by Amelia Jade
“What’s the deal with them?” Aiden asked, casually pointing to the two human guards standing nearby, automatic rifles slung over their shoulders.
Willow noted how he didn’t seem worried or concerned. Just curious. Threat Assessment. That’s what he’s doing right now.
“As long as you keep your mouth shut and do as I say, nothing to worry about.” She wheeled the truck around and started backing it up to the vans.
One of the guards used a hand to wave her in until she was close.
“I see. This doesn’t seem like it has much to do with shipping,” he remarked, sitting up straighter as she put the vehicle into park. He didn’t comment when she left the engine running.
“Sure it does,” she said. “But sometimes we have to do things a bit more clandestinely.”
“Is this stuff illegal?”
“No. Just highly private. We do a lot of government work as well. Some of their agencies aren’t comfortable delivering to us in private.”
Aiden shook his head. “The stuff is already loaded. Why not just deliver it in those vans?”
Willow rolled her eyes. “You don’t know everything, so of course it doesn’t make sense. But they aren’t all going to the same destination. Hopefully that helps you figure it out.”
He considered her response, and then shrugged. “Sure, whatever you say. I’m to load it all up into our truck then?”
“Yes.”
Before she could say any more Aiden had slipped out. Willow cursed and went after him. The humans didn’t know who he was, and she didn’t want any trouble.
God I hate dealing with the government sometimes.
Eight
Aiden
Whoever the two goons with guns were, they most certainly weren’t government agents.
They weren’t nearly aware enough of their surroundings, nor did they give him the respect he deserved. True, they both brought their weapons around when he appeared, but after Willow told them he was fine, they relaxed.
He’d listened carefully to Willow describe to him who the men were. He hadn’t sensed any deceit in her voice. Whoever they truly worked for, she believed they were part of a government agency. What kind of lies was her father giving her, he wondered. Whatever was in the brown boxes was absolutely illegal. He just didn’t know what it was.
Preparing himself, he lifted the first box, muscles flexed and ready.
“Whoops,” he muttered as he nearly upended himself.
The box weighed next to nothing! It wasn’t empty; he could feel the contents, they just didn’t have much weight to them. With a shrug he picked up an entire stack and started walking back to his truck.
“These aren’t fragile, are they?” he asked Willow.
“No.”
“Excellent.”
The loading of the truck proceeded in fairly quick order.
“Only one stack at a time?” Willow jabbed as he was working. “Orren usually takes two.”
He rolled his eyes at her taunt and snatched up two piles of the ultra-light boxes the second time around. “It’s not the weight,” he remarked as he set them down. “It’s the bulk. If they would shrink-wrap them together, I could take four stacks at once with ease. It would make the whole thing go far easier.”
“I’ll mention it to Father,” she replied with a twinkle in her eye, grabbing some of the boxes that had been shoved in and around the main stacks and moving them over as well.
Another ten minutes and both vans were empty. The guards nodded at Willow, went over to their vans, and got in. Aiden noted they both entered the passenger side. Which meant there had been two others present, drivers only. Very interesting. He really needed to get a look inside the boxes, to figure out what they contained.
“I’m just going to secure these down a little better,” he remarked, hopping into the truck. “I don’t want them to fall all over the place.”
“Are you criticizing my driving?” Willow challenged lightly.
“Is it really criticizing when you state facts?” he shot back. “You ran over the curb getting us in here.”
“It’s a tight squeeze!” she protested.
He snorted, looking on the boxes for any labels that would give a clue to the contents. “You realize that this facility is designed for ease of entry and exit with big eighteen-wheeler vehicles in mind, right?”
Willow just glared at him.
“Since I’m going to be the one unloading them, I want them to stay stacked upright. Not only will it be more work for me if they don’t, but I’m sure someone will yell at me for it.”
“You’re probably right,” Willow agreed. “But you can console yourself with the knowledge that you deserve it.”
He slumped. “Ouch.”
That earned him a giggle, though the Alpha’s daughter quickly tamped down on that reaction, turning away. “I’ll be in the cab.”
“Okay.” He tried not to sound too excited.
Once she was gone Aiden swiftly sliced open a box to take a look at the contents.
“What the hell?” It was just filled with translucent plastic packets. Like plastic baggies, but a much heavier grade. His mind was taken back to the one time he’d been to a hospital, after a particularly bad injury. He’d received an IV bag…which when empty, looked exactly like what he was holding in his hand.
What the hell?
Shoving it back inside, he adjusted the tape as best as possible, and then shuffled some stacks around, hiding the opened box near the bottom of a random one. Hopefully nobody would notice or care when they finally got to that point. Maybe, if he was lucky, he’d be able to retape the box later when nobody was around.
Everything secured as best he could, Aiden closed the rear and hopped into the cab. Willow had it in gear before he even had his seatbelt done up.
“Hey, safety first!” he yelped. “With you doing that thing you call ‘driving’ in this rig, I’m probably gonna need it.”
