Kingpin Bear (A Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (The Agency Book 4) (14 page)

***

While Jared thought frantically, J stood around, looking at the carnage being wreaked.

“If you want something done, I guess you have to do it yourself,” he said, removing his suit jacket in a mocking display of his own arrogance.

Jared rolled his eyes. “You’re just an overgrown asshole with some extra-special bear DNA in you. That doesn’t make you all that special anymore,” he replied.

J stared at him for a moment, his eyes reflecting disbelief. “Bear?
Bear?
” he repeated. “No, I was blessed when the Order first created me. I, my son,” he said in a chastising tone that made Jared want to knock his teeth into the back of his throat, “am more than just a bear. I am born of the creators themselves.”

“Come again?” Madison asked with impatience. “Speak English, and stop trying to preach.”

J narrowed his eyes as he glared at her. “When the Order—the dragons who created me, who gave birth to the Agency—fought their oppressors, I fought with them. Alongside them. I was gravely wounded, but they knew I was the half-breed son of one of them, and so when one of their kind fell, they pumped me full of his blood, you see.”

Jared felt a block of ice form in his stomach. J had dragon blood within him.

“That is how we first learned that the powers could be awakened within. We’ve made it easier since of course, but I was the first. The original.”

“Can we kill him now?” Madison asked, sounding bored.

“Yes, please,” Jared replied, and the pair moved forward, spreading out to either side as they squared off with the head of the Agency.

If they could kill him, they could put an end to the insanity. As they got close, the fire alarms finally kicked in and began to spray water everywhere, coating all the combatants in yet another element to deal with as they fought.

Madison attacked first, bouncing forward and throwing a kick at his knees. Jared moved immediately in response. When J jumped over the kick, the Sentinel hit him hard in the side, driving him to the floor. J bounced and rebounded to his feet, seeming no worse for wear other than his suit being streaked in blood from the floor as well as water.

J looked at the dark smears in disgust, but he didn’t have time for more than that. The pair of them closed in on him, and the fight grew intense. J was just a little faster, just a little stronger than both of them. He blocked or evaded their blows, taking little damage, but unable to deal out a ton of his own.

Jared knew if he ever got a solid shot, his blow would take down either of them, so their only choice was to try and overwhelm him, to force him to make a mistake. But J didn’t seem to be faltering. No matter what tactic they tried, he was always there to block them.

He’s toying with us.

The realization hit home almost as soon as J decided to abandon his pretenses. He stood up, turned one of Jared’s blows, and delivered a lightning-fast jab that the big shifter barely saw. The fist hit him square in the side, and Jared flew through the air, sliding across the ultra-slick tile until he came to a halt. With a snarl he rose and dove back at J, trying to reach him in time.

He wasn’t going to be anywhere near fast enough. J turned to face Madison, and caught her next blow with contemptuous ease and grabbed her wrist. He lifted, holding the powerful head of the Underground in the air.

“One down,” he smirked, pulling his fist back and preparing to deliver a killing blow.

“Madison!” Jared shouted, trying to coax more speed from his feet.

J turned to look at him, winking.

Then he began to dance.

Jared frowned as the head of the Agency jerked several times in a weird rhythm.

What the fuck?

It wasn’t until J turned that Jared saw the three darts sticking out from his back. His eyes flicked up the stairs to where Nadia stood, a tranquilizer gun retrieved from one of the Agents in hand.

“These, are, my
friends!
” she shouted and squeezed the trigger. Six more bolts appeared in J’s chest in rapid succession.

Jared’s heart soared with pride at the courage of his girl.

He reached J and broke his grip on Madison’s throat. She dropped to the ground, but rose swiftly. Together the two of them shifted, and turned their animals loose on the stunned half-breed dragon. Jared wasn’t sure if it was the tranquilizer or the massive blood loss as the two bears ripped him limb from limb that sent him into unconsciousness, but either way, he was done.

Dead.

It was over.

