Mating Instinct: A Moon Shifter Novel (16 page)

“You have to leave your weapons,” Spiky Hair said before Jayce had shut the door.

Jayce glanced at him as he pulled his guns from their respective sheaths. “I’ll leave my guns but I’m bringing my blades.”

The guy snorted. “Blades against our guns? Suit yourself.”

Jayce shot Connor a covert look. The Alpha’s expression revealed the same thing he was feeling. This wasn’t an organized operation. Whoever these guys were, they weren’t high on the totem pole—probably low-level dealers. But they might be able to offer some information. Like a name. And that could lead to more names. Jayce planned to soon find out who the hell Ned Hartwig and that APL member had been so afraid of.

The moment they stepped through a rusty metal door with an
EXIT
sign above it, someone shoved a gun against Jayce’s head. Something he’d more or less expected.

The guy who’d entered with him made a move for his open jacket. “Did you really think we were going to let you walk in here with—”

With the speed of a shifter, Jayce kicked out at him, breaking his kneecap at the same time he swiveled and brought one of his blades up, slicing at the arm of the man wielding the gun. It dropped to the floor with a clatter. The guy he’d cut open cried out but tried to dive for his weapon.

Jayce slammed a fist across his jaw, then kicked him in the chest. He flew backward and crashed against a wall before collapsing in a motionless heap on the floor. Next to Jayce, Spiky Hair moaned in agony on the floor, clutching his leg. He hadn’t even tried to make a move for the gun that Jayce could see sheathed in a holster under his pant leg.

After divesting the guy of all his weapons and his wallet, Jayce pulled out the ID and looked at the name and address, then back at him. “That was just rude,
Luis
.” He injected a lot of power into the guy’s name.

“We didn’t . . . want to . . . kill you. Just make sure . . . you weren’t armed.” He struggled to speak through gasping breaths, his face contorted with pain.

“Whatever. Where’s your boss located in this building?” Since more people hadn’t stormed into the small front room Jayce had stepped into with Luis, he guessed they didn’t have video surveillance inside.

Luis pointed at the other door on the north side of the room. “Through there, up . . . stairs, make . . . left. Second door . . . on right.”

“Any video cameras on my way up?”

Clutching his leg, Luis shook his head in a jerky motion. His face was ashen and Jayce had no doubt he’d be passing out in the next couple of minutes. “Where are the cameras?” He’d seen two outside, so he wanted to gauge if this guy was being truthful. Lies had a disgusting metallic scent but fear and agony were pouring off this guy in waves, so it was almost impossible to sort anything else out.

“Two in front . . . two in back . . . connected to laptop . . . upstairs.”

The guy was being surprisingly helpful, so Jayce asked him why.

“Didn’t recognize you . . . at first. Don’t want to die.” The human’s head fell back and his entire body went limp as he passed out.

Great.
Not wanting to risk being seen on the video cameras outside, Jayce texted Connor to let him know what had happened. Then he checked the pulse of the guy he’d kicked and discovered he was dead. From the kick to the chest or the impact against the wall, Jayce didn’t know. Even if it made him a monster, he didn’t care. The guy had put a gun to Jayce’s head. End of story.

Following the directives from Luis, Jayce eased the door open after listening for heartbeats. He could hear four distinct beats far enough away that he could tell the men weren’t waiting for him on the other side of the door. Once outside the second door upstairs Jayce weighed his options. Taking them by surprise seemed the best way to go. If he politely knocked, he had no doubt about the type of reception he’d get.

Kicking the door in, he quickly surveyed his surroundings to determine the biggest threat. One guy lounged on a cot by a window, watching a laptop with four separate screen shots of the outside. Two more sat at a table with vials of what looked like blood. Likely vampire blood. The fourth stood by another window with a cell phone up to his ear. Jayce had no doubt he was Donny. His entire demeanor screamed that he was the boss of the small group. Not to mention that the others were doing tasks a lead guy wouldn’t.

Jayce heaved one of his blades back and tossed it at Donny. It flew through the air with sickening speed, pinning the arm that had pulled a pistol to the wall. The weapon crashed to the floor.

The other three leapt into action. The one on the couch was the quickest, jumping up with SIG in hand. Before he’d pulled it level to shoot, Jayce had crossed the room and lifted the guy off his feet. He tossed him at the other two men like they were bowling pins and the man flying through the air a bowling ball. Shouts erupted from all of them and in a whirlwind of motion he knocked the three of them out but didn’t kill them. For human thugs they weren’t very skilled in combat moves.

