Primal Possession (13 page)

Liam opened the door and entered first, out of respect. If he’d been human, it might have seemed odd, but in the shifter world, entering a room first meant taking on the possibility that an ambush was waiting. By going first he was showing Jayce there was no harm waiting in the house. Even though he was the enforcer and there on official business, he was still a guest of their pack. Liam hadn’t expected to like Jayce so much, but after seeing the issues he was having with Kat, he felt an odd connection. They both had female problems.

Liam had stomped the snow and dirt off his shoes before entering and Jayce did the same. A low hum of voices trailed from the dining room. As they entered the room, everyone quieted. Connor sat at the head of the long, rectangular table and Ana sat next to him.

Connor stood and nodded. “Jayce.”

“Connor.” Jayce stood stiffly as he glanced around the table at everyone. When his eyes landed on Erin, the petite redhead Liam and his brother had found naked, beaten, and bloody behind a Dumpster over a year ago, they lingered longer than on the others.

Connor had never reported they’d found Erin, because
she’d begged them not to. She also wouldn’t tell them where she’d come from or who had hurt her. If she had, Liam and Connor and probably the rest of the pack would have lined up for a chance to kill the bastard or bastards who had dared hurt her. Violence against females in the shifter world was rare and by the abuse she’d suffered, it had been obvious shifters had hurt her. Humans wouldn’t have had the strength to. But when she hadn’t wanted to do anything about her attack, they hadn’t pushed her. They’d taken her in and made her part of their pack and protected her the only way they could.

It was clear to anyone in the room that Jayce’s assessment of her wasn’t sexual, but it was curious. “You’re Erin Flynn.” It was not a question but a statement.

Her back went ramrod straight and Noah, who sat next to her, moved a few inches closer in a proprietary manner. “Yes.”

“Did you used to belong to the Murphy pack?”

Her face paled and after flicking a nervous glance at Connor, she looked back at Jayce and nodded.

“They listed you as dead at the last Council meeting.”

At his words, Erin’s gray eyes flashed angrily. “Well, they were wrong,” she said through gritted teeth.

Jayce continued to stare at her, as if searching for something. The room was eerily silent as they met each other’s gazes. When Erin didn’t flinch away, Jayce finally nodded slightly. “After this meeting, we need to talk.”

Erin swallowed hard but nodded.

Liam watched as Noah’s canines started to extend, so he cleared his throat loudly and took the empty chair next to him. The other wolf looked at him and when he did, his breathing began to even out. Noah and Erin weren’t mated or bondmates or even intimate as far as
Liam knew, but Noah didn’t care. He’d been protecting her since they’d found her.

Jayce focused his attention on Connor as he sat at the opposite end of the table. “Before we start this meeting, you should know that the Council cleared you in the death of Taggart.”

Connor’s nod was barely perceptible. “I wasn’t worried.”

Liam knew his brother hadn’t been worried about the ruling of the actual killing. That had definitely been justified. Considering Taggart had kidnapped a defenseless cub and tried to rape Ana
twice
, that bastard deserved everything he’d gotten.

“That’s not the reason you’re here, though, is it?” Connor spoke again.

Jayce shook his head. “The APL problem is growing. Right now it’s a small group of angry humans, but if we don’t do something to ferret out their leaders, we’ll have a problem.”

“We have the names of six known members. Three are dead, one we haven’t managed to dig up anything on, one is in jail, and the other has gone missing,” Liam said. The man missing was the asshole who had attacked December.
Mike Taylor.
They’d been trying to track his movements, but it was as if he’d fallen off the face of the earth.

“How do you know about the dead men? Did you kill them?” Jayce asked.

Liam looked at his brother. Connor nodded and took the lead. “We tracked down two APL members after they tried to kill my mate.” His voice heated up as he continued. “When we found them, they’d kidnapped another woman. They planned to rape her, but we got there before they could.” He paused a moment. “It was Katarina Saburova.”

Jayce’s eyes widened and the muscles in his neck corded tightly as they tensed. A thick, overpowering haze of potent rage flooded the air.

