The Mercenary Read online

  “Adam’s in there?”

  Danny gasped and fought harder to push his way in. Jodie stumbled backward and tripped over a shoe, landing on her ass on the floor. It didn’t help that when he looked past Jodie, the first thing in his line of sight happened to be Adam’s naked torso, pants hidden by the mound of blankets. Danny glared at her in disbelief.

  “You slept with Adam?”

  “No!” Jodie wailed. “I would never do that!” Where the hell is Eddie?

  Danny began to drag a semi-awake Adam from the bed. He wasn’t just fuming that Jodie had shared a bed with him regardless of what had or had not happened, she knew Danny felt furious that Adam had undermined his authority the night before and that it had happened in front of such a large audience.

  “You and I need to talk.” He growled.

  Jodie had never seen such anger from Danny before, most of the time he kept his emotions so reigned in that she didn’t have any idea what he felt. Adam looked terrified but he didn’t submit at all.

  “You need to calm down first, I’m not going anywhere with you while you’re like this.”

  “Help!” Jodie screamed. Wonderful, I’m afraid of my own boyfriend.

  “I’m not going to hurt him, I just want to talk.” Danny didn’t seem pleased at Jodie’s behavior and it showed on his face

  “Then talk to me here.” Adam challenged him, arms crossed over his chest in defense, as though he knew that Danny would be much more restrained in Jodie’s presence.

  Rufus and Mark came running, taking one look at the state Jodie was in before hauling Danny from the room. He began to protest but Rufus wouldn’t stand for it.

  “Get it together man,” Rufus growled in disgust. “You’ve done enough; you’re only going to make it worse.”

  “Are you alright?” Adam asked her once they were alone again.

  “No,” Jodie whispered, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. “I think I want to go home.”

  “I’m not sure that’s such a great idea.”

  She looked up at him, eyes awash with the pain of the last twelve hours. “Please! I just can’t stand to be here when he’s around.”

  “I understand that but you shouldn’t be alone right now, plus you could put your roommate in danger. If you go then at least two of us have to go with you, if you stay here support is guaranteed.

  Quivering at first and then trembling, Jodie began to sob again. Adam came to her, comforting her while she cried. Eddie arrived just as Jodie started to pull together, telling them Ainsley had a dentist appointment to go to and he’d ducked out to drop her off.

  “You okay?” Eddie addressed Adam.

  “Danny is out of control, I thought my ass was toast.” “He thinks I slept with Adam,” Jodie sniffed.

  Eddie gaped at her in amazement. “In my bed? That’s messed up.”

  “I don’t care anymore,” Jodie’s voice sounded small and far away. “He can think whatever he wants.”

  Eddie sighed with a smile as he sat down on the bed. “You don’t mean that, you’re just hurting right now. Once things have calmed down you can get together with Danny and talk it out, until that’s happened don’t make any rash decisions.

  Mark’s made breakfast, why don’t you come and eat something?”

  “I’m not sure I could stand to eat anything, I feel quite ill.” Jodie averted her eyes as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

  “That’s because you’re running on empty.” Adam told her. “With the amount of times you almost changed last night, I’m not surprised. You’ll feel better once you have food in your stomach.”

  “I’m sorry I made such a fuss last night.” Jodie meant it, she felt betrayed and humiliated but she hadn’t meant to make such a scene.

  “Don’t worry about it,” shrugged Eddie. “Last night sucked.”

  “You knew about it in advance.”

  She made it a statement instead of a question because no doubt remained in her mind, there’d been too many signs along the way. The looks the guys had given one another, the hand holding ...

  “No!” Eddie insisted. “We would never have gone along with something like that. I don’t know what Danny got told, but all we knew was that you were going to be made a fuss of on stage so that all the new recruits would understand why we wanted to help you.”

  We care about you Jodie, that’s why we weren’t happy with the situation even before Danny did what he did,” said Adam.

  “It’s also why we shared energy with you, we could tell you were nervous and we were trying to stop you from bringing your kitty out. We had no idea that they were aiming at that, I swear I wouldn’t have taken you there if I’d known.” Eddie tried to reassure her.

