by Olivia Arran
I brushed past him. “You the welcome party?”
He shrugged, stuffing his hands into his jean pockets, following me down the corridor. “Nah, I’m late, too.” He didn’t look like he was in any hurry though.
I sniffed the air, recoiling immediately. “Why do you smell like piss?”
Yanking up his shirt, he sniffed, then grimaced. “Target practice gone wrong.”
My mouth opened, then closed again. What the bears did in their spare time, didn’t concern me. Furry fruitloops, the lot of them.
His fist hit my shoulder in a love tap that would have sent a human sailing through the air. “For Jack, you idiot.” He rolled his eyes, but a huge smile stretched his mouth wide at the mention of his adoptive son’s name. “We’re potty training.”
“Ah,” I eventually said, “Good luck?”
He grimaced. “Thanks, man. We’re going to need it. Heather is this close—” a hand appeared in front of my face, pointer finger and thumb squeezed together until they nearly touched, “—to losing it.” Shouldering the door open to Carter’s office, he rubbed the side of his head, as if in pain. “Every time she finds one of Jack’s little presents, she ends up puking everywhere. It’s a vicious cycle of stinkdom.” Greeting the rest of his team, he shook his head, a sad puppy look on his face. “Pregnancy is hard.”
Austin, the alpha of their team nodded vigorously. His mate, Leona, was also pregnant. The daddies to be exchanged shit-eating grins complete with serious nods, as if acknowledging their supposed super sperm.
Shaking my head, I marched over to my seat and sat my ass down. Scratching my chin, I hid my grin. Damn. The furballs were growing on me, not that I’d be admitting it out loud anytime soon.
“Wolf.”
Face smoothing out, I stretched my legs, crossing them at the ankles, then angled my head to the man seated next to me. “Dragon.”
His weird purple eyes stared back at me, unblinking in their assessment. Dante. The constant scaly burr that had apparently lodged itself in my side.
A couple of months ago, a group of shifters calling themselves the Purists had wreaked chaos in our world, infiltrating our town and trying to put an end to our way of life. Basically, we offended them. Why? That was anyone’s guess, but some of the reasons we had uncovered included living alongside humans and inter-species mating. They believed in purity of the race and also wanted to put humans in their place: at the bottom of the food chain. We’d taken out a splinter group, but the Purists were still out there. Waiting. Planning. Getting ready to cause all kinds of fucking havoc.
It made my skin itch.
And then there was Dante, who had—up until that point—kept himself to himself. Dragons had stayed in their caves, high up on the mountain, too wrapped up in their own egos to bother about the rest of us. We hadn’t realized how lucky we’d been. Now, Dante bugged us on a regular basis.
He was acting like the weird uncle that always turned up at weddings and funerals, who never knew when to fuck off back home. And the fucker was treating my life like his own goddamn after party. Everywhere I looked, he was there.
My wolf enforcers slid into the room, taking up position against the wall to the right of me, their expressions indicating that they were ready to brawl at a moment’s notice. Eager in fact.
Luckily—for the sake of Dante’s health—Carter chose that moment to stride into the room, all chatter ceasing in an instant. Rounding his desk, he dropped his cufflinks onto the polished wood, shoving back his shirt sleeves in a move that was uncharacteristic for the uptight lion shifter, who always looked like he’d stepped out of the pages of that damn GQ magazine that the humans were so fond of. And a member of my pack, if the dog-eared copies left around the packhouse were any indication. Amber eyes swept across us, intense and commanding, as he dropped into his leather chair, the springs creaking in protest.
“What’s up, boss?” Zane, the bear shifter alpha of perimeter Team North-One quirked an eyebrow, his lazy drawl sharper than usual, betraying the tension of the room.
Even Dante sat up a little straighter.
Yep. Carter was pissed. And … worried?
Shit. That was not good news.
Carter took a deep breath, and on any other shifter, their eyes would have bled back to their human state, but his remained the amber of his beast, a trait unique to our Mayor. “The humans have reached a decision regarding the treaty.”
