Bonded (16 page)

Damien began to
give his usual spiel but Reno cut him off.

“A DC officer is
going to be showing up. Someone has to be here.”

“Aw, come on,
Reno. You only live once.” Damien slapped him on the back, but Reno
shook his head. He knew Damien was on a high from the fight. The
kid still hadn’t learned to gear down and needed to burn off his
excess energy. Sex was his usual choice.

Sometimes Reno
worried about his partner. Damien was a good Enforcer; smart,
strong, quick on his feet, and for the most part he kept his inner
wolf in line. But there were times, like today, when a certain look
came over him, a restless, reckless attitude that made Reno wonder
what the future might hold for the kid. Was it that rogue quality
on the edge of breaking free or just the high spirits of youth?
Reno didn’t know and kept his concerns to himself.

There was no point
in trying to stop Damien. He liked to live life on the wild side
and didn’t want anyone telling him what to do. That was okay with
Reno—he’d suffered from the same malaise before becoming head of
the unit and being forced to be more responsible—he just hoped his
partner wouldn’t end up in real trouble one day.

“Go on and have
fun. Just don’t do anything that requires a DC officer to cover it
up.” The light warning was all Reno allowed himself to give.

Mischief glinted
in Damien’s eyes. “Reno, you worry too much. You’re like an old man
sometimes.”

“Wise, not old,
kid. I’ve sown my wild oats and know the pitfalls.”

“Wild oats?”
Damien rolled his eyes. “When was the last time you did that?”

Reno held back a
frown. Damien had unwittingly hit on a sore spot, though he didn’t
let on. “When you’re old, you’re discreet.”

“Uh-huh. Sure you
are.” Damien taunted him good naturedly and Reno took a
half-hearted swipe at him, but the kid danced back out of the way.
“Well, I’ll ‘sow enough oats’ for both of us and be back in an
hour.”

With a final
warning, Reno started to walk away. “If you’re not, we’re leaving
without you and you can walk back.”

“That’s what you
always say.” Damien called after him. “Have fun dealing with the DC
officer.”

Reno flipped him
off then listened to Damien laughing as he loped in the direction
of town.

Damned kid’s going
to make me really mad some day, Reno mused. Maybe it was time to
take a round out of him again. His frown soon morphed into a smile
though. Damien was like a younger brother and a friend all rolled
into one and their good natured teasing was just part of their
relationship.

Whistling under
his breath, he made his way across the parking lot to where the
transport bus was awaiting the refugees. They’d be taken to the
Lycan Link compound on the border of Canada and the US to be
processed, given medical attention and counselling as needed and
then integrated into a new pack and a life of freedom.

Yep, it had been a
good couple of weeks’ work. He ran his hands through his short
unruly hair and flexed his shoulders. Damn, it felt good to get in
the occasional fight; it helped work all the kinks out of a fellow
and kept the inner wolf more manageable. The scuffle had left him
hot and sweaty though so he pulled off his shirt and wiped his face
and neck on the garment before throwing it over his shoulder.

Despite the early
morning hour, the air was heavy with humidity. Reno wiped another
trickle of sweat from his face wondering what the temperature might
be and then decided he didn’t want to know. Thinking a cold drink
would be a welcome sight, he wondered if the town sported a bar or
not. Damien would know, but Reno had been too busy on the case to
pay much attention to the local amenities. Besides, this was such a
two-bit place that it didn’t even rate a pinpoint on local road
maps. The chances of finding a good brand of beer didn’t seem very
likely.

He looked around
at the moss laden trees and lush foliage so typical of the bayous
while swatting at a mosquito that dared to land on his arm. It was
interesting territory, not something he was familiar with, and if
he’d had more time, exploring might have been interesting, even if
there was no bar in sight.

A waterway, so
still it appeared as smooth as glass, was to his right and a small
dock extended out into it with a rowboat tied to a post. Perfect
for sitting back and fishing, he decided. Add a cold frosty beer, a
hat to keep the sun off and maybe some music playing softly in the
background and it might just be a perfect vacation spot, if he ever
decided to take one, that is.