She glared at him as they approached the exit. “Keep this up and you’re going to need protection, that’s for sure. But far more than the seatbelt can provide.”
Aiden laughed off her threat, enjoying their little banter. It was the most he’d really gotten out of her since they’d met. He felt she was enjoying it too.
“Maybe I’ll have to buy a dashcam,” he muttered, ensuring it was loud enough for Willow to hear. “That way I’ll have proof of my claims.”
All he could hear was a high-pitched growl from Willow. They both laughed at that for a bit before settling down into amicable silence.
He broke it first. “Can I ask you something now?”
“I guess I owe you, don’t I?”
“Nah, I don’t keep track of that kind of stuff,” he said with a wave of his hand.
“Well, you can ask. I might not want to answer, but I will.”
“What happened to your family? How did you end up adopted by werewolves?”
She grimaced. “I should have figured it would be that.”
“I’m sorry, if it’s too painful, you don’t have to tell me.”
Willow shook her head, hands staying calmly on the wheel. “No, it’s only fair. You told me about your past, I guess I reciprocate. That’s how these things work, right?”
He very carefully did not make a comment to the effect of “these things.” That would be pressing things too much, too soon. If he wanted her to learn to grow comfortable with him, he’d have to move a little slower.
“It’s painful,” she said. “But not because of the memories I have.”
Aiden frowned, not understanding.
“It hurts because of what I don’t have. What I never had. I don’t remember my family. I was an infant still, no memories of that time. So all I know is that I never grew up knowing my real family. They never got a chance to meet me. When I look around and see other human families, or werewolves at that, I hurt, because I want that, but I don’t have it.”
His heart ached for her. Ai
den wanted to reach out, to rest his hand on her forearm, to tell her that it was okay to hurt, that she shouldn’t feel guilty about it. To make sure she knew he would be there for whatever she needed.
“My family was killed by a rogue werewolf,” she said at last. “Stephen was hunting him, trying to bring him down before he did any more damage. They lived out in the woods, preferring privacy to the city life. Anyway, as he tells me, he got there too late. The wolf had killed everyone but me. He managed to save me, and he felt guilty about what had happened, so he adopted me and raised me as his own daughter.” She pursed her lips, thoughtful for a second. “Yeah, that’s the story. I’ve worked at his company ever since he started it when I got back from college.”
Aiden nodded. “I see. And you’re, what, mid-thirties did you say?”
Willow gave him a look, and he just realized he’d asked a woman her age. Shit. But he needed to know. “On the dot, actually.”
He nodded, trying to play it off, not wanting her to know the thoughts racing through his head. Thirty-five years ago. He would have been twelve. The age difference mattered exactly not at all to him. That’s not what he was thinking about.
Rogue or wild Weres were an extremely rare occurrence. To the point that they were all documented and reported. He could think of exactly twice that it had happened during his lifetime. Neither one of which had occurred thirty-five years ago.
What other lies is her adopted “father” telling her? “Government agents.” “Rogue Weres?” Right.
***
Once back at the pack house, Aiden returned to dutifully pretending not to have any interest in Willow whatsoever.
That was what Stephen expected from him, and that was what he was going to keep up the illusion of. He’d finally managed to get her cell number during the last bit of the drive back though, and now was free to talk to her as often as he wished, without Stephen interfering.
In fact, they’d just finished making plans to both head out of the pack house that evening and “accidentally” end up at the same spot. He couldn’t wait. Neither of them had been willing to classify it as a date, but Aiden knew a date when he saw one. The two of them were going to be alone and unchaperoned—the horror!—for the first time. His excitement was threatening to bubble over the top, and he was forced to counter it with an extra dose of dour frowning anytime anyone was around.
“Aiden.”
He froze as Stephen called his name, appearing from around the corner of the hallway that led to his office.
“Yes?”
“Good job with the pickup today. Not everyone can handle the fact that we do clandestine government work.”
“Ah, thanks.”
I’m pretty sure I just committed a crime, or helped aid criminals. Either way, Mack would likely be pissed about whatever it is you’re up to. Now my hands are dirty too though, and you know it.
That was probably the plan all along. Get him doing stuff that could incriminate him, so that if they went down, it would look bad enough that he’d be taken down with them. Whether Aiden knew what he’d been doing or not, it wouldn’t matter. He was an exile, and Mack wasn’t going to give him another chance. He had to bust this whole thing wide open, and soon.
“There’s a party going on tonight, outside of town.”
“Oh yeah?” He tried to feign interest, wondering how he was going to get out of this one.
“Yeah, boys-only sort of thing.” Stephen smiled, making it clear that there wouldn’t just be boys there.
Aiden had an idea what it was he was referring to.
“Bonfire?” he asked, trying to sound hopeful.
“Yeah, definitely. Everything is on the house. We’re leaving around seven.” It wasn’t an invitation. It was a command.
Aiden was expected to be there.
“Do you have these parties often?” he asked casually, trying to sound eager.
Stephen shook his head. “No, we haven’t had one in a while. But the pack is too worked up. We’ve been doing a lot lately, and it’s time the boys let loose and relaxed. Work off some steam.”
