GRAY Wolf Mate Read online

  All the Gallize guardians were some type of eagle.

  Their Guardian had the ability to speak mind-to-mind in human form when in close proximity to any of the Gallize shifters.

  Cole and his buddies could use mind talk only in animal form.

  He’d been to this penthouse often over the years, the last time being when Sammy and his eight-man team, which included Cole, Rory and Justin, were called back to operate in the US. Cole had been Sammy’s right hand, which is why he refused to give up on his friend.

  Cole, Justin and Rory each said, “Hello, Väktare.”

  Cole took a seat in one of the cushy outdoor chairs placed in a half circle across from the matching sofa where the Guardian lowered himself to sit.

  Just like last time, the minute he was in the Guardian’s presence, Gray Wolf settled down as if docile.

  That would not last long with an apex predator, but his wolf recognized their alpha, the greater predator in the room.

  With Rory on one side and Justin on the other, Cole prepared to answer for his actions. He launched straight to the topic of his insubordination.

  “The decision to enter the food bank building was mine, Väktare. Rory and Justin warned me to not change the plan, but I ... felt it was my duty to protect a human who had only been looking for a place to shelter from the rain. I will be honest. In hindsight, I would do it again, but I also understand I will be disciplined and accept whatever you decide with no argument.”

  Rory breathed in and out slowly, as though bored, but Cole had been around him a long time and knew it was hiding his concern.

  Justin, on the other hand, never missed an opportunity to piss off someone. “It wasn’t as if Cole knew someone wanted to blow up the building.”

  Cole murmured, “Not helping, Justin.”

  “Just sayin’.”

  The Guardian gave a nod for him to continue.

  During the flight back, Cole had filled Justin and Rory in on some details, which they’d passed on to the Guardian in an update, but Cole had been waiting until now to explain everything fully, so he could go through it just one time. “I observed a truck entering the building. While that was happening, the homeless woman slipped inside, probably thinking she was safe in there. The more I’ve thought on it, I would almost bet they set her up to sneak in as soon as the door opened, but I have no way to say for sure.”

  “They did,” the Guardian confirmed. “We located the woman and found someone who could understand her ramblings. She hid in the back of the building on occasion.”

  “Is she okay?” Cole had worried about her surviving. “Did I break any of her bones when we hit the building across the street?”

  “She had a fractured wrist and light head trauma. She was in a coma for two days, but she’s being cared for now and will not return to the streets. Neither will she be interrogated by anyone from SCIS.”

  “Good, and thank you.” One positive had come out of that night.

  “Has my mark returned to your shoulder, Cole?”

  “Yes, it did slowly today. It surprised me. I thought I’d have to ask you to do it again.”

  “That should never be necessary. Few things will remove my mark from the shifters I protect.”

  Cole exchanged looks with Justin and Rory that told him they were as surprised as he was.

  “You were correct in thinking the homeless lady was positioned intentionally,” the Guardian continued. “Someone bribed her to sneak into the building as soon as the truck went inside. That person promised food, alcohol and that she could spend the night there any time she wanted. The group responsible for the truck and bomb evidently expected someone connected to law enforcement to be watching the building. The question is whether they knew it was you, since that was perfect bait, given your background, or was that bomb meant for someone else?”

  “It was for the Gallize, and the trap was set specifically for me, but ...” Cole shook his head at how well someone had played him. “Everyone got played. Sonic gave us the intel and he was the one in the driver’s seat, but he was already dead when I found him. Whoever drove it in parked the truck, slid the body in place, then taped his hands to the steering wheel. His throat was slit. I’m thinking the shifter escaped over the roofs since none of the team saw him exit. By the time I entered the building, the trap had been set, including a note pinned to Sonic’s chest that said, ‘Surprise, Cavanaugh.’ It had the Black River pack gang sign on it.”

  Justin growled.

  “Do you think they expected you to escape that bomb?” Rory asked, incredulous.

