Tiger in the Pack

by E. M. Shmitz

  She kept telling herself that she just wanted a piece of that gorgeous body, but that explanation didn’t seem to mesh with the way her heart leapt and pounded when he smiled are her, and the times when she caught him looking at her with something a little like lust. If she just wanted his body then why the heck did her heart get involved, and why did her throat ache when, on the very rare occasions, he looked at her fondly.

  It was clear to her that he was in no way as enamored with her as she was with him. Most often she caught him frowning at her. Or he’d be yelling at her for something she had no part in, like when Finn didn’t do his share of the dishes. No. Marcus had no soft feelings there for her, so she tried in vain to cut herself off from her soft feelings for him.

  One grey afternoon she was sitting in the car waiting for Marcus to return from visiting a wolf who had needed to talk to him ‘confidentially’. Sabine had though it was far more likely that the woman had wanted to ‘speak’ to him without the bother of her hanging around, but hadn’t said anything as he’d ordered her back to the car. It was quite possible he wanted to be alone with her. And that was none of her business despite her wanting to drive the 4x4 through the woman’s oh so pretty garden.

  She was staring into space when she saw Bucky sprinting around the corner in wolf form. He was closely followed by a black truck and looked as relieved as she’d ever seen a wolf when he spotted her exiting the 4x4.

  She left the door open for Bucky to jump in and waited beside the car, ready to jump if they were dumb enough to try ramming her.

  The car stopped and an older man stepped out, flanked by a big man. They both smelt like some sort of cat, possibly lions.

  “Sabine Moon, now this is a surprise. I heard a rumor that you worked for Marcus now, but I had hoped sincerely that it was not true. Tell him the council will meet him tonight at eight to discuss payment.”

  Before she could think to get a word in they both melted back into the car, and it took off around the corner.

  “What was that all about?” she asked Bucky.

  He just sat with his head on his paws in the back seat waiting for Marcus and avoiding her eyes.

  “Alright. Keep your secrets, he shouldn’t be too long,” she sighed.

  When Marcus returned to the car he looked majorly pissed off and smelt of another woman. She took one look at him and seethed inwardly.

  “Marcus, while you were in there having a ‘chat’,” he interrupted her.

  “It’s none of your damn business what I was doing in there. Unless Bucky needs to go somewhere we’re going home,” he growled at her.

  She sighed and pursed her lips. In the backseat, Bucky looked back and forth between the two of them before changing to his human form. It was clear to him that something was going on between them and he would need to pass on the message.

  “Marcus, Gregory chased me here. We’re meeting the council tonight at eight o’clock and he mentioned that he’d heard the rumor that Sabine was working for you, but had ‘hoped it was not true’. And no I don’t need to go anywhere,” Bucky said.

  Marcus sighed and swore.

  “I didn’t screw her. I walked in there and she jumped me. Just like you knew she would,” he said to Sabine, whose mood lightened a little.

  “Bucky, gather the wolves. Just the trustworthy ones. Get Rob and Finn to help. Anyone breaths a word to Ange and Theo and I’ll personally make them into a winter coat for Sabine.”

  She snorted, “Sweet. I’ll wear the skins of my foes and I’ll be a proper barbarian.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Just one more time people,” Finn muttered to himself as they crossed the road.

  “We know this is an ambush, why are we doing this?”

  Marcus growled low in his throat and no one answered Finn.

  Sabine shivered a little in her coat. She had dressed light so that she wouldn’t impede her movements, but winter was its way and she could feel it.

  There were ten of them, Marcus’ most trusted and best fighters, her included. Four of the wolves were in their beast forms flanking the group on each side, and the rest were flanking Marcus. She could tell he’d been tempted to have her change and at their backs, but it was clear she may have to do some talking tonight.

  As to why they were there. It was the same reason they had taken their job in the first place. When the council calls, it’s a bad idea to say no, especially if you want to continue living comfortably. They were just too strong for the wolf pack to turn down, and all had agreed when they were first contacted that this was the best way to be allowed to live in Ashton in peace and comfort.

  Walking into the hall they saw an impressive amount of security men around the walls, almost two for every wolf that was there. In the center of the room five older men stood behind a table. They smelt of cat, four of them were Jaguar, but there was the same more ambiguous scent from the afternoon.

  “Marcus, my boy. We had no idea you’d bring so many with you. Please have a seat, although some of your wolves may have to remain standing,” the oldest and more important looking cat directed.

  Sabine and Finn stood each side of Marcus and the others took a seat as directed. The wolves sat fanned out, so each could keep an eye on a different set of guards, leaving the men at the table to Sabine and Finn to worry about.

  “Now let me know how the mission went,” he smiled beguilingly at them.

  “And please don’t skip the part where Sabine joined the fray. We are most anxious to hear that bit.”

  Marcus told his story plainly, and with very few interruptions. Sabine didn’t listen; she spent the time examining the men behind the table. Gregory listened intently, along with three of the other men at the table, but the last one at the end of the table, a wiry looking guy, nearest her kept glancing her way. He looked annoyed and a little confused.

