Chapter Two
Parker
Parker did not enjoy being around people and for the most part, he was able to avoid them. Most people were too loud and constantly fidgeting, moving or speaking. He was happiest in the quiet of the woods, near a gently babbling brook.
The tall man in front of him didn't seem to be that way. He stood unnaturally still, clutching a tiny pig to his front despite the fact that he had just been urinated on. He had a bushy beard that looked more like a mask he hid behind, and black rimmed glasses that slid down his nose.
When Parker had walked into the clinic, had overheard what the other man had been saying and then saw what he had been doing, his vision had gone red. Ignoring the possibility of being discovered, Parker had wanted to destroy the man and thought throwing him across the room had been an acceptable compromise. Especially since he'd wanted to break the man's arms and legs so that he wouldn't dare try to hurt what was Parker's.
They weren't too close but Parker forced his body to take a step away for the simple fact that he didn't want to. He wanted to erase the space between him and the veterinarian. Parker wanted to press against him and feel his body against his. Not how he'd been forced against the door earlier, that had been an act of cruelty. A bully attempting to exert dominance he didn't really possess over another he thought was weak.
This man in front of him wasn't weak. He was muscled and sturdy. Parker knew he could have fought his own way out of the predicament that he'd been in. Parker had simply been unwilling to wait and see.
He cleared the confusing thoughts from his head and reminded himself why he was there in the first place. That he was able to remember the scripted words now was a testament to how much he had practiced his mission beforehand. He handed the veterinarian a towel from the counter.
"I'm new to this area and heard you were the one to ask for a room to rent."
"A room?" the man repeated, sounding so confused that Parker briefly panicked and thought he might be in the wrong house. That would be one hell of a coincidence though. He'd been briefed on where he was supposed to go. The vet's house. This town only had one. From the report they'd gathered, he was a shifter sympathizer and lived alone in his childhood home.
The report hadn't been clear on whether the vet himself was a shifter, but this man in front of Parker was one hundred percent warm, kissable human. Parker could relax a little knowing that what slight chance there had been of a shifter sensing his heritage was no longer a worry. His kind was hard to scent as it was, these days it was even harder.
"Yes, a room. I was told to go to the house on the edge of town and ask the handsome vet." Parker snapped his teeth together. Handsome vet? Where the hell had that come from? And why was he laying his normally subtle country accent on so thick? He saved that for getting what he wanted.
His success in this mission was extremely important, that was probably why he was using all his tools right away.
The man blushed so hard, Parker nearly grinned. "Handsome? Um? Well...I am a vet. I mean, a veterinarian, not a veteran. I needed to be near to take care of my mother so I could never...why am I talking about this? What did you ask?"
Parker couldn't help but to smile in response to the man's rambling. "Why don't we start with names? I am Parker and you are?"
"B-Brady. Dr. Brady," Brady shook his head emphatically. "No, not doctor. I mean, I am one but, everyone just calls me Brady."
Leaning back against the kitchen counter, Parker reached his hands behind his back and clung onto the countertop so tightly he was sure his knuckles would be white. He just hoped the motion looked natural and not like Parker was doing everything he could to not surge forward and claim Brady's lips. The more the vet stammered and stuttered the more Parker wanted to kiss him.
His skyrocketing emotional responses to being near Brady had to be because of his mission nerves. Or maybe it was a reaction to his own dishonesty, something Parker didn't enjoy and was also outright horrible at. He had practice talking around the truth though, and that was what he would do here. It probably seemed odd that a man who was horrible at lying had been sent as a spy, but the truth was, there weren't many left who could do it.
If his dishonestly could save his family, it would all be worth it.
"A doctor? Doesn't that take a lot of school? There a Riverside University I don't know about?"
"Ha, ha," Brady laughed, it sounded a touch maniacal. "No, no school around here. I took a lot of distance learning courses. And then, I went up in the, er, summers, to uh, do the labs and such. It took me a little longer, doing it that way, but it was worth it."
Parker gripped the counter harder. Brady had stuttered, in a different way than he had before, like he was stumbling over something he hadn't meant to say, something he was hiding. Parker worked his face into a pleasant smile and kept the growl from his voice. Brady could lie if he wanted to, Parker had no claim on him.
"What are you doing here? I mean, like, what brings you to Riverside?"
Parker fell back on his training. "I guess you can say I am a wanderer. I don't really believe in sticking my roots down in any one place. Prefer to wander about, staying here and there. Last place I stayed was in Northern California, a farm that grew everything from alfalfa to peaches."
