Training Their Mate [Pack Wars-Book 1] (6 page)

BOOK: Training Their Mate [Pack Wars-Book 1]
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“His hand ain’t going to
touch my ass, ever.”
Holy shit. Did that
come out of my mouth?

That got another round of
laughter out of Dante. “I told you, bro. She’s a live one.”

This whole time, Trax was
removing what looked like packages of frozen vegetables from the freezer and
not answering.

Dante shrugged. “When my
brother gets focused on something, it’s best not to disturb him.”

Her stomach grumbled, and
Dante slid down next to her. “What say we order a pizza?”

At that moment, she might
have decided that Dante was her dream man. “You a pepperoni type or a veggie
man?”
Please say you like meat.

“I like my food tart and
spicy. Just like my woman.” His eyes sparkled and for a brief moment, she
thought he might even kiss her.

She licked her lips.

“Beer?” Trax asked, breaking
the tentative connection between them.

Dante cleared his throat and
jumped up. He turned toward her. “You?”

“I don’t think that’s wise
with my head.”

“How about some aspirin?”

She looked at Trax. “Would
that be okay?” She couldn’t remember what the doctor had said.

“Sure.” He poured green
vegetables on his plate and shoved them in the oven. “Dante, why don’t you put
our guest’s stuff in my room.” He moved his focus over to her. “I’ll sleep on
the coach.”

Now they were being overly
nice. “I can sleep on the sofa. You shouldn’t have to give up your room.”

Dante retrieved her stuff.
“Don’t argue with him, sugar. Once Trax decides on something, there’s no changing
his mind.”

He disappeared into what she
assumed was Trax’s room. He turned back to preparing his meal.

“Why don’t you like me?” Yes,
she’d felt his hard cock, but he rarely looked her in the eye and certainly
didn’t try to make this ordeal easier for her. Had it not been for Dante, she’d
be a complete mess now. Except for a dad who didn’t even bother to come to his
ex-wife’s funeral, she had no family to speak of.

“Ma’am, it is my job to
protect you, not entertain you.”

Wow
. That was harsh. “Just asking.” Although
he’d said the words with control, she suspected he might be hiding something.

Dante slipped down next to
her and handed her two aspirin and a glass of water. She needed to pay more
attention. She hadn’t even heard or seen him come out of the room. She
swallowed the pills.

He pulled out his phone. “So
the works is good for you?”

It took her a moment to
realize he was asking about the pizza. “Can you add bread sticks?”

He smiled, something that
seemed so easy for him. “I can order you anything you want.”

“How about Harvey Couch’s
head on a platter.”

He grinned and looked up at
his brother who was still hiding behind the center island. “Trax, I’m telling
ya. She would make a great operative.” The pizza place must have been on his
speed dial because he only pressed one button.

When he told them his name
and said one order of the usual and hung up, she figured he lived on the stuff.

“She lacks a few of the
necessary parts.” Trax briefly glanced at her.

Now he was being sexist. “So
only men work in your groupie thing?”

His shoulders stiffened. “My
groupie thing
is a well-organized
collection of highly specialized men.” He inhaled and his gaze shot down to the
left as if he was debating adding something else. “You might as well get used
to some of their names in case they stop by. We don’t want you frightened.”

“Well, thank you.” She really
wasn’t planning on staying past tomorrow.

“General Armand leads our
group. We call ourselves the Pack. His job is to ferret out the bad shifters to
make sure they don’t draw attention to themselves.”

Dante leaned closer. “By the
way, we call those people, Colters.”

She scrunched up her face.
“Why Colters?”

“Legend has it a long time
ago there was a man named Jack Colter who turned bad. He broke off from his
pack and began to rob banks. Those who went to the dark side were called
Colter’s men. From then on, we’ve called those bad shifters, Colters.”

“Interesting.” She returned
to Trax’s comment about a general heading his group. She was impressed that a
military man would run the organization. It didn’t surprise her that Trax would
take part given he was a marine and all. “What would happen if these Colters
got caught by the authorities doing something illegal, like drug smuggling?”
She had no idea if the FBI knew about the existence of shifters and were just
keeping the public in the dark.

The corner of his lip lifted.
“It would be bad. Because it’s really hard to kill them or even drug them, as
you found out, a lot of humans would get injured or killed if the two engaged
in a shootout.”

“I don’t get it.”

He ran a hand over his short
hair. “Unless a bullet hits a werewolf squarely in the heart, he can repair his
body so fast, it won’t even slow him down. This makes werewolves highly
dangerous to law enforcement, which is why we have to stop these bastards
before the FBI or the local police find them. We have the poison bullets. The
authorities do not because they don’t know werewolves exist.”

That did make sense. “You
keep calling the Colters, bad shifters. That implies there are some good
werewolves around.”

“There might be.”

That wasn’t an answer. Trax
slipped out from behind the counter and headed toward his room. She figured he
was going to collect some of his stuff for the night.

She faced Dante. “So who else
is in this organization?” One name wasn’t enough for her inquisitive mind.

“I doubt you’ll run into many
in the group, but there are four other men who do exactly what we do.” He
leaned closer. “Or rather, what Trax does. I was telling the truth before. I
mostly run the store, and our resident vigilante prowls the streets making sure
it’s safe for people like you.” His voice was laced with pride.

“Who are
these other men?”

“Drake
Stanton and Kurt Wendlick are partners, along with Clay Demmers and Dirk
Tilton.”

She’d
never remember their names. “Are they ex-military, too?”

“For the
most part.”

Trax came
out of his room carrying some clothes, a pillow, and a blanket. “Dante, you’re
a slob.”

“What
else is new?”

