Chapter Eleven
Location unknown
“Alpha, they have the girl, but we can’t let them keep her. Where, we don’t know. We need to damn well find her and fast. The vampires seem to have given up on her, but you know those bloodsuckers. They don’t ever give up easily.”
“He speaks true, Alpha. We observed them preparing for what could only be termed a full-on assault. They had their deadliest warriors with them.”
“How many?” the alpha asked.
“The warriors?” the young beta asked in return. At the alpha’s nod, he sighed. “Six, sir.”
“Shit,” someone else muttered.
Pushing to his feet, the alpha moved to stare out a window toward the forest close at hand, barely out his back door. It was good to have the forest close, it soothed the beast within, giving it a sense of security.
“Six is a number we can take,” he said finally. “We won’t, not now. Watch them for the time being, but do not let them know we are watching. We watch them, they watch us, and we all go for what we desperately need. Know this, though.” Turning, he looked at the group at large. “We need to be the ones to free Hades from his imprisonment. No other. If we do not, every were on the planet will be exterminated with barely a thought from our god. I’d much rather watch the vamps get their due for being the parasites they are.”
After meeting each set of eyes there, he gave a nod. “Get to it. Baron, Fitz, find the girl, Camilla. I want her in here before they claim her fully. If she’s claimed, she’s no longer a pawn we can use. So you find her, or don’t bother returning.”
The wolves shared a look: banishment for a pack animal was certain death. “Understood, Alpha,” they chirped.
Dismissing them, he turned back to stare at his woods. Camilla would be his. Not his mate, but he would enjoy taking her from time to time. It would help him to break her mentally until she was his willing slave. Smiling, he rocked back on his heels. He couldn’t wait to slam his cock into her fragile human form. She’d enjoy it, too. In time.
****
Camilla had to admit that she was going more than a little stir crazy. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy being with Mikhail and Gareth and living on the ranch, but she felt more than a little cooped up, because they didn’t want her being outside without both of her guys there, and even then, she still felt the other members of the team close.
It was just not the way that Camilla was built, to stay indoors all the time.
So when Mikhail said that they needed to start on the firebreak on the back part of the ranch, Camilla was more than willing to help. She was one of the first ones there with her floppy hat in hands. “Now then, let’s get to work, shall we?” She heard his growl and leaned in to kiss him. “Don’t be grumpy. You know you’d still be upset if you had to leave me here all alone, bub. Get over it. I’m so coming.”
“Fine, but you stick close,” he told her. “I have a bad feeling, and I hope it’s only because of the last mission.”
“She’ll be fine,” Antonio said. “We’ll keep an eye on her, or two, even. She’s a fine one to look at.” Winking at her, he grinned.
She knew instinctively in that moment that he was messing with Mikhail—not usually the healthiest thing to do. But Mikhail truly seemed distracted. She was learning more about these men by watching them; Camilla was an avid people watcher and had learned a great deal by observing the team. They were all like big children and they all seemed to want to one up each other which was rather hilarious. She liked the way that they all treated each other like brothers.
“Keep your fucking eyes off her, and on the damned surroundings,” Mikhail ordered.
Camilla hugged Mikhail. “Hey, he doesn’t do the things to me that you and Gareth do. He’s just yanking your chain. You know that, right?” She didn’t want Mikhail to think that just because she fell into bed with him, and with Gareth as well, that she did so often. “I’ll stick close to you because that’s one sexy and amazing place to be, but you need to also stick close to me, too. We both know that I sometimes wander without meaning to.”
He grunted at that, slipping an arm around her. “Try not to wander into anything that gives you a rash,” he said. Pressing a kiss to her temple, he let out a breath. “Did you put on your sunscreen?” he asked softly.
“Yes, I have on my sunscreen and I have some more in my little pack over there. I’ll try not to wander into any bushes because a rash would just seriously put a crimp into the things I want to do to you tonight. I also have my gloves and one of your long sleeve shirts, if I need it.”
“Good.” He nodded and looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry if I’ve been a bear of late,” he said softly. One of the guys snorted in passing, but Mikhail didn’t spare him even a look. “I just feel like something’s coming, something bad. I don’t know where, I don’t know when, and it’s bugging the hell out of me.”
“Hey, don’t even think about it. I don’t mind it at all. I happen to like having you being the man that you are, so don’t stop being you. Bear and all.” She leaned up and kissed him again. “Now, let’s go. I know that you are feeling antsy so the faster we do this, the faster we get home. Right?”
He kissed her again, taking his time with her. Only the coughing that started up in the kitchen made him lift his head. “Let’s get going, before they all keel over with whatever they must have caught.” Glaring at his friends, he gave her another squeeze before letting her go and pressing a hand to her back.
“Have you noticed that my uncle is missing? With the need for hard work, he’s gone?”