Yeah, that’d be
the life. He inhaled deeply imagining himself in the scene, then
frowned when a female suddenly appeared in the picture. She had
long bouncy curls, was dabbling her toes in the water and laughing,
likely scaring all the fish away! Foolish female, didn’t she know
there could be ’gators in the water?

Scowling, he gave
his head a shake and abandoned his daydreams. Someday he’d plan a
vacation, just not now. He had a schedule to keep and fishing
wasn’t even close to being on the agenda. Shifting his attention
back to the parking lot, he headed towards the bus that would carry
the refugees to Lycan Link.

The sun was just
starting to move higher in the sky and he squinted at the
brightness of its reflection off the large vehicle’s windows. He
donned his sunglasses and immediately his step faltered. Now that
he could see clearly, he became aware that his nemesis was parked
beside the bus.

Damnation.

Well, that
explained the vague sense of irritation that had plagued him all
day and the woman who had messed up his imaginary fishing!

Whenever he found
himself in a bad mood, Brandi Johansson was always somewhere
nearby. How the hell did one woman have the power to irritate him
so much? And with all the Damage Control agents employed by Lycan
Link, why did the captain keep sending this one?

He narrowed his
eyes and jutted his chin as he stared at the woman before him.
Involuntarily, his hands fisted, every muscle in his body
tightening at the very sight of her. Desire and irritation battled
within him, but he could allow neither one to win. One slip up, one
unprofessional comment and the annoying woman would have his butt
in a sling...again.

Brandi Johansson
was perched on the hood of a midnight blue sports car, her face
tilted up to the sun, and her curvaceous body displayed in all its
provocative glory. Lush breasts, rounded hips, fire-red hair
trailing down her back. Her skirt was hitched up revealing shapely
legs that ended in bare feet.

Reno felt his
mouth grow dry. He recalled, all too well, how those thighs felt
cradling his hips. His body responded to the memory, but he forced
himself to ignore it. Their relationship had soured considerably
since their last encounter and he knew from personal experience
that while she might look like the answer to every man’s dreams,
reality was completely different.

Brandi wasn’t as
sweet as her name might imply. Instead she was as fiery as her hair
and about as easy to take as gargling broken glass. Real brandy
might have slid down his throat and filled his belly with
comforting warmth, but Brandi Johansson set him afire like no other
female ever had. She was hot tempered and feisty. Her acerbic
comments set his teeth on edge and made his temper boil. As far as
he could tell her only saving grace was the fact that she gave him
a hard-on, not that he’d give her the satisfaction of knowing that,
of course.

As one of the top
agents with the Damage Control branch of Lycan Link, Brandi was
often called upon to manage tricky situations such as this one.
Unfortunately, while she might be good at her job, she was also the
bane of his existence. If she wasn’t breathing down his neck
watching every move he made, she was complaining to the higher ups
that he caused too much trouble, didn’t follow protocol, and
doubled her work load.

Well, to his way
of thinking, if she had to create a few more lies to keep the
existence of werewolves hidden from the human population, then so
be it. His job was to save lives and to ensure the Book of the Law
was followed. Keeping things neat and tidy wasn’t his problem...or
at least he wished it wasn’t. Ever since the Langstaff case he’d
been forced into behaving like a tight-assed pencil pusher more
worried about protocol than getting the job done.

How Damage Control
officers managed to suck up to scumbags like Bronte without puking
was beyond him. He could barely stand to breathe the same air as
the slimeballs. Schmoozing with them until they agreed to the cover
stories... Reno curled his lip in disgust. You’d never catch him
being a ‘professional liar’ as the DC officers were sometimes
called.

Wiping the sweat
from his upper lip, he exhaled slowly as he approached the vehicle.
The woman, who was now sitting up and looking at him expectantly,
always set him on edge and he had to school his features into a
suitably bland expression to face her.

“Smith.”

“Jones.”

Her eyes barely
flickered and only a trace of a furrow appeared on her brow at his
purposeful error. Once, years ago, he’d called her Jones by
mistake. Now he used it as a way to irritate her. It was childish,
but something about Brandi always brought out the worst in him.

