Alpha’s Desire: Chapter 9

Jared

The crew from San Diego is even twitchier than usual. Parker bounces on the balls of his feet, his focus pinging around the warehouse. Laurie’s stutter is worse. Declan has a wild aggression pouring off him.

“So full disclosure—” Parker sucks his lower lip into his mouth. “We’re totally shut down for the moment in San Diego. I got picked up on gambling charges, but they couldn’t make it stick.”

“It was a catch and release,” Declan declares with a reckless grin. “Shakin’ us down to see who’s involved.”

Trey and I shoot a glance at each other. “So they busted up a fight?” Trey asks.

“Not exactly,” Parker explains. “Two humans show up like they’re going to slide right in. They didn’t make it through the doors, of course. The bears took it upon themselves to teach the fellas a lesson, so they flashed their badges.

“The place cleared out in minutes, and I was left to talk to them. They brought me in, but I knew they had nothing on me.”

“Yeah, but now they have your identity in their system.” Trey frowns.

Parker shakes his head. “We have false identities Sam tells us are ‘airtight.’ It probably was just local cops. If the feds involved with Data-X traced it back, I’d already be dead.”

“M-m-m-maybe,” Laurie says, flapping his long slender fingers. “Maybe not. We don’t know. Better to lie low in Tucson for a spell.”

I nod, slowly. “Sure. We can put you up here. No problem. You helped Sam. I’m sure our alpha will provide pack protection.”

“Th-th-thank you.” Parker bobs his head.

“I wonder if Kylie can scrub that police record,” Trey muses to me.

I nod. “Will you ask her?”

He pulls out his phone and starts texting.

“You’ll have to meet our alpha, Garrett,” I say. “I’ll text him to arrange it.”

A thread of unease runs through me. Am I bringing danger to the pack by starting this shifter fight club? I sure as hell hope not.

But it fits right in—my violence always makes me danger to the people in my life.

You just have to figure out how the warrior fits into modern day times. You’re still the knight.

Angelina believes I’m the fucking knight. But is this the way I serve in modern times? Somehow a fight club and illegal gambling doesn’t quite seem like something Angelina could tell her parents about.

And goddamn if I don’t still harbor some tiny hope I can make this work with her. But I’ll never be able to if I can’t figure out a way to be her knight.

Agent Dune

He pulls his ball cap lower over his brow and shuffles past the warehouse. His dingy old t-shirt reeks of cheap alcohol. A large styrofoam cup of watered down liquor in his hand completes the derelict image. He’s been casing the place for a few hours. The warehouse is like any other in an industrial area near the railroad tracks south of Downtown Tucson.

This is where he followed Parker and the other two from his screen captures.

He couldn’t get close enough to hear their conversation inside, but it was easy enough to guess what was going on. They’re setting up cage fights in a new city. So all he has to do is keep an eye on them and slip into the next fight.

Because he has a feeling whatever he sees going on in that cage is going to make things a helluva lot clearer.