  The hairs on the back of her neck pricked and she resorted to taking a quick look at wiry with her mind. She saw he was majorly pissed at her, and concealing something from everyone in the hall. At first, she thought it was a weapon, but by concentrating more she saw it was something he treasured, and something he thought she was going to try to take away from him.

  Her curiosity peaked and she watched him covertly through the rest of the meeting. She desperately wanted to know what he had, and why he thought she wanted it. She was asked several questions about Anya’s parentage, and the meeting wrapped up with the men passing a briefcase to Marcus.

  “Sorry to be cliché, but this really is the most convenient way to pay you,” said the man who had welcomed them.

  “Quite alright,” Marcus said, nodding farewell to the group.

  The wolves and Sabine turned towards the door. Sabine felt a pull in her mind, and she pulled back, hard. She didn’t like things fucking around in her mind. Then she felt a weight in her pocket.

  Looking around nonchalantly she saw that no one would have been close enough to put anything there. Remembering wiry’s fear of her taking something from him she kept her chin down and kept walking. They were almost at the door when wiry screeched.

  “She’s taken it! The tiger has it! Stop her!”

  The guards around them reacted instantaneously, closing in on the group. The men at the table all turned towards wiry and asked what was missing. Sabine and the wolves didn’t wait for his answer they attacked, holding the guards at bay while Marcus and the men in human form got out the door and ran to start the cars.

  She yelled for the wolves to leave while she singlehandedly held the guards away from the door. She took a bit of a beating for it, but it was far easier for one person to stop ten from leaving through a single door than it was for ten to squeeze through past her. Besides, it was her they wanted. They could damn well have her. One of the guards picked her up by the front of her shirt.

  “Stop now. All of you,” Gregory yelled.

  “Leon, what has she taken? Tell me now or she walks free!” the man thundered.

  “Er
m, nothing. I was mistaken,” Leon said glancing at the floor pouting.

  “My apologies to you and the wolves. Please pass on my sincerest regrets for Leon’s behavior to Marcus. Leon isn’t quite the councilor he used to be. We fear age is catching up with him.”

  All four of the men were looking at her with a mix of embarrassment and curiosity. The big man that had picked her up gently set her back on her feet and straightened her coat, following her outside.

  “I am sorry miss,” he said handing her a tissue and indicating his cheek, meaning he’d probably split the skin just under her eye socket.

  He gave her a wholly male once over that told her in no uncertain terms did he think her cheek detracted from her charms. She winked and headed towards the cars. Marcus glowered at her from the door he was leaning against.

  “You know I was debating going back in there and rescuing you when I realized that you were more than probably have a wonderful time fighting, and if you had stolen anything, then you damn-well deserve to be getting your ass kicked.”

  The anger in his voice didn’t quite mesh with the way he took the tissue from her and dabbed at her cheek.

  She sighed and explained what had happened leaving out the guard. He was close enough to see that with his own eyes.

  “However, we had better get the hell out of here, because I think I do have something of his. I have no idea what it is but apparently, it’s quite the treasure.”

  Marcus stared at her incredulously before shaking his head and sliding sexily back into the car. The man could make getting into a car look sexual. She really needed to get laid.

  Back in the house Marcus waited until it was just Rob, Finn and her still left in the lounge before looking at her expectantly. She pulled out a glass globe.

  Judging from its size, it should really have been much heavier and much more obvious in her pocket. She told the others exactly what she had seen and felt throughout the meeting and they all had a good look at it.

  “I wonder why he thought it was so precious,” she mused looking deep into the glass.

  If she looked hard she could see a faint glimmer, she concentrated on it and looked with her mind to see if she could gain any knowledge of the thing.

  Without warning the globe lit up bright gold. She let go of the thing and tried to look away, but it stayed floating there, pulling at her mind and surrounding her with warmth. It was a surprisingly pleasurable experience, almost like a giant hug, even though it felt a little like the globe was trying to shoe-horn her into it, mind first. She unconsciously took a step forward.

  Sabine felt herself falling and tried to pull herself free. The globe didn’t let go, it kept hugging and pulling.

  Suddenly panicking and seeking escape she sent her other senses out around her until she found an object to grab onto. Her hands making contact she managed to shut her eyes against the globe, and with one last strong tug at her mind it let her go, falling to the floor with a thump.

  Cautiously she opened her eyes, and they fell straight to the globe. Nothing was glowing about it now and it sat unmoving against her foot on the carpet. She let out a shaky breath and then thought to find out what she had grabbed onto.

  It was Marcus. She was tightly gripping a forearm that he had offered to her with one hand and the fabric of his t-shirt with her other hand. He looked down at her with concern, and braced her there with his other arm over her shoulders. Finn and Rob were standing to either side looking confused.

  “Are you ok?”

  “Yeah, I think so. That was just the weirdest sensation. It felt like it was trying to fit me in there. It wasn’t a bad thing, but it scared the hell out of me and I panicked,” she said, still looking up into his eyes, mesmerized.

  “Are you sure it wasn’t trying to hurt you?” he asked.

  “Yeah, it just,” she realized she was still clinging to him, and disentangled herself.

