Page 37 of Trick's Elite

“Bullshit,” Trick blurted, palmed her ass, and turned. “Complete bullshit.” He carried her back to bed and laid her down before he climbed in and cuddled up next to her. Her bear was truly a bear when it came to cuddling — A teddy bear.

“I was crying because it’s my fault that our mating didn’t happen the way you wanted it to. It’s my fault that your family hasn’t accepted me. It’s my fault for Rex, for Shortcake, for the constant threat to your family. It’s all my fault.”

“Fucking stop it,” Trick ordered and moved so he was eye to eye with her. “You didn’t know anything more than what you saw in those videos, and you were doing what you thought was right. Now that you know better, when it comes to shifters, would you make the same choice?”

“No,” she immediately answered.

“Exactly. So, you can stop that shit. We all make the best decisions we can at the time, and sometimes, those decisions are shit. That’s life. Now, we’re going to kick the shit out of BFA. Then we’re going back to Warden’s Pass, and you’ll have plenty of time to show my family that you are an asset, not a threat. Before you know it, you’ll be dancing on the tables in the clubhouse and throwing back shots with Sugar and Ruby. Hell, Diamond might even join you up there.”

She chuckled. “What makes you think I’ll be dancing on tables?”

“Trust me. You will. Those women always end up dancing on tables and doing shots.” Tucking her hair behind her ear, he pressed his forehead to hers. “You better now?”

She nodded. “I just… I don’t like that you don’t have everything you want.”

“I might not have everything I want, but I have everything I need,” he whispered, making her heart flutter a bit at the sincerity in his voice, and kissed her lips. “Sleep or sex?”

She snorted a laugh. “Is that even a question?”

Chapter Twenty

Two weeks later… Trick

Hiddenbythetrees,Trick watched as the hunters from the academy trained in the enormous field behind what Stiletto told him were the main buildings that housed the offices. He was counting heads as Stiletto used his cell to take pictures. He figured it was better to give her that duty since she knew which buildings were going to be important and who the important players were.

Having her there with him was uncomfortable, since he would rather have her as safe as possible, but he was proud of her and the skills she brought to the table. From what he knew of her past, she was already trained to do exactly what their mission called for. Not using those skills would be just plain stupid.

“That man,” she whispered and pointed to a large man with dark brown skin, a muscular body, and a permanent scowl on his face, who was walking along the edge of the field, with his eyes trained on the hunters. “He was my commander.”

“Commander West?”

“Yes.” There was a pause, then she added, “He’s walking with the other commander, Cox, but I don’t know the other man.”

“That’s Ordys,” Trick told her as he watched the way Ordys interacted with the two commanders. The dragon shifter champion was deep in conversation with Cox, but Trick noticed how his gaze was searching the tree line.

“We’ve gotta go.” Trick took her hand and forced her to come with him as he headed through the woods back to where they left the van.

Ordys could have just been searching the tree line because he sensed another shifter close by. With his champion status, the gods had given him even more advanced senses than normal shifters. If that wasn’t it, it was possible it was just part of his duties as a hunter. But the other possibility was that they knew someone was on the grounds and that was what the commanders were talking to him about.

If that was the case, they needed to get out of there before all hell broke loose. He didn’t say a thing, and neither did Stiletto, until they reached the security wall that surrounded the property. There was a fenced gate that was secured with a keypad. As he stared at the keypad and pressed each digit of the code that Ordys had given him, Trick prayed that the code still worked.

“What if it doesn’t work?” Stiletto asked.

Trick glanced up the stretch of brick to the top, at least six feet above his head, then back to the gate. “Then I break through this gate, lift you up, and run like hell.”

“Our cover will be blown so…”

Trick pressed the last digit and heard the lock on the gate release. He let out a sigh of relief and swung it open. “Not a today-problem,” he said and stepped through, immediately taking in their surroundings. Once he was sure there wasn’t an ambush waiting for them, he let Stiletto through and shut the gate behind her.

Taking her hand again, Trick led her back to the van at a quick jog. He needed to get her away from the academy before he could plan their next move.

“How many pictures did you get?”

“At least a couple hundred,” she replied.

There was a pissed off note to her voice, so Trick looked over at her and found that she was swiping through the photos on his phone as she jogged along next to him. “What’s wrong?”

She gave a shake to her head, shut off the screen, and slipped it into her pocket. “Didn’t realize just how angry I would be being back here. I wasn’t happy they took all the benefits from me that my rank had provided, but I was still mostly all for the cause.”

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