Rescuing Their Virgin Mate[Pack Wars-Book 3] (12 page)

The door opened and both men
appeared looking refreshed. Her traitorous body lit up, and her nerves jumbled
in excitement.

She stood. “Did everything go
okay at the warehouse?” That was a safe topic.

Dirk smiled. “Yes. In fact,
when I snuck into the warehouse, I found two girls, both caged.”

Her breath lodged in her
throat and she made the sign of the cross. “Thank God, you found them. How are
they?”

He explained their condition
and how they were now taken care of. “Neither one was your friend, Cheryl.”

Her heart ached for her.
“There’s no way to find her?”

“We’re trying. We have two of
our best men on the case.”

Clay’s phone rang and her
heart jumped.

“Demmers. Yeah. Maybe. When?
I’ll let you know. And thanks, Trax.”

She waited for him to tell
her. Perhaps Hood had slipped up. “Anything important?”

Clay walked over to the
fridge and grabbed a beer. “We’ve been invited to a party.”

A
party?
“Why?” With all
that had gone down, she didn’t expect anyone to be in a festive mood, but then
again, only the three of them had been involved in the human trafficking
tragedy.

The more she thought about
it, the more the idea appealed to her. Not only would it give her a chance to
get out,
but
she’d learn who Clay and Dirk hung out
with.

“It’s just a get together.”
Clay laughed and the tension rolled out of her. “Trax Field, and his brother,
Dante,
are
our Pack surveillance experts. They’re the
ones who saved the girl who approached you.”

“What was her name?”

“Liz Wharton.”

“Did Couch hurt her, too?”

They gave her a short version
of what went down. She suspected a lot more had happened but didn’t ask. Right
now, she really didn’t want to learn more about these terrible Colters.

“When is the party?” She
could use some post-holiday cheer.

“Tomorrow night. You up for
it?”

“Sure.” She wouldn’t have the
killer outfit she’d like to wear, but Dirk seemed to like her no matter what
she wore.

#

The next day, Clay agreed to
drive her to the drugstore to pick up some makeup since he didn’t want her
driving herself. He explained how many werewolves had ordinary jobs, and she
wouldn’t know which teller or salesperson was one.
So, the
less exposure the better.

After he told her that, she
might never feel safe in Gulfside again.

As she put on the finishing
touches to her eye makeup she’d purchased, a knock sounded on her bedroom door.

“Sugar, you ready?”

She hadn’t been that long. Apparently,
their idea of a few minutes to get ready didn’t match hers. “Coming.”

In a way, she was pleased it
didn’t appear they’d ever lived with a woman before. She took one last look in
the mirror. Given someone else purchased her clothes, she looked pretty darn good.
If Clay hadn’t left the boxes in the parking lot, she would have had her heels
to wear. Oh, well. Sneakers with yoga pants went together. Her outfit just
wasn’t as fancy as she’d have liked.

She pulled open the door.

Clay whistled. “You look
hot.”

Her whole body flushed.
“Thanks.”

“If you’re ready, we can go.”

Dirk was in the kitchen with
two six-packs of beer, one in each hand. He grinned and her heart sputtered.
She glanced between them and loved how well they got along for being two such
different men.

The car was parked in the
garage. Since she didn’t have to go outside to leave the house, the men deemed
it safe. They’d assured her the windows were bulletproof, so she needn’t worry
about an attack. Their heavy tint helped, too.

“Is your life always this
violent?” That might not be the right word, but in the short time she’d been
there, Clay had already fought.

He was driving and he looked
over at her. “No. The Colters go through spurts of activity. Recently, however,
the violence has picked up. That probably means we’re getting close.”

She hoped so. “Not that I
don’t appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but do you think I could apply
for a passport? My grandmother is ill, and my parents moved to Costa Rica to be
with her.” They probably didn’t need to know all that information, but she
wanted them to understand the urgency.

At some point, she’d have to
call home. She usually called at least every other week. Clay told her the
general had called her parents and explained about the abduction and that she
was safe. Elena was sure her mom needed to hear her voice.

He smiled. “Sure. We’ll take
care of it right away.”

That was easy. “And I’ll need
a driver’s license, too. I can’t get a passport without ID.” Those bastards had
stolen her purse.

“I’ll be happy to do what I
can.” Dirk was in the back and kept quiet, but Clay really seemed interested in
helping her.

Within ten minutes, they
pulled down a back alley. Her body tensed. This place looked almost as bad as
the warehouse district. “Are you sure this is a good area for a party?”

“Sugar, trust me. The Fields
run a tight ship. There won’t be any trouble at their place tonight.”

Dirk leaned forward and
rubbed her shoulder. “Or ever. It’s tighter than Fort Knox.”

She leaned her head back
against the seat. “You mean I don’t have to be on my guard?”

Clay chuckled. “We want you
to let loose, baby.”

She couldn’t wait.

Dirk helped her out. The hard
part was gaining entrance. The eye scan was cool, but that was only for the
owners.

“Tell me their names again
besides Liz Wharton and Trax and Dante Field.”

“I’m not positive who all
will be here, but I’m betting Kurt Wendlick and his partner Drake Stanton were
invited. They both work for the Pack. Their mate is Chelsea Wilson.”

That made two ménage couples
attending. She was highly curious how the threesomes would interact. Jealousy
between the men seemed the biggest issue. Her mind still couldn’t cope with
what it would be like to have two men with her in bed—not that she had
any plans of finding out first hand.
Liar
.

When they arrived, the party
seemed to be in full swing. She leaned close to Clay who’d walked her upstairs.
“Wow. This place is awesome.”
The brick walls, hardwood
floors, and granite countertops screamed money.

