by Amelia Jade
So secrecy was the name of the game until such time that Aiden had earned enough trust that they felt they could ask her father for permission. Willow really hoped that wasn’t too far off. Waking up alone after such a fantastic night sucked.
But, she decided, throwing off the comforter, I can still go downstairs early and hopefully run into him!
It took an effort not to skip down the stairs. Nobody else was awake yet, but she didn’t want to risk someone seeing her and figuring out what her good mood was about.
“Morning,” she purred, reaching up to tug on his ear with her teeth as she entered the kitchen.
Aiden, who had been bending down for a hug, did the little shiver-melt thing that guys do when you tease them just right. A strong hand grabbed her waist and pulled her back into him as she tried to walk by. Willow hissed as his hand slowly walked its way south along her stomach and between her legs.
“Stop it,” she whispered. “They’ll smell it if we start doing anything.”
The coffee machine beeped and started to pour, the rich, thick smell of fresh brew overpowering anything else that might be in the kitchen.
“No they won’t,” he said, and pushed his hands beneath her waistband.
Willow shuddered and cried out softly as he brought her to a swift orgasm. It wasn’t powerful compared to the ones from the night before, but it was the perfect way to start her morning.
He gave his fingers a very manly lick before washing them, and then went about pouring the two of them steaming hot cups of coffee.
“I could get used to this sort of morning,” she said, languidly draping an arm over him and planting a soft kiss on his cheek before moving to her own stool.
“I bet,” he said, laughing softly. “Why are you up so early?”
She frowned. “Work?” Her tone indicated she was wondering if he was losing it.
“Willow, it’s Saturday. We don’t work Saturday.”
Holy shit. He was right. “Well, fuck me,” she cursed.
“Later tonight, if you aren’t out with your friends,” he promised.
She muffled a laugh. “I’m going to take you up on that. I’ll be here.”
He waved a hand at her. “Don’t stick around just for me. Go out, it’s Saturday. Go have some fun.”
“With who?” Her mood was souring a little.
“Uh, friends?” Aiden stopped talking as the look on her face registered. “I guess it must be tough to make friends when your family is full of werewolves.”
Willow shrugged. “I mean, when I was younger, it certainly was difficult to explain away all the hair considering we didn’t have any dogs.”
Aiden snickered. “Fair point.”
“Making friends with humans was always a dangerous prospect. You all go through so much to remain hidden from the world. In this day and age of electronics, the fact that you’re still mostly legend and nothing more is absolutely astounding.” She shrugged, and related to him her story about going away to school, the trials and near-misses of her revealing everything.
“Nobody would have believed you,” he said after she finished. “Not that that makes a difference of course, except they would have tried to put you in a padded cell most likely. So, I’m glad you didn’t tell anyone.”
She looked at him strangely. “Thanks. I think. But it still doesn’t help with making any friends.”
“What about the rest of the pack?”
“Uh-huh,” was all she would say to that.
“Did your father never introduce you to other shifters, to help you make some friends your own age?”
Willow nodded. “Yes. When I was younger there were several that I would see. But we grew apart. I couldn’t relate to them very well. By the time I was of high-school age, it was just me and the rest of the pack.”
Aiden reached out and laid his hand on top of hers where it rested on the granite countertop. “I’m sorry. That must have been incredibly lonely.”
“It was,” she agreed. “For a long time. Until you came along.” She lifted her eyes to see him staring back at her with an intensity that momentarily left her so terrified she couldn’t speak.
The silence between them was deafening.
Aiden broke it at last, though his eyes never moved. “Don’t say things like that unless you mean them, Willow.”
She raised both her eyebrows. “Have I really given you the impression that I’m prone to lying and saying important things without thinking them through?”
“No,” he admitted, his expression softening. “No, you haven’t.”
“Good. Then don’t give me any of that shapeshifter intimidation bullshit. I know what I’m about, and what this could lead to. I’ve grown up around werewolves my entire life.”
“True. But none of them are mated, which is a problem in and of itself,” he said, body relaxing as the moment passed.
“Neither are we,” she pointed out before she could stop herself.
What the hell are you doing, woman?
Aiden smiled, but said nothing.
Willow was confused. She’d expected more of a reaction than that, depending on how Aiden was viewing the situation. Her general denial was supposed to bring out his emotions, so that she could see how he reacted. But by simply smiling, he was refusing to do that. As if he knew her plan! It was mildly infuriating, and yet she somehow found herself smiling alongside him as well.
“Does your father not allow the others to mate?”
She shrugged. “No idea. I’ve never asked. But come on, you know them. They’re dicks. Who would want to stick with any of them?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “But you stick with your father despite his actions, so I figure there are probably others out there who would put up with them. I just didn’t know if they were banned from doing so.”
Willow narrowed her eyes.
Fifteen
Aiden
Aiden cursed his choice of timing.
