by Lisa Oliver
Teric nodded and quickly rooted through the small bag he was carrying. He stood and quickly slipped out of his tight shirt and equally tight jeans, pulling on a ripped baggy t-shirt and a baggy pair of cargo pants. “Easier to shift in,” he said when he looked up and saw everyone watching him.
“I’m not complaining. I was enjoying the show,” Sebastian said and Kyle growled as he noticed that the infuriating man had moved closer to Teric.
“Doesn’t take much to tweak your dick, does it Sebastian,” Teric said in a flat voice. “One roll of my sexy hips would have you spurting big time. I prefer someone with a bit more stamina.”
Ignoring the wolves and men chuckling around him, Teric quickly pulled some knives from his pack and stuffed them into his belt. A set of nunchucks went nicely into his back pocket and a couple of throwing stars found their place in his side pockets.
“Holy hell,” Dante whispered quietly, “You’re a walking fucking weapon.” Kyle hissed in agreement, but otherwise stayed silent.
“I try,” Teric said, focusing on the house again. Now he could see a few shadows, briefly outlined against the curtains that were covering the windows. “Okay, I think they know we are here” he said. “Let’s do this.”
Dante silently indicated to the enforcers to fan out to the left of where they were standing. Teric knew he could have given the order himself, and Dante would have probably backed him up. But since meeting Kyle, Teric had kept it in the back of his mind that he had to get on with this pack, and a cat shifter giving orders in a wolf pack never worked without some wolf getting his nose out of joint. Wolf shifters were a prideful bunch.
As the first mournful note of a wolf howl ripped through the air, Teric started moving. Given that the grass was so short, he saw no point in trying to hide that he was moving towards the house – he hoped that anyone in the house would be more focused on the action 150 yards away in the trees, rather than on him. Kyle, in his wolf form, kept a silent sentinel beside him. Moving quickly the two of them made the cover of the house in less than thirty seconds.
More howls punctuated the air, as one after another the wolves let out their fighting cry. Teric could feel Kyle shivering beside him. It was virtually impossible to ignore the call of the pack, and Teric knew that Kyle was fighting not to respond with a howl of his own.All through the trees the howls resounded – primal, focused and so damn scary if you were on the wrong side of it.Teric forced himself to focus. Pearson had given him ten minutes and he still wasn’t sure yet, how he was going to get into the house.
Kyle nudged him towards a large sash window. Looking closely, Teric could see the smallest of gaps at the bottom of the window. It appeared that the bottom frame of the wooden window was rotten and Teric smiled. This was something he could work with.
Pulling out the largest of his knives – a thick Ontario Bowie fixed blade knife with a fifteen inch blade – Teric slipped the non-sharp edge of the knife in the gap under the edge of the window, using the handle as a lever. The window sash gave easily and Teric breathed a sigh of relief. The damn thing wasn’t locked, thank goodness.
When he had got the window open a few inches he tapped Kyle very gently on the nose and pointed to the opening. Kyle stepped up, putting his nose against the gap and sniffed hard for a few moments. Stepping back, he gently nudged Teric behind the knees encouraging him to the window opening.
“I’m guessing there is no one on the other side of this,” Teric said as he opened the window further, before hoisting himself up on his arms and quietly slipping through the open gap. Checking that the room – some kind of study – was empty, Teric opened the window up a bit more and then pulled the curtain aside. Two seconds later Kyle’s wolf jumped through the opening and stood guard between Teric and the only door in the room.
Chapter Fifteen
Kyle suppressed the growl that threatened his throat when Teric slipped out from behind him and went to the door, listening carefully. It was in his nature to protect Teric – fuck, it was in his blood. But Teric was the lead here. The one with orders to kill. Kyle was just backup, and damn if that didn’t make his wolf snarl.
Oops. He must have let something slip, because Teric came back and knelt by his side. “I know this is hard, lover,” Teric whispered in his ear. “I know you’re the dominant wolf and used to being in charge. I am so sorry, but I have to do this. Would you feel better if you went and foundPearson and the others?”