“Elena.” The woman, Liz,
who’d approached her in front of her office rushed over to her. She clasped her
hand. “I’m so sorry about what happened. I never should have asked you to leave
your job.”

“You offered me money to
leave something I hated.” She assumed Liz knew what had happened. “You weren’t
responsible for those men taking me. They targeted me and could just as easily
have abducted me after work.”

“I still feel guilty.”

She placed a hand on Liz’s
arm. “Don’t worry. In the end, it kind of worked out.” Even without spelling
out what had happened, her face grew hot. Both Clay and Dirk were speaking with
two other men. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure. Anything.”

This was harder than she
thought. “It’s kind of personal.”

Liz’s mouth gaped open then
quickly shut. “You want to know what it’s like being with two men.”

She hadn’t expected Liz to be
so open. “Yes.”

Her new friend guided her
over to the sofa. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“I’m fine.”

Liz sat next to her. “I never
imagined dating two guys at once, let alone sleeping with one after the other.”

She did understand. “Me, either.”
Her mother’s wagging finger appeared in her mind’s eye. “What does your mother
think about you being with both men?”

Liz’s cheer dimmed. “She’s
not with us anymore.”

“I’m so sorry.” Elena never
was good with spouting platitudes about another person’s grief.

Suddenly, another girl
plopped down next to her on the couch and Liz brightened. “Elena, this is my
good friend, Chelsea Wilson.”

They shook hands. Clay had
mentioned Chelsea was the realtor who’d stumbled across a dead body. If that
wasn’t bad enough, she’d spotted the killer running away. Unfortunately, for
her, he decided she shouldn’t live.

Elena wanted to pick their
brains. “Can I ask you both something?” Her gaze snapped between the two.

Chelsea leaned in closer. “If
it’s about being with two amazingly hot men at once, go for it.”

“No.” She shook her head. “It’s
about how you handle being with men in such dangerous jobs.”

Chelsea glanced at Liz then
back at her. “Did your men tell you about the poison bullets?”

“No.” It was quite clear she
didn’t know all that much about them. Between Liz and Chelsea, she got quite
the history lesson about werewolves.

Chelsea was the chatterbox. “The
Pack needs to stop the Colters because they are so hard to kill. If the FBI or
the police ever got involved, a lot of human lives would be lost.”

“That makes me feel better.”
Both Clay and Dirk had been in near death skirmishes, yet an hour later, they hardly
had a scratch on them. It was only after the fact that Dirk told her about the
attack on the guard.

Clay sauntered over with a
deviled egg in his hand. “There you are. Come meet some of my cohorts.”

Both of her new friends
stood. “We’ll introduce you to our men, too.”

As she followed Liz, she
spotted the large diamond ring on her finger. “I see congratulations are in
order.”

Liz grinned and wiggled her
hand. “Yeah. I got the best two, but you both have fine men, too.”

Elena wouldn’t trade hers for
anything.
Hers?
When had she started
thinking in terms of keeping them both?

Clay held out his hand and
when their fingers touched, a tremor raced through her. This man did something
to her at a molecular level. Clay introduced her to about ten more Pack
members, but she had a hard time remembering their names. All were muscular,
well-groomed
, and somewhere between twenty-five and
thirty-five.

She looked up at Clay. “Are
there any fat werewolves?” Mr. Couch only had a small pooch, but he was
significantly older.

“Plenty, but we train to keep
in good shape to fight the Colters.”

That made sense. Clay
introduced her to a few women who he said had shifter dads. More questions
bombarded her. “Can they shift, too?”

“Don’t worry. Only men can
shift. These women only have a very slight difference in their DNA from you.”

For the next two hours, she
stayed with either Dirk or Clay enjoying the Pack’s tales of heroism. She
suspected the more they drank, the more the tales became exaggerated.

Trax’s phone rang and he had
to hold a hand over his ear. Eventually, he stepped down the hallway. He
returned, made a beeline to the music system, and shut it down.

“Dirk, Brandon, Sam, Drake,
and Kurt. We have a job to do.”

Her heart sank. The party had
been so much fun. She tugged on Clay’s arm. His jaw had tightened, and his
shoulders appeared stiffer than cement.

“Do you know what’s going
on?”

She doubted he could know as
only Trax received the call, but perhaps this happened often.

“No. Let me find out.”

At least he hadn’t been asked
to go. Perhaps Trax figured Clay needed to take care of her. The mood of the
partygoers turned dark as Trax gathered his team.

Liz and Chelsea came up next
to her. “This sucks, huh?” Liz said.

She studied both women. “You
seem to be used to this sort of thing.”

Liz nodded. “Trax is one of
the group leaders, so he’s always getting the call. The general has his number
on speed dial.” She seemed more resigned than worried.

Clay trotted back to her.
“Seems there’s been a tip about another human sale. The general gave the orders
to take them down.”

Both Liz’s and Chelsea’s
brows furrowed. Elena’s stomach churned at the horror they might uncover. “None
of the men can die, right?”

Chelsea placed a hand on her
shoulder. “Not unless the special bullet pierces their heart or enough poison
hits the bloodstream and they can’t get the antidote made in time.”

Clay drew her near. “Let’s
not scare my mate to death.” He kissed her forehead. “Dirk can handle himself,
as can the other men.” He glanced from Chelsea back to her. “Kurt offered his
beach house to us tonight.”

“A home on the beach sounds
wonderful.” The idea of being alone with Clay was appealing, but knowing her,
she’d be worried about Dirk the whole time.

“It is.”