Liam and his brother hadn’t told the Council about Kat’s kidnapping and her subsequent involvement in killing one of the men or even their own involvement in the killings. At the time, involving the human had seemed like more trouble than it was worth. But with Jayce in town and with his connection to her, it seemed smarter to tell him about it now instead of letting him find out later.

“That’s how you know Kat?” Jayce looked at Liam almost accusingly.

Liam nodded. “It happened a few weeks ago.”

“I didn’t know…. Was she hurt?” His voice was raspy.

Liam knew that asking about this in a room full of strangers was a blow to Jayce’s tough-guy image, but it was obvious he didn’t care. “She was roughed up but she wasn’t raped.”

“I didn’t see any reports about this.” Now Jayce was back in control of himself. His voice was even, monotone.

“She killed one of the men and we killed the other. We left before the police showed up, because she insisted on it. Said that she didn’t want shifters involved because she worried we’d somehow get blamed even though they were rapist bastards. We’ve kept in contact with her since,” Connor said.

“Was she targeted because of her involvement with…shifters?” Or one shifter in particular. Jayce didn’t say it, but everyone in the room knew what he meant.

Connor nodded. “We think so. They called her a shifter whore more than once and from what we’ve gathered,
they’re loosely connected to the man who tried to hurt December a few days ago.”

Jayce’s gaze narrowed slightly. “That’s only two men. You said you knew of three dead APL members.”

“A couple weeks ago I found a guy trying to kidnap December outside her store—he’s the one in jail and the police only think he wanted to rob her—and he mentioned that a guy named Chuck was killed by an Edward Adler, who sounds like their boss, for failing to complete a couple APL missions.”

“Chuck?” Jayce asked.

“I don’t have a last name, but apparently Chuck was responsible for the first attack on December weeks ago—in her
house
—and for the attack on another woman we’re friends with. Apparently his boss wasn’t happy with his failures.” Liam sure as hell wouldn’t lose any sleep over his death.

Jayce frowned. “They ever find a body?”

“Nothing’s been reported. At least not here or in any of the surrounding areas.” This time Ryan spoke up. He’d been monitoring every agency and news report online.

“What about this Adler guy, then? What’s his deal?” Jayce asked.

“So far we haven’t been able to dig up anything concrete on him, but whoever he is, he sounds like the leader of the APL in this area. The man I questioned was scared of him. Almost more terrified of him than he was of me.” Liam had been able to smell the terror rolling off that asshole who’d wanted to take December. Even though he wasn’t in jail for attempting to kidnap her, he’d copped to a few other crimes just to get himself locked up. The guy had been smarter than he looked. In jail he was protected from Liam and his boss.

Jayce was silent for a while and no one else said
anything. He was the one who’d been sent by the Council, and while Connor was Alpha of this pack, Jayce had a broader scope of how powerful the APL was. The past few weeks the only thing Connor had been concerned with was keeping his pack safe and Liam didn’t blame him. But if they could drive the APL from the Fontana region, they would.

Finally Jayce spoke. “What I’m about to say stays in this room.” When everyone nodded, he continued. “The Council has been in contact with the Tuatha. They’ve sent someone in to infiltrate the APL branch in this region. I don’t know who their spy is or how much progress they’ve made, but I’ll see if I can get in contact with them and work out a plan to bring down their leaders. It might be possible to work together.”

“The Tuatha told our Council all this?” Connor sounded surprised.

Liam didn’t blame his brother. The Tuatha were the royal branch of the fae, and their headquarters were located in Ireland. Unlike his kind, which had a semidemocratic set of rules, the fae were completely draconian. And they weren’t exactly known for their diplomacy. Most supernatural beings stuck to their own kind, but the fae were positively brutal in their rulings and in their separation from all others. Everyone knew that their laws were black-and-white, and if someone did something they perceived as wrong, they struck hard and fast and asked questions later. Death seemed to be the usual punishment. And as far as Liam knew, there weren’t many fae living in the United States. They tended to stay in Ireland and Scotland.

Jayce nodded. “We’re not the only ones who have been targeted by radical groups. Apparently the APL is trying to branch out overseas and the fae aren’t taking
any chances. They want to stop this group before they have a chance to spread. And they’re the ones who reached out to us. Maybe to see what we had planned. I’m not totally sure. Even though I’d rather keep this in-house, if they have knowledge we don’t, I want to capitalize on it.”

