Sailing Deep (4 page)

              Blake’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “I’d love to, but you look more like a boxers man to me.” He couldn’t quite keep his grin in check.

              Dylan sighed, lowering his head and pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. He closed his eyes. “Please, just tell me what I need to know.”

              Blake chuckled but complied, “I am, as you pointed out, the mole, and your superiors’ primary source of intelligence regarding the Shadow Pack.” Dylan was pleasantly surprised by the sudden change in tone. His voice was still calm, but it held an air of seriousness that he had been craving. He spoke quickly and precisely, keeping his voice down despite the lack of monitoring devices in the room. “I go by Blake Baxter here. That’s not my real last name, and you don’t need to know it. I find it’s easier to use familiar first names to avoid mistakes. I work mostly with surveillance, both for the Shadow Pack and on my own. I had heard they brought someone in, and I saw you through the surveillance cameras in your holding cell. To avoid them questioning you too much, I made a scene.”

              Dylan raised an eyebrow, remembering the way Blake had been shouting when he had approached the holding cell. “You made a scene?”

              Blake nodded, his smile was smug. “To keep your identity from being discovered, I went with the first believable and least suspicious story I could come up with.”

              “Us being mates.”

              He nodded again, still smug. “Precisely. I went to the Alpha and the council in a desperate rage that my mate had been detained. You should have seen it. I was fantastic. The way our story goes is that you are my mate. We’ve known each other for a long time, but our decision to be together is a recent one. This is important because I have been here for months and they’ve known me to be single. Our plan was to have you visit soon, but you, wanting to surprise me and eager to see me, decided to come on your own, earlier than planned. Without my direction, however, you got lost, and instead of arriving before the full moon, you were caught out in the woods at night. Understand?”

              Dylan nodded, frowning as he tried to absorb the story. It wasn’t at all something he would have gone with, but he supposed it worked. He would have to work on committing this new lie to believability since it had already been put into play.

              “Good,” Blake took his feet off the table. He planted them on the floor and mirrored Dylan’s position: elbows resting on knees, leaning forward. “Now you tell me: what the hell happened last night? I was told you would be on a surveillance mission only. No contact. No confrontation.”

              “It was.” Dylan sighed, leaning back in his chair. He rubbed his neck with one hand. “I’m not sure what happened. We didn’t get the right amount of sedatives. We had enough to make us groggy, but not enough to keep us passive. My chains were pulled up, and I ran. The call of the wild was too strong.”

              There was the ghost of a smile on Blake’s lips as he nodded. To be part of the Shadow Pack, he had to be a shifter, too. He would know just how strong the beast was, especially under a full moon.

              “I woke up surrounded by Clark and his men. They brought me to the cell.”

              “Did you tell them anything?”

              He shook his head. “Only that I was there to look for them, and that my name was Dylan.”

              Blake nodded. He had his fingers laced together and rested them against his lips. “That works well with our story. You were looking for the Shadow Pack because you were looking for me. What about the others?”

              “I have no memory of seeing them after I got free. Everything was foggy, but I’m fairly certain I would have remembered seeing them. Have you heard anything?” Dylan’s chest tightened as he asked the question. He had been momentarily freed, but what about his team?

              Blake gave a sharp shake of his head. “No, you were the only one they found. Or at least, the only one brought in. I checked all the holding cell cameras and casually asked if anyone else had been picked up.” One side of his lips upturned in a small smile. “Had to check to see if my love was stupid enough to travel alone. Turns out he was.”

              Dylan ignored him. “Have they found any evidence of unchecked shifters in the area?”

              Once again, Blake shook his head. “Not that I’ve heard, but I’ll keep an ear out for any news. You’ll find gossip travels fast here. Few things stay secrets. Which is why,” He said, pointing two fingers at Dylan, “You and I need to be very convincing, and we need to appear to be a typical couple, or risk suspicion and possible exposure.”

              Dylan had to stifle a sigh. “How long?”

              Blake shrugged, “As long as it takes. I feel it’s safe to assume you need to stay at least a month. Possibly more. Long enough to keep our charade going. It would probably be best for you to stay until we get word from your team, and you get new orders.”

