Jason stepped forward and took the packed lunch she offered to him. “You’re forgiven, under one condition. Once this is over, you and I need to have a proper conversation.”
“Agreed,” Alicia said, handing him a bottle of water. She still had her concerns about their relationship, and there was something she needed to talk to him about, but she wanted to give this a chance. She wanted more than a few stolen moments together. Alicia wanted to see if she and Jason could make a real relationship work.
73
Jason
Jason ate the packed lunch Alicia had made for him, especially enjoying the ham sandwiches. Spending so much time in his wolf form had him craving meat, and he knew when they had dinner at Shadowbrook that evening he’d need a rare steak.
Not only was breaking for lunch essential for Jason to regain enough energy so he could shift into his wolf form again, but it also allowed him to reflect on the growing relationship with Alicia. While he still retained some of his humanity in his wolf form, his thoughts weren’t as clear when he shifted and he relied on his animal instincts.
Now that he was in human form again, he couldn’t stop thinking about when he’d kissed her. His body had tingled with electricity for hours afterward. He’d greatly enjoyed his time at the inn with Alicia the previous evening, he’d had more fun with her than any woman he’d dated. He didn’t know what would happen next, but he was certain he wanted to keep spending time with Alicia and getting to know her.
He hoped the feeling was mutual.
Alicia had given him no indication the previous evening that she hadn’t enjoyed spending time with him or regretted kissing him. From his perspective, she’d enjoyed it as much as he had. He only hoped that spark remained when she had to return to Boston. He wasn’t ready to walk away from this, not by a long shot. He wouldn’t ask her to move to Lenox for him, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to step down as alpha, but he wanted to make this work with Alicia.
He just hoped they both lived long enough to continue exploring the spark between them.
Jason finished his lunch and handed the brown paper bag back to Alicia so they could dispose of it once they left the forest.
“Thanks for lunch,” he said genuinely. “It was delicious.”
Alicia smiled and Jason had to tell his heart to calm down. “You’re welcome. Do you want to shift back or do you need to let your food settle a bit?”
“Yeah, letting my food settle won’t hurt, plus I wanted to talk about what we should do now. We’ve almost finished searching our section. What happens when we do?”
Alicia bit on her bottom lip, an expression Jason found adorable. Her lips were plump and he knew from experience they were super soft. How he longed to claim her lips with his mouth again.
Not caring if they had a mission to focus on, Jason stepped close to Alicia. When she didn’t back off, he grabbed her hips - God, he loved her body, so curvy and sexy - and tugged her towards him. She looped her arms around his neck as Jason lowered his head and kissed her softly.
Jason wanted Alicia so badly he was tempted to try his luck and start undressing her so they could make love here in the forest, under the clear blue sky, but then he thought better of it. They had a mission to complete. Arresting Rebecca Carnegie was of utmost importance.
Jason shook all dirty thoughts from his head and stepped away from Alicia so that she could answer his question about what they’d do when they finished searching their section.
“I don’t know. I honestly thought someone would have found something by now. It bothers me that no one has picked up their scent,” she said, concern making her brows furrow. “When Derek and Grace were hunting for the missing children, the Carnegies had a way of removing their scent from areas they’d been in. I’m worried they’re doing that again.”
Jason shook his head. “I don’t think they are. If they were, they’d be an absence of all scents. I’ve picked up scents, just not theirs. This tells me they simply haven’t been through this way.”
“Okay, but what about the other areas? Someone must have found something.”
“We have,” a voice said and both Jason and Alicia turned to see Grace and Ben walking through the trees. Ben, like Jason, was dressed only in black shorts.
Alicia rushed to meet them, Jason hurrying to keep pace.
“What have you found? Where?” Alicia demanded.
“They’re holed in a cabin by an abandoned, rundown campsite, on the edge of the area you had me and Ben search,” Grace said, coming to a stop in front of Jason and Alicia.
“How many of them?” Jason asked.
“We counted about sixty. I honestly had no idea she had so many allies left, I thought they’d all been caught,” Ben said, a slight frown marring his forehead.
Jason frowned too. This was more than they’d accounted for. Did they have the numbers to beat the Carnegies in a fight?
“This is fine. It’s fine,” Alicia insisted, though her tone sounded anything but fine. “Yes, it’s more people than we expected, but we still have a slight numbers advantage.”
Only because I offered the pack’s assistance, Jason thought, glad Alicia had accepted their help.
“It will be okay,” Ben agreed. “But we need to act quickly and carefully.”
“Yes. Ben and Jason, I want you to shift and make your way through the forest. Avoid the area the Carnegies are hiding out in and inform everyone what’s happening. Tell them to meet back at the parking lot. I will radio the team at the reservoir and tell them to meet us at the parking lot so we can plan what to do next.”
“Got it,” Jason replied, then not caring if Alicia and Grace were watching or not, he stripped off his shorts and shifted into his wolf form. A few moments later, Ben did the same, and together the two packmates raced through the forest.
Luckily, Grace must have started radioing the officers while Jason and Ben moved through the trees because at every section they came to they found a packmate waiting for them in wolf form, and the officer would say, “We’ve been informed, and will join you as quickly as possible.”
