Bleacke Spirit

by Lesli Richardson

  Abundio allowed Carl a flexible schedule, so he could take her to school and pick her up to bring her back to work with him at Abundio’s office. She sat with Abundio’s secretary and did her homework while Carl worked security in the main lobby.

  When Mateo was discharged six months later, Abundio hired him, too. The men could finally be a family.

  Not that anyone besides Brianna knew the truth. Even at her age, the little girl was smart and insightful, watched a lot of TV from the States.

  Hadn’t yet been tainted by irrational hate.

  Promised never to tell anyone their secret, that her brother and tio were actually a couple.

  They also opted to hold back the info from her about their shifter lineage, until she was an adult and they knew she’d keep the secret. Carl demonstrated to her, since Mateo couldn’t shift.

  While the work wasn’t always pleasant, Carl and Mateo could always close their eyes and sleep at the end of the day without being plagued by guilty dreams.

  It wasn’t like they worked for a drug cartel. They didn’t dare risk reaching out to other packs, either. Mateo didn’t even know anything about the pack his father was from. With his aunt not knowing that part of their lives, no telling what knowledge was lost to time. She’d had no clue about who Mateo’s extended family was, or where they might be—if they even lived.

  It didn’t matter. Carl and Mateo could take care of Brianna, and each other.

  They would send her to the best schools they could afford, even if it meant a lifetime working for Abundio Segura.

  At least they were together, and could keep her safe.

  * * * *

  After Carl finished telling his tale, Dewi released his hands and sat back. The sympathy in her gaze was almost more than he could bear.

  “So Mateo is with Manuel right now?” she asked.

  “Yes. We haven’t let him go off on his own. Once I realized we were probably dealing with wolves, Mateo and I agreed that if we thought you’d be amenable to taking us in, we’d turn him over to you. I just need to get word to Mateo about when and where.”

  She slowly nodded. “Look, you help us with this, the pack will pay for Brianna to finish school. But I need to deal with this situation first. Immediately. The sooner Manuel Segura gets run through my wood-chipper, the better I’ll like it.”

  “You aren’t the only one who will like it.”

  “Am I going to have to worry about Abundio Segura sending more men after you?”

  He shrugged. “Doubtful. We’ll disappear, along with his nephew. He’ll probably think we met an untimely end. I hold no illusions about my relationship with Abundio. He’ll probably miss me, and Mateo, as trusted employees, but he’ll already have replacements for us by the time we’re officially overdue reporting in. I have no expectations of loyalty from him.”

  “What about Mateo’s sister? He won’t go looking for her to help her out?”

  “No. Once she started college, she was away from the city and he lost any interest in her beyond a polite query around the holidays. We wanted her away from there, too. Wanted her not to be potential leverage against us, used by Abundio or anyone else. Abundio’s too self-absorbed to go so far as to track her down. Him and his daughter both. We were very careful when we sent her to school. We taught her to protect her identity and privacy.”

  “Bank accounts?”

  “Direct deposit. We’ll move everything to another account we have once we’ve dealt with this.”

  “Nothing you need claimed from your place there?”

  “Nothing that isn’t replaceable. We saved pictures online and on hard drives, which we keep with us. What we couldn’t bear to lose we brought with us, just a few small keepsakes. We really didn’t have much to start with. We can start over anywhere. We had to be damned careful not to let anyone know we were more than friends. Frankly, it’s going to be a relief to finally be able to live openly as a couple.”

  He noticed Dewi’s focus shifted onto a point well past him, and he realized her backup must have just arrived. Carl was careful not to move, to keep his hands on the table, palms flat, when the two men walked up.

  The taller of the two wore his Prime Alpha aura like a neon cloak. It took every ounce of will Carl had not to show his throat to the man. The shorter man was every bit as imposing, broader and stocky, red hair, missing an eye—

  Oh, shit, Badger Williams.

  He’d bet money on it. He’d heard about him, one of those legends you were never really sure was real or not.

  Apparently, he was.

  Both men stood with their arms crossed over their chests.