              This time, Dylan did sigh. He was dreading that answer, but he knew Blake was right. They had a story now, and Dylan was temporarily free of suspicion, but if he ran now, he risked exposing their mole, which could be dangerous for him and detrimental to his team’s investigation of the Shadow Pack. Dylan couldn’t do that to the man. Not after Blake risked his cover to save Dylan’s.

              Dylan just wasn’t sure he would be able to fake a relationship. It was definitely something he hadn’t prepared for.

              Dylan sat back in the chair heavily, making it scoot a few inches across the rug. He ran his fingers through his copper brown hair. It was short, but it was nearly too long for regulation. “This wasn’t exactly how I expected this mission to go.”

              Blake’s lips twitched. “What? You weren’t expecting to get a mate?”

              “We’re not mates!” Dylan said firmly.

              Blake shook his head and pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking it. “You’ve gotta work on that attitude. Meanwhile, I’ve got work to do.” He suddenly stood and stretched, reaching his arms high above his head. His shirt rose slightly to expose his midriff. Dylan was mildly surprised to see the muscles beneath. Shifters naturally tended to be fitter than humans, but he hadn’t expected the lean man, who evidently made his living off sitting in front of a computer, to have a six pack.

              “Wait, shouldn’t you tell me more about this place?” Dylan asked, frowning. “I should be prepared.”

              Blake shrugged and waved him off as he walked around Dylan’s chair and to the desk. Dylan swiveled around to keep an eye on him. “Don’t worry about it. You’re new here so you won’t be expected to know much.” He was bent over his keyboard, but he paused his typing to grin over his shoulder. “I’m sure Clark already believes you to be my simpleton mate. You might want to consider keeping that up.”

              Dylan’s mouth fell open, and he jerked his head back in surprise. “A simpleton?”

              Blake rolled his eyes and continued typing. “Oh, don’t be so offended. It works out perfectly for you. No one’s ever suspicious of people they think are stupid. Alright, done.” With a few deft keystrokes, he closed whatever program he had been working in and stood straight, pulling the small thumb drive from the computer and putting it in his pocket.

              “Shouldn’t you tell me more about yourself? How am I suppose to pretend to be your mate if I don’t know anything about you?”

              He picked up a laptop bag from the floor and swung it over his shoulder. “Where would the fun be if I just told you?”

              “This isn’t about fun.”

              “Isn’t it?”

              Dylan was really starting to resent the man’s grin. Didn’t he understand the seriousness of the situation? Yet the man constantly smiled like he knew some joke that Dylan didn’t. And he hated it. “No.”

              “It can be if you let it. I, for one, plan on having my fair share of fun. An opportunity like this doesn’t happen every day, and I have no intention of passing it up.”

              “What do you mean opportun-” He didn’t get to finish his question. Blake stepped up to him, forcing him to lean back in the chair if he wanted to continue meeting the man’s eyes. Then he bent down suddenly, putting his hands on the armrests and kissed him promptly on the lips. Dylan pulled back just as quickly, using his feet to push the chair back and away from Blake. “Stop that!”

              Blake straightened, eyes dancing with amusement. “Might as well get used to it, Dylan Harrison.” He looked away, suddenly thoughtful. His hands idly gripped the strap of his bag, a finger tapping his knuckles. “No, that won’t work. They already know your first name, but we should come up with a new surname and a middle name, too, while we’re at it. It never hurts to be thorough. Better that than being caught off guard.” His eyes suddenly jumped back to Dylan’s. “Oh well, we’ll discuss it later.” He started toward the door. “We’ll work on getting you new clothes tomorrow, as well as anything else you might need for a regular stay.”

              “Wait!” Dylan jumped up from the chair as Blake disappeared into the small walkway. He took a few steps and stopped when the other man was back in sight. Blake had paused, hand on the doorknob.

              He eyed Dylan with a raised brow. “Miss me already?”

              “What am I supposed to do while you’re gone?” He asked. He hated how desperate and lost he sounded, but that was exactly how he felt. He wasn’t sure what to do, and that was relatively new for him. He had been thrust suddenly onto enemy territory. He wasn’t a prisoner, for the moment at least. He had gone from being a Navy SEAL on a mission, to being the mate of a man he had never met. And now that man was leaving him.