Kyle did growl then and shook his head wildly. He wasn’t leaving Teric’s side. Teric huffed and then buried his face in Kyle’s neck. Kyle wasn’t sure if he heard correctly, but he could have sworn he heard Teric whisper, “This is so fucking hard on me too, lover,” before the moment was gone, and Teric the assassin was back.
Holding his hand up, Teric went back to the door and opened it slowly. Outside Kyle could hear the wolves were still howling, but they had moved closer to the house. With time ticking on, Kyle knew that Teric had to move quickly or all of the enforcers would be in the house and that could be chaotic.
The door led out into a short hallway, and Kyle watched as Teric considered his options. To one side of them, the sound of voices talking about the wolves that must be in the grass clearing. To the other, fainter, but definitely there, three voices that sounded like they were shut in another room. It would make sense that the leaders of the group would send the minions to deal with the threat, which meant…Yep, it seemed like Teric had the same idea as he headed to the quieter voices.
Rounding a couple of corners, Kyle almost ran into Teric as the man stopped. The hallway and passage they had followed opened out into a large room at the back of the house. It was dominated by a big desk, and Kyle caught glimpses of large couches and an equally impressive fireplace. Seemed Favo favored the old country house look, if the dark wood and leather furniture was any indication. But it wasn’t the furniture that held his attention. It was the three men in the room who had turned and were now staring at Teric with undisguised hatred.
“Who the fuck are you, and what are you doing on my pack lands?” the oldest wolf shifter snarled. Kyle moved closer to Teric. What he really wanted to do was jump over Teric, and push the alpha wannabe to his knees, but he had to keep reminding himself that this was Teric’s show. Besides any move he made against the Alpha would be considered a challenge for pack leadership and Kyle was quite happy being part of the pack he was in.
“Teric Styles, from the Shifter Council,” Teric said smoothly. “I’m looking for Favo, the leader of this pack.”
“I’m the leader of this pack,” the old wolf shifter said. Sizing him up quickly, Kyle could see that Favo had at least six inches of height on Teric and a good eighty pounds. If he hadn’t seen Teric up against Ace, he might have been a whole heap of worried. As it was, he was just a little bit worried. It was a wolf thing.
“The Council has decided that your crimes against gay wolves and the Washington pack are too discriminatory to ignore,” Teric said, retaining his formal tone. “They have sent me here to remove you from your position.”
Favo looked at the two shifters with him, who hadn’t moved, but were watching Kyle closely. Kyle knew, if he had to, he could take them both, and if they laid a hand on Teric then killing them would not be a problem. It would be a pleasure.But it wouldn’t be him that made the first move.
“You know,” Favo said as he moved closer to Teric. “I would think the Council was insulting me, if the situation wasn’t so ludicrous. Sending a gay cat shifting twink to take out an Alpha wolf. Have you pissed someone off in the Council, you little faggot? Because you’ve definitely got a death wish.”
“I’m just doing my job,” Teric said, his tone as emotionless as ever. Favo, who was standing within five feet of Teric now, opened out his arms in a mocking gesture, saying, “Come and take me then.”
Faster than the eye could track him, Teric moved. Avoiding Favo’s outstretched arms, he dived between Favo’s legs, coming upright behind the man, his a
rm wrapped firmly around Favo’s neck. Favo yelled and tried to shake Teric off, but suddenly Kyle had bigger concerns. The two goons with Favo were now making their move, and Kyle had to jump quickly to intercept them.
Traditionally, in a wolf pack situation, if someone attacked the Alpha, in a challenge, like Teric had instigated, then pack law stated that no one was to interfere. The Alpha wolf should be strong enough to counter any attack against him, and if he wasn’t? Well, he wouldn’t be pack leader for long. The fact that the two goons were actively trying to interfere showed these shifters had lost their sense of honor.
And that made Kyle mad. A wolf shifter without honor was nothing more than a mongrel. Mongrels that were trying to hurt his mate. Kyle stopped thinking and let his wolf instincts take over. In times like this, the animal side of things knew how to handle himself.
