Silver Bullet Bear (Paranormal Shifter Romance (The Agency Book 3) (6 page)

***

Twenty minutes later, Josh pulled the truck through a swift-opening door and into the side of a nondescript warehouse in the middle of an industrial part of the city. Other buildings rose up around them looking much the same to her eye.

She whistled softly as she stepped down from the truck. Several more trucks were parked in what was obviously an equipment garage. Off to one side two sleek, powerful, and speedy-looking motorcycles sat gleaming in the off-white light streaming through the windows.

That wasn’t what caught her attention though. At the back of the garage was what had to be an extremely expensive and fast sports car of foreign design. Hannah had never seen anything like it before, but it was painted with a metallic red design that didn’t ask for attention. It
demanded
it.

“Whose is
that
beautiful machine?” she asked, admiring the dual exhaust and low, sweeping bodywork.

Josh laughed. “That again, would be Shay’s. I have no idea where she got it from, but when we need to go somewhere fast, let me tell you, nothing comes close. The g-forces when she punches the accelerator are rough.”

Hannah smiled. “I’ll have to ask her to take me for a ride,” she joked, looking around at the storage lockers and racks filled with various types of tools and other equipment.

“You weren’t kidding about fighting a war, were you?” she asked softly. “There’s enough stuff here for an entire army.”

The place was filled with all manner of equipment. The boxes and crates disappeared back into the darkness, stacked in every open space that could be found.

“I wish he were kidding,” another voice said from deeper in the warehouse.

Hannah spun as a tall, strong-looking woman strode out of a previously unnoticed doorway and headed toward them.

“Unfortunately for all of us, he isn’t, and it looks like you’re the latest innocent victim to get caught up in it.” The woman came a halt in front of her. “Madison,” she said, sticking out her hand in greeting.

“Hannah,” she replied quickly. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

The other woman snorted humorously. “Hopefully not all of it was terrible.”

Behind them another truck slid into the garage and another big man, a shifter she presumed, disembarked.

Josh slapped a hand over his heart. “Ouch. That really hurts, Madison. Do you think that I would tell terrible stories about you?”

The other woman arched an eyebrow at the shifter.

Josh paused with his mouth open. “That was
one
time!” he protested with a smile. “How long are you going to hold that against me?”

“You have
no
idea,” the newcomer said. “She holds grudges impressively.”

“Now Justin,” Madison said as Hannah’s eyes darted back and forth between them all, taking in the easy camaraderie they all seemed to share. “If you keep talking back, you’re going to have to go to my office.”

The other shifter smirked as he passed the group by, clapping Josh on the shoulder. “If it’s anything like the last visit to your office,” he said with a wink, “count me in!”

Madison turned a bright red and fumed, though Hannah could see in her eyes the deep-seated love that she had for the bigger man.

“Men,” the woman said with a knowing nod at Hannah, who was forced to cover up her own smile.

“So you’re the leader of all this?” Hannah asked, gesturing around them.

Madison nodded, and the three of them fell in step, following Justin deeper into the bowels of the warehouse. “I am now. The previous leader, as it turned out, had actually formed the Underground—that’s what we call ourselves, the Shifter Underground. Anyway, he was actually an enemy Agent, who brought this all together as a way to help the Agency track and identify shifters in the city. While he was in charge, we would lose one shifter for every one we rescued.” Madison shook her head in disgust.

Hannah took it all in, devouring the information, fascinated by the trust and command contained within the woman next to her.
This Madison is a formidable person. She even walks like a shifter, with that slight swagger of confidence and sure-footedness. I wonder if she realizes that she’s adopted that style?

“And now?” she asked.

The leader of the Underground gave her a humorless smile. “Now we kick ass. The Agency is on the run and we have free rein of the city.”

Hannah noticed Josh frowned at that statement, but said nothing. Madison showed them into a room already occupied by the others, including her brother. Hannah exchanged a quick hug with him.

“What the hell happened today?” Chad said once everyone had taken a chair.