              Blake shrugged. “Whatever you want to do, I suppose. You’re welcome to anything in this room, including my computer. Though please refrain from using it for any … suspicious communication. Other than that, I suggest you relax. You have a lot to take in, and you’ve got a new role to adapt to. When we’re in public, it won’t do if you pull away from my touch.” He opened the door but paused with one foot out. “Oh, and you might want to prepare yourself for tonight.”

              “What’s tonight?” Dylan asked slowly, a feeling of dread filling his gut.

              “The pack tends to … go out the days before and after a full moon as well. It would look strange if we didn’t make an appearance, and it’ll be an excellent opportunity to show off my new mate.”

              “We’re not-”

              “Nah, ah, ah,” Blake said, putting a finger to Dylan’s lips. “See you tonight, love.” He winked and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

              Dylan stood there a moment longer, listening as he heard Blake lock the door. Then he went to the bed and collapsed on his back. Dylan stared at the ceiling. Blake’s room was bigger than the holding cell, and it had more amenities, but he couldn’t help but feel like he was still a prisoner. Not of the Shadow Pack, but of a cocky man who claimed to be their mole.

              Frankly, he wasn’t sure which one was worse.  

              Blake sat in his usual chair at the security desk. The entire wall in front of him was a grid of screens, each one displaying a different feed from a different security camera. His laptop was open on his lap, given there was little room on the desk itself. The desk was far too cluttered with controls, and the spot that was usually left open for his laptop was covered in papers. It was a lot of filing work and sorting that the higher ups in the organization had delegated down for the grunts at the security console to do. They weren’t good for much else.

              At least, that’s exactly what Blake wanted them to think.

              He had come to the Shadow Pack over half a year ago. He had charmed his way into the organization and snagged himself a cozy spot on the security detail. Not the kind of security that involved carrying guns and tromping around the woods. Oh no, that wouldn’t do. He wanted nothing to do with that lifestyle. Too much work. Too much labor. There was only one way he preferred to sweat, and it sure wasn’t hiking around in all black uniforms. In fact, his method of sweating involved no clothes whatsoever, and preferably with an attractive man in similar attire. Someone like Dylan.

              No, Blake hadn’t been rallied into the physical side of security duty. With his lean build, sauntering stride, and uncalloused hands, no one ever in actuality tried to get him into a labor intensive job. No, he had easily charmed his way into the heart of the organization. Or rather, the eyes. He was eager and polite, showing all the necessary enthusiasm for joining the Shadow Pack and to quickly gain trust. Blake had insisted he wanted to help in any way he could, but he also insisted that he didn’t have many talents. After some subtle manipulation of several conversations, it had been his current supervisor who had suggested a job in the security room.

              Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t a job many people wanted. As shifters, they had a natural urge to move, to run, and to avoid cramped, stagnant places. They were, as a whole, a twitchy group. While Blake did often feel the call of the wild, he was perfectly happy sitting at a desk for hours on end for a relatively boring job, and it was boring. At least at face value. He and one of his co-workers were to watch the security cameras during their shift. Their supervisor would occasionally stop by to see how it was going. They rarely found anything of interest. Most ground crews found the interesting things that the cameras didn’t catch. Like Dylan, and other wanderers.

              At most, Blake found entertainment in watching the pack members. The security cameras saw most things that people wanted to keep secret. Though few of them had an audio feed, he and his co-workers would often come up with stories to explain what they saw. He wasn’t kidding when he told Dylan that gossip traveled fast here. He would know. He was at the heart of it and encouraged it. Rumors held grains of truth, and they were excellent ways to gain more information from others.

              What no one knew and no one expected was that Blake was, in reality, a computer and coding expert. He didn’t like the word genius, but it had been applied to him on several occasions. He was a master hacker working as a mole within a secret organization, given a job with access to the security feeds, compound layouts, and easy access to databases. It was a dream come true, and no one was the wiser. He was speaking from experience when he told Dylan that sometimes being considered a simpleton was to one’s benefit.