“He doesn’t tend to hang around here very much,” Gareth said with a grin. “He only shows up when he needs to tell us something, or when he’s here to poke Mikhail. Occasionally, he’ll show up for a barbecue, but it’s pretty rare.”
“True, that,” Owen muttered. “That damn god can eat. I thought we all had healthy appetites, but in comparison to that man, damn!”
Mikhail was herding her out of the house, the other guys on their heels.
Camilla laughed. “So his sticking around here for the last few weeks has been because of me? I swear I’ve seen more of him since coming into your guys’ lives than I have in the last three years.” Which was too funny to her. She had been busy with classes and the kids or he had been busy with his online gaming and now she realized that his online gaming had been these men instead. It hadn’t been gaming as she thought, it had been real end of the world life stuff.
“More than likely,” James said with a grin. “He does like you an awful lot. More than any of us. ’Course, you’re so cute and all, I see the appeal.”
“Really, James? Do you have to irritate Mikhail all the time?” Nolan asked.
“Not all the time, just when he gets all tense and shit.”
“Well, stop, before he decides to kill you. We might just let him,” Nolan grumbled.
“Camilla won’t, she likes me.” James gave her a huge smile, batting his lashes at her.
“Oh, sweet merciful heavens, you are too cute,” she told James with a shake of her head. “I do like you, but really, you’re pushing it, mister. If Mikhail reaches out and smacks the back of your head, I won’t be too upset about it.”
“Betrayal, thy name be Camilla Berry.” James gasped dramatically.
“Fucking ham.” Owen snorted in laughter.
“All right, enough. We have work to do before it gets too hot. Let’s get out there and get this next section done already. Victor, get the backhoe and meet us out there,” Nolan said.
“Copy that.” With a grin to her and then a roll of his eyes, Victor loped off for one of the barns where they kept the larger equipment.
Camilla linked her arm with Mikhail’s. “Now then, am I riding with you or am I riding with the goon squad?” She was teasing the men. “Because if I had a choice, you know what it would be. Every time.”
“You know exactly where you’re going to be,” Mikhail said. He urged her toward the Jeep where Gareth was waiting, passenger door open for her. “I’m not letting you out of my sight at all today. Get used to it.”
“Still got that bad feeling?” Gareth asked, all serious suddenly.
“Yup, it’s not going away. If anything, it’s getting worse.”
“Good thing I tucked a few weapons into the back then,” Gareth said. Waving a hand, he bowed to her. “Your carriage, milady.”
“Thank you, kind sir.” She got into the vehicle and looked at her two men. Goodness, they did make her heart go pitter pat, that was for sure.
Shrugging, Gareth shut the door and hopped into the back while Mikhail slid behind the wheel. It didn’t take them long to reach the spot they’d be working, and during the drive Mikhail explained the plan for the day. He told her just how they would create the fire breaks for the farm. Victor would be doing the bulk of the digging, but they had to break the sod and strip it away so he had a clear line to follow. All the dirt he removed would go into the dump truck that Lincoln was driving at the tail of their little convoy. He told her they were putting part of it into various areas around the land they owned, using it to build protected spots, in the event they were ever attacked. The dirt would also be used to shore up the banks of a small river that went through the land.
As everyone unloaded, Gareth and Stefan went off with cans of spray paint to start marking the sod. Dieter handed her a shovel, and on Mikhail’s okay, took her off to show her what they were doing. “You, Mikhail, Nolan, Stefan, and Wyatt will be cutting along the sprayed lines. Victor’s in the backhoe, Lincoln will be collecting and then dumping the dirt as we go. The rest of us will be cutting the sod into strips, rolling it, and putting it into the truck. We are giving what we don’t use to one of the local schools to help fix up their yard in a green project they have going.” They were all still at the truck discussing the assignments to be given out so thankfully she was still there with her men.
“Sounds like a plan. I will do all that I can to help.” She wasn’t as physically fit as the men were, but she wasn’t a weakling, either. When the other men went out to get some of the heavier things she reached out she took Mikhail’s hand and looked at him, “Want to talk about the bad feeling you are having? How often do you have them?” Obviously, they meant something or Gareth wouldn’t have looked so concerned. She hoped that things would be okay with them, that there wasn’t something brewing.
“Often enough that I’ve learned to listen to them. It’s a gut feeling, something in the wind, a sense that not all’s right in the world, that sort of shit. I can’t explain it, but I’ve never once been wrong. Unfortunately, right now all I have is a churning gut. Nothing solid. Yet,” he clarified. Lifting her hand, he kissed her fingers. “Go with Dieter, I’ll have you in my sights the entire time. But don’t stray, for me.”
“Okay.” She squeezed his hand tightly. “I’ll keep Dieter with me the whole time. Promise.” She assured him. “Now then, you go and do what you need to do and I’m going to go and mostly supervise Dieter as we begin to break up the sod that we need.”