And then things got a whole lot more complicated. Complicated and messy. I knew from the beginning I’d get the girl off the island—but that was when I only knew her in the abstract. Now that I’d met Hope, I knew getting her off the island was only the beginning. I also knew that keeping her away from either of the Wellingtons was a priority. I hated leaving her on the beach with Justin, but we were short on time, and as much as I wanted to focus all of my attention on her, there was more to the mission. Besides, getting her off the island required learning more about the situation. So far my only possibility of escape required going along with Clayton. That wasn’t going to happen.

I had no interest in discovering the staff housing, but I did have interest in meeting the other staff. If the island really was a central point for arms dealing, there had to be way more people on the island than just Theo, the porter. There had to be a staff dedicated to taking care of and building, or adding magic to, the weapons. Hopefully those staff members weren’t too hard to find.

At least this part didn’t involve lying to Hope. That had proved even harder to do than I imagined. I tried to convince myself it wasn’t lying, but it was. Even if I was doing it for the right reasons.

Every part of me rebelled against walking further away from Hope. It felt wrong on all levels, but I needed to do it. I’d always been protective of human women, but this was different. This wasn’t so much about protection, it was about want. Need. Neither of those feelings would help me with my mission. I tried to push her from my mind, but her bright blue eyes kept coming back to me. She was terrified and angry. She had every right to be, but all I wanted to do was erase those emotions and replace them with ones that were entirely different. Happiness and pleasure.

I spent the walk down the beach fighting down those thoughts and forcing myself to stay alert about my surroundings. Nothing made much sense about this mission, Clayton’s requests, or the island. I couldn’t let my guard down at all.

I left the beach and returned to the dirt road Theo had driven me in on. The sun beat down, making me immediately miss the breeze from the water.

I glanced over my shoulder a few times until I could no longer see a hint of the beach I’d left Hope on. In some ways that made it easier for me to continue forward.

I continued down the road and saw nothing until a hint of bright color beckoned from down on the beach. I left the path and headed to the sand where I found what I assumed had to be the staff housing. This housing consisted of half-a dozen primary colored tents, pitched on the beach. Not particularly luxurious, but I preferred sleeping outdoors when I could. Maybe it was my wolf side, but I liked being as close to nature as possible.

All of the tents had flaps covering them except for the one on the end. I slowly made my way toward it.

“Are you the doc?" A raspy voice called from inside one of the tents.

"Yes." I answered as naturally as possible, stopping just outside the blue tent on the end where I was pretty sure the voice had come from.

"Come in. We need to talk."

Ok, not how I saw things unfolding. "Why don't you come out?" 

"Because I'm old. I don't have to."

I said nothing at first, half expecting the man to laugh or say he was joking. When he remained silent, I knew I couldn’t just stand there waiting. "Ok." Walking into the tent didn't sound like a good idea, but then again nothing about this mission sounded wise. I strained my senses to make sure no one else was around. I didn't need an ambush. After assuring myself all was clear, I ducked inside the tent.

"Ah, you are as young as you sound." An old man sat cross-legged on the floor. He was wearing black shorts and a short-sleeve Hawaiian shirt with bright red and blue flowers. His gray hair was long, almost to his shoulders.

The walls of the tent were covered in diagrams of guns and bombs. I shuddered momentarily, thinking about how much damage those weapons could do, but I quickly composed myself. "As do you," I joked.

He laughed. "I like you, orphan."

Orphan. I never thought of myself that way. My adoptive parents had cared for me and given me everything I needed. But this man didn't know my story. He knew the story spun by the Rangers. He probably knew more of that story than I did, which meant I had to be careful.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" I carefully studied a few of the diagrams. Most were of weapons I was unfamiliar with. Once again I wished the Rangers had given me more training.

“Come sit.” He patted the ground beside him.

“I am fine standing.” It was always safer that way. I still had no idea who this guy was.

“I’m not.” He frowned and once again patted the space next to him. “But close the flap first.”

“Fine.” I zipped the flap and sat down beside him.

“Isn’t that better?” He quirked a smile.

“No.” I glanced around the now darkened tent. It was made of an opaque material that let very little sunlight in, but still made it possible to see outside. “I’d prefer to be standing.”

“I don't actually care what you prefer. The nice thing about getting old is that you stop caring.”

"True enough. Now that I'm sitting are you ready to talk?”

He seemed to consider my words. "I don't like Clayton's plan. It's dangerous. Normally I don't mind danger, but he's being stupid putting a girl in danger. And I don’t take calling Clayton Wellington stupid lightly.” His words spilled out as if all part of one long train of thought.

“He is leaving it to the last minute.” I tested the man, determined to make sure he was talking about what I thought he was.

"He's as cocky as it comes. Everything has to be his way, and you know when you're that high up in that kind of family it usually can be, but another nice thing about getting old is you stop kissing asses.” The man smiled.

“What are you suggesting exactly?” I was glad the guy wasn’t a fan of Clayton, but I needed more than that.

"We make our own plan." His smile widened.