  “Well, Dewi?” The shorter man’s Scottish accent cinched it. “What’re we doin’ wi’ him?”

  “Badger, Duncan, meet Carl. He and his mate, Mateo, will be joining our pack. He’s already taken a knee to me.”

  She slid over, to allow Badger to sit next to her. Carl slid over, too, and Duncan sat next to him.

  He almost wished the men had traded places, because this man was far stronger, more intense.

  Duncan reached over with his right hand, grabbed Carl’s left wrist, and kept his hand there.

  If Carl had thought Dewi was strong…

  Holy fuck!

  This Prime Alpha made her seem like a child by comparison.

  Dewi quickly outlined to the other two Prime Alphas what was going on. “We need a plan,” Dewi said in conclusion. “Ideas?”

  “We can’t just invite the feckin’ arsehole out of his hotel room,” Badger said. “He’ll know somethin’s up.”

  “We need a way to bait him,” Duncan said.

  Dewi smiled, but it was one of those kinds of smiles Carl remembered some guys making while he was in the Navy. Usually one of the special forces guys.

  A scary smile.

  The smile of a warrior who enjoys the fight.

  “Let’s let him abduct me,” she said.

  “Eh, lass?” Badger said. “I think yer gonna find a lot of…eh, resistance to that plan.”

  “Manuel doesn’t know I’m a wolf, much less a Prime,” she said. “Why should we do all the fucking work? Make him bust his ass.” Her smile widened. “Like hunting in a baited field.”

  Duncan spoke up. “Far be it for me to overrule you, Dewi, but I think Ken should get a say in this plan.”

  She waved him off. “He’ll be fine with it. Less chance of anyone getting hurt this way. I play along to let the guy abduct me, then I take over as soon as he touches me, and I take him to the house. Easy.”

  “No,” Badger said, “not easy. Ken’s not gonna let you do that.”

  “Sure he will.”

  Duncan slowly shook his head. “Are you going to make me play the grandfather card?”

  “Either I’m head of this expanded pack, or I’m not. I’m Head Enforcer. This is my choice, okay? I’m not risking someone else’s life. I’m the perfect decoy. He’ll think I’m just a weak woman, and his guard will be down. Then I take him, we go to the house”—she mimed shooting someone—“chip his ass, and boom, done.”

  Now Badger was shaking his head. “I don’t like this, Dewi. I really think you need to talk to Ken about this.”

  “Ken doesn’t interfere with my job, just like I don’t tell him how to do his.”

  “Suit yerself, ye stubborn damn thing.”

  She grinned, looking every bit of the wolf that she was as she showed teeth. “You should know. You raised me.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Dewi quickly formulated the plan in her head. “Can you get a message to Mateo via phone or text?” she asked Carl.

  “I can, but it’d be safer not to. I mean, not about the details. Manuel doesn’t understand who or what we are. He thinks he’s stumbled upon ‘wolf men,’ but he has no clue what’s really going on. Mateo and I might have deliberately misled him a little. Well, a lot, actually. Fed him faulty intel and used his paranoia against him. While he was at his uncle’s, Manuel wasn’t allowed o
nline without direct supervision from myself or Mateo. We set up some red herrings for him, made a couple of fake websites.”

  “That’s genius,” Dewi said.

  “Yeah, and since Mateo and I have a mate bond, we can communicate without Manuel knowing we are. It was pretty easy to feed his existing paranoia. Abundio didn’t want to tell his daughter what was going on, trying to shield her from as much liability as possible. So Abundio was going by what Manuel said, and Mateo and I would nod and agree it seemed possible. When Abundio asked our opinions, we said we weren’t sure what was going on, but it definitely seemed suspicious and worth looking into.”

  “Does Manuel think it’s a government project or something?”

  Carl smiled. “Something like that. We linked some of the Idaho-based anti-government groups into the mix. He thinks it’s people escaped from a government project who formed their own group. Toss in some Sasquatch myths, which we equated to the chupacabra, and it was stupidly easy.

