Shifted Perceptions (Alpha Division) (9 page)

Chapter 16

I woke with a gasp, flinging myself into a sitting position. I quickly fell back down onto the bed, as knives sliced through my brain and my vision blurred. Grabbing my head, I closed my eyes and groaned. Damn, it was like the worst hangover imaginable.

After a few deep breaths, I tried opening
my eyes again, and wished I hadn’t. My head protested the pain, my vision too sensitive for the dim light filling the room, and my stomach turned. Then my eyes focused on him and I groaned again. Stone sat in a chair beside me, his gaze steady on mine, as he watched me try to get my bearings.

“What...
,” I tried to speak, but my mouth felt like I’d been sucking on cotton.

Stone sat forward and I backed away, which was a mistake. Damn, I hurt. “I imagine your mouth is dry as hell,” he said. “I’ll get you something to drink in a minute. First, you’re going to listen to me.”

I didn’t respond. My anger was returning, as I remembered everything, but Red needed me. Getting out of there and letting the team know about Red was my first priority, which meant I needed to play nice.

“I don’t put up with the shit you pulled today. You may not be part of this organization, but I had plans to bring you in.
You’re just what we need, Foxy. Smart and strong. Hell, you’re a better fighter than most of my men. You think faster and hit just as hard. What I want to know is, why did you pull that shit? What made you attack us?”

I cleared my throat and prepared for the lie. “You were beating the shit out of that guy,” I croaked. “Seemed wrong to me.”

Stone nodded and stood. My eyes followed him, as he walked across the room, coming back with a cup clasped in his hand. Leaning over me, he placed the straw at my lips. I looked him in the eye, but didn’t take the offering.

“Drink, Foxy. It’s okay, I promise no more drugs.” I took a small sip and when I tasted the cool, cl
ean water, I drank more deeply.

Once I finished, he put down the cup and sat back in the chair. “That man was a traitor. He harmed one of our own and he’s been lying about who he is, I believe.” When I didn’t comment, he leaned forward and asked, “How do you feel about traitors, Foxy?”

My thoughts immediately went to the Alpha Division and what I felt when we found out Paul had betrayed us. My face must have shown my fury, because Stone nodded, his lips twitching into a pleased smile. “I thought so.” 

As he sat silently looking at me,
I glanced around the room I was in for the first time. It was a small bedroom with scarce decorations. The bed was a twin size, with white sheets and no comforter. The walls were white and there was only one other piece of furniture, a dark wooden dresser with a mirror attached. And it smelled just like him.

“Where are we?”
I asked, ignoring my body's response to his scent.

“My home.
This is the guest bedroom. Sorry, I haven’t had time to decorate.”

I nodded, but stopped when my head swam. “What did you give me?”

“A light tranquilizer. It should wear off in a few hours. I’m sorry about that, but you were out of control.” I didn’t dignify that excuse with an answer.

Crossing a leg,
Stone leaned back in the chair, looking casual and arrogant. Did he realize the move brought my attention to his crotch. His thighs framed his groin perfectly, showing a nice growing bulge.

Stone cleared
his throat and my eyes snapped to his. What in the hell, I thought miserably, as his lips twitched. After what I saw him do, I felt differently towards him. More hatred, when before, I was beginning to like him and wondered how I would be able to take him down. But even though I found him to be a superior asshole, I was still physically attracted to him. Very much so.

Stone’s eyes sparkled with humor, but his voice was all business.
“Now, if you agree to the terms, I’m hoping you will join the organization. We could use a woman like you.”

“I don’t know anything about it.”

Nodding, he said, “True, so let me give you a little information. We run The Pit, of course. Shifters from all over the country volunteer to fight in my ring. People come from far and wide to watch them, amazed at their skills and spend ridiculous amounts of money gambling on their favorites. It’s very lucrative,” he smiled proudly.

“Sounds like it.
So, you own all of it?” I asked, my hand waving to encompass the whole of the organization. I knew the answer already, but needed to ask for appearances sake.

“No,
I have a boss, the owner. We do other things for him as well.”

“Like?”

He was silent for a moment, then, “Like shipping packages for the organization.”

“And these packages? Are they legal?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Not necessarily. Is that a problem?”

“Not for me.”

