Immortal Ops: New & Lengthened 2016 Anniversary Edition (17 page)

His black turtleneck and black dress slacks made him look like he was ready to head out on the town. Peren looked down and noticed the mud caked to his boots. Boots? What an odd pairing with dress pants. Ben noticed her staring down at his boots and coughed.
 

“Sorry for the mud. I parked my car down at the end of the drive. The gate was open slightly, but not enough for my car to fit through, so I had to walk up. I must have stepped in a few mud puddles on the way.”
 

Peren noticed a speck of dried reddish brown on Ben’s hand. She didn’t need him to confirm what it was, she could smell it—it was blood. Everything began to line up: his appearance out of nowhere, his bad timing, his awkward behavior, the blood.

Her gut screamed at her to run, to get away from him. She resisted and stayed perfectly still. “I’m sorry, Ben, but I don’t remember having ever given you this address. I know I gave you my apartment one, but…oh well…it must have slipped my mind.”
 

Ben smiled and took a step toward her. “No, no you didn’t give me this address. I called your friend’s house and she was kind enough to point me in the right direction.”
 

Red flags shot up in Peren’s head. Melanie and Missy were both still at the safe house. There was no way he’d gotten a hold of one of them. He was lying. Her body became rigid and Ben’s facial expression changed. She did her best to calm down but failed miserably at it. She closed her eyes for a moment to collect her thoughts and felt faint.
 

Peren!
She heard Lukian’s voice in her head.

She almost answered him aloud but managed to catch herself before she did.
Are you okay? Where are you? What happened?

I’m fine. I think that I’m still on the manor grounds. I’m not sure…I’m in a cell of some sort.
 

“Peren, are you all right? Do you need to lie down?” Ben asked.
 

Her eyes snapped open. Ben was next to her, holding her elbow. She jerked her arm away and then stopped in midmotion. She put her hand to her head to indicate that she had a headache and then peeked out at him.
 

“I think I’m coming down with a migraine. I should probably call it a night. Thank you for the birthday wishes and for stopping by.”
 

Ben moved closer to her. His leg brushed against her thigh and she knew that he was hard and ready for her. Suddenly, her nose filled with the scent of want, desire, sex, some her own, but mostly his. He wanted to fuck her right here and now.
 

Peren, what’s going on? Who’s there with you? Is that Roi?
Lukian’s voice was full of concern for her.

She tried to block the thoughts of Ben that came to her, but she was too late. Lukian saw him too.
Get away from him! Go! He’s the one who killed your stepmother…he’s the wolf that attacked you in the woods when you were little!

Ben touched her arm again
,
and she felt her body react with a jolt of power. A tingling sensation began in her midsection, much like the orgasms Lukian was so good at causing and radiated up and out her arms. She wasn’t sure what to do with all this
new
energy until Lukian came to her mind. She knew then that she could help him or die trying. She thrust the power out and willed it in Lukian’s direction.
 

Ben came at her with elongated fingers. His teeth lengthened and his voice seemed raspier. He looked demonic, half-man, half-beast. “I’ve waited too long for this. I won’t wait anymore.”

“Ben?”

He sneered and then sniffed the air, his gaze narrowing in on her. “You let him claim you. Mate you.”

“Who?” she asked, hoping to buy time.

“Lukian,” he said, snarling. “I don’t care that you’re his wife now. I saw you first. You’re going to be mine. You’ll birth my children, not his.”

Lukian’s wife?

Lukian was suddenly in her head again.
I’m coming. Hold on.

She blinked at Ben, her thoughts held firmly to Lukian.
I’m your wife? Is that what being a mate means?

Yes. You are. Get used to it. It’s unbreakable.

Ben reached for her and the idea of letting him touch her sickened her. Peren ducked down and ran under his arm. She caught him by surprise and made it through unharmed. She ran full-force toward the front door. The weight of Ben’s body slammed into her, sending her flying to the ground. She screamed as she slammed the back of her head into his face. Doing this afforded her much-needed time to push him off her. She rolled to her feet and ran for the door. It opened before she got to it and she found herself face-to-face with Lance and Green. She’d built up too much momentum and was unable to stop herself from slamming into Green. She sent him hurtling back out the door and his gun flying to the floor, before landing square on her backside.

