Page 27 of Alpha's Second Chance

“Now that we’ve cleared that up, we can get back to planning our strategy.”

“I won’t leave again,” she said.

I didn’t follow what she meant. “What?”

“I won’t run away again. I won’t disappear without telling you what I’m doing.”

“Okay. Good,” I said. If that was all I was going to get from her, then it was better than nothing. “It’s getting late. Why don’t we go inside?” My stomach was tight, and my head was a swirling mess. I didn’t want to be caught off guard outside if Bull showed up before we were ready.

Eve stood. “Owen.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know what it will look like, and the only promise I can make right now is that I won’t run, but I want to be with you,” she said. “I love you.’

She loved me? I opened my mouth to ask what that meant to her, but I never got the chance. One of my MASK unit teammates appeared next to the house. “We got a visual, Alpha,” he called out. “Bull is twenty miles from here.”

Eve

Inside Owen’s house I sat in front of the fireplace. In my lap, I cradled an M-16. I didn’t like it as a weapon, but at that moment, I needed something easier than a knife or a bow.

Owen professed his love for me, and I had just declared my love for him.

Somehow, despite our soul-baring conversation, the tension between us had rocketed up about fifty million degrees.

Owen stood near the door, but not in front of it, in case Bull had a sniper outside. He held a similar gun in his hands. Neither of us had spoken.

We should be in the bed, celebrating our new love, but here we were, holding powerful guns, with tension stabbing at us like needles.

“I wasn’t going to take the job,” I said. I’d seriously considered it, before I reconnected with Owen. Chicago would have been one step farther away from my previous life as a shifter; moving would have been another way to sever ties with my past.

Owen had been right. There wasn’t any type of shifter life there. No clans, no community, nothing. I’d have an easier time ignoring that I’d ever been anything but human.

The job had been a good one, and it would have boosted my career. But the main draw had been the disconnect from my old life.

With a loud snap, Owen’s comm crackled to life. Within a second, both of us had our guns up and ready to fire. I sagged a little when I realized it was his teammate checking in.

“Alpha,” his teammate’s voice boomed, “Bull’s been spotted ten miles from here. Seems to heading in the exact direction.”

“Thanks Brian,” Owen said. “Stick to the plan.”

When the comm was silent again, Owen and I moved the furniture. Owen directed me in how to make the best defensive areas to crouch behind if our play went off-script, and I ended up in a shootout.

The real plan was for me to be on the front porch, pretending to work, using my scent to ensnare Bull.

While Owen scanned the yard, I dragged a fan out onto the porch where I’d already left a laptop and some legal pads. I was going to type on the computer and make case notes, and appear to be unguarded.

I doubted Bull would think I was truly alone, but we had to start somewhere.

According to Owen, my scent was still intoxicating to an Alpha. I’d aim the fan directly where I was sitting, and hope that it helped Bull pinpoint exactly where I was.

During the week, Owen’s team had gotten some potent scent blockers and suppressants, and they’d all triple dosed themselves last night. The lack of their scents created a hole in my mind, an absence where they should be. I didn’t like it.

I’d grown to rely on Owen’s juniper scent.

I sat down on the top porch step. I did my best not to glance in the direction of the woods where Owen was waiting.

I cracked the laptop open and began jotting notes on a legal pad. The fan ruffled my hair as I worked. It would have been nice if Owen and I’d had more time to sort through our feelings before Bull arrived, but he’d forced our hand.

---