“You just
dumped her toothbrush on top of her clothes.”

Dante
looked over at her. “I was in a hurry. Sorry.”

She
placed her good hand on his leg and heat shot up her arm. Immediately, she
withdrew her arm to her side. She didn’t need to be thinking with her pussy
when she needed her brain right now. “It’s okay. I’m thankful you brought some
clothes.”

A light
above the entrance door flashed. Dante jumped up. “Pizza’s here.”

That was
quick. From the noise, he took the stairs two at a time. She expected to hear
the door open sooner than it did. He was probably checking to see if the pizza
guy was legit. His feet pounded on the stairs again and he reclosed the upper door.

“Let’s
eat!”

The spicy
smell of tomato, cheese, and bread made her stomach grumble even more. Dante
picked up a stack of napkins off the counter and brought them over. “Water?”

She’d
love wine, but her head would only pound more. “Sure.”

He
grabbed the beer Trax had offered earlier but never delivered on. No sooner had
he settled next to her than Trax’s phone rang. Tension rolled off Mr.
Easygoing, as if he expected trouble.

Trax
answered, but said little. “When? Keep me posted.”

He looked
straight at her and her heart skipped a beat. “What?”

“Elena
Sanchez is missing.”

Liz looked
over at Dante whose jaw had tensed. “Who’s Elena Sanchez?”

“The
secretary at Couch’s firm you replaced.”

Double,
oh shit.

 

Chapter Five

Liz’s mind spun, trying to
remember what the girl had told her. “She might be in Costa Rica.”
She fisted her bandaged hand. Pain burned
through her and she winced.

Trax came out from behind the
counter. “Tell me what you know.”

Now they were going to think
she was a real piece of work. “I needed to get close to Couch. You know why.”

Trax sat opposite her, but
his rear barely touched the leather chair. “Yes. Go on.”

“Jobs are scarce and people
don’t just quit because you need to take their place so you can kill their
boss.”

Dante’s brows pinched. “You
told her you wanted to kill Couch?”

She wasn’t that dumb. “No. I
told her I planned on starting my own au pair business and wanted the
experience from a seasoned veteran like Couch.”

Dante nodded. “Smart.”

Trax motioned with his hand
for her to hurry up with her story. Well, it was her story, damn it. Liz huffed
out a breath. “Anyway, I needed to find a way to get a job at Couch’s company.
Given it’s only a two-person operation, I didn’t have many choices.”

Trax raised a brow. “What did
you do to her?”

Her mouth formed an O. “I
didn’t
do
anything to her. I paid her
almost my entire life savings to just walk away.”

“Sugar, how much did you give
her?” Dante leaned forward.

“Five thousand dollars. Then
she told me she hated Couch, and she’d be happy to leave. With the money she
could visit her family in Costa Rica.”

Trax didn’t say anything. He
removed his phone and pushed a button. Because he walked into the kitchen he
must not have wanted her to hear.

Dante rubbed her arm. “That
was very creative of you, but I’m sorry you had to spend so much money.”

“Yeah, well, I was
desperate.”

Dante picked up a slice of
pizza. “Eat up.”

“Who’s Trax talking to?”

“Our counterparts, Clay and
Dirk. They’re awesome at finding people. It’s their best skill. Don’t worry.
We’ll find her.”

She took one bite but her
stomach churned. “Do you think Couch did something to her?”

“We have no way of knowing.
But if the bastard harmed her, it wasn’t your fault.”

She appreciated that Dante
always tried to soothe things over. Maybe if he’d been around when her mother
was so depressed, he might have been able to show her mom that life was worth
living.

In silence, she finished her
second piece of pizza while Dante plowed through five pieces in no time.

She finished and wiped her
mouth. “Do you think I could take a shower? I didn’t get a chance before you
two showed up.”

“Sure, sugar. Use the bath in
Trax’s room. You’ll like it.”

“Thanks. I need to cover my
hand. Do you have a plastic bag?”

“We do. Go ahead and get
ready for your shower, and I’ll be in to tie you up nice and tight.”

She wasn’t sure if she wanted
him to see her in her bra or panties, but if she wrapped a towel around
herself, she should be covered enough.

Trax disconnected and walked
into the living room. “Clay and Dirk will be working the case.”

That made her feel better. As
soon as she stepped into his bedroom, she halted. The living room was bright
and colorful, but his room looked like it belonged in an Afghan tent city.
Everything was either gray or black. That included the furniture, bedding, and
wall color. What was up with that? Not that it wasn’t nice, but it was as if
Trax had hired a totally color blind decorator.

Curiosity got the best of her
and she quietly opened Trax’s top dresser drawer. She whistled and ran a hand
over the top of the perfectly stacked black underwear. Touching his personal
items was close to touching the man himself and a unique thrill sped through
her.

One pile contained black
T-shirts and another black briefs. She was surprised he’d carried a white
handkerchief, which by now was ruined by her blood.

After temporarily satisfying her curiosity
about the enigmatic man, she then spotted her clothes neatly folded on the bed.
Checking the pile, she found a pair of jeans, two T-shirts, two pairs of socks,
and three panties, but no bras or nightwear. From the amount of outfits Dante
had grabbed, he didn’t think she’d stay long.

He’d be in shortly with her plastic bag, so she
ducked into the bathroom to change.
Holy
mother of God.
Trax had no hand in this décor. It was light and airy. The
white sinks sat atop a black cabinet, but the walls were a yellow-beige and the
floor tiles were white with swirls of yellow and gray. A huge jetted tub sat in
the corner and a large walk-in shower was on the right. The bathroom was larger
than her kitchen.

BOOK: Training Their Mate [Pack Wars-Book 1]
6.58Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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