“I didn’t think so. You don’t seem like the type of woman that abides by the rules.” If he only knew, I thought. The Alpha Division was full of rules that I not only followed, but approved of as well.

I smiled wickedly at him, “You know me. Full on rule breaker here.”

He laughed, “No, I don’t know you, Foxy, but I’m getting there.” His smile dropped, as his expression darkened. “But you will follow my orders. I don’t take disobedience lightly. In fact, I don’t tolerate it at all. Understand?”

The threat would have made most shake in their boots, so I widen
ed my eyes and swallowed, pulling off an Oscar worthy performance. “Yes, I understand,” I whispered.

“Good,” He stood and wal
ked away, stopping just shy of the door. He turned and smiled. “By the way, you’re free to go whenever you please. Although, I wouldn’t mind if you stayed awhile.” His slate gray eyes flared with desire and as much as I didn’t want to, my body responded. My pulse jumped, but I looked away, not answering his blatant suggestion. I just wanted to get out of there.

“I’ll give you
a ride back to the hotel whenever you’re ready, but I advise you find a place more permanent if you want to join us. Again, I wouldn’t mind you staying here.”

He left after that and I breathed a sigh of relief. Now
, I just needed to push through the pain and get the hell back to the hotel. The team needed to plan a recovery mission, which meant I’d probably get to play with my gun. My mood lightened considerably and I grinned just thinking about it.

Chapter 1
7

Paul

Leaving Terry in bed, looking sated, sexy and ready for more was the most difficult thing I’d ever accomplished, but I had things to get done. First was to find out more about this Stone character. I didn’t like the way he looked at Foxy. I mean, hell, I couldn’t blame him, but I also couldn’t help the jealousy that burned my soul every time I saw the two of them together. And it wasn’t just Stone. Foxy had been just as drawn to him as he to her.
It’s only the mission,
I kept telling myself. Maybe one of these days, I’d actually believe it.

Stone’s place
, a two bedroom brick ranch, was just outside of town. Sneaking around to the back door, his flimsy locks were no match for me as I snuck in. The place was empty, not only in tenants, but there was hardly any furniture either. It had that
not lived in
feel, which I thought odd, since he’d supposedly been there for more than six months.

Walking through the kitchen, I took notice of one lone coffee mug in the sink
, before moving on to the living room, then bedrooms. I found the master and began rifling through the drawers. Nothing strange there, unless you counted how neatly he folded his tightie whities.

The closet wasn’t much more interesting. Suits hung neatly in rows. Color coordinated? What the hell?
The man was a fruitcake
, I thought, as I stooped to look around the baseboards. There had to be something. But as my hands smoothed over the boards and tapped the walls, I found nothing.

Standing, I held still a moment and took in my surroundings. Where would I hide something? My eyes scanned slowly over the dresser, nightstand, bed and walls, looking for anything out of place. Nothing.

Then my eyes looked up at the popcorn ceiling. Again, nothing unusual. Until my gaze caught on the ceiling fan above the bed. Barely noticeable was a piece of black electrical tape hanging off one of the motionless blades. Climbing on the bed, I reached up, my hands wrapping around the object taped to the top of the blade and pulled. It gave easily and I stepped down.

Turning the object over in my hand, I opened it and froze.
Immobile, I stood looking at what Stone had been hiding, then shook my head. I couldn’t believe that bastard! This changed everything.

Chapter 18

Terry

Stumbling into the hotel room, I slammed the door behind me just as the connecting room door flew open and a seething Paul stomped in, “Where the fuck have you been?”

“Not now, Paul,” I began, then sway
ed as the room spun. My hand dropped to catch myself on the bed before I fell.

“What the hell happened to you? Are you okay?”
He reached for me, clasping my elbow to help me sit down, but I was having none of that. I shrugged off the help and stood, albeit a bit wobbly. “I said not now. I need to call–”

“Stop it
, Foxy!” Paul growled. “You’re going to tell me what happened. Right this fucking min –”

“I found R
ed!” Pushing past a stunned Paul, I made my way to my bag and grabbed my cell. Paul was there in an instant, reaching for the phone. “I’ll call. You need to lay down.”

“No, I’m calling.” My tone brook no argument
, as I looked him dead in the eye. This was my fuck up. Red was captured because of me, beaten because of me. I had to do everything I could to fix it.

