Brandi (11 page)

“Do you think you’re the first hybrid who’s threatened my life?” Crane asked.

“No, but then I’m not a hybrid. For better or worse, at least temporarily, I’m a real damn werewolf. And what I said was not a threat… not even a little one. It was a
promise
to take your life if you fuck with mine or anyone I care about.”

Brandi pushed back from the table and rose. She turned and walked to the door like she had every right to do so. Fallon and Lars didn’t glance at Sheldon Crane before stepping aside. It was a tiny validation, but appreciated.

She purposely ignored the sighing man who rose to follow her out into the nightmarish chaos he’d help cause.

Chapter 8

Brandi opened the door of the apartment and walked in ahead of Gareth leaving him to secure the door latches. If there was one thing she had learned while they’d been together, it was how obsessive he was about doors and locks. He’d never let her checking be enough, so she left him to do it now.

She slipped her shoes off in the foyer and padded across the floor to the sofa. She plopped down on it and leaned her head back against the leather. It had been a very long day and total exhaustion was fast catching up.

When Gareth joined her, he came into the room, glanced around, and walked straight to the entertainment system. He found some soulful jazz music on the radio and turned it up until it was a tad uncomfortable for her ears. Since it probably was for his as well, she glared at his action only to be completely ignored. His jacket landed on a chair before he walked to her.

“Dance with me,” he ordered, holding out a hand.

Sighing reluctantly, she let Gareth pull her from her seat and into his arms. She knew it wasn’t really dancing on his mind, but rather keeping their watchers entertained while they talked. Since her chin didn’t clear his shoulder in her socks, Gareth dipped his head until his breath touched her ear.

“You don’t really live in this sterile place when you’re in town, do you?”

Brandi shook her head at the whispered question, and tipped up her chin until her lips nearly reached his throat. She had to work not to be happy to be touching him, and even harder not to enjoy Gareth being back in her arms. She couldn’t afford to want him—couldn’t let herself indulge again.

Setting aside the fact he was a lying bastard, the man was also a werewolf who was betraying his own kind. It wasn’t like her to wish for the impossible. Liking Gareth seemed more futile than if she’d had lingering feelings for Lane who’d set her up for a fall.

The truth of her situation was bitter… but too glaring to be ignored. She’d thought about nothing else on the whole ride back. If it hadn’t been for Ariel… and for Reed… she would have been a government pet by now… if she and Heidi had survived.

She sighed again when she realized Gareth was patiently waiting for a reply. “This apartment is a company landing spot. I don’t really have a place of my own. I was never in any town long enough to need one. I found it better not to be tied down by things.”

His arms tightened around her. The thought of Brandi’s vacant life bothered him greatly. He didn’t want to go back to that kind of life himself. “I didn’t have a home for a long time. It’s kind of nice though to go back to the same place and know it will still be there.”

Gareth could tell Brandi was still upset with him. He moved against her deceptively compliant body, his longer, stronger legs forcing hers to follow the movements of his. If there were cameras aimed at them, he wanted everything they did to look like his seduction of her. Too bad their relationship wasn’t so simple.

He stopped moving and pushed the jacket from her shoulders to toss it on the sofa. With one less layer between them, he started thinking about no layers at all. That probably wasn’t going to happen tonight. But tomorrow?

Gareth took Brandi back into his arms and started moving again, not wanting to think about anything beyond getting to hold her once more. “Everyone knows we came home together. It’s best they think it was for obvious reasons. We can talk so long as we keep the ambient sound loud enough to scramble their mics.”

“Let them surmise all they want about why you came home with me. It will keep them busy. Now tell me something real before I change my mind about playing nice and knee your balls up into your navel. And to clarify… me playing nice for the cameras doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. I’m still pissed about you turning me in.”

Gareth’s sigh was long. Mostly because he deserved to be on the receiving end of her efforts to protect herself. “Okay. Here it is. Randall Crane got successful in a way no one has before. Yes, I know Sheldon would like to know why. It would have been best to keep your conversion a secret, but the second best thing was to reveal it to the good guys. Whether you like it or not, that’s what Sheldon Crane is. He at least wants to constrain the hybridization efforts going on.”

Brandi pushed in close to whisper her question. “I call bullshit on your opinion. Let’s move on. What is their biggest hold on you?”

“I came to them originally and they helped me find my missing mate. To save her, and protect the rest of the pack, I joined them,” Gareth admitted. “Yes. They used me to try and create people like you. It didn’t work. Something about Reed made the difference. Not one of the subjects who got my blood ever turned. They didn’t even get wolf capabilities. That’s why I don’t think I was used to convert the children… thankfully.”

Brandi swallowed her disillusionment. Did Matt know what his Beta had done? Gareth made Travis Black Wolf look like a boy scout. “What exactly are Fallon and Lars?”

“Humans with panther traits. They don’t turn. They can’t talk to their animal side. They just have heightened senses and some special abilities. They take monthly injections to keep being what they are because apparently hybrid traits like theirs wear off after a while. This is why Sheldon Crane instantly believed your story about your change being temporary. That’s the case with most hybrids to some degree.”

“So that’s their hook. Fallon and Lars have to stay to keep being cat men.”

“Yes. Fallon and Lars are the most unique of the hybrids I’ve seen. They’re the equivalent of a mated couple as well as teammates. From what I understand, they volunteered for the testing that turned them into hybrids. And there have been other volunteers… with lesser results. Some just get a little stronger. Some get a little faster. Some get a little smarter. The results are never controllable. When they last, it’s because the person becomes more animal than human.”

Brandi snorted. “Terrific. Like how many others are there? An army’s worth?”

Gareth laid his cheek against the top of her head. He shook his head gently and his cheek brushed her hair in the process.