  “The guy is a thug, and great at what he does—unfortunately—when it comes to running a cartel. But whatever happened that day in Idaho? It literally fucked his head. You have him shitting bricks. As soon as he talked about Idaho and a wood-chipper, and I’d heard the name of the shell company, I suspected he’d accidentally fucked with a group of wolves. Just not in the way we told him he had. He’s now convinced Joaquin is a wolfman, and is desperate to find him before the next full moon.”

  He delivered the last two words in a spooky voice and waggled his fingers in the air for effect, which cracked up the other three shifters.

  She couldn’t help it—she liked the guy.

  “How’d you manage that?” Dewi asked.

  “I might have”—finger quotes—“‘researched’ and told him it was a full moon that day in Idaho. At least, that’s the bullshit I fed him. Hence why there were all the wolves around.”

  Dewi clapped a hand over her mouth as she burst out laughing. Even Badger and Duncan chuckled over that news.

  “He’s a wanker, isn’t he?” Badger asked.

  “Yeah,” Carl said. “That’s one word for it. He’s literally nearly insane right now. It won’t take much to make him leap for whatever you throw his way. So how do you want to do this?”

  “Text your mate to bring him to the shopping center. That you found someone close to Joaquin and you want to kidnap me. Hell, tell him that I’m Joaquin’s sister. Get him close to me, within touching distance. I’ll have him take me to the car. Once we’re in the parking lot, away from others, I’ll disarm him and put him in my car.”

  “Dewi,” Badger said, “why not simply go to the hotel?”

  “Because he’ll be suspicious if we do that. Besides, this gets him here, close to the house anyway. Crowded public space, no one will notice. He’ll be less likely to draw attention to himself or me before I can take him over. A hotel will have security cameras. You’re the one who yelled at me about the cop’s body cam.”

  “So will the mall,” Badger said. “Have cameras.”

  “Yeah, but we won’t leave any trace there to connect us to it with his disappearance.”

  “I think it’ll work,” Carl said.

  “You need to call Ken,” Duncan said to Dewi.

  She waved him off. “I will.” She nodded to Carl. “Call Mateo right now, and tell him to bring Manuel and meet you up here.”

  Badger sounded exasperated. “Why are you makin’ this so complicated?”

  “It’s not complicated.” She smiled. “I still have to do my fucking Christmas shopping.”

  * * * *

  Ken needed to finish up a few things so he could go to the grocery store before making dinner. Dewi was out Christmas shopping, and he knew she’d come home hungry.

  He smiled to himself. They’d both gotten over the shock of the fact that they were becoming parents, and now she was actually throwing herself into motherhood.

  And it looked like, as far as Badger and Duncan could tell, that they were going to have a little girl. Nami and Beck were also having a girl.

  Ken was working on his computer when Dewi called him.

  “So, hey, listen, sweetie. I need you to do something for me, please.”

  “What?”

  “I need you to get a gun and get ready.”

  A chill washed through him. “Um, why?”

  “Because we’re bringing Manuel Segura in.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. Long story, can’t tell you right now, but we’re getting Manuel Segura.”

  He was up and moving and heading toward the kitchen, where they kept a gun and holster hidden. “Tell me now, honey.”

  “I can’t. I gotta go. Don’t worry, I’m safe—it’s fine. Totally fine. And the gun’s just a precaution, seriously, but I want you to have it anyway. You know, like a trial run. Beck is on his way over now. He’s going to get the chipper ready, so maybe help him with that? I’ll text you when we’re on the way. Hour, tops. Gotta go, busy busy busy. Love you!”

  “Dew—”

  But she was gone.

  Goddammit!

  He had the gun on and was pacing when Beck arrived twenty minutes later. Ken rushed out to meet him and had to jog to keep up with him as he ran for the shed where they kept the lawn and garden equipment.

  Including the wood-chipper.

  “What’s going on?” he asked Beck.