The wolves carried on running through the forest, trying to make as little noise as possible so that the Carnegies wouldn’t know they were soon to be ambushed, until a pack of almost twenty wolves grouped together in the parking lot. Thankfully, they encountered no civilians, and instead waited patiently for the officers to arrive.
Jason paced the lot, unable to keep still. This was it. They were about to face Rebecca and the other Carnegies for the final time. In a few hours, all this would be over. The Carnegies would be in police custody and his pack would be safe from danger.
Then what?
He knew he had to speak to Alicia that evening. He just hoped she’d go to Shadowbrook where he knew the pack would be celebrating their victory. Because they would be victorious. There was no other option.
Jason thought about Derek, Lana and Harper back at the estate. Instinct told him they were safe, and it was a relief to know his best friend and the others would be there to welcome them back. He just hoped they won with as little casualties as possible.
He knew they wouldn’t take down the Carnegies without some injury, but he prayed any hurt would be superficial. Alicia’s team of police officers were all wearing bulletproof vests under their uniforms, so that would hopefully ensure no humans were wounded.
His pack would be safe too. Their supernatural abilities gave them a heightened resistance to human weapons, unless they were shot at close range, like Derek had been, or the enemy had silver bullets. Thankfully the Carnegies had yet to use silver bullets, and Jason assumed they didn’t know about the pack’s one real weakness. If they did, they’d all be dead.
A commotion in the parking lot bought Jason’s attention back to the present, and he saw the first of the team from the reservoir arriving. Officer Collins pulled his patrol car into the lot, Kevin sitting in the passenger seat, in wolf from. They got out of the car and joined the waiting shif
ters.
“Where’s Officer Ripley?” Collins asked when he neared them.
Unable to answer in his wolf form, Jason shifted, crossing his legs so not to expose himself to Officer Collins. “She’s readying her team. They’ll be here soon,” he replied, though even as the words left his mouth a cold, hard ball of doubt settled in the pit of his stomach. He could just see members of the forest team walking through the trees, the officers who’d been informed of the situation by Grace moving at a slower pace than a pack of wolves could. However, neither Grace nor Alicia were with them.
Where the hell are they? Jason wondered, panic gripping his chest. Had Alicia and Grace gone to scout the Carnegie’s location and gotten caught? If anything happened to Alicia, he’d tear every Carnegie limb from limb.
Jason shifted back into his wolf form and watched the treeline frantically as the rest of the team from the reservoir arrived and joined the team from the forest. The two groups of officers exchanged information, as the pack gathered together, pawing at the ground. Tension rippled through the entire assembled group, and Jason was surprised his pack was keeping so quiet. They all moved silently, not a single one issuing a howl, so as not to alert anyone to their presence.
Finally, Alicia and Grace emerged from the trees, and Jason bounded towards them. As Jason slowed his momentum and came to a halt at Alicia’s feet, a strange expression crossed her face - part surprised and part something else Jason couldn’t quite pinpoint at that moment.
“Okay, everyone, gather round,” she called.
74
Alicia
“Okay, everyone, gather round,” Alicia called. Her heart was pounding and she needed a moment to recover, but she didn’t have a moment. Her task force and the Shadowbrook shifter pack were gathered in the parking lot and they awaited her instruction.
Alicia’s head was spinning. She and Grace had gone back to scout the Carnegie’s location before meeting the others in the parking lot. That’s why they were the last to arrive. They’d almost been spotted, which partly accounted for Alicia’s rapidly beating heart. The main reason, though, was the way Jason had bounded towards her when she’d arrived.
Even in his wolf form, Alicia could sense the worry emanating from Jason. No man had ever cared about her so fiercely. Jason’s need to protect her was palpable in the air. And that made the doubt in Alicia’s mind rush to the fore. They were about to face their deaths, and she knew not everyone would make it. When all this was over would she and Jason have the opportunity to continue to get to know each other? Or would fate cruelly snatch him away from her?
Sixty armed, shifter-hating humans stood between them and victory. Alicia had seen the group for herself, living in the dilapidated cabin at the abandoned campsite. Rebecca Carnegie had been holding court in the center of the site, somehow looking both unkempt and regal at the same time. The rest of her followers hung on every word Rebecca said, as she promised them soon they’d act against the Shadowbrook pack, leaving no shifter alive, before taking their hateful operation to a new town.
Alicia knew not just the lives of the Shadowbrook pack depended on them beating the Carnegies. Perhaps the lives of every shifter in Massachusetts depended on the Carnegies being defeated today.
Finally, her heart slowed to a normal pace and she caught her breath.
“The Carnegies are in the center of the forest,” she told the assembled group. “There are about sixty of them, and though they’re just wearing regular clothes, they’re all armed. We weren’t able to get a count on the amount of ammo they have. Make no mistake, we’re going to be in for a tough fight.”
Alicia paused for a moment, letting her words sink in. Every officer in her task force listened intently, and she knew even in wolf form, the Shadowbrook pack were taking in everything she said too.