  Jodie tried to overlook all the references to the trauma she didn’t want to confront, focusing instead on the very first thing Eddie had said. “Sharing energy? What do you mean?”

  “It’s why Rufus and I were holding your hands,” Eddie explained as he shook his shaggy black hair out of his face. “When Therians let go of the power inside, it reaches out and tries to merge with other shifters nearby. Rufus and I were trying to replace your nervous energy with our calm.”

  Jodie’s lips parted in speechless wonder. Yet again she’d been reminded how little she knew about this new world of hers, the ability to share energy a concept that hadn’t even occurred to her.

  “Hurry up, it’s getting cold!” Mark yelled from the kitchen.

  It seemed the rest of the conversation would have to wait until later. Making their way through the house, Eddie and Adam waited for Jodie to sit down before taking seats either side of her.

  Mark was the only other person in the room. “The others have already eaten,” he announced, dumping a stack of pancakes in the center of the table, toying with the small ponytail knot at the base of his skull as he took a seat beside Adam. “Rufus and Jarvis have taken Danny for a drive, they won’t be back for a couple of hours so you can relax.”

  Jodie’s relief must have been obvious as both Eddie and Adam chuckled. Normal conversation ensued as they began to eat. Mark started complaining about the amount of rodent heads he’d been finding around the lawn.

  “Don’t look at me, I eat the heads! Could you pass the maple syrup Jodie?” Adam grumbled.

  Almost choking on her bacon, Jodie gaped at him. Rodent eating and maple syrup did not belong in the same conversation.

  “Adam is a falcon.” Eddie laughed. “And he’s right, he does eat the heads. I’d say Leon’s been getting sloppy.

  “Are there any shifter type rodents?” Jodie asked with discomfort. “It would be embarrassing if you accidentally ate someone you knew.”

  Mark smiled. “I don’t know of any myself, but I’m sure they exist somewhere. Even so, we’d never accidentally eat someone, we can tell which animals are regular animals because shifter energy smells very different.”

  “Good to know,” she mumbled. “So what does Doug turn into?”

  “Tasmanian devil,” Eddie responded with a mouth full of pancakes, “and he’s extremely vicious.”

  This time Jodie laughed. “I can’t imagine Doug being vicious. He seems so... er, reserved.”

  “Appearances can be deceiving.” Adam said, his dark eyes dancing with amusement. “I mean consider this: Mark is a white guy that turns into a brown bear, and Rufus and Jarvis are brown guys that turn into white bears.”

  That did it... Jodie erupted into giggles, she couldn’t help herself. Adam joined in with Eddie following soon after and heaven knew she could use the light relief.

  “There is nothing wrong with the color of my fur,” Mark’s serious tone instigated another round of laughter. Mark shook his head though he couldn’t help but grin too.

  Something dawned on Jodie then, she felt at home in the Fortress. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t known the guys long, they already felt familiar. She could be herself around them and know she wouldn’t be judged. Despite her reluctance to confront Danny,
Jodie realized she didn’t want to go home, she felt safe here.

  Without warning Jodie’s bladder kicked into gear and she remembered she still had to pee. She didn’t think she’d been gone for long, though apparently long enough for them to start discussing things they didn’t want her to hear. As she got closer to the kitchen Jodie heard them talking about Danny, Eddie’s voice rang out loud and clear.

  “He must have been guarding pretty damned hard to conceal that much power all this time.”

  “Right,” Mark responded. “There is no way he’s just an alpha, he’s royal. I’d stake my life on it.”

  “Why would he hide it?” Eddie bounced back, puzzlement in his tone.

  “He hasn’t exactly been forthcoming with personal information,” Adam said with a wry smile.

  “We don’t know anything about who he was before we met him.” Eddie reminded them.

  “I’ve known him the longest,” Mark boasted. “All I know is that he fled Europe at fifteen, he had issues with his Dad or something. He never talks of his family and he’s never once tried to contact them.”

  “Maybe he didn’t want to be king,” Adam offered.