Then he focused on Donny, who was trying to pull the blade free from his arm. Blood poured from his wound in a crimson stream. He groaned in pain with each struggling attempt. Jayce jerked it free and savored the howl of agony the man let out.

A slight shuffle by the door had him swiveling and ready to throw the blood-soaked blade, but he stopped at the sight of Connor. Jayce knew the Alpha was powerful but the fact that he’d masked his scent said a lot.

Connor’s eyes narrowed at the struggling, practically crying man Jayce held up by the front of his shirt, before glaring at the few vials of blood that hadn’t been shattered in the struggle. “I’ll collect these while you question that garbage.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Jayce watched while Connor packed the remaining vials of blood into a small case. Then he shut down the computer and put it into a duffel bag—loaded with money—that he’d pulled out from under the cot.

“We’re taking everything you’ve got here today, Donny.”

The man’s blue eyes widened in fear.

“Are you really surprised I know your name?”

Swallowing hard, he shook his head. “What do you want, man?” he rasped.

“Names and information. If you give it to me, I won’t kill you.”

The stench of fear rolling off him was putrid and pathetic. “How do I know you won’t anyway?”

“You don’t. But if you make me torture you to get what I want”—Jayce trailed his blade along the guy’s throat and settled on his pulse point—“I guarantee you’ll wish you were dead.” He kept his voice light because it was a simple fact, and if he went into detail about exactly what he’d do, the guy would be too scared to talk. When he didn’t respond, Jayce pressed the blade against his throat a fraction harder. “Any of your guys taking vamp blood?”

Those blue eyes flicked to the right, where one of the guys had fallen, then back to Jayce. He shook his head and the stench of his lie pushed through the other smells.

Without warning Jayce dropped him and strode to the blond-haired man Donny had looked at. In a quick move, he slammed his blade into the guy’s chest, puncturing his heart. Seconds later, the guy disintegrated, leaving behind clothes, shoes, a wallet, and nothing more.

Jayce scented the acrid stench of urine. Donny would definitely talk now.

And he did. After ten minutes Jayce and Connor had everything they needed. Not much and definitely not what Jayce had been hoping for. Just the name of a dealer in Winston-Salem where Donny bought his supply and the names of a few other dealers that guy also sold to. Donny’s competition. When it got to that part, Donny had no problem giving up information.

While Jayce had been questioning Donny, Connor had cleaned out the entire room—with the exception of the cocaine and weed stash—restrained the other men with ties, and done a sweep of the rest of the warehouse. Having backup wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

“So, what happens now?” Donny asked as he pressed his hand to his other arm, trying to stop the bleeding.

“You call the cops and turn yourself in for dealing drugs. And if you bring up that you saw either of us here today, you’re dead.”

“No fucking way! I’m not—”

“Do it or I burn this warehouse down with you and your buddies still in it. If you somehow manage to escape I’ll be waiting outside to finish you off. Do your time like a fucking man or die. You choose.”

Nodding, Donny sniffled and pulled a cell from his pocket. Once he’d made the call, Jayce and Connor headed out, but Jayce paused at the door. “You try to run out before the cops get here . . .” He bared his canines and took pleasure when the other man paled. He might not have known what Jayce was before then, but he had an idea now.

Once they were in the truck Connor finally spoke. “I’ll have Ryan check tonight to make sure they’ve all been arrested. Though I wonder how they’re going to explain the dead guy in the entryway.”

Jayce shrugged. “Who cares as long as they leave us out of it? What are you going to do with that money?”

Connor’s answer was immediate. “Give it to the literacy center Kat and December volunteer at.”

“Good.” Jayce nodded as his thoughts centered on everything Donny had just told them. He wouldn’t head to Winston-Salem tonight or probably even this week, but now he had a place to start. Once he gained enough intel on whom he was hunting, he’d go after them hard and fast. He might even involve his friend Niko. Just depended on who the main provider was.

As they pulled onto the highway Connor shot him a sharp look. “Ana just contacted me—telepathically. We’ve got company at the ranch.”

His whole body tensed as thoughts of Kat being unprotected assaulted his mind. He’d left her in capable hands, but maybe he shouldn’t have left her at all. “Who?”