  “I don’t know.” He got the tractor cranked up and backed it up to the hitch on the chipper to hook it up. “Dewi said there’s two guys from Mexico who work for Segura’s uncle, and they’re wolves, and they requested sanctuary. And they’re handing Segura over.”

  “Why is Dewi doing this?”

  “Because she’s the perfect bait.”

  “What?”

  “I know, I know. There’s more to it, but they were going to go get the guy.”

  “She’s pregnant! She could get hurt!”

  “No, there was something about they were going to pretend to let him abduct her so he’d get close to her and not suspect she was anything other than a woman, then she’d Prime him. Look, I’m sure it’s fine. Duncan and Badger are there. They wouldn’t let her do anything risky.”

  Ken grabbed him, shaking him. “Beck! Dewi is fucking pregnant! Would you let Nami do something like that?”

  He hesitated. “Well, no, but Nami’s not a Prime, either. She’s not even a wolf.”

  Speechless, Ken stared at him. “Are you fucking shitting me? That’s your answer?”

  “Well, once she has Segura, Duncan’s going to go with the two guys so they can dump their rental cars and get their shit from the hotel, and then he’ll bring them back here. Badger will ride back here with Dewi and Segura.”

  “Why is Dewi even doing this? We have two other fucking Primes who can do it! And why are they letting her do it?”

  He snorted. “Have ya met your mate, dude? I mean, seriously?” He pointed at the chipper. “Now let’s get this done. I haven’t cranked it in a while. I want to be ready. Man, Joaquin’s gonna be pissed he missed this. He’s over in Miami handling that thing today.”

  Ken screamed in frustration, but helped Beck hook up the chipper and rode on the tractor with him to a clearing out past the gun range, where they’d chipped several dead trees.

  Among other things.

  * * * *

  For Dewi, the hardest part about the plan was not pissing herself laughing when she immediately turned the tables on Manuel Segura. He’d grabbed her right arm and started walking with her, the gun pressed to her side, and she’d started using Prime on him even before he’d taken three steps with her.

  “That’s it, asshole,” she whispered. “Gun back in your pocket.”

  “Wh-what are—”

  “Shh,” she said. “Just walky, no talky, honey. We’re going to my car. You’re in luck—I’m not even going to make you play ‘Dewi Says’ with me today. Which is better than a couple of your guys got from me in Idaho, you dickless fuck.” />
  At the car, Badger and Duncan met her. She took the gun from Segura and opened the passenger door. “In.”

  He was wide-eyed with fear. “What are you?”

  “I’m the woman who will make your last moments on Earth a literal living hell if you fucking piss or shit yourself in my car, mmmkay?” She handed the gun to Badger. “There you go. Oh.” She snapped her fingers at Segura. “Room key.”

  He handed it over, and she passed it to Duncan. He’d take Badger’s truck and drive the men back to their hotel. Duncan was finally driving again, and feeling confident. She wanted another Prime to go with the two men, just in case they tried to double-cross them. Not that she thought they would, but she wasn’t stupid.

  “Call me when you’re on the way back,” she told Duncan.

  “Will do.” He hurried off to where Mateo and Carl were parked in their rentals.

  Badger looked at her. “Ye’re not gonna let me drive, are ye?”

  “This is my Saleen. Who do I let drive my Saleen? I love you, but I don’t even let Ken drive it.”

  “Boy canna drive a stick, and ye know it.”

  “Totally beside the point. Are we going to stand here arguing?”

  He rolled his eyes. “All right, missy. Be that way.” He climbed in behind the driver’s seat and immediately reached out and put a hand on Manuel’s shoulder to make sure he didn’t have a chance to try anything stupid. Meaning Dewi wouldn’t have to devote any focus to controlling him.

  “Don’t let him piss or shit himself,” she warned.

  “I got it. Ye just get us back to the house in one piece, aye?”

  When they pulled up in front of the house less than fifteen minutes later, Manuel Segura was sitting there, crying, but the Prime orders not to piss or shit himself had apparently held.

  She got Segura out, and helped Badger climb out of the backseat.

  “That’s a hard ride on an old wolf,” he griped.