's shield. She would hate to be Levi when that all comes out. That boy won"t know what hit him.

  Blaine shot up in the chair and gasped loudly. The large man began to shake, and Cloe stood and nodded for her other mate Teagan to help her. They had been through this many times and knew how to handle the man should he become uncontrollable.

  “They beat her. To make him do what they want him to do, they beat her.” He groaned and snarled. “She is so small, the anger.” He groaned and slipped back into his chair.

  Levi had come to stand in front of Blaine and was clenching his fists and growling at the words that Blaine was saying.

  “They want something. Reggie is going ape shit. The little guy shifted in a room full of Rogues and tried to rip them apart. He has guts. I can see where they are. There are guards on every floor; it is in the warehouse district. They have converted a few buildings into apartments and meeting areas. It is like a Pack house, but I can"t tell who the leader is. I can tell you that there are several men and women hiding behind cloaks.

  I assume it is a spell of some sorts. I can"t tell who they are, but they feel familiar. I would not be surprised if these were your spies. I think there are at least seven of them.

  The leader is behind a mask also. He is not there right now. He is looking for another and thinks he has found her. Now is the time to strike.” Blaine said and stood up looking directly into Levi's eyes. “Your mates have claimed each other. They are both hurting from your rejection of Ruby and feel that they will be able to mate without you.

  I would suggest you make plans for a long groveling session unless you want to be left out in the cold.”

  Levi growled and swung around to hide the hurt in his eyes. How could they have done that? Why would they have claimed each other without him? Ruby knew that they were mates, he assumed that she told Reggie; would this cluster fuck ever end?

  Levi started to walk out the room and felt a hand grab his arm. He looked down and saw it was his Betas. Sighing deeply he put down his head and waited for the lecture. He had been told many times over the last few months to pull his head out of his ass, but how could he have known?

  “Brother, you need to get your head in the game. Time for guilty thoughts is way behind us. We have to get them out and make sure we all remain safe. No heroics, we stick to the plan, and we all come home.” Darien said and gripped his arm tighter in a show of understanding of how the wolf was feeling.

  Levi dropped his head and said, “I know, I will rein it in.”

  “Good, we have a plan, and we are going to leave in the next thirty minutes.” Blaine said releasing his friend and walking to the table that held the maps.

  Chapter 7

  Reggie booted up the laptop the Rogues provided for him. They thought he was good at numbers, and that was true, but they did not realize was that he was also a wiz with the computer. His mother probably failed to tell them of the messes her and his father had to get him out of when he was little. Casey was a wonder with numbers. She could look at a group of them and tell you what was wrong. Reggie was good with them also but not to her level. He succeeded more towards the technology side of the money. He could hide and shift
money where no one would ever find it. Casey and Reggie worked as a team that way. She would find the problems in the system, and he would fix them.

  They worked together for so long that no one really knew what they could do.

  Waiting for the computer to finally start he watched his mate sit and stare at him. He knew she was fragile, but he thought that after this last beating, she would break. He could not have been more surprised when she woke up fighting and cussing. He thought that she was stronger than she appeared. She had been hiding behind her fears, and now she had decided that she was no longer going to be a victim. She was looking at the men who hit her with such anger; Reggie knew she was planning something in her head.

  He watched as she quietly and without drawing attention to herself reached under the bed and pried the wire springs off the base.

  She had been subtle, if he had not been watching her so closely he would have missed it.

  Now he wondered what she was going to do. With such a look of determination, she had no qualms about thinking of something to kill their captors with.

  Finally, the screen came up, and he checked what access they thought they were giving him. He wanted to grin when he saw the limited access they gave him while working on the computer. As if that was going to hold him back, but since he did not want them to know that, he grumbled a little out loud about only letting him go to certain sites. He was certain in another room they had someone monitoring him too. He was already creating a ghost program which would allow him to do anything he wanted without them knowing.

  Finally, after a few minutes of his fingers flying across the screen, he was able to do what he wanted. Searching for Casey online was easy. He knew everywhere she usually hung out. It was just a matter of making sure she got online, so they could talk. He sent a message directly to her cell phone telling her to log on to the computer. It took only moments for her to pop on.

  “Reg?” She typed.

  “Yeah, where are you? With Ruby and need a way out.” Reggie said looking over to the two men who were watching him. They were so stupid he figured he could chat with the President, and they would never know.

  “So much has happened. I am calling Devon, the Council Beta. He is in Denver. They know where you are. Don"t have time to explain. They need to know the specifics."” Casey replied.

  “Four guards in the room with us. I saw at least five in the hallway. I think we"re on the second floor of a warehouse. There are not too many windows, but we are not on the ground floor. I am supposed to be finding the New Council Pack money and stealing it.” Reggie said and stretched a little, making it look like he was getting stiff from sitting at the computer. He raised his hands and motioned for Ruby to look at him.

  Ruby nodded and stared at him intensely while he used his hands to try to tell her what he was doing. She must have understood something because she nodded and got back to work making weapons.

  “Can you fake it?” Casey said.

  “Me, make a fake money trail? Surely, you jest.” He typed and closed the window and began to set up an account with a local bank. He used all the resources to make it seem real. It was scary how you could hack into banks and play with their stuff. That is probably why his old Alpha refused to allow the Pack money to be in a bank. They had been very creative where they hid their money. No one would ever be able to find it.

  That was what he was going to do with the New Council money also when he got the chance.

