Page 2 of Lion's Little Scamp

“Calm your beast before I drop you to the ground,” Lonergan ordered.

Harrigan took a deep breath and then released it slowly. After two more breaths, he nodded. “I’m okay now.”

“I doubt that, but you’ll need to hold it together until we get back to Bratburg. We don’t want your mate refusing to get into the helicopter.”

Harrigan took another breath before nodding. “Load the girls and their belongings, otherwise we won’t get out of here until after I claim her.”

Lonergan patted his shoulder. “I can do that.”

While the director took care of loading the newest trainees, Harrigan moved himself to the edge of the building, and then prowled upwind of the helicopter. Even though he was breathing in the not-so-pleasant scents of the city, he could still smell the sweet vanilla scent of his mate. Turning back toward the helicopter, he watched Lonergan slide the door to the main compartment closed. Two large suitcases and a small backpack sat under the cargo bay door.

Crossing to the back of the helicopter, Harrigan opened the door to the storage space, then loaded the three bags inside. As he lifted each one, he sniffed them. The first suitcase emanated a flowery perfume that stung his nose. The second smelled of another perfume that was even stronger, causing him to sneeze to clear his senses.

Picking up the backpack, he took a breath and grinned as his lion roared once again. The owner of this piece of luggage was his woman.

He had found his mate.

Now all he had to do was convince her that fate had brought them together, and that he would take care of her forever, even though he knew nothing about her at the moment.

Chapter Two

Fear kept Irish silent once she was delivered to the building that housed the Council. Once there, she had been allowed to use the restroom, but had not been allowed to shower or change clothes, not that she had anything nice to change into.

Standing before the five-man panel, she shook like a leaf in a hurricane, but still did not speak. There was nothing for her to say. The charges were littering, vagrancy, and trespassing on private property. The choices were a stay at Bratburg Institute where she would be reminded of how a proper lady of society should act, or a month in the city jail. Since anywhere would be better than jail, she agreed to going to Bratburg. Like the officer had said back at the encampment, this was a chance for her to start fresh somewhere else. All she had to do was get through the Bratburg training program.

Once her future was set, a guard took her to a small room to wait for transport to the institute. Only then did she calm down enough to take a nap that lasted until a big guard arrived to escort her to the roof.

At the sight of their transportation, her knees weakened. She had never flown before. Hell, she had never been out of the city before, but here she was, facing her first helicopter trip.

Before she could decide how she felt about that, a man standing across the rooftop suddenly roared, “Mine!” and despite all her years of learning never to show vulnerability, she jumped and squeaked in fright. The look on his face… so intense, so… primal. She hugged her backpack closer, knowing Fluffy was safe inside.

When her guard grabbed her bag and tried to take it from her, she hugged it tighter.

“You can’t have it with you on the flight,” he said gruffly. “Give it to me.”

“I’ll get it back?” she asked, breaking the grumpy man’s “don’t talk to anyone” rule.

“Yes, little one, you will get it back when we get to Bratburg,” the big man who had been seated in the gallery during her hearing answered as he stopped in front of her. She thought someone had said he was the director of Bratburg, though he had not introduced himself.

After staring into his eyes for assurance, Irish relinquished her pack and watched the guard set it with the other girls’ suitcases. Her battered backpack looked pitiful next to their huge, designer luggage.

She glanced across the rooftop at the man standing there and licked her lip. He was beautiful, a golden god from his long, wavy golden blond hair and golden toned skin to his big black boots. Broad shoulders, trim waist, and long legs filled out the black and tan uniform he wore.

Yes, he was beautiful, but she didn’t have a chance with him. After all, no matter how voluntary her visit to Bratburg was, she was a prisoner on her way to rehabilitation. Once she passed the retraining, she would be sent to another city far away from here. The head of the Council made it clear that she would not be returning to the capital once she graduated from Bratburg’s program.

She just wished she had gotten a chance to talk to Sailor and let him know what was going on with her. But then, she didn’t know where he was either. Had he been caught and sent to jail or had the shot she’d heard ended his life? He had told her nearly every day since taking her under his wing that if the police ever came, he would willingly sacrifice himself for the others as he had nothing else to live for.

“On board, girl. And behave yourself,” the guard said, poking a finger into her back to get her moving.

Jerked from her thoughts, Irish followed the other two girls onto the helicopter. Once they were each strapped into their seats, her guard took off the handcuffs she had been wearing since her arrival at the Council building.

Her breath caught when the door rolled close and total darkness surrounded them. She was normally scared of the dark, but there were a few pin-sized lights around the cabin to what could be total darkness. It was warm and dry, and she was oh so tired.

While the other girls whimpered and whispered to each other, Irish wrapped her arms around her middle, closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep. She had been up since the wee hours of the morning and hadn’t been warm in weeks, except for the few hours she spent in the library reading to escape the nothingness on the streets. She drifted off in a few minutes, her last thought being that she hoped Fluffy was all right.

“How did you do it?” Harrigan asked once they were in the air and headed toward Bratburg.

“Do what?”

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