“Erin and Kat ran into a teenage girl in town. A lupine shifter who wants to be an enforcer.”

Jayce’s eyebrows rose at that. “What?”

Connor just tapped his head. “That’s all I know. Guess we’ll find out more when we get back.”

Jayce allowed a small measure of relief to slide through him. As long as Kat wasn’t hurt, he could allow himself to relax for the rest of the ride.

Chapter 10

K
at sat on the edge of the love seat in Connor and Ana’s living room. Well, Noel, Erin, and Vivian lived in the house too, but she still thought of it as the Alpha couple’s place. It amazed her that the Alpha of this pack—her pack, she reminded herself—lived with so many females. For some reason it struck her as funny.

Next to her Leila had her legs crossed, her arms folded over her chest, and a scowl on her face. But the subtle trace of nervousness trickled off her every so often.

Kat might have had a father with an awful profession but at least she hadn’t been alone. To be sixteen—or Kat guessed that’s how young Leila was—and alone was a scary prospect.

Erin sat on the longer couch across from them, next to Ana. Both were silent. Ana had tried asking Leila a few questions but the girl had clammed up. Kat had a feeling it was because of all the shifters in the room. She was probably more scared than she was letting on. It wasn’t exactly a tense atmosphere, just incredibly awkward. Since Kat hadn’t spent much time at the ranch and barely knew anyone herself, she totally felt Leila’s pain.

At the sound of the door slamming, Kat cringed and turned toward the entryway. Vivian and Lucas and their teacher, Esperanze, walked in.

Vivian’s eyes widened as she looked at Leila. “Cool hair! Ana, can I do my hair like that?” Her little head swiveled in Ana’s direction, but before Ana could answer Vivian bounded up to the young girl, oblivious to the defensive vibes Leila was putting out. “Is that dye? How’d you get the purple to stay so bright?”

“They’re clip-in pieces,” Leila murmured, the tight grip she had around herself loosening.

“Well, I really like them.” Vivian beamed in that absolutely adorable way she always did and it was apparent she’d put the girl at ease.

“I have more, so . . . if you want to try these out, you can.” She unfastened a couple of the pieces and handed them to Vivian.

“Thank you!” The she-cat snapped them up, but then looked at Ana questioningly.

With pursed lips Ana nodded. “Why don’t you go upstairs and try them out?”

After thanking Leila again, Vivian ran out and Lucas trailed after her, both of them stomping up the stairs. But Esperanze still stood there, looking slightly uncomfortable. Ana motioned for her cousin to sit, but the petite woman shook her head. So Ana stood and covered the distance between them.

Esperanze’s voice was soft as they walked out of the room together. The conversation drifted off and silence once again reigned in the small room. As Kat tried to think of another question that might put Leila at ease, the door opened and Jayce’s distinctive scent teased her. Instantly her lower abdomen tightened with unwanted need.

Next to her Leila straightened and scooted a couple inches closer as Jayce and Connor entered the room.

Connor walked in ahead of Jayce and headed directly to them. “I take it you’re Leila?”

The young girl nodded and stood, smoothing her skirt nervously. “I know I should have contacted you before entering your territory and I’m sorry I didn’t.”

“Why didn’t you?” He motioned for her to sit back down as he took a seat next to Erin.

Kat noticed that Jayce didn’t move from the doorway; he just stood there, staring right at her and making every nerve ending she had flare to life. When Leila spoke again, she managed to tune out his presence. Sort of.

The girl shrugged. “I was scared you wouldn’t let me enter and when I found out the enforcer”—she shot a nervous glance at Jayce—“was here, I just drove.”

“What happened to your parents?” Connor’s voice was so soft, so soothing that Kat was surprised it had come from the big shifter.

Leila scooted another inch closer to Kat, who had to refrain from putting an arm around her. She didn’t want to scare the girl more.

“Killed by vampires,” Leila answered, her voice a broken whisper.

Connor sucked in a breath and his gaze darkened. “You’re sure?”

A jerky nod from Leila.

“Did you tell the Council?”

Another nod.

Connor looked sharply at Jayce, who held up his hands. “I never heard anything about this.”

Leila jumped in. “They said to contact the local police, but they’d already closed the investigation, saying it was a home robbery gone wrong.”

“Why would they do that?” Connor asked.

