Page 40 of Crossed Fates
He grunted in appeasement and relaxed, his gaze lifting to the sky.
Spring in New York could be chilly, but as shifters, we ran hot, and with the sun shining down on us, the lake felt refreshing on my fevered skin.A whole different kind of hot.
We lounged in silence, again finding it comfortable and easy rather than awkward.
I waded into slightly deeper water and floated on my back, thinking about our next moves.
“My father expects me to take over. To give up my job. To give up my life. And come back to manage this pack. To lead them as their alpha.” His words were quiet and…tired. Like he just couldn’t keep them in anymore, and for whatever reason, he chose me to open up to. Probably because he felt safe confiding in me—a notable outsider.
Also maybe because there was no one else in the pack for him to talk to. At least, that’d been my assessment after roaming the grounds for hours.
The whispers and conversations I’d overheard on my run floated back to me, each one confirming a solitary thought.They don’t know him.
And people always feared what they didn’t know.
He must feel so alone.
Except, I also sensed the kindred spirit in him. The lone wolf, just like I had in myself. Which made it easy for me to relate, at least on some level.
“I know what that’s like, to be expected to do something and not do it,” I admitted, drawing his interest. “As a kid, I always wanted to be an enforcer. I trained for it. But my alpha, Nathan, saw more potential for me and offered me the chance to earn a place in his black ops agency.”
“You turned it down?”
I let my feet drop to the soft floor of the lake and shook my head. “No. I went into his training program. But my family was pissed. We’re close, and they hated the idea of my being gone and unreachable for however long in who knows where.”
“They wanted you to continue on the path to being an enforcer,” he translated.
“Yes. They wanted me to stay home. To be a part of the pack. To protect the pack.” I shifted my focus from the trees to him, deciding that I wanted him to understand my choice. “My packmates weren’t the ones who needed me. They have other enforcers. And I thought I would be one of them, but my true calling revealed itself to me while I was training with Nathan’s agency.”
“True calling?” he repeated, arching a brow.
My lips tipped into a crooked smile. “Freelance.”
“Meaning?”
“I take assignments to help those who can’t help themselves.” I tried to find a better way to phrase it, to make him understand my passion. “Shifters have packs. We’re supernatural. We heal quickly.” I looked pointedly at his shoulder. “But humans are fragile. Actually, I’d argue that everyone in this realm is fragile.” The last was muttered under my breath, and the flare in his pupils told me he’d caught it.
Clearing my throat, I clarified: “Shortly after I started training with my alpha’s agency, he took me on a mission. It was supposed to be a learning exercise, but it taught me more than any other experience of my life.”
“What was the mission?”
“A trafficking case, and it involved one of the girls at my school. Her father was one of the men in charge of the operation. He was this rich, handsome, typical businessman, with a charming smile and indulging wit. Yet behind closed doors, he beat her and her mother and helped transport innocentyounggirls. Like, ten years old.” My fists clenched just thinking about it. “And I had no idea. I’d missed all the signs. I realized then that my purpose was never to overlook anyone or anything ever again.”
“That’s why you were interested in the hybrid.”
I nodded. “I saw the news about Valaria Crimson and started asking around. When I heard the rumors about trafficking, I just knew I had to take this case.”
“And which black ops agency is it that you work for?” he asked, fully invested in our conversation now.
Probably because I’d finally given him a little glimpse into the real me.
“As I said, I’m not actually with his agency now. I’m more freelance.” A vague response, but true. I also didn’t see the point in giving him a name. He wouldn’t recognize it. So I settled on another truth instead. “My alpha had a fit at first, but he quickly came around to my way of thinking. I can be persuasive when I set my mind to it.” I snickered as I thought about how I’d hounded him until he’d finally given up on being mad. “However, Marc had to work a lot harder to gain back Nathan’s good graces, since he’d been the one to tap me for the freelance work.”
“Marc?” Alaric’s eyes narrowed and jealousy colored his tone. My wolf reacted positively to his possession and filled me with the desire to bite him and show him whom I belonged to. A rash reaction, one I shoved back with a vengeance.
“My mentor, Jean-Marc de la Croix. Marc for short.” I watched him carefully, curious if the name rang a bell to him. But his responding nod gave nothing away. Then his attention seemed to drift, going somewhere else and darkening his mood once more.
I debated how much to tell him, but something pushed me—or, more like pulled me to him and urged me—to give him the knowledge that I truly understood some of his pain. I wanted to lighten his load. And I also wanted him to know me a little. Maybe because I’d just spent the better part of my day living through what would clearly become intimate history for him. It only seemed fair for me to give him a little piece of me in return.