“My best guess,” Josh said, speaking up first as he was the only member of the Underground that had actually been present. “Is that the Agency paid off the security agency you hired for today, and slipped some of their own men into your detail.”

Hannah was watching her brother as Josh spoke. Something was off with the way he was reacting to what was being said. It rattled around in her mind, right on the tip of her tongue.

“Yes,” Jared said, the big shifter leader chiming in. “Those men who kidnapped him were definitely Extremis Agents, no doubts about that.”

“
Extremis Agents?”
she mouthed at Josh, not understanding.

“Remember that serum I told you about?” he said softly.

She nodded, shivering at the idea.

“The name for that serum is Extremis,” he supplied.

Hannah understood. Then it hit her. She understood
now
. But she needed to get Josh to explain that to her. He’d also had to explain who the Agency was to her.

Her brother hadn’t even batted an eye at the mention of either the Agency or the Extremis Agents.

“You knew,” she accused, staring across the table at Chad.

“What?” he asked in surprise.

“You knew, all this time,” she raged. “That this Agency was operating here in King City. You knew, and you brought us here anyway? Without telling me? What the hell, Chad!”

Her brother winced, looking unhappy. “Listen, Hannah. I’m sorry, I—”

“That’s why you hired him to look after me. It wasn’t just in case, it was because you
knew
about all this!”

“I was trying to keep you calm. After the last time, I didn’t want you to worry,” he said, his eyes focusing on her sharply as he spoke.

Hannah sat back hard into the chair. She didn’t want to be reminded of the last city they had been to, and he knew it. Throwing that at her hadn’t been fair.

“I can look after myself,” she growled. “But you have to
tell
me about these things dammit!” She slammed her hand down on the plastic folding table in front of them, causing it to vibrate from the impact.

Josh reached out and laid a hand on top of hers. Hannah was too angry just then to notice, until the sensation of skin on skin reached out and slapped her brain. She jerked noticeably, but her hand didn’t move.

“You knew about all this,” Josh said slowly, his eyes tracking from Hannah over to Chad. “But you declined to mention it to anyone?” His voice dropped an octave, and she could see the blood rising to his face. “You put me in danger with your stupidity. But even worse,” his voice exploded, “You put her in danger too. Your own sister!” he roared, standing up so quickly the chair behind him went flying across the room.

“The security agency said they’d be able to handle it. They’re trained mercenaries, not some little dinky city rent-a-cop outfit,” Chad said meekly.

Josh gripped the plastic table so tightly the material crumpled under one of his hands as he leaned across the table toward her brother. Hannah would normally have intervened, but right now she was pissed at her brother for attempting to protect her that way.

“Of all the stupid, idiotic, half-brained—”

“That’s enough Josh.” Madison’s voice cracked through the room like a whip.

Hannah arched an eyebrow as the big shifter whirled to face his boss, and for a moment she thought he was going to challenge her. But Madison simply stared him down for a moment before jerking her head.

“Of course,” Josh said, trying to restrain the anger from seeping into his voice, but not succeeding entirely. Then he spun and stormed from the room.

Jared sighed and he and the rest of his team filed out after Josh. Chad got up and left through a door on the other side, leaving Hannah alone with the two women.

“You must be Shay,” she said after a moment, dipping her head at the woman on the far side of the table from her. “I like your car.”

The other woman stared at her for a moment, then barked a laugh. “Yes, I’m Shay. Sorry, but I didn’t get your name.”

“Hannah,” she said, glancing back and forth between the two of them. “So you two really do have integral parts here,” she said with admiration. “I didn’t think shifters would ever allow human women to work with them, to be put into harm’s way like that.”

Shay and Madison shared a look, ending with Shay shrugging. “It’ll come out sooner or later,” she said.

Madison nodded. “They don’t exactly have much choice with me,” she told Hannah.

“Why is that?”

“Because I’m not human,” Madison said. “At least, not anymore.”

