The Beast Within (9 page)

He had endured torture under the fangs and claws of the Six Rivers Clan. He had watched his friends and colleagues die as he gasped and writhed beneath a jostling pile of fur and muscles, sloshing like a landed fish in a pool of his own blood. So many of them had sunk their teeth into his flesh that he had blacked out from the agony. His last conscious thought before coming to in the hospital had been,
I’m dying.

He had awakened to a new nightmare reality, one where everything he had, everything he had been, was lost forever. The wolf was an unbearable presence inside him, something to be squelched if not put down entirely. He had been cared for and pitied, called a victim for so long he accepted the label as truth. But the dark thing now arose to reject that notion. It growled as he studied the reflection of his lupine eyes, a reminder he had power few others could claim.

Aaron took a deep breath and pushed back his feral companion, gently this time.
Soon
, he promised.

Whatever was going on with the Six Rivers Clan and the Trinity Clan, Aaron wasn’t going to let it affect Kapre. Whoever was orchestrating this extermination was not going to succeed, not again. Despite the power coursing through his veins, he knew he couldn’t handle a full invasion on his own. He thought of the weres sitting on the other side of his closed door. He needed someone he could trust—someone who would have his back. That was a tall order for a werewolf in strange city, surrounded by strangers. Everyone he knew had given him reason to not trust them in the past twenty-four hours alone. But if he couldn’t go with his head, he would go with his instinct.

Aaron opened the bathroom door. He avoided the curious glances shot his way and retreated once again into the master bedroom. He grabbed his phone from the dresser. An apologetic text glowed on the screen. It cemented his decision. He nodded to himself and hit the ‘call’ button.

Chapter Eleven

An Uneasy Alliance

Aaron watched as Tony scanned the splintered wood hanging from the hinges, the broken door lying across the threshold and the two men sitting on the couch, with a grin. His gaze skimmed past them and met Aaron’s. Despite the jolt that brief intimacy shot through his heart, Aaron returned the look with equanimity.

“Should’ve invited me to the party sooner,” Tony said, throwing him a wink.

“Tony, this is Carlos Mendes and Matthew Shipley,” Aaron supplied. “They are here about a growing werewolf problem here.”

“Nice to meet you.” Tony swooped into the room, stepping across the shattered door like it was a red carpet. “Aaron mentioned you,” he said to Carlos. He tossed a Matthew a cheeky wink. “Not you, though. Are you unimportant to this tale, or a recent development?”

Matthew’s expression darkened.

“Ease up, Tony,” Aaron said with false reproach.

“Sorry. I had a crazy day,” Tony picked up this new conversation thread as if he had done nothing untoward. “Got pummeled by two demons in less than two hours. Who would have thought that could happen over one routine sweep? Terrible odds.” He shrugged and moved to the bottle of Jack that Carlos had left out on the kitchen counter. He poured himself a generous glass then plopped onto the far end of the couch beside Matthew. “Have you ever seen a pissed off Gerodon demon? I had one in my living room. Not the best place for them, believe me. They reek. And they break
everything
.” He flung his arm over the couch behind Matthew’s head. He turned, leaned around Matthew to put his face within inches of Carlos’. “So, what kind of shit are you trying to drag my partner into?”

Carlos raised an eyebrow, but did not move away from Tony. The two simply stared at one another for a very long, uncomfortable minute. Matthew feigned adjusting his shoelace to break the standoff. Tony leaned back, flashed them both a disarming grin and began the second great inquisition.

Twenty minutes passed as Tony grilled the weres about their presence in Grange. Carlos and Matthew haplessly tumbled into Tony’s usual trap, nipping and biting at the agent’s goading bait, then bristling to the point of rage as Tony reeled them in with his wit and finally let them go with a carefully placed chipper remark. By the time the weres’ story was re-told everyone in the room but Tony—who was beaming like a kid coming off a rollercoaster—was exhausted.

“Let’s let all this sink in and regroup tomorrow night,” Aaron said, rising from his seat.

“We can meet at my house,” Tony offered. He explained to the weres, “It’s more secure. Sometimes Kapre sends wellness agents out to check on officers who are post-traumatic-incident. We don’t need you two hanging around here if or when one shows up.”