Throwing his whole body weight into guard number one, Kyle moved him enough off balance to cause him to fall into guard number two. Both men fell to the floor with a heavy crash and Kyle jumped on them then, growling, snarling and showing his impressive teeth. Unfortunately dumb and dumber didn’t get the memo about Dominant wolves and their temper, and one man pulled a knife, swinging it towards Kyle’s face.
Leaping to one side, Kyle took the time to sink his teeth into guard number two who was still trying to get off the ground. Kyle had a big jaw, and his teeth sunk with a satisfying crunch into bones, tendons and skin. One sharp shake of his head, and Kyle had broken the man’s neck. One down, one knife wielding idiot to go.
Ignoring the body on the floor, Kyle turned to face the second man, who was holding the knife in a tight grip. Clearly not his usual weapon of choice. The man’s knuckles were too white for a start. Moving slowly, with predatory grace, Kyle circled around the man, looking for an opening that would keep him out of the swing of the man’s arms. He wasn’t stupid enough to move into the reach of the knife. The man holding it might not know how to use it, but it would still hurt like a bitch if it connected with Kyle’s skin.
A loud grunt from Favo broke the guard’s concentration on Kyle, and that was the one chance Kyle needed. Pushing hard with his back legs, Kyle covered the distance between them in a flash, grabbing hold of the man’s neck in his teeth and taking both of them to the floor. The man started swinging wildly with his knife, while trying to loosen Kyle’s death grip on his neck, but Kyle was tenacious in his intent. Less than a minute later the taste of blood hit his mouth, and Kyle scraped the neck in his mouth with his teeth – piercing the major artery. A quick tear along the jugular to speed things along, and the guard was dead.
Panting, and wishing he could get the coppery taste of the guard’s blood out of his mouth, Kyle turned, looking for Teric. The room was empty except for the two dead guards. What the fuck? Using his nose, Kyle frantically followed Teric’s delicious scent out of the room.
Chapter Sixteen
Teric knew that in his human form he didn’t have the strength to break Favo’s neck. Not from his current position and not with the man thrashing about like a demented dinosaur. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kyle engaging the other two men in the room and sending a quick prayer for his mate’s safety, Teric concentrated on the job at hand.
Favo was a solid man, with a thick neck, bull shoulders and shoulder length black hair with threads of grey through it. To do any serious damage, especially from behind, Teric needed to access one of the knives in his pocket. His hands had shifted, which helped, his long claws sinking into the side of Favo’s neck. But he didn’t have ten inch long claws so it wasn’t enough for a kill. Teric knew he needed something more.
Suddenly Favo grunted and rolled forward, effectively knocking Teric off of his back. Teric rolled quickly and stood up, facing Favo who was staring at him, his face contorted with fury. “You got a lucky break, kitty cat, but it will be your last,” Favo snarled as he moved forward in a lunge.
Teric ducked and gave a snarl of his own. This was why he did stealth over face to face. This was why he planned, and checked things out before he ever engaged the shifter he was supposed to kill. Ninety percent of the men he did kill were all bigger than he was. Fuck that, make it ninety nine percent. Teric pulled his knife – the same one he had jimmied the window with, and moved forward.
Favo got him in a bear hold and Teric swung his knife hand with precision, slicing the man across the leg. Favo yelled in his ear, but didn’t drop him, which was Teric’s intent. Fuck it. Teric swung again, and then in an unusual move, switched his knife to the other hand and swung upwards, catching Favo across the neck.
This time Favo did let him go, but then the cowardly Alpha took off out the door. Sparing a glance for Kyle, who was still busy holding his own, Teric took off after him, shedding his shirt as he went.
Chasing through the doors, Teric saw Favo heading for a non-descript brown salon car at the back of the house. If the dratted man made it to the vehicle then Teric wouldn’t have any way to make chase. Unhooking the button on his cargo pants, Teric let them drop to the ground in a practiced move, shifting as he ran. His tiger form could make up ground a lot quicker, given the size of the beast. Favo let out one startled yell as he saw Teric’s tiger bearing down on him. It was the last sound that man ever made.