  “I don’t know what it was doing, but it wasn’t bad. It was like a giant hug and lots of warmth. And then I was falling, and I panicked,” she said, taking a step back from him picking up the globe again hesitantly.

  “May I?” Marcus asked.

  “Yeah sure. What’s mine is yours, and I don’t want that an awful lot at the moment.”

  Sabine handed him the globe and went to sit on the couch. The other men tried considering it as she had done and didn’t get as much as a flicker out of it. Marcus asked her to try it again and she flat out refused.

  “Unless that’s an order, I’m going to bed. I’ve got no desire to do that again.”

  Marcus looked hard at her thinking it over and reluctantly decided against ordering her to do it. She had felt good in his arms, and he wouldn’t have minded a repeat.

  “No, go to bed. It’s late.”

  Finn and Rob both headed for bed, and Marcus locked the globe in his safe. He wondered why Sabine had grabbed him of all people. Both Rob and Finn had been much closer to her than he had been. She’d even brushed past Finn to get to him, and she hadn’t seemed to notice at all.

  Me moved to his bedroom to pace and think on it. There was a small frown on his face as he recalled what he had felt considering the golden glow that she had triggered.

  It had been like a brief consider her mind. He had felt loneliness, anger, and something that made his throat ache along with a heavy mantle of responsibility. He had seen her surrounded by a wall and she was watching him hungrily from inside it.

  Was it possible she had feelings for him?

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Sabine stretched out as much as she could on the office chair. She was slouched way down with her feet up on the desk. Her back was to the globe that Marcus had casually left on a pile of invoice books. Supposedly she was ‘guarding’ the damn thing while Bucky was away ‘shopping’.

  The second she had walked into the office she had realized that they were hoping for another reaction from the globe. Marcus had stared hopefully at the thing while Bucky stammered his apology and a weak ass story about needing her to look after the phones. Coincidentally Marcus felt the need to have her look after the globe, and put her in charge of guarding it and being Buck’s pseudo secretary. Rolling her eyes, she had flopped grumpily down into the seat with her back to it. She sat in almost the same position three hours and a numb ass later.

  If they really wanted the damn thing safe they would have locked it up at the house and left her there with it. The only reason they were here were the cameras in the office and the illusion of privacy. She still hadn’t puzzled out why Marcus didn’t just order her to protect it. Despite her protests, they both knew that the order would have been well within her contract with him. And she would have done it too.

  She would have considered those incredibly deep eyes and gone and done something stupid like pouring herself into the globe, and more than probably killing herself in the process.

  The bell on the front door dinged and she sat up slightly. She wasn’t going to make the effort to take her feet off the desk and pretend she worked there, any idiot with the gift of sight would tell that by looking at her. She was wearing her leather jacket, her hair was curling crazily all over her head, and she was sure her cheek was supporting a fetching bruise from last night. It felt damn tender alone with her entire left hand side and neck. Marcus had even winced at her when she came down for breakfast, and seeing the look she hadn’t bothered to look in the mirror, she was guessing this one was way past concealer.

  A tall man walked around the corner, stopping just short of the desk. She put her head on the side and scrutinized him. Not a bad body, from what she could tell under the suit. Reasonably tall. Perfectly groomed black hair. On the outside he looked normal, but something wasn’t quite human about him. When she looked over him with her mind he looked much stronger than her, and very insubstantial. When he turned his head slightly the black hair shimmered silver for a moment before settling again against his head, and his eyes were grey. Not grey-grey, but silver-grey.
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br />   Sabine nodded at the seat on the other side of the desk and waited for him to make the first move. In general, with surprisingly few words, she could piss off the gentlest tempered person and get into something interesting situations. Rather than get this thing, whatever it was, pissed off with her she’d let it say its piece before politely showing it the door. They regarded each other for a few moments before the man sat and spoke.

  “Sabine, it is nice to meet you, my name is Aaron. I have heard you are an extraordinary woman and by taking the globe, you have proven the rumor to be true.” She didn’t ask how he knew her name, but decided to correct him on how she came into possession of the globe.

  “Um, technically I don’t think I took the globe, it just happened to find its way into my pocket. It’s really more of a coincidence than anything else,” Sabine said, dropping her feet off the table to face him more squarely.

  “Actually, you did take it. That globe needs to be given freely, or taken by extreme force of will. It would not have left the council’s building without one of those things, and I find it highly unlikely that Leon would pass one its treasures onto you, or the Lovure Pack. Council members aren’t normally so generous. From what I understand the Council just barely gave the Pack what it agreed to pay for the small slaughter they embarked on,” Aaron looked at her with a calculating smile.

  Sabine had no idea, having not been paying any attention in the meeting. She assumed that it was true though, and probably because she has insisted on saving Anya.

  She shrugged, “Ok so I ‘took’ it. More important, I think, is the fact that you want it. You do want the globe, right? That’s why you’re here?” Sabine asked.

  “Correct I need that globe. And I will not take it off you. You are free to decide whether to give it to me, or not. I need this globe to free one of my kind from slavery to one of the members of the council. And now a small lesson, if you’ll indulge me.” Aaron paused, looking for her approval.