"Our own plan?" And here I thought things were finally going to get simpler. Instead I was in a dangerous position. I had no clue whether I could trust this guy, but I also knew he might be my best chance to getting the information I needed.

“Yes, I assume you have the brain capacity to plan.”

“Of course I do. I am a doctor.”

The older man laughed. “Spin your story to someone else, boy. Old Matheson here can see right through it.”

See right through it. He knew? I thought fast. “Does it matter?”

“Not to me. I get paid if the weapons make it off this island. I’d rather the girl not die. That’s about all I care.”

“Why do you care about the girl?” I cared too, but I already knew it was in a different way.

“She’s an innocent. Innocents must be protected at all costs.” Matheson’s eyes hazed over, and I knew he was lost in thought or memories.

I gave him a moment before pulling him back to the present. “We agree on that.”

“Then why work for the Wellingtons? They are as bad as they come.”

“I am new to the fold.” That was an understatement. He knew I wasn’t really a doctor, so what else did he know?

“I know. And I’ll ask again, why the Wellingtons?”

Since I couldn’t exactly tell the truth, I made an excuse up. “I took the job I could get.”

“You’re young. You have a chance to make something of yourself.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Your future is too important to make stupid mistakes.”

“I don’t plan on making too many.”

“Get through this and run as far from the Wellingtons as you can.” His expression darkened. “I’d hate to see them turn another. The Kenai wolves were never this blood thirsty. We cannot blame the losses to our animal ancestors on all humans.”

Blame the loss on all humans? Is that what this was all about? I wanted to ask so many more questions about it, but it wouldn’t pay to sound uninformed. “Why are you aligned with them if they are so bad?”

“Aligned with them?” He laughed dryly. “Hardly. This is a temporary arrangement so I can buy my grandchildren the future I never had.”

“Grandchildren?”

“Why are you surprised? You don’t think I took a mate?” He cocked his head to the side.

“No. Not surprised.”

“You are… but that’s ok. Like I said, I no longer care about most things. I do care about my grandkids though. The only way they can live apart from the major families is to have the money to protect themselves. Once these weapons leave the island, I’ll have enough to keep them safe for years.”

“Where are these weapons going once they are off the island?” That was the key. Stopping them from leaving would be good, but figuring out who was getting them would be better.

“I get paid when the ship leaves. That’s all I need to know.” He picked up a set of tools from the floor and a large stone. There were symbols etched into the stone, but I didn’t recognize them.

“You don’t care where the weapons go? I thought you cared about innocents?” I threw his own words back at him.

He leaned in. “Once the ship leaves, I don’t care. That’s all I need to know.” He winked.

And his wink said it all. He knew. He’d said he didn’t believe my story, but it was more than that. He knew I wasn’t really working for the Wellingtons.

“Where are they supposed to go?” I had no idea how Matheson knew, but I wasn’t going to take the chance of burning him until I got the information I needed.

“They are being shipped to the big island.”

“Hawaii?” I processed the surprising news.

“Yes.”

“The King of The Society controls the supernatural world there. Why would the Wellingtons send the weapons onto U.S. soil? It makes no sense”

“It’s the king’s territory, but you can bet my ass he knows nothing of this.”

“About the weapons? The Wellington’s business?” There were so many things he should know if things were happening on his turf.

“Get the girl and get off the island with the weapons. That’s as far as I’m going to help you. The rest is up to you.”

“You’re not going to help past that?”

“I can’t do it all, kid. I’ll make sure you get her off this island, but that’s as far as I can help. The rest is up to you.”

And his help was a whole lot more than what I had before. As in, it was at least something. “Got it.”

“You don’t have much time.”

“I’m well aware. Clayton didn’t give me much warning.”

“Are you still going to pretend you’re taking your orders from Clayton?”

“Yes.” I figured that was the best noncommittal response I could give.

Matheson chuckled. “I guess it’s good you stick to your cover.”

“Any hint as to the best way to get her?”

“Justin has a conference call tonight.”

“How do you know?”

“I set it up. I knew you’d be ready.”

“How?” I was starting to realize Matheson knew a whole lot more about my mission than I did.

“That isn’t of concern right now.”

“How can you say that isn’t of concern?”

“Because we are running out of time. Tonight is your only chance.”

“I’m supposed to march into the bungalow and make her come with me?”

“Do you really think getting her to leave with you will be difficult?” He carefully moved to his feet.

I stood up as well. “I know she wants to leave, but that doesn’t mean she trusts me.”

“She trusts you more than Justin. That’s all you need to worry about.”

“I need to learn more before I leave. Where do I bring her?”

“Bring her to the northern most tip of the island. I’ll take care of everything else.”

“And how do I know I can trust you?” I was tired of resorting to blind trust. It wasn’t natural.

“You can’t.” He brushed past me toward the entrance. “Just like she doesn’t know that she can trust you.” He stepped out of the tent and headed further down the beach.

I stood there waiting for a full minute before I headed after him. He was right. I had no choice.