RILEY
Two days later, they came. Twenty agents from the US SSTF arrived on their doorstep.
Those two days were a whirlwind. The pride had decided to throw themselves back into their work and reclaim their lives.
The first night after dealing with Abel Cartona, Riley slept in her own bed, sandwiched between Troy and Gabe. The next night, Andrew was there, but at least she was sleeping in the bed.
She spoke to Abigail again and told the doe what she had done. Riley freaked the doctor out, but when the doe didn’t run screaming from the room, Riley thought she would be alright.
The wolves moved out, getting a house in town as they figured out what to do with their lives. No word ever came to any of them about Chris Marek. Thomas didn’t want a large pack and was happy just with the guys. They had money and were talking about just opening a bar together to pass the time, though Riley heard one of them say they really liked Rocker’s.
Finn, the poor fox was still in town. They still had Riley’s apartment in the Dump under her name. They furnished it for him and hired him. He was apparently good with a wrench. He wasn’t a pride member, but now he was their dedicated mechanic to help Gabe with the small problems. He could also do plumbing and electricity, so he was really helpful to have around town. He didn’t want to be pride, but they hoped they could convince him to stick around for a long time. They wanted to keep him in the community, and he needed it.
The diner’s burnt husk was torn down while the pride and half the town watched. Construction would begin immediately on the new building. Andrew had spent their time in Denver working it out and getting it ready. Instead of a painted A Starry Night mural, Riley convinced him to go with a wall cover that could be replaced if it was damaged or aged. It would save her from needing to repaint it, since she was the only person in town who could.
She also quit her job at the diner.
“Andrew,” she called to him, finding him in the kitchen making dinner.
“Hey darling,” he smiled at her and pulled her into his arms, making her watch while he cooked.
“I have something to talk to you about,” she bit her bottom lip, nervous.
“Alright.”
“I’m going to leave the diner,” she sighed as he stopped working. “I have so much other stuff now. The gallery and studio in Denver, the board with Brenton. The diner takes a lot of my time that I could spend painting and-”
“It’s okay, Riley,” he whispered in her ear. “I understand. Do you want to stay the co-owner?”
She shook her head and looked up at him, turning in his arms.
“The diner is your baby and you deserve everything from it. And we’ll still see each other since you only do three days a week there,” she leaned her head on his chest. He chuckled.
“I was wondering what would finally do it,” he rubbed her back gently. “The diner isn’t your future, Riley. I knew it and was wondering when you would figure it out.”
“Thank you,” she mumbled. That was it. She was no longer an employee of Starry Night Diner, her home and livelihood for the nearly three years she’d been in Wild Junction. She felt excited and nervous about the future, but now she could dedicate those four to five days a week to just painting. She could spend two days a week in Denver in the gallery talking about her work.
It was a good decision for her; and, after dinner, she dragged Andrew to her bed and let him make her feel better about it. She was going to miss their time there, but she would always have him here. She could also now visit him at the diner for a tryst in the back office without feeling guilty.
“They’re here,” Brenton said quietly as they all sat in the entry hall the next morning. Riley’s head came up and she looked out the window. Several vehicles pulled up. They all wore black uniforms, carried sidearms, they were talking to each other as two ran up to the door. Brenton opened it before the guy could knock.
“I’m Special Agent Joshua and this is Special Agent Spencer,” the jaguar indicated himself then a wolf shifter next to him. “We’re the team’s leaders. The unit commander will be with you in a moment to talk about what we think might be best for your safety until we can verify that the threats against you aren’t serious.”
“Thank you, agent. You can all come inside,” Brenton held the door open for several of them to enter. Riley made sure to get a good look at nearly all of them and then followed Zachary to the large office in the basement that they were going to use for this. They didn’t have cameras in the basement, making it secure for this discussion.
She caught a scent as they walked, something familiar and a little close to hers but not in the strawberry and peppermint way. She wasn’t sure what to make of it.
They piled into the room, the agents immediately pulling out different plans, and talks began between them and members of the pride. Riley just stayed next to Zachary, listening in and hearing what they all had to say.
Guys on rotation on the property. Guys manning the gate to enter the property by the driveway. They would have free reign to decorate the servant’s building, but cleaning it was also up to them since the pride didn’t keep a staff to help with that. The quarters had their own kitchen, and Andrew already made plans for new electronics to be added to the building so the agents would have entertainment when they had their off hours.
A man walked up to her and introduced himself, a jaguar shifter.
“I’m Cortez, I’ll be one of your two personal guards. You get me during any day time trips while Edmond will be with you at night, in case you go out or anything. We aren’t here to change your life or your schedule.”
“Oh,” Riley blinked and looked at the shifter, shaking his hand. He had the pale-yellow eyes that most jaguars did, a bland version of Brenton’s lion gold. “Well, we’ll have to talk about my work schedule then.”
“Of course. We’re willing to help in any way.” Cortez grinned. “I look forward to getting to know you. We’ll be together a lot so, we might as well make the best of it.”
They spoke for a few minutes and then a man in the back cleared his throat. They all quieted down as a human walked forward.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Special Agent Stern. I’m going to be the unit commander for this protection detail for the entire duration of the mission. It’s time to talk shop. You’ve got a lot of threats against you and your safety is paramount.”
He had brown eyes and hair. The brown of the hair was the same color as the dark natural streaks in her own, but it was riddled with gray. That wasn’t something she remembered. He had more wrinkles than she remembered, and when he spoke, he looked directly at her. He was roughly six feet tall, well-built and wearing the same black uniform as everyone else.
She stumbled into Zachary, who grabbed her.
“Dad?”
“You know, Riley, setting someone’s house on fire is something your mother would do.” He frowned at her and she jerked her head back. “I hope you have some sort of explanation as to why you thought that was appropriate.”
She didn’t respond as the shock wore off. Eight years and that’s what he wanted to go with? Was he seriously comparing her to Isabella? Him even being there showed her that he knew about shifters. Did he ever intend on telling her?
“Go to hell, old man,” she growled, leaving the safety of Zachary’s arms, “and take your condemnation with you.”
She began to walk out and ignored Keith’s sharp command for her to stop. She didn’t look back at the man who’d left her, but she did look to her pride.
“Find me when the meeting is over,” she told them. Brenton nodded, his eyes hard. She knew he wasn’t mad at her. Oh no. He was probably about to unleash hell on her father.
“Andrew, go with her,” Brenton mumbled, turning to Keith, his teeth bared. “You and I, Special Agent Stern… we are going to have a long talk about how you think you can talk to my pride members. Daughter or otherwise.”
Andrew caught up to her outside the room. She hadn’t stayed to continue listening, ignoring everything that was said as she stormed out. He grabbed her to stop the forward movement of her feet and pulled her into a hug.
“We didn’t know,” he whispered.
“I know.”
“We’ll figure this out.” He squeezed her tightly and her arms went around him. Andrew’s hugs were the best.
“I hope so.” She blinked back the tears threatening her.
Andrew picked her up and carried her to her room. They fell on her bed and just cuddled. She turned some music on when they could hear their new protection talking in the hall about security ideas. She cranked it up loud enough to drown out the world around them.
Troy crept into the room later, claiming he was done with everything that he needed to do. She and Andrew welcomed him into the bed without a word, a silent approval of his company. She wanted them all there, but alas, the others had serious work to do.
They had watched their lives nearly burn down around them, survived a hell most shifters never walked away from, and she got revenge on the male that had tried to break her. They were receiving death threats from multiple sources that the SSTF thought were serious enough to warrant protection.
All of that paled in comparison to knowing that her father was in their home and she couldn’t hide from him forever.