  “Not sure. If so, our reputations as Gallize shifters who can jump higher than the tallest buildings and outrun speeding bullets precedes us,” Cole joked, then turned serious.

  Justin offered, “If Cole hadn’t lived, I’ll bet they would have found a way to send a second message to us just to brag.”

  The Guardian said, “I agree. We have another question that needs to be answered. Whether the Black River pack knows you survived, Cole, which I would say is a very strong possibility.”

  Cole had something else to point out. “I think there’s a leak in SCIS. They had the same information we had about the food bank. That opens the possibility that Sonic sold us out to someone in that group or they tortured the information out of him, which would explain how they knew who was coming.”

  “That’s the problem with scumbags,” Justin grumbled. “They got no business ethics. Like a damn jackal. If Sonic did try to play both sides, then he got what was coming to him.”

  Rory noted, “The Black River pack could have set up Sonic, too.”

  That was a better possibility. Cole had one more thing to drop on this group. “Also, I think there’s a Cadell working inside SCIS.”

  Tension spiked at that announcement.

  Justin sat forward. “What the hell?”

  Rory pointed out, “It’s not like SCIS can screen for Cadells. Even we can’t recognize them in human form.” His gaze flashed to the Guardian when he amended, “With the exception of you, Guardian. How would humans know about Cadells when we never tell them about the enemy, or that we even exist, and we’re the ones who know the most?”

  The Guardian spoke. “What’s his name?”

  “Theo Brantley.”

  After a moment of silence, the Guardian said, “If it’s a Cadell, it’s not his real name. They’ve gotten better about hiding among humans in recent years.”

  “I was never around him as a wolf, so I’m not positive, but my gut says I’m right.”

  “I would trust your gut,” the Guardian said. “Your capture is another reason why I’m considering going public with our Gallize shifters.”

  “What?” Cole, Justin and Rory said as one voice.

  “Think about what happened to Cole. If we had a public front known among the human intel agencies, Cole could have called for a Gallize representative. Times are changing with technology better than ever, and we have to change as well. The world has gone through an initial reaction to shifters and power manipulators. I think we can do more good by being known. That doesn’t mean we’ll expose all of the operatives, but enough to claim one of ours when need be. With the Black River pack constantly developing new synthetic drugs to use against all shifters, we need to protect our own from being given drugs involuntarily somewhere like SCIS or sent to titanium holding facilities without full authorization.”

  Scratching his head, Justin said, “I see your point, Väktare.”

  The Guardian clarified, “It’s not happening today, but after this incident I’m moving up my timeline. I’ll inform all of you before any changes occur. My first priority is locating the head of the Black River wolves.”

  Cole wanted that bunch more than ever, but he switched gears to a topic that hadn’t been broached. “Any word on Sammy?”

  No one volunteered a thing until the Guardian said, “We may have to accept that Sammy is beyond our help.”

  Cole knew better, but he
still argued, “We don’t know how Sammy is doing. We haven’t seen him since he disappeared.”

  “Exactly,” the Guardian confirmed. “I called him home and he hasn’t come in.”

  Justin muttered, “Fuck,” which pretty much covered Cole’s thought on that.

  When the Guardian called anyone home, that shifter would have an overwhelming desire to do just that. The only reason the Guardian hadn’t called Cole was because they all knew Cole would have returned on his own. Calling him would only have put him in more danger.

  Rory asked the question that hung in the back of every Gallize shifter’s mind. “Are we all facing death by the mating curse?”

  No point tiptoeing around that elephant in the room.

  Cole was thankful his wolf had calmed around the Guardian, but he’d had to hide his claw issue from Rory and Justin. At one point, he’d dashed into a men’s room when he felt his jaw beginning to stretch.

  He would do the right thing and submit to the Guardian before the mating curse took over completely. Until then, he wanted to find Sammy and ensure that Tess was safe.

