Page 13 of Scarred Resolve

“Want to watch a movie with me?” I asked him, and his response was exactly what I wanted. He got up and took my hand, pulling me to the couch. We cuddled as he found one of our shared favorites and hit play. I could hear music from Carey’s room, keeping one ear open for anything else as Heath’s hand moved lower.

“She’s not asleep,” I whispered.

His hand moved up to my stomach again without needing me to say anything more. Once the movie was over, however, he scooped me up like I was already his bride and carried me to our bedroom.

I had no complaints or warnings as he slowly underdressed me. I took my time doing the same for him, reveling in how this attractive man in peak form was always coming to bed with me. The touches were soft, leaving goosebumps on my skin as he drove the need between us higher. Our lips only brushed together, never fully committing to the kiss, as we toyed with each other, seeing who would finally escalate this into what came next. Once the teasing and tension became too much, I pushed him onto his back and made sure the night would be imprinted on my skin and his, like every night we’d shared together already was.

6

CHAPTER SIX

Iwas woken up by my phone vibrating. With a soft groan, I reached over to see Bethany Kirk, the BSA agent who was my contact with the rest of the organization. She passed word to me a lot, and I told her anything I needed the BSA to hear.

I know I was planning on calling you today, but was five a.m. really necessary?

Heath didn’t stir. There was a reason I put my phone on vibrate. My hearing was sensitive enough to catch it when it was on my bedside table, but it didn’t bother him. I wasn’t trying to hide anything, but with my family all over the world, I didn’t take the chance of letting them call and wake up both of us. He didn’t get calls from a pissed-off sister in Russia. I did.

“Hold on, Bethany. Let me get out of the bedroom,” I said immediately upon answering.

“Holding,” she replied but stayed silent after that. I threw on a shirt and pajama bottoms, both of which I realized were Heath’s, but that was only a positive. They smelled like him. I quickly made my way downstairs, keeping my steps light to keep from waking up Carey. I went into my office and locked the door, yawning as I sat down.

“What’s going on? You know the time, right?” I asked, yawning a second time.

“I’ve been ordered to give you certain information, or I wouldn’t be calling, I promise,” Bethany said, sounding equally tired now that she was able to speak. “I got the call an hour ago and had to report in early.”

“Anyone dead?” I rubbed my tired eyes.

“I’m not privy to anything specific. I’m going to tell you everything I know as it was passed to me. I have the memo right in front of me.”

“I’m listening,” I said, knowing Bethany was probably just as confused as I was. Hearing her mention a memo, though, told me this was going to be the official language or her telling of it. This wasn’t going to be the nice chats we normally had when something was going on.

“Your presence has been ordered at the Dallas BSA office.”

Ordered… There are only a few reasons they can legally do that…

“The meeting will be tomorrow at five in the morning. You are allowed to bring a plus one; however, that plus one cannot, under any circumstances, be a werewolf.”

Shit. No Heath or Landon, then.

“Neither you nor your plus one can be armed. Failure to follow either of these rules will only cause the meeting to be rescheduled on a daily basis at five a.m. until we, the BSA, see compliance. If you come with a werewolf, you are forgoing your plus one and will be attending the meeting alone or not attending at all, in which case the meeting will be rescheduled under the same terms as stated previously. You will not be the only supernatural in attendance, all of whom may look poorly on failure to follow these procedures set forth. This is not a meeting about any legal troubles you may or may not be in.” Bethany’s grumble almost made me smile. “The memo doesn’t tell me thenature of the meeting or what it’s even about,” she explained, her voice losing that lawyer-like quality it had while she was explaining, becoming more casual for a moment. “It doesn’t say who else will be at the meeting, either.”

“Well, damn. The timing sucks, but the timing always sucks, huh?”

“Yeah, it does,” Bethany agreed, sighing. “The rest of this is jargon, but you’ll just come, go through some standard security procedures, and be escorted to the meeting room.”

“And with only twenty-four hours’ notice to prepare for whatever this is,” I said, trying to keep my tone positive. This wasn’t her fault.

“Yeah…” Bethany didn’t seem pleased, either. She was also clearly out of the loop. “This sort of thing can only be done by a handful of people in the BSA. I’ve never been witness to anything like this.”

“There’s a lot neither of us have ever seen or heard of before,” I reminded her. “The BSA is, for better and for worse, a little secretive, and there are things that don’t make it into the reports or official language, I bet.”

“You’re right, but having me deliver the message, I would hope my superiors would at least give me any information to ask potential questions… However, if it’s not written down, no one can report on it or say it over a potentially unsecured line of communication. Considering we’ve had multiple issues involving you, either directly or tangentially, I can logically see why they are keeping this to the minimal level of knowledge required to get you to attend.”

“Is there anything else I need to worry about?” I asked, not able to read said memo myself.

“Ah, yes, there’s one…” Something banged. “Okay. There’s a soft gag order. Mention this to as few people as possible, and if it leaks that this meeting will happen, is happening,or has happened, then you’ll be held accountable for it if an investigation points to you being the one who leaked it.”

“Oh, wow. I wonder what sort of punishments they have whipped up.”

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