“Not an army’s worth… just a team’s worth. None like me… or you. But they know werewolves and other transmutants exist. They monitor—and when necessary—they capture. The sheer number of werewolves was a shock to them, but they have known about the pack’s existence for over a hundred years.”

Brandi was quiet while she considered the ramifications of what Gareth was sharing. “Why is Lane so pissed he put a tail on me? Shitty Sheldon said my old handler fought to keep me. Santiago said Lane agreed to the transfer. What’s the truth? Does Lane suspect something experimental happened to me and was hoping I’d spill it to him?”

Gareth pulled back and met her irritated gaze. He nodded. “The answer is D—all of those is true. I’m guessing the man is also worried because he really does care about you. But not as much as I do.”

Hearing his declaration snapped the control she had on her temper. “Liar,” she said coldly.

“I’m not…” he began, but didn’t get to finish. Her insole landing against his ankle had him swearing at her. The heel of her hand coming up hard under his chin registered just before his body was catapulted backwards with the force of a martial arts move he hadn’t seen coming. Her foot pressing on his crotch seconds later validated he was being attacked by a seriously angry she-wolf.

Brandi glared down at Gareth as she bent forward to stare down at him. “I don’t know why I keep hesitating. I ought to finish this right here, right now… and on fucking camera. Because of you and Travis Black Wolf, I have no choice but to trade myself for Ariel and Heidi. You knew this would be the case when you brought me in, you manipulating bastard. Now tell me the damn truth. What’s in this shit show for you?”

“Nothing but your miserable, hard-hearted life,” Gareth ground out, snatching her foot from his lap and upending her. Brandi stumbled backwards, but didn’t go completely down. Surprising both of them, he sprang at her without thinking and took her solidly to the floor. He pressed and held her in place. She was strong—and mean—but he could be more of both when motivated. No one gave him more reasons than the woman struggling under him.

He growled loudly before speaking. “Kick my nuts again and I will spank you on camera to get even. We’ll give those watching more of a sex show than they’re expecting. And yes—I can and will do it if you don’t behave.”

Gareth watched her face turn red at his words. He felt more anger rolling off Brandi than off any enemy he’d ever fought. He lowered his voice and tried to soften his tone as best he could. He had to calm down before they ended up tearing at each other’s throats in wolf form.

“This is not how it’s supposed to be between us. Please stop fighting me. I swear I’m just trying to help. Remember when I tried to talk you out of pursuing answers about Feldspar? Well sweetheart, this is the price of being curious. Now stop struggling and try to be reasonable for five minutes.”

She seemed calm for a moment, but then thrashed beneath him trying to get loose again. Her movements were a sensual torture, even after her earlier abuse of his man parts. He glared down into her face and pressed the hard reality of their situation against her answering heat.

“Feel this?” he hissed quietly. “This is why I chose to help you when you first showed up in Wasilla. Liking you—caring about you—that’s why I’m helping you now. Soon enough, you’ll be able to make your own damn decisions about Sheldon’s offer, but whatever you do,
don’t
tell your old handler what you’ve become. Normal people who find out about the real purpose of our department are made to disappear quickly and permanently.”

Brandi stilled at his words, anger settling into firm determination to make at least part of Gareth’s statements come true. Tomorrow she
would
decide for herself.

As she glared up at him and wondered what to do next, she realized the forgotten jazz music still played in the background. Unfortunately, it’s soothing tones didn’t lessen the tension of their fierce debate.

She moved again trying to dislodge him, but all she succeeded in doing was raising heat in herself and awareness of her arousal in Gareth. Apparently, the man had more strength than she’d known about and he was obviously intent on proving to her she was no match for him.

Several minutes of struggle passed, but all he did was hold her in place. A traitorous part of her wanted him grinding against her, but Gareth had always waited patiently for a willingness sign before sexually advancing. His integrity in that one area only made her more resentful of all the bad stuff she was learning about him. She’d never liked a man as much as she liked the one on top of her. Why did the best sex of her life have to have been with the worst man who had ever screwed her over?

Her glare intensified as she thought about it. “I hate this situation and I hate wanting you.”

Gareth nodded at her declaration, glaring back. Inside, he couldn’t help wishing they were back in Wasilla, but he figured saying it aloud would only make Brandi madder. So he opted for bluntness—the one thing his resistant lover seemed to appreciate under any circumstances.

“I hate wanting you too. It’s a complication I wasn’t looking for, but that’s not how things are between us, Brandilenna Jenkins. This is how the hell it is.”

“No… ” Brandi started to protest, but for once Gareth paid no attention at all.

His lips closing over hers robbed her of breath. His tongue invading her mouth robbed her of speech. She should have been fighting him off, but she could barely think. Where had Gareth been storing all the aggression he was suddenly unleashing? Usually it took prodding and goading to get the man to have a reaction.

His hands slipped under her hips and lifted. This let him arc between her legs in a perfect upward stroke. The tiny simple movement almost caused her to shatter. The man knew her body intimately and knew exactly how to give her what she wanted.

“
Bastard
,” she declared when her mouth was free.

“Probably,” Gareth agreed.

His tongue diving into her mouth again caused more internal conflict. The amount of genuine passion in his kiss made her ache. She couldn’t tell anymore what was real with Gareth. How much had he fooled her in bed as well as out? When he wrenched his mouth from hers at last, his frustrated groan found an exact echo inside her. She wanted him. She had tried her damndest not to, but she did.

“What’s going on here, Gareth?”

For another minute or two he didn’t answer her, just buried his face in her neck. If he hadn’t been restraining her, Brandi knew she would have wrapped her arms around him to get as close as she could. Her desire to hug him galled her. She was supposed to be pissed. What the hell was wrong with her?