              He had reddit pulled up on his laptop with a half-finished game of solitaire over that, but he wasn’t looking at his laptop. He was looking at his phone, a small ghost of a smile playing across his lips.

              There may not have been any unauthorized cameras in his room, but there was one of his, and he had live feed access to it on his phone. He could turn it on and off remotely. At the moment, he was watching as Dylan napped peacefully on his bed.

              The man had laid there awake for a short time before falling asleep. Though the detail wasn’t precise, Blake was fairly certain his mouth was hanging open in sleep. He never thought he’d live to see the day when Dylan Harrison slept in his bed again. Blake had hoped, of course, but he hadn’t dared believe it could be a reality.

              He had meant what he said: he didn’t plan on letting this opportunity pass him by.

              “What’re you smiling about?” Reggie asked. The man was sitting in the chair across the console from Blake. He had his own laptop open on the desk and was leaning on an elbow. He slouched in his chair, idly scrolling. Blake couldn’t see his screen, but he knew it wasn’t anything important.

              “Nothing,” Blake said, closing the app and locking his phone before shoving it back in his pocket. Dylan would probably be asleep for a couple of hours. No doubt, he was tired from the stress of his capture.

              “Word has it that your mate has come to visit.” The man said casually, sparing Blake a knowing glance.

              Blake couldn’t hide his grin. Unlike his counterpart, he wouldn’t have to fake a smile when he heard the word ‘mate.’ “Word has it right, and word gets around fast.”

              Reggie snorted a laugh. He knew as well as Blake how quickly gossip spread. He had been expecting as much. “Not even the Alpha himself could keep this news from spreading. I mean, it’s always the hot topic when newcomers arrive, but it’s almost never someone who already has a claim on them.”

              Blake chuckled, shaking his head and going back to his solitaire game. “Dylan meant well, but I wish he had warned me of his visit. Maybe then I could’ve curbed some of the gossip.”

              “You know that’s not how it works around here,” Blake grunted acknowledgment, and Reggie continued. “He’s hot, you know.”

              Blake looked up, eyebrows raised. “I know, but how do you know?”

              Reggie idly waved at the cameras without looking at them. He had barely glanced up at all since he arrived. Not a lot of importance was put on their job or their vigilance. “I saw him on the cameras in the holding cell. He’s hot.” He repeated. “You’re gonna have trouble with some of the alphas.”

              Blake’s smile faded. “I know.” He spoke casually, but there was an edge of something else. Something territorial and full of warning. “I won’t have to worry about you, will I?”

              “Oh lord, no. You know I wouldn’t get all up on your mate, man, that’s rude. Besides, he’s hot, but he’s not my type. He looks like a handful. A big, buff handful. Are you sure he’s an omega?”

              Blake chuckled. “I have no doubt.” And he didn’t. He wouldn’t have dared make the claim of mate if he hadn’t been entirely certain that Dylan was an omega.

              “I didn’t expect him to be your type either.”

              “Oh really?” He asked, interest piqued. “And what do you know of my type?”

              Reggie shrugged, the movement causing him to slide further down into his slouch. “I dunno, smaller. Petite. Younger. I kinda saw you as an alpha who liked the little omegas. The cute, eager ones. The ones that’re so hard to resist …” His voice trailed off like he was caught up in his own thoughts.

              Blake chuckled. “He once was, I assure you.”

              Reggie snorted. “Must’ve been a long time ago.”

              “Feels like ages,” Blake murmured. He shook his head, bringing himself to the present. “Dylan isn’t casual mating material. He’s not a pup that you take in the heat of the full moon. He’s … he’s a commitment and a challenge.”

              Reggie nodded. “I figured as much, which is why you should be careful. There are other alphas who love a challenge and would love to try their paws out on him. Not to mention he’s new blood, and you know how everyone gets worked up over fresh meat.”

              “I know.” He was counting on it. He supposed he should warn Dylan, and he probably would. However, the title of being his mate didn’t automatically make him safe from the advances of the other alphas. Not until Blake made his claim explicitly clear. That was part of the reason tonight was so important. He had to make sure the others realized that Dylan was his and his alone.