G.H.O.S.T. Teams (Book 2) Shifters (10 page)

“Frankly, you seemed more interested in flirting with us ladies than you did getting to know us,” she smirked.

“Good point. But you didn’t think to bring it up in our training?”

“I guess I was just waiting for the right moment. Besides, I didn’t want to change things between us.”

“I knew you liked the flirting.”

“Maybe?” she questioned, “Or maybe I just want to understand what you are trying to do.”

“Um, isn’t flirting pretty self explanatory?”

“It’s clear that most of your flirting is simply how you keep the mood light. Your fallback comedy position if you will. But, I think I know the other reason you do it.”

“Oh really? Do tell.”

“You’re trying to keep the women in your life at a distance.”

“I think you’ve had too much tea,” I smiled.

“Or I’ve just seen through your defenses.”

I held my expression steady, not letting my lighthearted smile falter. This wasn’t a direction I wanted this discussion to go, at least not now. So, it was time to return to our foxy programming.

“So, that werefox thing is pretty cool. How often do you change?”

A smug smile crossed her face as it was clear that she thought she was on to something. But, whether because she was being polite or just thought she owed me one tonight, she dropped it and continued my education.

“I sneak out a couple times a month. Whenever I can find the time to get away. It’s so freeing. I don’t know if I can explain it properly. But letting the animal run wild, it’s complete bliss. Bounding through the forest at top speed, my senses open, taking in every sound and smell. Oh Bruce, it’s better than sex,” she smiled.

“Okay then.”

“Sorry,” she laughed, “Just wanted to use terms you’d understand. It’s just so relaxing. I wish I could share it with you.”

“Maybe one day. Can I ask about your family? Were they also foxes?”

“My great grandmother was...”

There was no disguising the sadness as her voice trailed off. I knew the sound of losing people all too well.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Not much to say. I was an infant when the Reds found her,” she stated.

She was trying hard to keep her emotions in check, but I could tell it wasn’t easy. After the emotional roller coaster we had been through tonight, I figured it was best to keep things calm. I slid around the corner of the island and put my arm around her shoulder. She leaned in, resting her head on my chest.

“You all right?”

“I’m fine,” she sighed.

“Sorry. I, of all people, should probably know better than to ask about family.”

“You know, if you ever want to talk to someone, Bruce…”

“Maybe one day. For now, let’s talk about your fox abilities. What other powers do you have besides surprise nakedness?”

A smile returned to her face as she shoved me away, “Keep it up and you may never see that power again.”

“Come on, how can you resist me in this awesome shirt?”

“It’s easy. Michelangelo is way cooler,” she winked.

“But Leo is way more ninja. Mikey over Leo? Our relationship is doomed before it starts.”

I smiled and she rolled her eyes. The idea of us dating was a little heavier than either of us needed to be thinking about right now. So, I got us back on topic.

“We’ll get back to the turtles later. At the moment, I believe we were discussing foxes?”

“Good save. Well, I don’t know how much there is to tell that you don’t already know. As Freddy said, most of us shifters are pretty similar. We’re quick and strong and we heal incredibly fast. My senses are much sharper, even in human form. Silver is not my friend and I have to be extra careful with the weapons we use. But the biggest difference between foxes and lycan is that we have much more control over our animal halves.”

“What do you mean?”

“The wolves are strong, maybe too strong. Their animal halves almost overpower them. Where as the fox and I share a more symbiotic relationship. We live as one. Because of that I have complete control of my transformations.”

“Sort of like the alpha wolves?”

“Yeah, very much like that. I guess you could say that all foxes are alphas,” she nodded.

“Why is that?”

“Who knows? The wolves and rats are far more plentiful than the rest of us, but they both lack our control. Maybe the same strength that gives their beast control also makes it more likely that their genes pass down through the generations.”

“I can see that. So when you say the rest of us, you don’t just mean foxes do you?”