They nodded at
each other with false politeness.

“Out of uniform
again, I see.” Brandi slid off the hood of her car, looked him up
and down, and then sniffed.

Reno purposely
flexed his muscles and smirked as Brandi’s gaze fixed on his
six-pack abs, the tip of her tongue peeking out to lick her lips.
To hell with being politically correct. He thickened his usually
faint western drawl. “Just for you, darlin’. I figured you could
use some eye candy to sweeten you up a bit.”

She rolled her
eyes at his mocking tone, her annoyance palpable. He almost smiled,
pleased to have irritated her once again, and braced himself for
her comeback.

Instead of
snapping back at him as she usually did, she surprised him by
merely shifting her gaze so she was staring over his shoulder. “So
how big a mess did you leave me this time?” Brandi didn’t attempt
to disguise the exasperation in her voice.

A wave of
disappointment washed over him that their verbal sparring was over
so quickly, however he hid it and answered her question
instead.

“Hardly anything
at all. The Alpha was real cooperative.”

“What? No brawls
in the street? No wolf sightings? No wounds inexplicably healing
before human eyes?”

“Nope. The asshole
kept this group close to home. The townsfolk hardly ever saw them.
All you need to do is make up a pretty story to explain three
families moving away.”

“Three families?”
For a second there was a shadow of concern in her eyes. “Everyone
okay?”

“Yeah.” Reno
firmed his jaw and stared at her levelly. Brandi knew how he
reacted when one of the halves got injured. She’d been there that
one time... He blocked the painful memory not wanting her to know
it still had an effect on him.

“Good.” Their eyes
met and for a brief second he thought he saw something there—a
yearning, shades of loneliness—then she blinked and the moment was
lost. The look in her eyes became detached, her tone business-like.
“Okay, here’s the plan. You load them up while I talk to the Alpha
and help him create an acceptable scenario to explain the three
families’ departure should anyone in the human community ask why
they left. Once I’ve supervised the pack meeting and ensured
everyone understands, I’ll catch up to you at the first stop.
Here’s the itinerary listing all rest stops, suggested supplies,
and cover stories if you’re questioned.”

She tried to pass
him an envelope, but he shoved his hands in his pockets instead.
“Brandi, I’ve done this before. I don’t need—”

“Too bad.
Regulations state that it’s part of my job to ensure relocations
run smoothly.” Brandi poked him in the stomach with the envelope
and he grabbed it from her to stop the annoying action. “Thanks for
your cooperation. Now I’d better get inside and start calming down
Alpha Bronte.”

She fished some
sort of clip out of her purse and quickly twisted her hair up into
a professional looking knot, jabbing pins in here and there, then
picked up a blazer that was draped over the door of the car and
worked her feet into a pair of high heels. As she started to go, he
reached out and caught her arm before he could stop himself. She
raised her brows and stared pointedly from his hand to his
face.

“Be careful. He’s
not in the best of moods.” Reno wondered why he felt the need to
caution her.

“They never are
once you’re done with them.” She tried to pull her arm free. “I’ve
done this dozens of times, Smith. I can handle the situation
myself.”

“Yeah. I’m sure
you can.” He let her go and watched her retreating form, trying not
to notice the slight hurt caused by how she’d brushed off his
concern.

Someone hit him on
the shoulder. “Hey, Reno, wake up.”

“Huh?” He turned
to see Al Zimmerman, Brandi’s partner, standing beside him. “Oh,
hey, Al. I didn’t see you there.”

“No? Something
else caught your attention?” Al gave a knowing grin and jerked his
head in Brandi’s direction. “Don’t worry about her. She’s got more
guts than half the Enforcers I know.”

Reno grunted in
acknowledgement.

“Besides, I’m
there to watch her back.” The tall thin werewolf cracked his
knuckles and Reno laughed knowing the man was a lot tougher than he
looked. Al was as easy to get along with as Brandi was
difficult.

“Then go do your
job and I’ll do mine.” Reno nodded towards the Alpha house where
Brandi could be seen knocking on the door.