  After hesitating a moment to answer, the Guardian said, “I take responsibility for Sammy succumbing to the mating curse, because I failed to realize he was suffering from it already.”

  Cole felt just as responsible. He’d been closest to Sammy.

  “Up to this point, Gallize shifters have had approximately ten years after their animal was called up to bond with a mate before the curse set in. Since most had their animals called up around the age of twenty-one or two, we worked on the logic of mating by thirty, to be safe. It’s hard to say for sure, because we haven’t had enough cases to study. At one time, mating before the age of thirty was not a problem, because most people made that decision early in life. Now, not so much.”

  Rory offered, “Sammy won’t be thirty for another two years.”

  The Guardian gave a solemn nod. “That’s what makes his situation all the more disturbing. It might mean the curse is accelerating faster than expected.” The Guardian looked away for a moment, out toward the sea, then turned to them before he spoke again.

  “Even three hundred years ago, the age for me to call up the animal in a Gallize was around twenty-two or twenty-three. But Sammy lost his entire family in a shifter attack. When he was brought to me at barely twenty, I had to call up his bear in order to save Sammy’s life. I’ve never known of a Gallize suffering the mating curse as young as he has, only eight years into being a shifter. I have to find a way to make certain it doesn’t happen to the rest of you.”

  Eight years.

  Cole managed to not let his breathing change with the panic he was fighting inside. He was only twenty-six. He’d been a shifter for seven years. He should have had at least one more year even if he used Sammy’s situation as a benchmark, but Cole couldn’t deny the physical issues he was having.

  Justin popped off, “You gonna find us women, Väktare?”

  When the Guardian leveled his eagle-eyed gaze on Justin, the joker turned into a mime, sans movement.

  That intense gaze shifted to Cole, who had the unusual urge to squirm.

  What could the Guardian see? Cole had shielded the first signs of the mating curse from everyone. He knew the signs only because he’d witnessed the effects when it began on Sammy during a hike the two of them made through the Smoky Mountains. Sammy had come clean, telling Cole to keep an eye on himself, since Cole, like Sammy, had started prematurely as a Gallize.

  Regarding Sammy, Cole asked the Guardian, “Have you found anything on Katelyn? She could give Sammy a fighting chance.”

  “That girlfriend who broke up with Sammy and sent him into a downward spiral?” Justin interjected, sounding appalled. “You want to find her?”

  The Guardian watched all three of them, as if curious to hear them all out before giving his input.

  With the Guardian sounding close to accepting Sammy’s demise, Cole felt justified in what he said next.

  “Sammy didn’t want the team to know about Katelyn, because he was concerned about what a bunch of black ops friends would do to save him. He would give his life for any of us and knows we’d do the same, but he wouldn’t have any of us pushing her around to step up for him or trying to influence her. That’s why he didn’t tell the rest of you that Katelyn had agreed to marry him.” Cole watched eyebrows shoot up on all but the Guardian.

  Then Cole added, “Sammy had hidden the fact that he was a shifter from Katelyn.”

  Rory groaned. “He can’t do that.”

  “I know,” Cole said, sighing. “But Sammy had never been in love and his bear wanted her for a mate. He said he was terrified to tell her the truth.” Cole could appreciate that feeling. “He gave it a couple of days to be sure she was serious about marrying him, then he told her he was a shifter and tried to explain that he didn’t expect her to change from human. He said she was almost on board until he told her they might have baby grizzlies. She panicked at that point and ran.”

  Sammy admitted that he had suffered his first physical impairment from the curse the following day. He didn’t blame Katelyn, because he hadn’t really believed it was possible or that something would trigger it to start early.

  Sammy wouldn’t risk killing Katelyn, just as Cole wouldn’t risk killing Tess. But if Sammy only had days left, he wanted his friend to spend them with Katelyn if she would agree. That might at least slow Sammy’s deterioration.

  Probably wishful thinking, but Cole was not quitting on his friend.