Something moved behind her and she knew that she had just afforded Ben the opportunity to arm himself. Something burst past her. She caught only a glimpse of it but it didn’t look human. Nor did it sound human. It sounded like a giant beast.

There was the sudden sound of gunfire all around her and she waited, expecting to be hit again, but no pain came. Someone grabbed her, shielding her with their body, and they both fell to the ground with a hard thud.

As quickly as the hail of bullets had started, it stopped
,
and for a bit, she heard nothing beyond ringing in her ears. It took her a moment to realize what was happening as someone ripped her up and off the ground, and the heavy weight that had been on her was no more. She blinked to find Lukian there, checking her, touching her all over, concern dancing across his handsome face.

Roi was suddenly there too, yanking on Lukian, yelling. It took a bit for the ringing to stop before Peren could make out what was being said. “It’s not her blood, Captain!”

Not my blood?

Looking down, Peren found that she was covered in blood. It soaked her clothing, her hair, everything. Had she been shot again? Was her wound bleeding? She touched the spot she’d been struck earlier
,
only to find the skin was healed over completely, as if it had never happened.

Roi continued to yank on Lukian
,
and Wilson came to his assistance. Peren turned slowly and found Jon bent over, near Green—who was working frantically on someone. But who? Peren took a small step forward and the patient came into view.

Lance.

His lifeless body was on the ground, where Peren had been. The realization that Lance had protected her from Ben’s gunfire at great cost to himself hit Peren hard. She fell forward, shaking her head, knowing deep down that Lance’s injuries weren’t ones that would heal. From the expression on the men’s faces, they knew it too.

Peren reached for Lukian
,
and he stopped struggling with Roi and seemed to calm almost instantly. He grabbed for her hand and Roi let him past. Lukian bent and then went to his knees in front of her. He drew her into his powerful arms.

“It’s over,” he whispered. “You’re safe and it’s over.”

“But Lance,” she protested.

“I know, baby,” he replied. “I know.”

The tears broke free as she hugged her husband tight.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Peren touched Lukian’s arm gently. Fog covered the cemetery grounds and the cool morning air set a chill in her bones. She glanced over the group of men—the I-Ops
,
as Lukian had later explained to her.

Green and Wilson stood across the casket from them, while Roi stood tall on the other side of Lukian. She knew this was hard for them. One of their team had fallen in the line of duty. Lance had died protecting her. He’d taken bullets meant for her while Lukian had charged past them in partially shifted form and had ripped Ben to pieces—but not before Ben had unloaded multiple rounds into Lance.

The Ops stood strong as a unit around the casket. Their expressions were unreadable, as if they’d seen too much death in their years to let it show now. She knew they were hurting.

Guilt for being the reason Lance was dead weighed heavily on her. Lukian had told her more than once in the past week that it wasn’t her fault. She knew better. Lance died protecting her.

Melanie and Missy were in attendance to pay their respects—though they had not been told all the details. As far as they knew, a kidnapping attempt on Peren had gone bad, the men had saved her
,
and Lance had died. No one had told them the truth of the Immortal Ops team, or that supernaturals were real. That men who could shift into animals weren’t the stuff of myths and legends. And that Peren had fallen totally and completely in love with one—and was now considered his wife.

That had been Peren’s decision. She’d hoped that by keeping that part of the story from them, she’d somehow protect them. The casket in front of her told her just how dangerous the world of supernaturals was. She didn’t want to stand over Melanie’s or Missy’s grave.
 

Lukian’s muscles tightened and she knew that he was fighting to remain in control of his emotions. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. He bent down and turned his face to meet her lips.

I love you so much.
His voice rang out in her head. She felt the warmth of his lips on hers as he kissed her tenderly.
 

I love you too.

The End

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