“I understand completely.”
And he did. Stephen wasn’t talking about a brush party. He was talking about a Frenzy. An organized orgy, essentially. From the sounds of it, complete with drugs and human women. Aiden wanted to hiss in anger at the idea that Stephen was putting one together. The women were rarely there out of a desire to be, and judging by the way his pack acted, he doubted that all of them would be returning home.
“Seven sharp,” Stephen said.
“I’ll be ready.” He smiled and let a low chuckle echo between them.
His Alpha smiled and disappeared back to his hallway.
Shit.
“Willow is not going to be happy.” He spoke the words under his breath.
“No, she isn’t.”
He spun to find her standing behind him.
“How long have you been there?” he asked, swallowing nervously.
“Long enough to hear all about how much fun you’re going to have tonight at the party.” She practically spat the word at him.
So much for her not knowing what was involved at the Frenzy.
“Look, Willow, I—”
But she was gone, disappearing up the stairs to the second floor. Moments later a door slammed.
“Son of a bitch.”
What the fuck was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t not go to the party. But he wasn’t going to sleep with anyone while there. And he had to ensure that the women all made it home safely. On top of all that, he was somehow supposed to prove to Willow that it wasn’t his idea to go, that he’d simply been pretending so his Alpha didn’t suspect him of anything!
What a clusterfuck.
He headed for his room, his brain already switching into high gear. He had plans to make. Right now, as much as he hated it, he had to put Willow’s thoughts toward him as a secondary priority.
Spoiling Stephen’s party and yet somehow managing to ingratiate himself further into the pack at the same time was top priority. The first part was easy. It was the second that took him some time to work through. In the end though, he knew he could make it happen. Aiden started contacting a few friends he had outside of Mack’s pack. In addition to the party, he had some questions about Willow’s family, and the supposed rogue Were.
It was time he started getting some answers.
Nine
Aiden
The party was in full swing.
Three separate bonfires formed a triangle in front of the barn, but by now they were mostly devoid of figures. Everyone had moved inside, where sheets and sleeping bags were sprawled out everywhere. Many of them were occupied by various forms. Some sitting up and talking, but most were covered in darkness that humped and moved against themselves. Noises from a multitude of female throats rose into the high ceiling, where they were joined by a few more from the loft of the barn itself.
Aiden was disgusted by what he saw. There were only seven other shifters in Stephen’s pack. All of them were with two, three, or in Langdon’s case, he’d been seen going off with four women attached to him. In other places, women doped to the gills on some concoction of drugs were simply going at it with each other, so horny that they wanted the first warm body they could find.
The air reeked of pheromones, sex, and sweat. So far he’d managed to avoid much more than having a woman or two sit in his lap. He wasn’t proud of himself, but every time one woman would plop down, he’d find another to occupy his other leg. The women were obviously brought in because they were willing to fuck anything that moved. It didn’t take him much effort to get them interested in each other, thinking they were doing that to turn him on.
Once they got good and aroused though, he could put them onto the ground somewhere and let them enjoy each other’s company. Part of him enjoyed the view, watching two women strip each other down and then start pleasing one another. There was a primal nature to that even he couldn’t
ignore.
But he didn’t want to join in. Not just because the women were high on who knew what, or rather obviously wannabe porn starlets. No, the bigger answer was that he ended up comparing each one of them to Willow and her curvy figure, honey-blonde hair, and vivid green eyes.
And every single woman came up lacking in a big way.
At first the other packmates had given him some looks when he didn’t just randomly grope and fondle the women who threw themselves at him. But as the night wore on they forgot, becoming more absorbed in their own rutting than they were in him. Things got easier at that point, but now he was starting to get anxious.
Stephen was walking toward him, a gleam in his eye.
“What’s wrong?” his Alpha asked, obviously hoping to corner him into admitting something.
“Just thinking back to my days as an RRT member.”
The Regional Response Teams were composed of highly trained Weres who helped the Alpha and local councils enforce the laws of the Were world. Mostly werewolves, but with the odd bear or mountain lion worked in for good measure, they were a force to be reckoned with.
“Why does that have you worried?”
“Because if I were a team leader who had heard of this Frenzy, I’d wait until most of the Weres were good and bedded before I stormed the place.”
Stephen looked around. “Like now.”
He nodded. “Like—”
The front door of the barn burst open as a pack of snarling wolves came racing through.
“SHIT!” Stephen shouted, picking up a nearby stack of hay and tossing it through the air.
The wolf it was aimed at didn’t see it coming and they went flying, colliding with another wolf, a smaller gray-tufted beast.
All around the barn figures were waking up as the RRT deployed. Aiden had already moved to the side into the shadows, preparing to make good his escape, when the cry that he’d been waiting for struck up.
“Out the back!”
Aiden stepped forward, swatting another wolf aside that wasn’t looking in his direction. He hit it hard enough to hurt, but he’d had enough surprise on his side he could have snapped its neck. That wasn’t his mission though.