  “Maybe,” Mark pondered. “I’ve been racking my brains since last night, trying to figure out who the hell he is, and which clan he might be from. I like the guy, I really do but I don’t want the skeletons in his closet coming to find him while we live under the same roof.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that.” Adam commented. “He wouldn’t be that hard to find after he’s publicly claimed two different animals... I’ve never heard of anyone else being able to do that before. Lycan-Therian cross yes, but not double Therian.”

  Eddie pointed out that Danny had been hiding undetected for more than ten years and Adam reiterated the fact that Danny created enough dramatics the previous night that word would get around fast. If anyone had been searching for Danny, he just became easier to find.

  After breakfast, Adam drove Jodie home to get a few things. She agreed to stay at the fortress until she got her leopard under control, but couldn’t help wondering how long that would take. What will I tell Matt if I have to take unlimited days off work? Dear Mr. Ormsby, I hereby request indefinite leave to learn to become a leopard... Will I even be able to keep my job after this?

  Jodie packed her bag, shoving as much clothing in as she could without really thinking about what she chose. After that she dashed to the bathroom to get her toothbrush and some cosmetics, scooping up whole armloads of things she might need. Zach wandered in and gave her such a fright that Jodie dropped everything into the bathtub.

  He started helping her pick it all up, asking who the man in the living room was, commenting on how much time Jodie had been spending with a lot of different guys lately. How do you respond to that? Jodie had known Zach her whole life and he sure deserved an explanation but it irked her, she didn’t want to have to explain it to anyone, not even Zach.

  “What’s going on with you Jodie? I feel like I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

  She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. “I’m sorry.”

  “You don’t have to be sorry. I’m just worried, that’s all.”

  “It’s complicated,” she threw back in defense, gripping the side of the bath with both hands as she sat crouched down by the floor.

  “Oh come on!” He shouted. “After everything that’s happened with Luke, you think I’m going to accept that?”

  “I just don’t want to talk about it!” She cried in exasperation.

  “It has something to do with the last time Danny stayed here, doesn’t it? Something awfully weird happened that night.”

  Oh Zach, why did you have to be so smart?

  “My Grandmother is a leopard.” Jodie blurted.

  “What?” You could have knocked Zach over with a feather; it appeared to be the last thing he’d expected Jodie to say.

  Pulling herself to her feet, Jodie took a deep breath. She told Zach how there were two different kinds of shifters and explained how Luke possessed both, waiting a moment for it to sink in. He responded by looking at her with deep pity.

  “I’m okay with the fact that I’m a shifter.” Pity was not something she wanted to have to tolerate just now, so Jodie hoped her voice sounded more convincing to him than it did to herself. “The other night I almost changed for the first time,

  Danny tried to help me and that’s when you burst in.” Zach’s mouth formed an ‘o’ shape. “I didn’t know.”

  “I know and I’m so grateful that you were willing to protect me.” She tried to choose her words carefully, daring to look at his troubled brown eyes, his hands gripping fistfuls of brown curls.

  “So, have you...”

  She nodded, looking down at her hands twisting over one another as she fidgeted. “My first time was last night and it didn’t go so well. I have to be chaperoned now, until I can get it under control I’m going to have to stay at Danny’s for a while.”

  “Does Luke know?”

  “I haven’t spoken to him since Wednesday.”

  Zach shook his head. “No, I mean does he know that your Gran is a leopard?”

  “No, I don’t think so. Danny and Eddie tried to tell him that he held both Lycan and Therian but he didn’t believe them.”

  They stood there in silence for a few moments until Zach heaved a great sigh. “Are you in love with Danny? Does he make you happy?”

  “I’m not sure,” Jodie replied. Only twenty-four hours ago she’d have said yes without hesitation. Now everything had gotten so screwed up.

  “Not sure if you’re in love or not sure you’re happy?” He raised an eyebrow.

  “Why the twenty questions?” Jodie demanded, evading the answer.

  “I’m not convinced that you should be spending so much time with all these shifters.” Zach said.

  “Whether or not I’d met Danny, I would still be a leopard inside.”