“Agreed,” Connor said, then glanced at Ana. His mate had been unusually quiet, but Liam knew they were likely communicating telepathically. Another perk between bondmates. When Connor turned back to Jayce and spoke, Liam knew he’d been right. “You haven’t said where you’re staying, but we have an extra guesthouse. You’d have plenty of privacy if you want to use it.”

Yeah, that definitely came from Ana, not his brother.

Jayce nodded. “Thanks. My bags are in my truck.” He looked at Liam, then back at Connor. “I’m heading to town to talk to December McIntyre after this. I didn’t realize the extent of her involvement and attacks. I’m going to question her to see if she remembers anything important. I’d like to take Liam—unless you object?”

The question surprised Liam, but he figured Jayce was just being respectful of Connor’s territory. And Liam would have gone anyway. December had been scared of Jayce last night and he wouldn’t let the other shifter meet with her alone.

Connor nodded without pause. “Of course.”

Once the meeting dispersed, Jayce spoke to Connor for a few minutes in private, then excused himself and went to find Erin. It was a little rude not talking to Connor longer, but he’d make up for it later. So far he actually liked this pack. They didn’t reek of fear around him and they were honest. At least what he could scent.

As he strode across the yard, he spotted the redhead
and the other male who’d been glued to her side at the table—Noah—entering the barn. He trailed after their voices and scent. The male was angry at something and she was pissed at having the same argument again. He found them by one of the stables. It appeared as if the redhead planned to take one of the horses out, but the male had pinned her up against one of the open doors with his body.

For a moment Jayce’s instinct to fight flared to life. He calmed when he realized the redhead wasn’t pushing him away. Her hand was on the male’s chest, but she was grasping his shirt. Her other one wrapped around the back of his neck in a tight grip. Jayce knew she could defend herself, because he understood
what
she was.

He wanted to talk to her about that but decided to wait. The lust emanating from both of them was overpowering and if he was honest, he was fucking jealous. Jealous of two virtual strangers. Christ, he needed to get laid. No, he needed to get some more time with Kat. But that wasn’t happening anytime soon. Now that she knew the truth about him—or a version of it anyway—she likely wouldn’t stay in the same room as him. Too bad for her he had to talk to her about that kidnapping. Even thinking about her at the mercy of two monsters made his canines throb. He preferred to fight in his human form—all enforcers did—but his inner wolf wanted blood at the thought of Kat in danger.

If it wasn’t for his job, he’d steer clear of her for the rest of this trip, but he couldn’t. Unfortunately the longer he was around her, the more he felt his resolve stripping away. If she pushed him hard enough, he might be driven to claim her, to mark her. And if that happened, she’d eventually hate him. Hate living with the knowledge that she was marked for death every single day.

“Y
ou want to grab breakfast? December’s store won’t be open for another hour and I don’t think ambushing her as soon as she opens is a good idea,” Liam said to Jayce as he steered down the long driveway. Judging her reaction to Jayce yesterday, he wanted to tread lightly. Keeping his intended mate happy was the most important thing to him.

“That’s fine.” As he settled against the seat, Jayce unzipped his coat, revealing two blades strapped across his chest in a crisscross fashion.

“The humans ever give you grief about your weapons?” Liam asked.

Jayce shrugged. “They’re usually concealed, but yeah, sometimes I get hassled. I’ve got a permit, though, so fuck ’em.”

“What are those things made of, silver?” The intricate carvings along the blade were unique and had obviously taken time.

“It’s a mix of what humans today would consider titanium and pure silver, but they’re…different.”

“You gonna expand on that?”

“They were blessed by the fae about a thousand years ago.”

“Holy shit.” Liam knew his brother’s mate had a dagger blessed by the fae passed on from her father, but they were very rare. The magic made them damn near indestructible. How a blade was blessed made a difference in what the exact purpose of it would be. Ana’s dagger could put feral shifters into comalike states, making them easily disposable, but Jayce’s could have completely different powers. It just depended on who had blessed it and why.