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Southwestern corner of West Virginia
Rory rubbed his calf to ease the ache still stinging there. He had a killer headache from lack of sleep and a foul mood that matched his jaguar’s usual nasty attitude. Ferrell liked the dark. He wanted out to run through these woods. It had been a long Monday and it wasn’t over yet. Rory could not get his jaguar to be quiet while there was nothing to do but wait.
The team had arrived around nine. Had to be ten by now and they still didn’t know if they’d located the woman they’d been sent to retrieve.
He intended to find a soft bed and crash out for days once this was done, but not until he knew for sure his little white-haired nymph was safe.
Ferrell snarled again. Mate.
His jaguar was losing its ever-lovin’ mind.
Justin and Cole, also in human form, sat a few feet away.
If the compound they observed tucked deep in this forest turned out to be a Black River pack location, their rule to not shift might change. Little air moved, but it was actually cooler tonight in this corner of West Virginia than it had been in Spartanburg.
He owed Justin for this, especially after cursing the bear under his breath when the Guardian refused to allow Rory to go on this mission.
In fact, when Rory pushed his way into the meeting, the boss had warned he was seriously considering putting Rory into a static state so he could finish healing.
At the idea of being put into the equivalent of a medically induced coma by the powerful eagle shifter, Rory’s jaguar had almost pushed out of him.
Justin must have realized Rory had a problem at that moment. He’d smoothly bumped the topic away from Rory’s health. “Why do you want to go on this mission?”
“It’s more that you need me to be there. That young woman has power unlike anything I’ve ever encountered. She killed a jackal just by putting her hands on it, but she claims to have no control over the power. Even so, she didn’t harm me. I think she trusts me after I pulled those jackals off of her.”
“Powerful and unmatched eyes?” the Guardian asked with sudden interest. “Why didn’t you mention that before now?”
“To be honest, I didn’t know about her eyes until Scarlett told us. The woman kept her eyes averted and I was focused on calming her down to convince her to hide while I cleared the bodies before the runner showed up. As for her power, it strikes me as off-the-charts.” Rory asked his boss, “Do you think she might be a Gallize female?”
“Possibly, but mismatched eyes are just one marker and not an absolute indication, even when matched with power.”
Cole joined in, asking, “If she’s so dangerous and you’re still healing, why would you want to go with us? You would never take a teammate who couldn’t stand up or fight at a hundred percent.”
The Guardian’s intense gaze locked on Rory as he also waited for the answer.
“The jackals I pulled off of her were trying to get her to shift, because she’d been caught with the other shifters. She was hurt at first, but during a skirmish when she stepped close to one that wasn’t dead, I pulled her back. I think she was still in shock, but she allowed me to hold her to calm her down.” He’d never forget the feeling of that no matter how long he lived.
“Oh?” That’s all Justin said and Rory heard ten questions right behind it. Damn bear.
Rory hurried to push past Justin’s curious tone and explained, “That’s why I don’t think she’ll allow anyone else close to her, especially a shifter. When she got her wits about her, she backed off fast. I told her we would help her and she said we couldn’t help her, that shifters are all dangerous. She seemed sincerely confused about her power. I think she could be a risk if someone else approached her until we know what we’re dealing with, but she’ll talk to me. I believe that.”
After his appeal and pointing out that the woman could harm someone even accidentally, the Guardian agreed to allow Rory to go with the team under one condition. If he had not healed by the time he returned, the Guardian would expect him to accept being put into stasis for a week or two.
Nope, nope, nope. That was not on Rory’s wish list.
He understood the Guardian was worried about him and had only Rory’s best interest at heart, but his jaguar would snap.
Ferrell sent him an image of fetching a dead eagle and returning it to Rory like a Labrador would on a pheasant hunt.
If the Guardian ever picked up one of those images, he might deal with Ferrell himself. The Guardian could speak to them mind to mind, but Rory had never known his boss to just enter a mind unexpectedly.
“How you doin’?” Justin asked without turning his head from where he studied the house through binoculars. The place was lit up like they were having a party.
Rory pulled his hand from where he’d been massaging his calf and said, “I’m fine.”
Cole snorted. “I smelled that lie from over here.” He spoke softly because of his comm unit, which all five of them wore tonight. But since Rory waited with Justin and Cole, he had removed his ear bud for the moment.
Until they confirmed this was indeed a Black River pack location and the pack had the white-haired woman, they could only sit and wait. A second team had been put on ready in case new reports came in about someone else who might have her.
Scarlett stood by her intel and claimed they’d find the woman here. To her credit, she’d been sending information nonstop once she discovered his nymph had been captured.
He did a mental headshake. He had to stop even thinking that moniker for their target package. She was not his in any way, shape or form.
Leaning back against the base of a tree, Justin asked, “What do you think, Rory? Could she be a Gallize?”