“My family was packless, so we had no one to turn to when a couple vamps tried to extort money from my parents. They called it protection money but my parents refused to pay. They owned a deli and I worked there with them after school and—”

Leila’s voice cracked and a tear slipped down her cheek.
Screw it
,
Kat thought. She wrapped an arm around Leila’s shoulders and was surprised when the girl turned her head into Kat’s neck and quietly sobbed. Her thin shoulders shook violently until she finally dragged in a ragged breath and turned back to face the room, just about the time Ana walked back in. The Alpha’s mate took a seat next to Connor as Leila continued.

“Someone broke into our home when I was out with friends and shot my parents with silver bullets. Their bodies were completely riddled through. . . . Then they . . . took their hearts out.” She sniffed once but continued. “I might be young but I’m not stupid. Someone robbing us wouldn’t have done that—and nothing was taken anyway. It was a warning to others in the neighborhood. I just know it.”

“You’re too young to be on your own. Didn’t the Council offer to place you with a pack?” The lines around Connor’s mouth deepened.

“When they wouldn’t help me find out who killed my parents, I told them to fuck off.”

Kat gently squeezed her shoulders. “Don’t curse.” She didn’t mean to reprimand the girl—it just slipped out.

Leila’s cheeks tinged pink as she turned back to Connor. “I didn’t know what else to do, so I lived with human friends for a while, and then when I heard about Jayce Kazan I decided to come here.”

“Why do you think you’re an enforcer?” Jayce asked.

Leila tensed and Kat didn’t blame her. If she didn’t know Jayce, she’d be intimidated by the vicious scars running across his eye and his generally dark disposition. Not that he was doing anything overt; his entire demeanor just screamed danger.

“I . . . sort of hacked into that forum you and the other enforcers from around the world use to communicate.”

“You
what
?” His voice rose, just a notch, but it was enough to suck all the air out of the room.

“I was bored one day and stumbled across the forum. I didn’t realize what it was at first but after I’d hacked into it—you guys have some wicked firewalls by the way . . .” She cleared her throat when Jayce’s eyes narrowed. “Anyway, I, uh, did some poking around. Some of the things you guys had listed as enforcer traits—”

“That’s enough,” he snapped, straightening to his full height.

Kat glanced at Connor and saw the speculation in his gaze. If she’d had to guess, she no idea about the forum or what enforcer traits were. That didn’t surprise her, considering what little she knew about pack rules and shifter life in general. The enforcers seemed to operate with a completely different set of rules than everyone else. She knew there were a few enforcers placed around the globe, but she didn’t really know much about them. She did, however, notice that Leila had gray eyes just like Jayce and Erin. And that trait didn’t seem to be common at all among shifters.

Before anyone else could speak, Ana stood and motioned toward Leila. “Come on. I want to get you settled. You guys can talk about all this later. You’ll be staying here until we figure things out.”

Leila stood, then surprised Kat by turning back to her. “Will you be here . . . later?”

She nodded. “I don’t live at the ranch but I’ll be here in the morning. I’ll join you for breakfast. And don’t worry about Jayce. He’s more bark than bite,” she whispered even though Jayce could hear. Definitely not true, but it had the intended effect and Leila’s shoulders relaxed a fraction.

As soon as the girl had gone upstairs, Jayce let out a string of curses. Then he glanced upward before looking at Connor. “We need to have this conversation outside.”

Kat cleared her throat. “If you guys don’t need me for this, I have dinner plans.” She’d called Aiden earlier and asked him to dinner. Since he was her maker she would always have a special bond with him and tonight she needed advice from him that had nothing to do with pack life.

“With who?” Jayce growled.

Bristling at his proprietary tone, she glared at him. “Not that it’s any of your business, but Aiden. He’ll be taking me home afterward so don’t worry. I won’t need you to babysit me.”

“Jayce is training me anyway. At least you won’t be bored here,” Erin interjected smoothly, which earned her a dark look from Jayce.

Connor cut them both off with a sharp glance around the room, before settling his gaze on Jayce. “She’ll be fine. Outside. Now.”

Without waiting for the response that she knew would be forthcoming from Jayce, Kat strode out ahead of them. As she crossed the expanse of land she passed a few houses before she reached the cabin where the single males lived.