"Oh really? What did you do there?"
"I...farmed?"
"Right. That makes sense." Brady pulled a plastic bin with a heat lamp clamped to the top out of the pantry. Parker could smell the tiny animals inside before he looked at them.
"What do you have there?"
"Piglets. I am hand-rearing them since their mother bolted about a day ago. That was what that guy was so mad about. The sow was his and he thinks it is my fault she is gone."
"Is it?"
"Kind of, I guess. She wasn't even supposed to be here, Robert just didn't want to deal with the labor so he dumped her. I was a little frazzled at the time."
"I could help you look for her? I mean, not for that asshole's sake, but for yours. I heard you care a lot about your animals."
Brady set the piglet down and turned to Parker with a tiny frown between his eyebrows. "The people you spoke to in Riverside said all that? I didn't think they liked me that much."
Parker kept his stupid smile plastered on his face but inside he was cursing up a storm. Why was he being so stupid? Truth was, he hadn't even talked to the citizens of Riverside. Didn't need to. They had enough intel on Brady from just watching him from afar. He worked long hours and never turned anyone away who showed up at his door with a hurt or sick animal. He was the type of person who Parker normally admired, except right now, he was Parker's enemy. "I might be exaggerating a bit," Parker said, desperately trying to bring the conversation back on track. "But I don't think they were exaggerating when they said you had a room for rent. Unless...it is already full?"
"No, no one is in that room. Haven't had someone stay there for a few months."
Since that lone wolf and his mate, you mean, Parker thought.
"Do you have any money for the room?" Brady asked and then blushed. It wasn't a weird question and yet, Parker could tell he regretted bringing it up.
"A little. I planned on looking for work around here. Would you know anyone who might be looking for some help?"
Having settled the piglets in a corner where they could snuggle in peace, Brady moved back to the pantry. He had the door open wide so that Parker could see inside. It was unlike what one would expect from a bachelor's pantry. No boxes of processed foods or cans, the shelves were haphazardly stacked with white boxes with black labels, plastic bags of syringes and tubing as well as packages of bandages and gauze in different sizes.
"Not big into organizing?" Parker commented.
Brady made an adorable huffing noise. It isn't adorable, it is a normal noise of exhalation. Keep it together!
"I know where everything is. That is all that matters," Brady replied. "It isn't like I have someone to help that also needs to know where I keep the saline." Brady reached in without looking and grabbed a pouch full of clear liquid.
"Good point, you wouldn't ever need someone to help you around here," Parker replied sarcastically. At that moment, a tan horse ran past Brady's kitchen window.
"Damn it! Susan!" Brady yelled, tearing out of the kitchen and out the front door with Parker quickly on his heels.
Parker watched the horse run for the forest with Brady chasing far behind. He cut around the other side of the house, getting to a spot a little in front of Susan—he assumed that was the horse's name—and let a little of his animal out, growling just low enough that a sensitive animal like a horse would hear. It worked, Susan stopped, turned around and ran right to Brady, who caught her deftly by the halter.
"Thanks," Brady called out. Parker wouldn't step closer and risk being outed by a portly horse.
"Don't worry about it. I see you have this handled, I'll just move on." Parker counted his steps and had made it to five before he heard Brady inhale sharply.
"If you wanted the extra room, you could rent it out for a bit. I'm not going to ask much for it because the space is small and smells like wet dog."
"I could pay some, and also work some of it off. I'm very good with animals," Parker said quickly. Parker made the mistake of taking a step toward Brady and Susan jumped to the side.
Brady was too irritated to wonder what had spooked her. "Sounds good. Do you need to grab your bags somewhere or something?"
"Yeah, left them down the road a bit where I spent the night. I'll go get them and be back for dinner."
"Sounds good," Brady said absently. He stroked the horse's neck, whispering calming words as he led her back to the barn. Parker watched the vet walk away, a ball of barbed wire forming in his stomach. What was this feeling? He thought he should be glad to make so much progress in so little time. This man, this doctor, meant nothing to him. Was nothing to him. So then why did he feel dread at having to lie to him while also ecstatic at the idea of living so close?
Parker turned around so quickly his shoe worked a dent in the dirt. He really did need to go back to the check point and get his bags. They weren't down the street where he stayed the night before though. They were further in the forest at the rendezvous point. Parker had stashed them there in case he had any important information. His family was relying on him to prepare Riverside for a takeover. If there was one thing Parker was sure of, the coyotes were taking this mountain.