“I’ll text you the address and his phone number, Carlos.” Aaron nodded his appreciation at Tony.

“Will you bring us to meet with your superiors?” Carlos asked, standing to face him.

“Not yet. We have no proof, other than you, and what you have is only hearsay and heavy speculation. Besides there is my own personal condition that would come to light. I’d rather we find the Six Rivers weres before we do anything. Considering the full moon is the night after tomorrow, they’ll be forced to shift. We can track them better then, if all else fails.”

“You know I’d rather clan business stay in the clan, but we need to move fast,” Carlos said. “Waiting may not be the best option for your people.”

“If it becomes clear Kapre is under direct threat, then we will all go to Kapre’s director,” Aaron answered. “I have to warn you, though, at that point Kapre’s Acqxterm agents will wage a full-out war.”

“Which doesn’t bode well for any of you,” Tony added. “Acqxterm will see a wolf as a wolf. You and Matthew here will most likely get caught up in the extermination campaign.”

“We expect no less,” Matthew said. “We understand your people have to protect their own. The only reason we have involved ourselves at all is because we feel there is a growing threat to all weres. Finding out what their endgame is and stopping it is our only priority, even if it costs Trinity its leaders.”

“Then we’ll get in touch with you tomorrow after work and we can go from there,” Aaron said. He nodded to Carlos and shook Matthew’s hand. The dark thing approved of the beta’s willingness to protect his clan. Aaron grudgingly agreed.

“I hope our working together…” Matthew trailed off. “I don’t know what I was going to say. Nothing that could make this any better, for sure. Thank you for your hospitality.” To Aaron’s shock the beta gave a small bow of his head, a lower-ranked wolf’s acknowledgment of Aaron’s alpha status.

“Good night,
mi hombre
,” Carlos said as he followed Matthew out into the hall.

Their footsteps dwindled down the stairs. The scent of wolf drifted behind them out of the open door, leaving only the crisp, intoxicating scent of Tony.

“Do you believe them?” Tony asked.

“They have no reason to lie,” he replied as he turned. Tony was right there, his ice blue eyes burning into Aaron’s own. His momentary hesitation, or maybe his expression of poorly controlled lust, caused Tony to quirk his lips. Aaron shook his head and stepped away. “Look, I called you because for some stupid reason I trust you in this wolf business. However”—he gave Tony a glare—“I am not an amnesiac. I don’t know what’s between us, if there can ever be anything other than professional reliability, and you grinning at me and giving me the once-over is not going to change that.”

“I’m here because I want to prove to you I can be a good partner. That I am reliable. I know what Braven calls me. She thinks I’m a clown, wandering around the office spraying everyone with my loose cannon of bullshit.”

“She said you were a solid agent. Coy, but reliable.”

Tony’s mouth curled in amused disbelief.

“She said we were a good match as partners.”
The perfect match, actually.
“I’m inclined to go with her experience and trust you to do this with me.”

“I won’t let you down again.” Tony paused as if wanting to say something more, but then turned toward the exit. “We haven’t eaten today.”

Aaron froze, dreading the push that was coming.

Tony watched him, his expression almost forlorn. “You should get some food before you go to bed,” was all he said. “Do you need help with this?” He gestured to the splintered wood on the floor.

“No. I’ve got it.”

“Tomorrow, then.” Devoid of an audience for his showmanship, Tony picked his way across the shattered remains and disappeared into the hall.

Aaron set to cleaning up and hanging his new front door. Despite Aaron’s initial dread at the idea of dinner with Tony, the fact his partner had not offered up the invitation gnawed at Aaron. But, he told himself, there were weres out there who wanted to destroy them all. He didn’t have time for dating, anyway.

Chapter Twelve

Back to Nature

“Hey, Ar.”

The last chunk of pumpernickel bagel stuck in Aaron’s throat at the sound of Ellison’s voice. He choked down the bread as Ellison barged into the break room and made a beeline for the coffee maker. Aaron had smelled the man’s acidic chemical solvent scent moments earlier, but had attributed it to residue from some detonated op-tech device. He would have to remember the man’s odd stench and use it as an early warning device from now on.

“I heard you had a run-in with the demons at Shirley’s.” Ellison scooted the nearly empty coffee pot out of the way to divert the fresh stream of percolating java into his mug. “Not the best idea to get into it with those mudfuckers.”