“No,” she smirked, “Shifters come in quite a few varieties. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my.”

“So, what you’re really saying here is, my werepanda could be a thing?”

She started laughing out loud, “I guess it could be. Just not something I have ever come across.”

“We’ll keep an eye out. In the meantime, I’m not sure you should be alone tonight.”

An adorable crinkle of her nose let me know exactly what she was thinking before she said it, “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“I think I’ll sleep better knowing that you are all right. Plus, I have several guest rooms. It’s not like we are going to be right on top of each other.”

She sighed heavily before answering, “Okay. It feels like the worst of it has passed anyway. We should be all right.”

“Happy to hear it. Now, you just relax while I clean up and make up the guest room.”

I smiled and she looked slightly less than confident. I tossed the mugs in the sink and ran some water in them to sit. We made our way upstairs, but she never saw the inside of my guest room. My king sized bed was big enough for each of us to have our own space, even though she spent most of the night nuzzled up against me. She was out almost instantly, the events of the evening clearly leaving her exhausted. I guess going into heat takes a lot out of a girl. We made it through the night fully dressed and without incident. She definitely got the better nights sleep, as I don’t sleep well when people are touching me. Luckily, I’d manage to untangle myself from her cuddle and get a few hours of sleep before the morning was upon us.

In the morning it was almost like it had never happened. Erika was calm, relaxed, and seemed back to her normal self. She grabbed some clean clothes out of her car and took a shower. I was really hoping that she was the only one on the team with enhanced senses, otherwise someone else might notice that we both smelt like an Irish spring today. I made us poptarts, because that’s how I rock breakfast, and we headed out to the office. Vlad would have been more than happy to drive us both in, but she didn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea. So, she took her own car and we’d timed it so that she would arrive before me, leaving everyone none the wiser. Vlad, of course, didn’t miss that I had company. I suddenly found myself very happy that Erika wasn’t in the car with me.

“Morning boss,” he said, as I got in.

“Morning pal. How’d you sleep?”

“Like a dragon. Especially since I didn’t have to share my bed.”

“Don’t start. Nothing happened.”

“Of course not, boss. Why would I think that? It’s not like you’ve spent the last few weeks giving her googly eyes,” he laughed.

“How did you even know she slept in my bed?”

“Dragons know things.”

“Well, how about you drive us in to work and we discuss this another time?”

“No need to wait, boss, I can multi-task.”

“Of course you can.”

“Now, before we get too far ahead, are you familiar with the birds and the bees?” he asked.

“Oh, shut up.”

He didn’t. Needless to say, Vlad managed to keep himself entertained for the entire ride into work. He was having so much fun that I didn’t have the heart to stop him. Heck, I even did my best to be a good sport. But thankfully, it came to an end once we arrived at HQ. We pulled into the GHOST parking lot and I couldn’t help but sigh in relief. Vlad honked at the guards, backed into our space, and finished up his rendition of “Bruce and Erika sitting in a tree” just before I got out. Although as I made my way to the elevator, he obviously wanted to take one more shot.

“
Hey boss
?” he said in my head. 

“Yeah pal?”

“
Tell Erika I said hi.”

“Shut up.”

Eventually his laughter died down and I was rewarded with a bit of quiet. Lately, my workdays had all been starting off the same way. First I hit the armory in order to top off my weapon supply. If Elvis was there, we’d engage in a bit of idle chitchat, before I made my leave. Today, someone else was working, and they weren’t nearly as entertaining, so I won’t bore you with the details. After topping off my equipment, I made the second stop of my morning, up one floor to sub level five.

Sub level five was the library. An entire floor dedicated to books. Personally, I thought they could save a ton of space with a handful of Kindles. But apparently many of the classic supernatural texts were still awaiting digitization. Considering how much paperwork it took to use my own shuriken, I couldn’t begin to imagine how long it would take them to modernize our library. But even in this digital age, with information at our fingertips, there was something calming about this place.

