Chapter Eighteen
Bryon mulled over these new ideas in his noggin as they continued through the tunnels. He took her hand wanting to feel her close. They came to another fork in the road.
“Which way?” he asked.
“Whichever way has fewer spider webs,” she answered. That would be straight ahead.
“You scared of spiders?” he asked.
“Eh,” she replied, “I wouldn’t say scared. But I definitely don’t want to give them something to stand on and bite. But less spider webs could mean the path had more travelers to keep spiders away. But given how old all this is, it’s probably a moot point.”
He nodded. Why hadn’t he come to that conclusion? It seemed a lot of her thoughts were common sense that wasn’t common until someone else said it. Then you’re like, duh. Their pups would be freakin’ geniuses.
“You know,” Kari said, “I don’t know anything about you. Not even what kind of shifter you are. How did you get into ALFA?”
He could easily talk about that. “I’m a wolf shifter. My pack is rather big compared to most. We live within a community, or a town, I guess, that is all shifters.”
“All shifters,” she asked. “How many?”
“Our population is several thousand. Other shifter places across the U.S. vary depending on who’s there.”
“Wow, I had no idea.”
“Yeah, we keep a low profile. Believe it or not, the government actually helps with that,” he said.
“How so?”
“ALFA is short for Alpha League Federal Agency. Basically, a long time ago, shifters were ‘discovered’ by the military. Our kind is much stronger than normal humans and can do things humans can’t. So when the military decided they wanted to harness that strength for themselves, they decided to approach us with a deal.”
“Oh god,” she replied, “I can just imagine what ‘deal’ the government had for you. We all know what they did to the Native Americans.”
“Yes,” he said, “we did, and we made sure that kind of thing wouldn’t happen to us. So the deal was that some of our young shifters, after graduating, would join ALFA to do special jobs humans weren’t able to do. It’s sort of a shifter military, except we usually don’t go into battle situations where live munition is fired. Unless on a special project.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not sure. Something about accidentally shifting and exposing our secret, maybe?” He shrugged.
She asked, “So you joined after graduating high school?”
“Yes and no. After high school, if you sign up for a four-year stint, they will put you through college first. My parents at the time took jobs the community needed instead of jobs that paid a lot of money.
“Dad was a first responder, what they called back then a volunteer fireman. He was usually one of the first to arrive at accident scenes or where medical emergencies existed. He was a trained EMT, certified as a crisis and hostage negotiator, top-rated marksmen, and a bunch of other stuff.”
“Wow, he sounds amazing. That must be where you get your drive for AFLA work.”
“I think it is. When I was older, he took me with him on several calls and I helped out where I could. Talk about a rude awakening to the real world. I saw firsthand what drinking and driving could do. Saw what happened to people in motorcycle accidents who weren’t wearing protective clothing or helmets. I even saw a baby born in the backseat of a car. That was traumatic.”
Kari laughed. “Made you glad men didn’t give birth, huh?”
“Damn straight, it did.”
“What about your mom?” she asked.
“My mom was a social service agent who watched over underprivileged and abused pups. She was proud to say that during her time there, pup abuse dropped tenfold and more abusers than ever were punished. She brought home a lot of pups, too.
“I had ‘adopted’ siblings coming out the nose for years. But there was always enough love to go around, even if the food was a little short sometimes.”
“You know,” she said, “that’s one thing about America I wish would change. All the professional sports stars are paid millions and millions of dollars, yet teachers, police, and firemen can barely support their families.”
“Yup. People are willing to pay for what they want, not what they need. They want the fancy slam dunks and homeruns and touchdowns, but they need others to teach them how to read and write, to save their lives in dangerous situations, and protect them from others who would do them harm over a pair of stupid athletic shoes with some sports star’s name on them.”
“I completely agree. Priorities are messed up. It’s sad,” she said. “Are your parents still around?”
“Yeah, they still live in town and still bring in pups and cubs. No one is safe from the Day’s home.” They laughed.
“They had no problems with you joining ALFA right out of school?”
“Nah, not at all. They were quite proud of me. Taking after them in honorable jobs without a lot of money. After college, I went into training. Talk about getting my ass kicked. Fucking A.” He realized his harsh language in front of his mate. “Sorry ’bout that. I’m used to being around men all the time.”
“Not a problem. I’m okay with some. It comes out of my mouth occasionally. A sign of the times.” She smiled at him. Fuck, she was so beautiful. He wanted to stand where he was and just stare at her. That would probably creep her out, though.
She pulled him forward. “With all this cave and tunnel and stuff, I feel like I’m in an Indiana Jones movie,” she said.
“That is the best movie on the planet,” he said.
She shoved him to the side with her hip. “No way. Bridge of Spies is so much better.”
He rebounded toward her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her to his side. “Would you believe I got to shake Steven Spielberg’s hand once,” he whispered.
Kari stopped in front of him and gasped. “Seriously? Oh my god.” She looked at their linked fingers. “Is this the hand you touched him with?” She put it on her cheek. “I got to feel the hand that shook the movie god’s hand.” She let out a long breath.
His heart jumped. Her face was so soft, so perfect. Her eyes rolled up to meet his. Her smiled faded, but her pupils widened, and her smell became irresistible, loaded with pheromones. Fuck, she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Could he have her? Just one more taste.
She licked her lips. That did it. His animal roared inside. She was soft and sweet but there was a definite aggression in her that he fucking loved. She was everything he wanted and more. The way her tongue swept over his drove him crazy and made him groan into the kiss. If he survived more of these kisses, he deserved an award. As it stood, his body was wound tighter than a rubber band ready to snap.
* * *
They had come to another intersection. “All right, pretty lady. You pick the direction: straight ahead or right turn?”
Holding on to his hand and the second torch in her other hand, she studied both ways. “One looks the same as the other. Flip a coin?” she said.
He frowned. “I don’t have a coin, but I’ll flip you.”
Her eyes got big. “What?” She stepped in front of him, trying to hide her smile, and eased forward. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t flip well.”
He took a step toward her. As long as he could get his hands on her body, he didn’t care what she did. He could push her against the wall, rip her clothes off, and claim her here and now. There definitely wasn’t anyone around to catch them. His wolf loved the idea. Its tongue fell out the side of its mouth with the thought.
He must’ve looked predatory because she squeaked out a laugh and took off running down a path. Oh, that wasn’t a great plan. He chased her. His wolf got all up in his business, wanting to play, too.
Quickly, he gained on her. “Kari, running ahead is dangerous. You could get hurt.”
She looked back over her shoulder, then abruptly stopped. “You’re right.”
He was going too fast to stop without hitting her. She cringed, seeing him coming, and he dove to the side of her, landing on solid ground. After a roll, the ground dropped out from under him. The torch he held showed him the location of his landing, twenty feet down.