  “Would you have known without his influence?”

  Jodie drew her brows together. “I don’t know, what difference does it make?”

  “Come home; let me take care of you,” he offered. A great deal of emotion lurked beneath his tone and Jodie wished she could somehow ease his fears.

  “And what happens when I change and try to eat you?”

  “You wouldn’t do that.”

  “I’m not willing to take the risk. Last night it took two men with inhuman strength to restrain me, there is no way you’d cope if I lost control.”

  Zach’s bravado faltered, “Alright then.”

  “I’ll be back once this has all settled down,” she promised.

  “It will be too late by then; if it’s not already too late.”

  “Too late for what?” Okay... Now Jodie felt really confused.

  “The more time you spend with them, the less time you’ll want to spend here with me.”

  “Um...” Where is he going with this?

  The next thing Jodie knew Zach had pressed himself up against her, his lips meeting hers for a sudden uninvited moment. She started to back away and fell into the bathtub. Zach leaned over, trying to help her climb out and felt the energy surge through her body. Jodie’s skin prickled, her chest on fire. Oh shit! No, not now, not in front of Zach!

  Adam must have sensed her change in energy and came sprinting through the house. He shoved Zach out of the way and jumped into the bathtub alongside Jodie, covering her body with his own. Zach looked on in horror as Jodie’s arms began rippling and fur threatened to break free. The soothing cool of Adam’s energy washed over her but it didn’t have enough power to sustain her urges. Remembering how Danny had ripped her beast from her body, Jodie began to panic again. Then as she realized that she’d started panicking and potentially making things worse, poor Jodie panicked a little more.

  “Nooo!” She wailed in horror as her body began to spasm and shudder.

  “What should I do?” Zach asked as he wrung his hands, frantic with worry. />
  “Nothing, stay far away!” Adam yelled. “Get out of the fucking bathroom!”

  Jodie’s back arched and she hit her head on the waterspout. In the seconds it took for her to recover, Adam whipped out his cell phone and called home, however Eddie and Mark arrived too late, she’d already changed.

  The ability to conceive rational thought became impaired by the desperation of Jodie’s leopard, she didn’t like being in such an enclosed space. Eddie wrenched open the bathroom door in time to stop her from taking a chunk out of Adam’s shoulder, she’d already torn his back and forearms to ribbons. Blood splatter could be seen on every available surface and though he’d done a superb job in stopping Jodie from escaping, Adam had started to pale from the blood loss.

  “Fuck!” Exclaimed Eddie and dragged Adam out of Jodie’s reach.

  “Can’t you do anything without screwing it up?” Mark yelled at Adam.

  Not about to get scratched up himself, Mark changed forms too, his bear towering over her. Jodie’s leopard didn’t feel afraid of him, just wary, it allowed her to regain some control. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, Jodie surveyed the room and yawned.

  “She’s got a taste for blood now; you’ll never get her to shift back.” Adam said from the hallway where Zach pressed a towel to his back, trying to help slow the bleeding.

  “He’s right,” Eddie agreed. “You’ll have to take her to hunt.”

  Mark growled in response, giving Jodie a questioning look. She chuffed at him, padding across the floor with her ears turned back and her tail swishing to and fro. When Eddie called out that it was safe to dash across the back yard to the woods, Jodie hurried to catch up to Mark, bounding off toward the trees.

  If anyone had discussed going hunting with Jodie before she’d shifted she would’ve been a little freaked out, maybe even queasy. She knew that as a leopard she’d have to do it at some point but she hadn’t really thought about it, so it was a good thing that Jodie didn’t have prior knowledge. Right now she’d already started thinking like her leopard, who wanted to hunt.

  Mark avoided the trails, taking Jodie on an invigorating run. After a while they came to a stream, he jumped right in and began spearing fish with his claws, eating them whole. Jodie lay down on the riverbank and watched, her head cocked to one side and her ears flicking now and then. Regardless of how easy Mark made it look, Jodie didn’t want fish. She watched him roll around in the water a few times before leaping back onto dry land. He growled and lumbered off, Jodie trotting after him.