“I have no idea, but Cole didn’t know Tess was a Gallize until we all watched her bring him back to life.”
“She’s fucking amazing,” Cole said in a voice loaded with admiration.
Rory asked, “How’d you know when you met Eli that she was your mate, Justin?”
The bear shifter scoffed. “Shit, I was clueless about Eli at first, but my bear knew she was our mate, which opened my eyes to the possibility. I did realize she was an alpha bear capable of handling the power in our bond. She’s got plenty of her own. Once I realized that and my bear wanted her as much as I did, it didn’t really matter if she was a Gallize.”
Considering his two mated friends, Rory asked, “What about now?”
“Huh?” They both turned to him.
“Can you tell other Gallize shifters how they might recognize a mate?”
Justin continued his surveillance while he answered. “That’s a good question. We should be analyzing this for the others, especially if the woman we’re hunting is a Gallize.”
Cole said, “Tess hid her power for years because she feared it would make her an outcast, but once I felt her energy it ... shit, this will sound stupid, but—”
“But what?” Rory pushed.
“I think my mate’s power called to mine ... or my animal and my power recognized hers.”
Justin lowered the glasses a fraction. “Not stupid. I think you’re onto it. I feel the same thing with Eli. It’s as if our energy is in sync when we’re together and misses each other’s power when we’re apart.” He chuckled. “Now I sound loony.”
Rory didn’t comment when he’d normally agree about Justin being loony just to poke at his friend. He was too busy recalling how the nymph’s energy had buzzed up to where they touched and ... she’d healed him. Or maybe her power had performed the actual healing.
Had his power recognized hers and that’s why he healed?
No way.
She might be a Gallize female, but she was not his mate, just a healer. His healer. He had no business feeling proprietary about her, but bottom line? He didn’t like the idea of her power calling to another Gallize shifter.
Add him to the loony list.
Rory’s jaguar sent him a new image of the nymph walking with her hand on Ferrell’s back. He silently warned, Don’t even start that shit, Ferrell.
He got a snort in return. How much trouble would it be to just say one word?
Ferrell growled, Mate.
No. Pick another word, Rory countered.
He received nothing but silence this time.
Rory told his beast, You could be working on fixing my leg.
He got a picture of a jaguar limping along on three legs. Damn drama queen.
“Shit, something’s going down,” Justin murmured.
Twisting around, Rory shoved the comm unit back into place and snapped into mission mode. “Got the audio, Cole?”
“Yep.” The wolf shifter held a small electronic listening device that resembled a miniature bullhorn, which would pick up audio from three hundred feet away.
In this case, they were half that distance. Even with shifter hearing, they could miss something significant without the electronics.
Cole informed the team he was linking all the comm units into the feed so everyone would know what was being said.
When the audio picked up, one of the wolves was telling two others, “Everybody is looking for that bitch. She’s gotta go as soon as the boss finishes with her.”
A second wolf snickered. “He should turn her over to us. We haven’t had a group plaything in two weeks. ’Bout time for a new one.”
Rory’s body vibrated. They could be talking about any female, but his gut said they were discussing his nymph. His jaguar raged to get out and go after those wolves. Rory locked his control down to maintain his position until Justin signaled any action.
Kill wolves.
Shit, his jaguar said two words. When had that ever happened? Never.
Another wolf shifter walked out of the building and kept his voice down as he said, “Boss is almost through with her.”
The one who wanted a gangbang said, “He giving her to us?”
“As soon as he gets all he needs first.”
Rory cut his comm mic and told Justin, “Time to go get her.”
Cole said, “We don’t have confirmed identi—”
“It’s her, dammit. I know it.”
Cole and Justin swung their heads at Rory with matching frowns. Justin said, “What the fuck? We just forget the plan and dive into this shit?”
This was going to get him busted big time with the Guardian, but his body was about to explode into a maniac jaguar determined to protect the nymph.
Fighting the panic to go after her, Rory said, “If one of you told me you knew in a way you couldn’t explain that you were right about something, I’d believe you. I’m telling you right now, they have our target. If you aren’t willing to go in, then at least agree to let me insert.”
Justin cursed silently but in a vicious tone. When he looked back at Rory, he said, “Stop putting me in the position of trying to be fair when it comes to you.”
“I understand and that’s why if you’ll let me go now, I’ll be the one to tell the Guardian what I did. Not you. That isn’t fair. I’m responsible for what I do. I don’t want to screw this mission, but I have to get in there. If we wait, they may take her out another door, then we’ll be too late to stop the group rape.”
Cole and Justin cringed at that statement. Gallize shifters were the most honorable men Rory had ever known and they’d do anything to protect a woman, human or shifter, but they were hesitating.
Rory’s claws shot out, drawing Justin’s worried look to his hands.
Shit, his jaguar was raging to get free.
Shifting without a valid reason on this mission would be the one thing the Guardian would not let pass.