You could have heard a pin drop in the sudden silence that stretched through the room, everyone holding their breath. Just over six years ago, a year or so after shifters had been revealed to the human world and chaos had reigned, a treaty had been set up between the two races and the Registration Act had been born. Shifter settlements had sprung up all around the world, giving those shifters who agreed to play by the rules somewhere safe to live. A time of peace had followed, a cease fire between the humans who outnumbered us and those of us who held the power to destroy them.
And, now, times were changing … again.
“And?” It was Law, the bear shifter alpha of South-Two who growled the question we were all thinking. Would it be war? Conscription, even? More rules to follow, a leash tightening around our necks?
Carter spread his hands on the table, claw tipped fingers sinking into the soft wood and digging in. “They need our help.” He rolled his head to the side, the first glimmer of a smile teasing at his mouth. “The humans have approached us asking that we train some of their men.”
“What good will that do?” Austin scratched his chin. “A few men against an unknown bunch of shifters who could tear them to shreds. That doesn’t make sense.”
“Add in the possibility of accidentally infecting them,” Jake, one of Austin’s teammates—and a psychopath, though he claimed he was reformed—added.
“They’re working on a vaccine which will inoculate the recipient from being infected and turning.”
“How?” My voice snapped through the silence, shattering it. “How are they working on a vaccine?”
“They have shifters working with them.”
Someone coughed, muttering under his breath “Bullshit.”
“They claim they have someone working with them?” Dante looked about ready to leap from his chair and plow a hole through some motherfucker’s ass.
For once, I was in complete agreement with the scaly asshole.
“Their claims will be looked into and verified.” Carter growled, the sound rumbling through his chest and reminding us that he wasn’t just a pen pushing lackey, he was an alpha shifter, and this was his world. “The Shifter Council will be taking on that task themselves.”
Grant, one of my wolves, pushed away from his spot against the wall, his spine straightening and mouth dropping open. He let out a low whistle. “Shit just got real.”
Well, fuck me sideways with a porcupine.
“The Shifter Council is actually real?” All eyes swiveled to the doorway. Pale blue eyes hidden behind steel rimmed frames blinked back at us.
Carter shot out of his chair, the frame squealing at the sudden change in pressure. “Grace, you’re…” His voice trailed off as his eyes proceeded to devour the woman in front of us.
A human woman who—to my knowledge—had left our town weeks ago, never to return again.
Pushing her shoulders back, she yanked the bottom of her jacket down and took a step into the room. “It was decided that since I already know the main players here in Heartsridge, that I would be the best person to liaise on this task.” Her tone was all business and no nonsense, but it didn’t seem to make a blind bit of difference to the lion shifter in front of her, who was eyeing her like a kid in a candy store. All that was missing was a pile of drool on the floor.
Carter slid his hands into his pockets and inclined his head. “You are here as the human liaison?”
“I am, Mayor Carter.”
When his mouth inched up in the smile of a predator, I winced, almost feeling sorry for the human.
“Wonderful, Miss Lockett.” He indicated a seat to his left, the chair having sat empty ever since her rushed departure. “I look forward to … working with you again.”
She risked a glance at him, then at the rest of us, who took up all available space on the other side of the desk. Muttering under her breath—something about overgrown pussies—she shoved her glasses up her nose with her index finger and stalked past Carter, only freezing for a fraction of a second when his arm brushed against hers.
“Popcorn,” Nate muttered from somewhere behind me. “Never have any when you need it.”
“Maybe we should get a machine set up in the corner?” Zane sounded half serious, half like he wanted to be anywhere else but here.
Daryl, one of my wolves muttered, “At least there’s entertainment,”
“Maybe this might untwist the lion’s panties from around his balls?” Whoever muttered that had a death wish, and I was putting my money on Jake. Yep, still psychotic, even with his mate’s calming influence.