  “Hey, you want to tell your boss that I found something?” Reggie said to Hugo, who was beginning to get restless.

  With the stroke of the last key, Reggie covered his conversation with Casey and turned the computer for the idiot to see. Of course, he had no clue what he was looking at. He figured that he was satisfied seeing numbers.

  While Hugo went to get Roarke, Reggie backed out of where he was at with Casey and sent a brief message to her telling her they would be waiting. Then he polished up the fake money sheets and made sure there was nothing they could see.

  Roarke came into the room with a smirk on his face, thinking that he had played Reggie and Ruby like a harp. He laughed when he saw the scowl on Reggie"s face and patted him on the shoulder.

  “Good thinking, doing what we want. I would have to have ordered these big mean men to hurt your spouse even more. Hugo over there wanted a piece of her ass. I told him that if you cooperated that he would have to forgo that. I think it has put him in a bad mood. So what have we found?” Roarke said.

  Reggie wanted nothing more than to bash his face in. He wanted to feel the other man"s blood on his skin. Gods he was turning into a blood thirsty little wolf. But it was necessary. His mate needed him to stand up and be strong.

  “Look, here is their primary account. The deposits, the withdrawals etc. Here is their total balance, $72,000,000 roughly. I can see they are transferring into another account overseas. I would bet there is a lot more than you think. That will take a little more time, because it is international. A few hours at least, maybe more, but I might point out that we have not had a good meal since we were awakened. And my mate needs some care.” Reggie said, knowing from the way the guy was salivating that he was thinking about all the money he was going to be able to tell the Master he found.

  “What, oh, of course. I will order up some food. You have a half an hour before you need to get back to work. I will get the numbers you need to transfer this money into.” Roarke said and smiled before turning and running from the room.

  Chapter 8

  Devon walked back into the conference room and announced that Reggie had contacted Casey through the computer. Levi felt a rush of relief when he said they were both fine.

  “He had to log off for a while, but until we make contact again we have to wait for the recovery. It seems they are planning something else in Milliken too.” Devon said.

  Levi was not happy about waiting, but at least his mates were okay. He hoped they were going to be getting to them soon, or he may go stark raving mad. So long, without his intended mate had driven him crazy. It was all his fault, but still.

  He mentally made a list of all the things he was going to do to make up to his mates the last few months. This big bad wolf was going to grovel. He knew what he had to do, and after talking with Cami and Casey over the last few months, he knew that Ruby was going to be hurt. Reggie was going to hold a grudge, that was who he was. Casey had explained that her brother loved to make people think that he was a Queen. He liked loud clothes and to be pampered at the hair salon. Most men just went to a barber.

  Reggie had spa days. But, regardless of that, he was a strong and fierce wolf. Casey explained how when they were younger people picked on them.

  Reggie would protect Casey and even when they grew up, he would step in front of anyone who tried to hurt her. It was the twin bond; it plainly existed even then when they did not know they were twins. Casey gave him a list of things that made the little man excited, and he was going to do all of them for his mates.

  Lost in his thoughts he did not notice that Casey appeared in the huge video screen in the corner. When he heard Reggie"s name, his head jerked up, and he walked quickly to where Casey was talking to Devon.

  “Hi honey.” She grinned at her mate. In the background, they could see that their other mate Sid was standing behind her.

  “How are you feeling?” Devon asked softly. He did not want to leave his mate, especially since they found out she was pregnant such a short time ago, but his mate had begged him to come and get her brother.

  “Good, just a little morning sickness. Poor Sid has had to hold my head every morning.” She grinned.

  “Then I get to give her some TLC.” Sid laughed and bent down and winked into the camera.

  Devon laughed and said, “Wait till I get back, we can give her all the TLC she can handle.”

  “HA, Reggie said he would be back in a few, that was thirty minutes ago. I hope they did not discover what he was doing. Although I don't know ho
w they could. Reggie is a sneaky hacker.” She grinned. “Levi did you know that one time, Reggie hacked into the Old Councils files to see if he could find out if he was adopted? He was convinced that his mother was the spawn of the devil.”

  “She is.” Levi muttered and then laughed.

  “Yeah, well the Pack Alpha found out about it, he was pissed. Reggie said if he told his parents that he would hide all of his money. The Alpha hired him on the spot; he says to prevent him from going to jail.” Casey laughed, and he heard a beep in the background and Casey turned a little to stare at her screen.

  “Okay, boys and girls, he is back.” Casey announced and started typing.

  “What is he saying?” Levi demanded unable to keep quiet any longer.

  “He says that he has created a dummy account to fool them, for the time being. They are using Ruby as a way to keep him in line. He wants to get her out immediately. Reggie says that he has demanded that he be taken to the person they are calling Master. That will leave Ruby with minimal guards. Wait. He says they are taking him in a half an hour. You have to move.” Casey said worriedly.

  “What about Reggie?” Levi said.

  “One at a time, brother.” Devon said and laid his hand on his shoulder.

  “Reggie claimed Ruby yesterday.” Casey said her eyes wide. “He said he had no choice.” Levi closed his eyes and nodded. He knew they would have had to in order to protect themselves, but still it stung. He wanted them all to be together when they claimed each other. He wanted to prove to Ruby that he loved her, and he was sorry, and prove to Reggie that he could protect them. Damn it, would Ruby even want him to be a part of their Triad?

  “Let's move. Maybe we can follow Reggie and get him too in the process. They would not be expecting an attack on two fronts. Cloe, go with Teagan and Darien to get Ruby.