He hadn’t meant for his words to come out the way they had. Now was not the time he’d intended to reveal to her what he knew of her father’s lies. Things between him and Willow were still too unstable; it was highly unlikely she would believe him to be telling the truth. Instead, she was more likely to turn on him and push him away. But it was too late now. He’d opened the box, and there was no putting it back away judging by the look on her face. The only thing left to do was face the storm head-on.
“What do you mean by that?” Willow’s voice was deceptively kind.
If he was going to have this conversation though, Aiden wasn’t going to play around. Doing so would allow Willow to keep her blinders on, and he needed to get her to finally say what she’d been refusing to admit to herself for a long time now. He just hoped their relationship could recover from it.
“Don’t give me any of that bullshit,” he said in a neutral tone. “You know as well as I do that your father is up to something, and whatever it is, it’s not good.”
“What are you talking about?”
He slashed at the air with a hand. “Enough, Willow. Stop living with blinders on, just because you want to refuse to acknowledge what’s going on. But I know you, you’re not stupid, not even a little. You see what’s going on. You aren’t naïve enough to actually believe that your father has a government contract of some sort, and that’s what all the late-night secrets are all about. Don’t play with me. You see it, you know better, you just don’t want to admit to it. Why?”
She shook her head in denial, but he could see in her eyes that she knew the truth. What was it that was keeping her so willing to support him? What had he done to earn her loyalty?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. My father adopted me when he didn’t have to, and he’s raised me on his own. He is a good man.”
“No, he’s not, Willow.” Aiden desperately wanted to step forward, to take her in his arms and hold her, to let her know that he was there for her.
But she wouldn’t unde
rstand. So he kept his distance, and tried his best not to weep as he brought the last pillar of her world crashing down around her.
“He’s lying to you.”
Her green eyes went glacially cold. “He’s never told me one way or another what his contract is about. I don’t ask, because it’s his business. He hasn’t lied to me.”
Other than telling you it’s a government contract…
But that’s not what he had to say.
“That’s not what I was referring to, Willow.”
She frowned. “What else could he be lying to me about?”
Aiden swallowed nervously, not wanting to continue. Something about his expression must have clued her in to what he was talking about. Willow’s eyes grew wide and she started to shake her head quickly back and forth. “No. I don’t believe you. It’s you. You’re the lying one.”
“You know that’s not true,” he said gently. “Deep in your heart, you can hear the truth in my words. The truth you’ve never heard from him. He’s lying about your family, Willow. Whatever happened to them, it wasn’t the work of a rogue shifter.”
“How do you know that?” She was near tears.
“Because, Willow. All wild shifters are reported and logged. There’s also a huge bonus for bringing one down, as incentive for ensuring people don’t forget to log it.”
“So?” She crossed her arms defiantly, but the doubt was plain to see in her eyes.
“So? Willow, there is no record of a wild shifter anywhere near here thirty-five years ago. Nothing on three years either way. So unless you were a three-year-old when he adopted you…?”
She shook her head. “No. I was only six months old.”
He looked away, unable to bear the way he was destroying the only world she’d ever known. Why did it have to be him doing this? He didn’t want to see her like this, in this much pain, let alone hurting because of what he’d done!
“He’s lying to you, Willow. I don’t know why, but he is.”
She stood there, coffee forgotten and cooled by now, leaning against the island in the kitchen, staring desolately at the floor off to his right. For five minutes Willow didn’t speak. She just stared at something only she could see.
“Why are you here then?”
The question caught him completely off guard. “What?”
“If my father is such an evil person, and is involved in something bad, then why are you still here? Why not…” Her head came snapping up, eyes ablaze with jade fire. “You weren’t banished from your pack…were you? This is all an elaborate setup to take my father down.” Her face flushed with fury. “Mack always was trying to get rid of him. He doesn’t like my father. So now he’s sent you here as a spy to try and take him down from the inside!”
Aiden’s mouth hung open for a second, and Willow used that time to formulate her next argument. But he recovered in time, speaking harshly to her for the first time.
“Willow, Stephen has tried to have Mack assassinated no less than four times. Because he wants to be the regional Alpha. He doesn’t want to challenge him directly, because he would lose! So he wants him out of the way. Mack dislikes Stephen because he’s a coward and power-hungry. And because he tried to kill him! That’s a perfectly valid reason in my opinion. And before you ask, I helped thwart two of the attempts, so I know for a fact they aren’t lies.”
She looked away.
“Stephen is not the person you think he is, Willow.” Aiden paused for a moment, wringing his hands before rubbing his face. “I’m sorry. This is not the way I wanted to do things, or how I saw this morning going. But I’m telling you the truth. I know you can hear it in my voice. You don’t want to believe it—you want to hate me and tell me to get out, I’m sure. But that can’t stop the fact that you need to stop hiding from this, and take some responsibility yourself.”
“He’s my father,” she whispered.
“No. He’s a liar who adopted you for his own reasons. He’s also a criminal, probably in both the human world and mine. There’s little I can do to stop what’s already started, Willow. I’m sorry…I…” He trailed off, looking up at her, seeing the fire in her eyes fade, replaced by bitter agony and possibly even betrayal. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, not knowing what else to say.