It had a bit of a musty smell, many of these books being centuries old, and a few bound in the skin of creatures long since forgotten. Tomes of various colors and sizes created pleasing patterns every which way you looked. Even the enormous size of the library was quickly forgotten as each aisle felt secluded and intimate. Add to that the fact that it was soothingly quiet, and it was just as I said, calming.

It will come as no surprise that this was Freddy’s favorite place to be. In fact, since this was always the first place we found him every day, it became our de facto location for morning meetings. The vast room was broken up by sturdy wooden bookshelves that reached from the floor to the fifteen-foot ceilings and created a virtual labyrinth in their layout. Countless wooden tables, desks, and chairs found places to hide in the various nooks and crannies. The lighting seemed to vary at every turn and strangely coincided with the mood of the texts. The books with the coolest and strangest information always seemed to find themselves in the darkest of corners. But fortunately for us, Freddy was a creature of habit and very easy to find.

The safest route into the library was a narrow aisle that wound its way back and forth through the center of the beast. From there one only has to travel down seven rows, turn left, and keep walking until they hit the east wall. There you will find a table big enough to seat ten, a pile of books covering its surface, and Freddy propped back in a chair, his face lost in the pages of his latest discovery. As usual, I was the last to arrive, the rest of the team already seated around the table. Even Vector, who like Freddy, had his face buried in a book, managed to beat me to the party. I wasn’t in the mood to sit, so I leaned against the nearest bookshelf and crossed my arms.

“Howdy gang, what are we reading today?”

“Pratchett’s Complete Guide to L-Space and the Simians Who Work There,” Vector said.

“Say what now?”

“Basically a book on the importance of bananas. The author was knighted for his contributions to GHOST academia,” he replied.

“Uh huh. So, when’s this meeting taking place?”

Freddy laid his book on the table and I glanced at the cover. Except for the word “Lycanthrope”, the rest of the title appeared to be in some sort of odd hieroglyphics. I almost asked what language it was, but I knew I would regret the long-winded explanation, so I kept quiet and just waited for him to start. He greeted everyone with a warm smile before meeting my eyes and answering my question.

“The meeting is scheduled for noon, so we have plenty of time. I have been reading up on past conflicts between lycanthrope packs. I have found many common themes as to the source of their strife,” Freddy said.

“So, you know why our packs are fighting?”

“Not yet, but I believe we have some promising leads,” he said.

“Okay, thrill us.”

Everyone else just sort of waited patiently for Freddy to continue. Whether they stayed quiet because they respected him as a leader or because they hoped it would make things go faster, I didn’t know. But, as per our routine, I was more than happy to ask the questions as we went. That’s right, I was “that kid” in school.

“Now, the most common source of conflict between warring packs seems to be related to territory. Using the hunting grounds claimed by another. But, the lands of the Potomac and Rock Creek Packs have been well defined for over a century, and there are no indications that those agreements have changed,” Freddy said.

“Okay, so we don’t think they are fighting over land. What else?”

“Our next likely candidate is an insult to someone’s honor. Perhaps a disagreement resulted in individuals saying things they should not have been said.”

“That seems harder to verify.”

“We have yet to receive any confirmation that this is the case. In the past, disagreements between packs are often settled with a unifying marriage. This maybe be an avenue we wish to explore should negotiations falter,” Freddy said.

“Just so I’m clear, you want to walk into this meeting and say ‘Hey, stop fighting and just marry each other already?’”

There was a bit of giggling around the table. Even Vector seemed amused. Freddy, who clearly took his suggestion seriously, continued to explain.

“Obviously, I was not suggesting something so blunt. Rather, I wanted to offer you knowledge of solutions that have worked in the past. Every bit of information helps,” he said.

“Speaking of information, don’t we have networks or something to call upon? Surely we have some hint as to why they are fighting.”

Freddy pursed his lips and looked towards Vector.