Miss Lockett settled herself in the chair and folded her hands on her lap, pointedly not looking at the man who sat next to her.
“Hey, Grace,” Austin called, giving her a little wave. “The ladies have missed having you around.”
The ladies. AKA, the mates of the South-One bears, Austin’s team. They’d all found their fated mates, and earned the team the moniker of the lucky fuckers. Also included as honorary members were Julie, a packmember and mate to my enforcer, Tom. Then there was the newly arrived Anita, a lion shifter—like this town didn’t have enough of them with the one we already had—who was one of the rogues that had come in and helped fight the purists. There were a few other ladies whose names escaped me, plus Miss Lockett over there, and of course the Grannies, who I stayed well clear of. And then there was Bree.
Ours.
I ignored my wolf, giving him a mental shove to pipe down. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t roll over and play possum, instead jabbing me in the sides with his claws. When it came to Bree, he was getting impatient. He’d already made his mind up, despite having never tasted her. To him, she was our mate, fated or not.
An argument for another time, I suggested, gritting my teeth as his claws played xylophone with my rib cage. I gave him a psychological punch in the head.
He whined, then snarled, then shook his fur out and gave me a nod. Soon…
Soon, I agreed. Trust me on this one, I know more about winning a woman over than you.
His huff sounded suspiciously like laughter.
Yeah, Bree was a prickly one, but she was warming to me. Earlier had been an error in judgment.
Carter cleared his throat, the babble of noise dying down.
Miss Lockett—Grace—pointedly finished off her conversation with Austin and his teammate Cade, then gave the alpha lion her attention, blinking wide eyes, as if surprised to see him there. “Have you briefed them yet?”
Carter swallowed back something that sounded suspiciously like a snarl, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling, as if begging for mercy or hope, or some kind of shit that was never going to happen. “I was just about to,” he ground out.
The woman swallowed under the weight of his gaze, but didn’t back down, rising a couple of pegs in my estimation of her character.
After waiting a beat, Carter dragged his attention back to the rest of the room and carried on, “As I was saying, the Shifter Council will be verifying the humans’ claims regarding the vaccine. It has been decided that a small group of humans will be visiting Heartsridge for training purposes. This will be a test run, to see how effective we can be while working together. They will report back to their superiors and, if everything goes well, the training will be rolled out across the country.”
“And if it doesn’t go well?” The look in Dante’s eyes suggested he’d rather be crispy frying humans than working with them. There was a side serving of relish with his words.
“Then we’re screwed.” Miss Lockett’s blunt words matched the look on her face. “My role here is to make sure this works. The Purists are pushing to be classified as a separate entity within the treaty.” She shook her head, sending wisps of pale blonde hair flying. “The unspoken threat is that if we don’t concede to their demands, they’ll … cause trouble.” From the look on her face, trouble was capitalized. Cutting Carter a glance that had him sitting back in his seat, a speculative gleam in his eyes, she continued, “The changes to the treaty will mean that shifters can re-enter society through work placements, such as military, law enforcement, medical, and possibly other work assignments in the future, but only if we can prove that we can work together.”
“Conscription?” Jay, the bear shifter alpha of North-Two finally piped up, having sat silent for most of the meeting. Shit, I’d thought he was asleep. Poor bastard only had two men on his team, which meant he was run ragged pretty much 24-7.
“No.” Miss Lockett’s answer was firm. “Any enlistment or job would be voluntary.” She met everyone’s eyes, her gaze unwavering, as if she could convince us with sheer willpower. “This would mean that the shifters who prefer to stay rogue could continue to live their lives in peace.”
Dante laughed. “As long as they were willing to register and do the humans’ dirty work.”
Miss Lockett held his gaze. Damn, the woman had balls nearly as big as the Mayor. “As long as a member of their family is willing to work a job that benefits the country they live in. To become useful, contributing members of society.”