Not anymore?
“What exactly does that mean, if I may ask?”

The tall leader smiled gently. “Well, apparently the Extremis serum comes in several varieties. One of them, the more popular one, bonds with the shifter DNA present in every half-breed. That creates people like the ones that took your brother.”

“I’m following so far,” she said.

“Well, there is another, far more rare serum. It bonds with the
human
DNA as well.”

“Okay,” Hannah said, trailing off, not understanding.

Madison smiled. “In essence, they created a shifter with me,” she said. “I was a half-breed before, but now I can shapeshift. I’m stronger than a normal shifter, I’m faster, I heal quicker. Everything they can do, I can do better now.”

Hannah was staring in shock now, looking like a deer in headlights, but she didn’t care. “Good for you,” she said at last. “That’s amazing. I did not think anything like that was possible.”

“It’s been...interesting,” Madison said with a chuckle. “But when Shay came along, it got a lot easier. Whereas the Sentinels—that’s the shifter team that you’ve met, by the way—couldn’t say no to me, Shay just didn’t listen. She told them she was going to be a driver, and then just never left.” There was a brief snicker. “It helps that Justin is like a puppy dog in love with her as well.”

Shay turned a little pink, but the happy smile on her face announced to Hannah that the other woman wouldn’t have it any other way.

“You’re all so happy,” she said. “I wish I could be that happy.”

Madison smiled. “Anything is possible, Hannah. I’ve seen the way Josh looks at you.”

Hannah grimaced as a dark reminder of why she could never succumb to the feelings present in Madison’s voice welled up deep within her.

“No,” she said hoarsely. “Unfortunately not everything is possible.” She looked up at the two of them. “Some things can never be.”

Josh

“Josh.”

His team leader’s voice carried down the hallway after him as he made his way back to the garage.

“Hey,” Jared said, catching up with him, a hand landing on his shoulder.

He shrugged it off and continued walking, but Jared cut in front of him, placing both hands on his shoulders as he looked at him. “What was that all about?”

“Nothing,” he said, stopping but refusing to meet his leader’s eyes.

“Bullshit,” Connor said as he came up alongside them, followed by Justin. “That was some fire there, man. That’s not normal for you. What gives?”

Josh looked up and around. The hallway was really just canvas drawn over a metal frame, so he couldn’t lash out at the wall, even though he wished he could.

“They put her in danger,” Justin said slowly as he looked at his friend.

Not seeing a point in denying it, Josh nodded.

“You fell for the job?” Connor said with a chuckle. “I can sympathize with that one.”

Josh snarled, but it was all noise, no anger. “It’s complicated.”

Connor and Justin shared a look, then they burst into laughter.

“What?” he growled, but the pair continued to guffaw loudly, bending over as the howls made their chests heave with the effort.

Josh looked at Jared. “Was it something I said?”

The big man was smiling. “I think they understand, is what that’s about.”

The pair got themselves under control. “Sorry,” Justin said with a respectful nod.

“What’s making it complicated?” Jared asked.

Josh smiled. His leader, the Alpha of the team, was a good man. He cared for his team, and when something was bugging them, they all knew he would be there to listen if they needed to talk about it, no questions asked.

“She’s not telling me something,” he explained. “I’m not sure
what
, but I think it’s bigger than your standard secret.” He shook his head. “I mean, it’s not like we’ve done anything, or even talked. But there’s this”—he threw his hands up—“I don’t know, attraction? It’s like fucking magnetism or something. Every time I see her, I just want to kiss her, and I have to fight myself from doing so.” He snorted. “I don’t know, in case you haven’t picked up on that yet.”

The others smiled.

“We had breakfast together yesterday, and it was lovely. Relaxed, entertaining, enjoyable. Then I got up to use the washroom, and I touched her hand as I left. Nothing major, just a brush.” He frowned. “That did something, I’m positive about it. As I was walking away, she freaked out and ran up to her room like she was possessed. She locked herself in there with her brother, and has barely spoken to me since.”