  Justin grabbed his head. “Fuck. No one could handle having his mate ripped away. Man, that totally screwed Sammy.”

  Cole explained, “Actually, Sammy wasn’t going to bond his power with her.”

  “Why would he go through all that and not complete the mating?”

  The Guardian answered for everyone. “Very few humans have survived the mating bond with a Gallize due to the level of our powers.”

  “I know, but ... ” Justin sat back in a huff of frustration. “We should be able to help him.”

  Thinking about the agony Sammy was going through without his mate dropped a rock in Cole’s chest. He’d found Tess again and knew he’d never want another woman as his mate, but Cole wouldn’t risk her life even if she lost her mind and agreed to become the mate of a shifter.

  Cole had a better chance of becoming entirely human again than Tess voluntarily getting involved with someone who shifted into a wolf.

  Rory calmly offered, “Then we find Katelyn, because she might be key to helping us get Sammy back.” He held up his hand to stop Cole from arguing and said, “We’ll see if she’s willing to talk to us. Sometimes people get scared and hide because they think a problem is too big for them. I’ve talked to shifter females who were terrified of their first labor and delivery, and they had been raised in our world. Maybe Katelyn just needs some answers and to know we’ll all protect her no matter what happens. If she agrees, then at least ... Sammy will have that time with her.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Cole allowed, since Rory was thinking along the same lines as Cole for giving Sammy some peace before the end. “But we still need to find her.” His last words were for the Guardian.

  In measured words, the Guardian said, “I have someone looking for her and he sent word just before you arrived that he had news he wouldn’t share over the phone.”

  The Guardian had probably told him not to, because while this man was the baddest shifter around, he still didn’t fully trust technology.

  “I was hoping to have something by the time we found Cole,” the Guardian explained. “Having been so close to Sammy, Cole will probably have the best chance at convincing her to talk to him. If my man has found her and we scare her off, we might not find her any time soon again because he did say the person he spoke to indicated Katelyn thinks she’s being hunted.”

  That might sound encouraging if it was Sammy hunting her, because it would solve a lot of problems. But Sammy would hav
e found her if he was on her trail.

  Was she just feeling paranoid or had someone been stalking her?

  “What’s our plan?” Cole asked calmly, when what he wanted was to demand the number and leave now to find this woman.

  “I’ll give you the number,” the Guardian told Cole, easing his concern. He also said, “But I want you to take backup if you go to meet her. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.” Cole would prefer to go solo, but he knew better than to cross the Guardian right now.

  “Back to the original problem at hand,” the Guardian said, moving the conversation to the Black River pack. “We have no credible intel on that pack right now. We destroyed their operation in Nicaragua. In return, they’ve made a shot over our bow by trying to kill Cole. It’s time we made it clear they must never touch one of ours.”

  Justin smiled like he did any time they were going on offense. “How we gonna do that?”

  “They want Cole. We’ll wave him under their noses, but with a full contingent of support.”

  That was going to screw Cole’s plans for tonight. He could not have company for what he had in mind.

  With a few more directions, the Guardian dismissed Justin and Rory, stating Cole would join them downstairs in fifteen minutes.

  Does Väktare want to chew me out in private?

  Cole should be thankful for small favors.

  When the doors on the private elevator closed behind Rory and Justin, Cole waited for the Guardian to have his say.

  “Did you think I wouldn’t know, Cole?”

  Oh, shit. “What are you talking about?” Cole bluffed.

  “The mating curse. You are only a year younger than Sammy, and you shifted even earlier. You’re different than the rest. I’ve never known a Gallize to shift at nineteen.”

  “I didn’t exactly shift on my own,” Cole said, pointing out that the Guardian had called up his wolf. Cole had never understood all of the Guardian’s powers, but this man kept track of those descended from the original five Gallize families. Cole’s mother had run away from her abusive husband when she was pregnant. She gave birth, and died two weeks later from malnutrition.