Fuck. This was a big step forward, and in the right direction for once. The rogues could stop running and hiding, shifters could choose to live outside the settlements, if—and that was a big if—everything was as it seemed. Rolling the idea around in my head, I considered the immediate issues. “So, a few humans come to Heartsridge and train, and we see what they’ve got?”
When Carter’s eyes settled on me, a wave of foreboding washed over me, something along the lines of ‘oh shit’. “Think you’re up to the task?”
Refusing to back down from a challenge, I rolled my eyes, forcing my mouth up into a shit-eating smirk. What the fuck did I know about humans? Well, apart from the fact that they were weak and they needed us more than we needed them. “I think they’ve got a shock coming.”
Carter nodded. “Just don’t break them.”
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” I bit out.
Carter growled, but his eyes were lit with amusement. Fucker thought this was hilarious. He planted his hands on his desk, fixing me with a glare. “Try. They’ll be here in the morning for bootcamp. Here are their files—” a folder sailed through the air and landed on my lap, “—and in there you’ll find the information about what training needs to be done.” He grinned, looking mighty pleased with himself. For an asshole. Picking up a pen and twisting it in his fingers, he sat back down. “Better get back to the packhouse and make some room for them.”
Ah, shit. They were staying with us? A glance at my packmembers confirmed that they were as gob smacked as I was.
Nate chuckled, clutching at his sides, until Tiny reached out and cuffed him around the head, letting his fists do the talking. That was Tiny, the biggest, meanest looking wolf shifter I’d ever met. Also the quietest, until I’d met Axel, that is. Thing is, for how big and mean Tiny might look, he was as soft as pudding on the inside, until it came to the pack. Then he was a force to be reckoned with.
And this was pack business now. And we would deal with it, one way or another.
“Fine,” I forced out, already having thought of at least ten different ways to break the humans and send them fleeing for their safe little homes in civilized suburbia.
“This needs to work, Owen.”
At Miss Lockett’s soft entreaty, I swallowed my inner grumbling and nodded. “Fine.”
And this time I meant it.
Kind of.
Yeah, at least the thought was there.
Chapter Three
Briana
>
“No.” I shook my head. Then shook it again, if only to make my point clear.
Blue eyes stared back at me out of a hard face, crooked nose wrinkling like I’d said something funny.
Shame I actually liked that face, otherwise I’d be punctuating my answer with my fist, if only to wipe the smirk off it.
Nita, who I was kinda calling a friend now, despite the fact that she used to be a huge pain in the ass, passed me a coffee and sat down next to Michael, owner of the face I’d like to smack. We had the canteen to ourselves, everyone else was in some kind of meeting that we had apparently not been invited to. Probably where Owen had slunk off to earlier, tail between his legs.
“Bree—”
I cut Michael off again, this time with a swipe of my hand. “I’m not registering.” I didn’t know why he even bothered bringing up this argument with me, he knew how I felt about it all. It was one of the reasons I’d joined his pack of rogues, so I could escape the whole putting my name in the system kind of thing.
Axel chose that moment to speak, and it was a real doozy, “Then you can’t stay here.”
“I can stay wherever the hell I want,” I shot back, taking a slurp of my coffee. One nice thing I could say about Nita, apart from her ability to fight dirty, she could coax a mean coffee out of the canteen sludge.
“Carter briefed me before he went into the meeting; they’re tightening things up. You knew this was coming.” The look Michael was giving me was one of pity, which immediately had my metaphorical scales itching.
“So you explained. In mind-numbing detail.” Changing the treaty; who would have thunk it? “I’ll go rogue again.” Soon, I added silently.
“Either you register or you’re a purist, that’s how it’ll be.” Nita wasn’t helping, but from the look on her face, she wasn’t trying to either.
I mentally flipped her off. “So you’re going to register?”
“We all are.” Again, what was with the talking, Axel?
“Right,” I muttered, deflating on the inside. On the outside, I was still prickly and as happy as a dragon rolling in a pile of diamonds. They weren’t my family, so why should I care?