Standing over his kill, Teric couldn’t resist letting out an ear splitting roar, the sound reverberating around the clearing and through the trees. The words, “Fucking hell, that’d better be Teric,” warned him he wasn’t alone.
Turning he saw Pearson, Dante, Kyle, Steel and Levi all standing by the back door of the house. Human Kyle. Yum. Full of fighting hormones thanks to his kill, Teric zeroed in on his mate, still in tiger form, thrilled when Kyle came forward to greet him.
“Er, he is safe, right?” Levi said, sounding just a tad breathless.
“Safe for us,” Steel said with a grin. “Kyle, maybe not so much.”
Teric totally ignored them, jumping up at a very naked Kyle, and flattening him. Hmm, his mate smelled delicious, although he carried the smell of other shifters on his skin. Teric’s cat couldn’t have that and he rubbed his face over as much of Kyle’s skin as he could reach. Kyle shouldn’t ever smell of anyone but him.
“Hey Teric,” Kyle said softly. “As much as I love the fur, is there any chance you can shift back, sweetie. I think you’re scaring the natives.”
Teric chuffed softly and kept rubbing. Kyle was stroking down his flanks and he really loved his mate’s hands on his fur. But Kyle had a point. He was starting to feel distinctly aroused, something that never happened when he was in his animal form. Giving one final rub up Kyle’s neck, Teric moved back and shifted, hoping that would take care of his erection. Seconds later he was laying naked next to his mate, Pearson and the others looking on.
“That’s quite an animal spirit you have there, Teric,” Pearson said, reaching out with his hand to help Teric up. Steel was doing the same for Kyle.
“Thank you, Alpha,” Teric replied, ducking his head and squirming like he always did when he was under so much scrutiny. He wasn’t used to it. Kyle pulled him close and he was glad of his mate’s presence. He had been worried that Pearson wouldn’t want such a large cat in his pack, but the Alpha was smiling at him.
“You’ll be an asset to the pack,” Pearson said firmly, “and as you appear to have done your job,” he flicked a negligent hand at Favo’s dead body,“I’m pleased to welcome you as our newest pack member.”
“I’d like to talk to you about a job, when you’re settled,” Steel said, “but I think it might be an idea if we headed back into the house. We’ve got Favo’s pack to deal with.” He and the others headed back inside, but Kyle kept Teric with him, waiting until the others were out of sight. Teric turned to look at Kyle, amazed at the soft expression on his mate’s gorgeous face.
“You really are incredible,” Kyle said softly, his dark eyes boring into Teric’s,his hand smoothing over Teric’s unruly curls. “I can’t think of any other word to
describe you. You’ve swept into my life with your grace and power, and shown me how lacking my life was before I met you. I have never felt this way about another person, ever, Teric. I love you and I couldn’t wait another minute to tell you. Please tell me you feel the same way.”
Teric grinned, although he could feel his eyes brimming with tears. Raised as an orphan in a human household,after his mother had abandoned him to the Shifter Council, Teric had never known what it was like to be loved.When he was older, the Council helped him track down the woman who had given birth to him, another tiger shifter, but she was with another man and didn’t want anything to do with him. Since that time Teric had learned to keep himself aloof from others, both because of his shifted size and strength, and because he really didn’t feel anything for the people around him. He always thought there was something lacking, but he had no idea what it was. Until he met Kyle.
“I’ve never known love,” he said, letting the truth of his words shine through his unshed tears. “I’ve just always known I was missing something. Something vital and important, that left me feeling empty inside. I’ve been that way my whole life. And then I met you. You filled that space, lover. I don’t feel empty anymore. Now, I am complete. You complete me.”
“That’s what love is,” Kyle said confidently. “It’s finding the other half of your soul. Meeting that one magical person that makes everything whole. The missing piece of the puzzle. We fit love, and its love that will keep us together for the rest of our lives.” As he lowered his head and consumed Teric’s lips with his own, Teric started to believe that maybe his mate was right. And if this was love, then it felt freaking fabulous.