“Language, Ellison,” Director Braven said as she clipped by the door. Her voice rang out as her diminutive body disappeared from sight. “Agent Marvell, when your partner arrives please direct him and yourself to my office.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Aaron’s chest pounded. Had Tony, embarrassed by his rebuff, told their supervisor he was a werewolf? Was this early morning meeting to be his trial and conviction? The thought made the cream cheese spread curdle in his stomach.

“What a dragon lady.” Ellison rolled his eyes at Aaron in an attempt at commiseration. “At least out in good ol’ Cali we had bosses who were laid back.”

“You mean our dead bosses?” Aaron snapped. “Yeah, they were pretty relaxed until they were eaten alive.” He didn’t know why he said it. It was wrong on many levels. And he was already treading dangerous ground without shooting off at the mouth.

“Not cool, man. Not cool.” Ellison dumped creamer into his coffee and huffed toward the door, his expression one of deep dudgeon. A moment later a pretty, buxom, tracking tech swished into his path, and the two-cent grin returned to Ellison’s face. He swung around, coffee cup curled in front of him like a trophy, pinning the blonde into the corner by the door. He said something low, his voice and scent vibrating with pent-up sexual frustration. The young woman laughed uncomfortably and extracted herself. Once she was clear of Ellison’s trap and safe with a pot of lava-hot coffee in her hand, Aaron retreated to the hallway. Behind him, Ellison rattled on, oblivious to the young lady’s repulsion, already recovered from his fit of offended mourning. Aaron snarled. If ever a genuine feeling ever passed through Ellison’s heart the underused organ would most likely stop beating on the spot from shock.

“Admiring the dulcet sounds of your best friend?” Tony’s voice was at his ear. “Or plotting a quiet murder?”

“Which do you think?” Aaron turned. “That man grates my nerves.”

Although only Tony occupied the hallway with him, it seemed too full, too close. The walls had somehow pushed in, leaving only enough room for them to stand with a foot of space between them. Tony’s voice had been light, casual, but in his eyes’ clear depths a silent plea rested. Aaron sighed. Earlier that morning he had promised himself two things—first, to put aside the previous day’s confusing events and focus on the agreed-upon plan of discovering what Six Rivers was planning, and second, not to fall for Tony’s charm. He found simply occupying the same space in the very public hallway swayed—if not bent to the snapping point—the latter vow.

Despite his feelings, his desires mattered little. He needed Tony to help him keep Maryland’s Kapre branch alive. And even though just looking at his partner made Aaron want to tear off that crisp white shirt, throw him to the ground and work his cock until he begged for release, need currently overrode want.

Aaron checked his longing and continued down the hallway. Tony followed, his delirium-inducing scent filling the corridor like a cloud. For the second time in sixty seconds Aaron sighed. To get through this he would have to execute iron control and above all else feign normalcy. Fortunately, he had become accustomed to doing both over the past several months.

“Our desks are over there,” Tony remarked as Aaron overshot the bullpen.

“Braven wants us in her office.” He tried to keep the sound of accusation from his voice.

“I didn’t say anything, I swear.” Tony’s hand was on his arm in a flash. “This isn’t about you. At least not about
that
.”

“Okay.” Aaron didn’t trust himself to say more.

Braven waved them inside her office and gestured for them to sit. With her wraithlike hands folded over an open binder, she fixed them with a glare as steely and severe as her hair.

“At three a.m. I was awakened by a phone request for a containment unit to respond to the scene of a grisly attack in the conservation forest just west of town.”

Aaron’s heart seized in panic.

“We don’t have grizzlies here, Director.” Tony winked at Aaron, his impish grin concealing an urgent message.
Be cool.
“We
bear
-ly have any predators at all.”

Braven shot Tony a withering glare. “Do you mean aside from demons, ghouls, poltergeists and weres?” There was no lack of stress on the last word. “Now, if you are quite done being simpleminded, I would like to know why a pair of seasoned agents with—I would hope—a pair of brains between the two of them would think it acceptable to ignore protocol and not report an influx of werewolves in our territory?”

Aaron glanced at Tony, who was gazing levelly at Braven. He took his partner’s cue and concentrated on the Director.