He looked at his friends for suggestions, but they all shrugged and looked confused.

“Maybe ask her?” Connor suggested.

Josh laughed. “Now that’s thinking practically,” he said. “I’d love to do that, but I can’t see her spilling everything. Life just doesn’t work like that,” he said, shaking his head. “If things had gone differently yesterday morning, I might feel confident doing so. But now... now I think it would drive a bigger wedge between us.”

Connor nodded sagely.

“Look at me,” he said. “I’ve known her for a few days, and I already can’t stop thinking about her, and trying not to screw up. Sheesh.”

Justin winked at him. “That’s how it starts,” he teased, “trust me, I know.”

The group all shared a chuckle. Josh allowed himself to relax, to forget what was going on around him, and just enjoy the camaraderie he shared with the three of them. He was damn lucky to have a family like them, and he counted his blessings every chance he got.

Not that I’d ever tell these big losers to their faces. But they know.

“Where did she get off to when I stormed out anyway?” he asked, breaking the silence.

Jared grinned, and Josh suddenly felt uncomfortable.

“She’s talking with Madison and Shay. Alone.”

“You left her with those two?” Josh said, panicked.

The others only grinned at him.

“That’s just mean.”

“What? Why?” Justin asked as Josh took off back toward the meeting room. “Shay and Madison aren’t rude.”

“Not to her you dolt,” Josh shouted over his shoulder. “To me! Think of all the ideas they’re going to put in her head.”

Genuine laughter followed him down the hallway.

The three women, along with Chad, were all sitting at the table talking in low tones when he came back inside. Madison looked up at him from where she was hunched over, nodding along to whatever it was Chad was saying. The pair exchanged a glance, and Josh tilted his head slightly in apology to her. In response, Madison smiled and waved at him to take a chair next to Hannah.

He slid into the folding chair.

“Chad here was just saying how he strongly wants to reschedule his speech. To hold another rally.”

Josh’s jaw dropped open as Madison spoke. This was
not
the conversation he had planned on having right then. His eyes darted around the table, noting that all four of them had a set to their jaw that was practically daring him to challenge them. Never one to back down, he did.

“Are you all nuts?” he asked bluntly, refusing to shout at them this time. “Seriously, I’m actually a little concerned. We
just
got Chad back from the Agency, and that was a damn close thing to begin with. Now you want to do the whole freaking thing all over again?” He shook his head, blinking repeatedly. “This is ridiculous. What am I missing that makes this so valuable that lives have to be risked again? Don’t forget, it’s not just me, or you,” he said looking at Chad. “Or even you,” he said to Hannah. “Am I the only one who remembers the crowds of people that were fighting each other today? Some of those people are probably seriously injured!”

Chad nodded. “I agree with everything you say. And we intend to ensure that those who were injured are well looked after. But that doesn’t change the fact that we
must
bring to light what is going on in this world. You’ve been fighting a war here with this organization, this ‘Agency.’ You understand how they treat shifters.” He pointed outside. “It’s happening out there too, Josh. All across the world. It feels like we’re on the brink of a global war that most people are refusing to acknowledge! Ever since shifters were officially Outed seventeen years ago, the anti-shifter sentiment has been growing, and now it’s at a fever pitch.”

“So you want to go out and cause
more
people to get hurt, in the name of trying to avoid people getting hurt? Do you see the hypocrisy there?” Josh asked in disbelief.

Hannah slapped her hand down. “You don’t get it, Josh. This isn’t about whipping people into a fervor. It’s about bringing attention to the injustices going on out there. It’s time for humanity to wake up and understand what their ignorance is allowing to happen! By refusing to believe that shifters are being thrown by the wayside, they are silently giving their approval for it. If we don’t show them the truth, then shifters are going to be extinct sooner than you think.”

He was surprised, not only at the passion for shifters coming from a human, but also at the tears that sprang into her eyes and the anger directed his way. As the last words came out of her mouth, she stood up and bolted from the room.