“I want everyone to surround the area. We have to ensure none of them will escape the forest when we take the fight to the Carnegies. I want the group from the reservoir to form a perimeter and act as the final line of defense so that no one gets away. I want the pack to go in first and trap the Carnegies within the campsite. The team from the forest will follow with weapons. We need to arrest as many Carnegies as possible. We want justice done properly, and that means the entire family standing trial for the crimes they've committed. However, it’s vital no one escapes, so if the Carnegies put up too much of a fight, I am authorizing the use of lethal force.”
Alicia’s team all said they understood her instructions and would follow them to the letter. She took the bowed heads of the wolves as a sign they’d understood her and would do the same.
“Okay, unless anyone has any objections or questions, I want everyone to line up and follow myself and Grace to the location.”
No one had questions, so the police taskforce and shifters formed a group behind Alicia and Grace, and the assembled team began the trek through the forest. Her officers moved as quietly as possible, though they weren’t able to walk as stealthily as the wolves. Thankfully, there were enough fallen leaves and moss to ensure their footsteps wouldn’t be heard.
Finally, Alicia called a stop to their progression. They were about a hundred-and-sixty yards from the Carnegie’s campsite, and hidden by the cover of trees and other plant life.
“Reservoir officers form the perimeter,” she said in a quiet but authoritative tone.
The officers moved as instructed, silently creeping through the forest, ensuring they got no closer to the campsite, but also making sure every possible escape route was covered. If any Carnegies tried to run away through the forest, they’d be shot on sight.
“Wolves, are you ready?” Alicia asked the Shadowbrook pack.
The pack lowered their heads and pawed the ground in an indication they were ready, but before Alicia had a chance to command them to move out, Jason shifted back into his human form. The eyes of her officers widened as he, naked as the day he was born, walked straight to Alicia, gripped her hips to pull her to him, and crushed his lips against hers, his hands trailing up from her waist to cup her face.
For a moment Alicia was acutely aware Jason was completely naked and that about twenty wolves and fifteen officers were probably watching them. Then Alicia felt Jason’s tongue probing for entrance into her mouth and nothing else mattered.
The whole world melted away and there were only the two of them and this moment. Her heart soared and all that existed was Jason. Her worries about the upcoming fight faded away, replaced by the feel of his hands cupping her cheeks. Her doubts about their relationship, and if they could make it work long distance, were nothing compared to the swirl of his tongue against hers.
Alicia didn’t know what would happen next - between her and Jason, or in the fight with the Carnegies - but all she cared about was the here and now. She never wanted this moment to end, and would only accept it ending if it were so she and Jason could surrender themselves to the passion rippling between them. She wanted to give herself - mind, body and soul - over to this man. Alicia wanted to let Jason claim her and for him to make her his mate.
They just had to live long enough to make that happen.
75
Jason
Jason didn’t care if he was naked and that half of Alicia’s task force and his entire pack were watching them. He had to show her how he felt. They were about to face off against the Carnegies and there was a very real possibility either one or both of them could die in this fight. Jason wasn’t letting Alicia leave without showing her how much she meant to him.
So Jason poured everything into the kiss, cupping Alicia’s face with his hands and stroking her cheeks as his tongue probed for entrance between her luscious lips. She hesitated for only a moment before opening her mouth and kissing him back with equal ferocity.
Everything around Jason faded away - his pack, the police officers, the forest, even the upcoming battle with the Carnegies didn’t matter. All that existed were him and Alicia, joined at the lips, and the growing spark between the
m. He didn’t know how long they had - a minute, an hour, an eternity, but his heart finally allowed him to admit he wanted forever. He didn’t know how things would work between them, but he had to try. He wanted to spend more than an evening with her. More than a few stolen hours. He wanted to wake up beside her and then face a new day together. He wanted to be in her life for as long as she would allow, getting to know this beautiful, stubborn, courageous woman.
Finally, they were forced apart when Grace cleared her throat. “Erm, as lovely as this moment is, we have a battle to start,” she said.
Jason felt Alicia smile against his lips and then she stepped back. Jason longed to tug her to him again, but knew they were out of time. He had to let her go, even if it were only for the duration of the fight, hoping she would come back to him when the time was right.
Instead, Jason turned to his pack, and even though they were all in their wolf forms he spoke to them in a strong, commanding voice.
“You heard what Alicia said. We’re the first line of attack, we need to go in there and pin those bastards in place so Alicia and her team can arrest them. Let’s end this.”
With a rippling of muscles and a popping of bones, Jason shifted into his Mexican wolf form, never more proud to be displaying his dual-heritage; part human-part shifter, part American-part Mexican. He lived in both words and could honor both worlds, just like he hoped his pack would be able to do going forward.
Jason raised his head, howled, and then charged through the trees, running for the campsite.
In his wolf form, he was vaguely aware of people crying out and then bullets ringing in the air. He charged forward, right to the heart of the Carnegies, seeking out Rebecca. He had to do this, for himself, for his pack, for Derek, for their future.
Firefighter Wolves Shifters (A Paranormal Romance Series Boxset) Page 39