The tense lin
es around his mouth didn’t lessen, but he nodded and stepped back, giving me the space I needed. I appreciated that. I wasn’t in the mood for another dominant man to be up in my face, giving me orders.

I put the cell to my ear, letting out a silent curse. Well, shit! I guessed it didn’t matter anyway. I was about to have the most dominant man on the planet giving me orders through the phone in about two seconds.

“Tell me you’ve got something, Foxy,” Teij demand.

Some hello, I thought sarcastically, but I kept it
to myself. Now was not the time for jokes. “Yes, Sir. I found Russell. We need a recovery mission ASAP.”

“So I take it he’s alive?”

“Yes, Sir, but barely. We’ll need a medic on standby. He’s been beaten to shit.” I glanced at Paul. He was staring at me, taking in every word and at the mention of how bad Red was, his brows furrowed with worry.

“Alright, I’ll call
in the team,” Teij growled. “We shift at twenty-four hundred hours.” When in our animal form, the Alpha Division could mind talk. This came in handy when we needed to coordinate while so far apart physically.

I
glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Eleven PM. Damn! I’d been gone all day. No wonder Paul was upset.

“Yes, Sir,” I said.

Just as I began to lower the phone, Teij spoke again. “And Foxy,”

“Yes?”

“Good job,” he said, before the line went dead and something lifted inside me at his words.

Teij, though not much older than myself, was a father figure to the whole team
. His approval meant everything and I wanted to smile, but there was too much to do, and I wouldn’t be completely at ease until we got Russell out.

“We
shift in an hour,” I told Paul, though I was sure he had already heard. “Can you call Bear?” I asked. I didn’t like to admit it, but I needed to rest.

“Of course,” he replied, watching as I lowered myself to the bed and clo
sed my eyes. Damn, I was tired.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” At his question,
I opened my eyes to see his face full of concern. More than I’d ever witnessed from him in the past.

I smiled as best I could t
o reassure him. “Sure,” I whispered, my eyes drifting shut. “Just need to rest a minute. I’ll be good as new in ten.”

“Foxy, time to meet up with the team. Come on, wake up,” Paul’s voice floated through my drowsy
mind and I curled into his side, glad he was lying next to me. I pushed my nose into his chest and breathed deeply. So comforting, his scent.

“Come on, Foxy, we got
to get moving,” he said again and this time I felt his warm lips pressed against my forehead and I smiled sleepily.

“I don’t wanna,” I whined playfully, wanting to curl up with Paul and sleep all day. Hell, maybe weeks or months would be better.

Then I remembered what we needed to do and I sat up quickly, dislodging Paul’s arms. Was he holding me? I blinked my eyes in the dim room and shook the sleep off. The bright neon numbers on the clock said we only had five minutes until the meeting.

Yawning, I glanced back a
t Paul. He was reclining on his back, his chest bare with his arms stretched behind his head. His cropped hair was mussed in my favorite way and I couldn’t keep my eyes off his straining muscles, as they flexed.

Wait! My eyes lifted to his and
I blushed. Shit, I actually blushed, as a grin split his sinful lips. That ass caught me staring and flexed just to tease me. He was so going to get it. Later.

“Come on
, sleepy head,” I told him. “We can’t stay in bed all day.” I slapped his stomach before bouncing off the bed, laughing at his grunt.

“Just you wait, Foxy girl. I’m going to chain
you to this bed if you don’t watch it.” Paul’s playful growl had me chuckling, as I stripped off my clothes. I knew he watched me, so I made sure to shake my ass a little, grinning when I heard him groan. Once finished, I turned and winked before shifting.

His eyes were dark with lust
, as he stood and stripped as well. It took all I could not to start panting. He was all hard muscle, rippling and thick. I shook my fur and growled when he chuckled.

Then I
watched, mesmerized, as he shifted. It never failed to take my breath away. He crouched down to all fours, his muscles undulating as his neck bulged. The swell of black fur looked like silk sheets flowing over his gleaming skin, and in seconds, he was a massive black jaguar.

His dark gaze held mine and I shivered from the intensity. The man was dangerous, with a capital D. What did he want from me? I still didn’t know. Was this some sort of game for him? If so,
I was pretty sure I was losing.

“We’re all here?”
I heard Teij ask, ending the moment and I shook off the foolish emotions that had begun to well up. We had a man to save.