“Give me a second,” Vector said.

Vector pulled a pair of round goggles out of his coat pocket and in one swift movement flopped them on his head. The leather straps slid smoothly and securely down upon his pointed ears. The lenses had a slightly blue tinge to them and they were encased in intricate workings of leather, metal, and brass. He started moving his hands in the air, drawing various abstract patterns and shapes, his fingers moving independently as if they each had their own function. There even seemed to be depth to his movements, as if the objects that he was manipulating were in some invisible 3D world. It was a bit mesmerizing to watch, the entire team staring at him while he worked. After a few minutes, he slid the goggles up on his forehead and glanced around the table.

“Nothing new this morning. Lycan aren’t known for leaving a big digital footprint, but it’s still odd to find no information. It’s really looking like no one has any clue why they are fighting,”

“Really?”

“Wolves fight,” Danny offered.

“Thank you, Danny, that is very helpful.”

“Anytime, BD,” he winked.

I sighed, “Anyone else?”

“As I mentioned to Kara a couple days ago, I have felt uneasy as of late,” Erika said, “There is nothing specific that I can put my finger on, but things feel off.”

“That has to be some kind of magic right?”

“There’s nothing that I can find that would account for this escalating aggression,” Kara started, “But, if we are talking about pack ‘magic’, then it’s unlikely that I would notice anything out of the ordinary.”

“What do you mean? You told me that magic is magic.”

“True, magic is just the manipulation of manna, but pack ‘magic’ isn’t really true magic. It’s more like a spiritual bond between shifters. Honestly, I’d think Danny,” Kara said, nodding in his direction, “would have a better chance of sensing that then I would.”

Everybody turned towards Danny, waiting for him to speak up. He met our gaze for a moment, a bit of trepidation on his face, before he closed his eyes. After a few moments, his eyes started rapidly twitching behind his eyelids and he brought his hands up to the side of his head. He touched his fingers to his temples and started to shake a bit as the strain showed on his face. Quivering lips parted to reveal clenched teeth before his body stopped shaking and his eyes shot open, he took a deep breath, and pulled his fingers away from his temples in a way that seemed like his whole body had just awakened from a deep sleep. I’d never seen him react like that before. Kara was the first to speak up.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Yeah. Sorry,” he said through labored breaths.

“What happened?”

“He touched the beasts,” Vector said.

I gave him a look, my eyebrows raised, making it clear that I wanted a bit more explanation than that. But his attention was fixed on Danny. Clearly he was fascinated with what had happened. Erika was the one who tried to explain.

“His mind made contact with the spiritual bond of the wolves. That much aggression…it must have been overpowering. I’ve never seen a non shifter do that before,” she said.

“No sweat,” Danny huffed.

Sadly, he was lying. The library lights were glistening off of his face, making it clear that he was perspiring heavily. Freddy offered him a handkerchief and Danny started patting his brow. After a few more deep breaths, he pulled himself together and looked up at us, his eyes not really focusing on anyone in particular.

“They are just so angry. I tried to make sense of it, but all I could feel was anger and a savage hunger. There are no words or coherent thoughts, just emotions...very dark emotions. That’s all I got, I’m sorry,” he said.

“What you did was remarkable,” Freddy offered, “There is no need to apologize, Mr. Frost. We applaud your efforts.”

They all smiled in his direction and Kara even patted him on the shoulder. He gave us a half smile and sagged back in his chair. I seemed to be the only one who didn’t quite understand why this was such a big deal, so since he was resting anyway, I took the chance to speak up.

“Okay, someone want to explain what we just did to Danny?”

“We were hoping that Danny could get a feel for the psychic impressions running through the city, get a sense of what was happening,” Kara said, “But it appears that our little over achiever here decided to push the boundaries and actually link himself to the pack bond of the wolves. I do not know many who would even try. It was a bit foolish,” she scolded, “But very brave.”