Willow was shaking her head. “Get out.” She pointed at the door. “Now.”
Aiden sighed, looking down at the floor in defeat. “Willow, this isn’t going to fix anything.”
“Get. Out,” she hissed with barely constrained fury. “Now.”
He pushed off his resting post on the far side of the island from her. “This doesn’t change what I said. You can deny it as long as you want to try and continue to live in your fake little world, but you know it’s a lie as much as I do. It’s time to move on, Willow. I know you’re scared, but if you’ll let me, I’ll help you as much as I can.”
She looked up at him. “I believed my father too when he told me similar things. Now you tell me he’s a liar. Why the hell should I believe you? Get the fuck out of my house.”
He grimaced. “Fine.”
“Good. You know what? I’m going to go ask him now, to find out the truth. You’ll see. He does care. He loves me. He wouldn’t lie about my birth family. That’s not who he is.”
Aiden rolled his eyes at the denial in her voice. “You’re going to be disappointed. Even more so when I return with proof that Stephen isn’t the man you think he is.”
He spun on his heel and started to leave.
“How are you going to do that?” she asked.
Aiden didn’t answer. If she admitted to herself what was going on, she would know what he was going to go do.
Sixteen
Aiden
Getting into Stephen’s shipping facility was the easy part. Within the first three days Aiden had figured out two separate methods of entry.
Two days later though he’d been given an access code to the rear door so that he could help load a van with some packages and not get locked out. He assumed it was a slip-up on Langdon’s part, because he hadn’t been entrusted with any other information since. Now though it served to easily grant him entry inside where he could snoop around privately. He opened the door and slipped inside, ready to work his way through the warehouse in darkness.
There was one little problem with that plan: the lights were on.
Aiden froze. Shit.
Did Stephen keep a guard here on the weekends? Or was someone else here for different reasons? His eyes scanned the floor, but he saw no movement. Whoever was here, they must be in one of the offices along the wall to his left.
Unless someone just left the lights on? A quick check of his memory told him that no, he remembered the lights being turned off before they left on Friday. Someone was definitely here. The question was who, why, and where were they? If it was a member of the pack, Aiden would just tell them that Stephen had sent him to retrieve something from his desk. A trivial task that he wouldn’t give to one of the others, but that the new guy was perfectly suited for.
If it was someone else though, there might be trouble. Reluctantly he prepared himself to fight. It was strange, putting himself in that sort of mindset. Other than the night he’d gone with Flint, Aiden had spent so much effort into keeping calm and refraining from fighting, that conjuring the urge to do so now was almost difficult.
Almost.
“Aiden?”
He jerked in surprise as Patrice’s voice echoed out from the stacks straight ahead of him.
“Holy shit, you surprised me,” he said, giving the other shifter a wave. “I thought you were up in the offices. I was going to sneak up and surprise you.” He smiled, trying to act as if he was mildly upset his plan hadn’t worked, not that he’d been caught red-handed.
“Sorry about that. I was just stretching the ol’ legs. Guard duty can get pretty boring, you know?”
He nodded. “Yep, I know. Well, I guess I don’t. Haven’t been trusted with that yet. But, in gene
ral I understand.”
“Why are you here?” There was no suspicion in his voice. Perfect.
“Stephen needed a phone number from his desk. Something to do with those humans who tried to ambush Flint and me Friday night. He certainly wasn’t going to send Flint on a little errand, so guess who drew the short stick?”
Patrice laughed, falling in step next to him as they walked past the conveyor belts toward Stephen’s office. “Hey, you’re talking to the guy who works almost every Sunday here. Trust me, I completely understand.”
Aiden frowned to himself. Every Sunday? How had he missed that little bit of information! Sloppy, Aiden. Sloppy. If you’d been more involved with the pack, you might have figured that one out already. He would keep that in mind for the next time he was forced to be a spy, which would hopefully be never. After what he’d been forced to do to Willow, Aiden hated himself and the whole operation. He was ready for it to be over.
“So, anything fun going on back at the—”
CLANG!
Patrice fell to the ground in a heap, bleeding from where Aiden had reached up and grabbed the back of his head and slammed him face-first into one of the giant metal support beams that kept the roof up.
“Sorry about that,” he muttered. “But I don’t have time for your small talk.”
He stepped over the body and hurried to the far wall. Instead of Stephen’s office though, he kicked open the door to the room next to it. This room was obscured by double doors, and the shifters going in always waited for one set to close before they opened the next. Whatever was going on behind here was a secret they didn’t want him or any other visitor seeing. The next set of doors opened just as easily, admitting him into the room.
“What the fuck?” He walked forward several steps and looked around.
It was empty. Completely, and totally empty.
“Ooookay. That’s weird.”
Confused, he went back out into the main section, grabbed Patrice’s limp body, and dragged it in after him. Then he slapped the smaller shifter several times until he came around.