Aiden was waiting on the front porch, his dirty-blond hair tied back at his neck. Compared to most of the male shifters at the ranch, his hair was longer than almost everyone else’s except Nikan’s. His dark eyes lit up and he grinned as he took in her appearance, no doubt because of the skintight jeans. She might have dressed up to go to the last two bars, but around him she’d worn nothing but sweats or yoga pants. “Shut up,” she growled, even though he hadn’t said a word.

“Lookin’ good, Kat. But I should warn you that you’re not getting lucky tonight even if you do look smoking hot.” His boots thudded on the short set of steps off the porch. She rolled her eyes as he fell in step with her and dropped a casual arm around her shoulders. “Jayce is gonna be pissed when he scents me on you.”

“And you
want
to piss him off?” She didn’t exactly worry about Aiden being able to take care of himself, but since Jayce had threatened to kill anyone she slept with, a little bit of angst niggled its way inside her even though she and Aiden never had and never would venture into that territory.

As if he read her mind, Aiden just chuckled. “I can take care of myself. It’s fun to mess with males fighting their mating instinct.”

She nearly jerked to a halt but caught herself. “What?”

Aiden shrugged. “I could be wrong—though I doubt it—but Jayce thinks you’re his intended mate.”

She snorted. Jayce might want her physically and act all dominating and proprietary, but she knew the score. He hadn’t wanted her as his mate when she was human, so even if he did now—which she doubted—he wasn’t getting a second chance. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t have sex with him.

As stupid as it was, that’s all she’d been able to think about all day. It was why she’d asked Aiden to dinner. She wanted to talk to him without anyone else around. And she trusted his opinion.

“I know you’re apparently the pack gossip, but I want to talk to you about some stuff and I want it to stay private.” She threw in that last part even though she knew he wouldn’t betray her trust.

He pressed his free hand to his chest mockingly. “I’m hurt.”

“Yeah, right. I don’t want to talk about it until we’re off the ranch, though, so why don’t you fill me in on more of your
gossip
.” Even if she liked to pretend she didn’t care about pack business, the more Aiden told her about everyone, the more she wanted to get to know them. Part of her was afraid they wouldn’t accept her. They didn’t really have a choice though, since she’d been turned without any introduction into pack life.

Aiden cut off her train of thought with his next statement. “First off, Ryan and Teresa are barely talking to each other even though I know he wants her and she wants him.”

Kat had seen the way the computer genius looked at Teresa and she believed Aiden. “What’s his deal anyway?”

He shrugged. “No one knows, but when Jacob mentioned he was thinking about asking her to dinner, Ryan threatened to cut off his balls.”

She laughed as they passed the main house, where Connor and Jayce were outside talking. Somehow Kat kept her face straight ahead and only watched them out of the corner of her eye. Once she and Aiden were at the parking structure and out of sight, she let out a sigh of relief.

“You hold more power over him than you realize. You must know that,” Aiden said, suddenly serious.

Kat swallowed hard but didn’t say anything. Aiden was wrong on that front. She had no power over Jayce other than his apparent sexual hunger for her. But she wanted to wait until they were away from the ranch before she opened that can of worms.

Two hours later she still hadn’t found the courage to open up to Aiden. They’d talked all through dinner about the pack and everything else under the sun except the one thing Kat wanted to discuss. Jayce.

As they strolled through downtown she felt as if her stomach was twisted into a jumble of confusing knots. The scenery was so pretty, but it was hard to concentrate on anything other than thoughts of Jayce. His scent, the way he made her laugh, the way he made her feel, the occasional smile he gave her but no one else.

Sighing, she glanced in one of the closed shops. Even though Christmas and New Year’s Eve had passed, downtown Fontana had sparkly lights and a few holiday decorations still up.

“For the love of God, Kat. I think I’ve been patient. What do you want to talk about?” Aiden didn’t break stride as they reached the final store on the edge of downtown. They’d left his truck by a park earlier since she’d wanted to walk off all her pent-up energy. Unfortunately walking wasn’t helping.

But she was glad for the longer distance from the restaurant to his vehicle. “Jayce and I sort of, uh, fooled around yesterday.”

Aiden let out a low whistle but didn’t respond.

“Well?”

“Well, what? You’re a big girl and you two obviously want each other.”

“You’re not going to give me a lecture about how it was stupid?”

Grinning, he shook his head. “Nope. Sometimes doing what’s bad for you has positive consequences.”