He and Madison looked at each other, then charged back out to help eliminate the last of the Agents, the toughest ones still on their feet. Less than a minute later, the Underground all gathered near the remains of J.

“You were amazing,” Jared said, sweeping Nadia into his arms and planting a kiss on her lips to the cheering delight of his team. His family.

“So, does this really mean it’s all over?” Connor asked, moving up next to Madison and gingerly embracing her.

All of them were carrying wounds to one degree or another, and would be in rough condition until their healing could fix them.

“I think so,” Jared said, looking around. “I actually think so.”

“What do we do now?” Josh asked, supporting Hannah as she held a hand to her side. The blow J had struck her had broken several bones when she went through the window.

Behind them smoke began to billow out from the elevator and the door to the stairs at almost the same moment.

“Get out of here, I think would be the prudent thing,” Madison said.

The others nodded and set about putting action to words as they fled the building. They got into their vehicles, and departed the scene. Jared was in the back of Josh’s truck, and he looked over his shoulder as the building began to burn in earnest.

His hand was linked with Nadia’s, and he vowed never to let go again.

As the Agency Headquarters disappeared from view, he took a deep breath and looked over at her.

She was staring back, her green eyes fixated on his face.

“Hi,” she said softly, reaching out with her free hand to run fingers along his jaw.

“Hello,” he said, and leaned in to kiss her once more. He wasn’t rushed this time, and made sure it was a much more thorough effort than before.

Nadia didn’t object.

Nadia

They were lounging poolside at a hotel near the airport on the edge of town. They were all relaxing after a few hours of frolicking in the pool.

She was new to this life, but seeing everyone else so relaxed, able to just do what they wanted without constantly looking over their shoulders was something that she noticed immediately. Everyone was just a bit more playful, and the laughs a bit easier to come by.

It was likely that most of them had slept better as well—though if their nights had been like hers, that may not have meant they got
much
sleep. Just more restful.

Her cheeks blushed at the memory of the night before, at how she and Jared had spent it together in an adrenaline- and passion-fueled daze. They had explored each other completely, learning every nook, cranny, bump, curve, and muscle of each other in a slow, intimate manner.

They had taken hours in their first coupling of the evening, not rushing a single moment of it. She grinned a little at the memory of the subsequent occasions throughout the evening. Not all of them had been quite so…gentle. Her ass still stung a little from one particular smack of Jared’s hand.

But she’d liked it. All of it.

Now, as they grouped around, the men in the water and the women sitting in a line out of it, she felt a smile blossom on her face. Looking around, the others all began to do the same, as it truly and fully sunk in that they were free. The building had been gutted by the fire. By the time firefighters arrived in force, it was burning too swiftly, and they had limited their efforts to ensuring none of the adjacent buildings went up.

The Agency was gone. Done. No leadership, no organizational structure, and most importantly, no members. Nadia knew that they had employed human Agents as well, any number of whom might still be out there, including the techs that had worked their computer systems. But they weren’t a threat, and would likely find other jobs.

For all intents and purposes, the Agency and its mission was dead. It would be a long time before anyone could revive it, or recreate something similar, if they ever could.

“So where do we go from here?” Madison asked into the silence.

“Home,” Jared said, and it was immediately clear that he was speaking for everyone.

“I’ve never been to Genesis Valley,” Hannah said. “Will they accept me there?”

“They will,” Josh growled, “Or I’ll make them.”

The others nodded their agreement. Nadia had learned how werewolves were generally outcasts from shifter society, and she hoped that Josh was speaking the truth, and that they would indeed become accepted. Hannah was an awesome person, and the two of them had spent much of the day hanging out already. Nadia had a feeling they were going to become fast friends.

Jared leaned over, placing his lips right next to her ear. “I know we haven’t discussed this my dear, but there is a place with me in Genesis Valley if you want.”

“Is that a temporary spot,” she asked nervously, “or permanent?”

Her big man grinned. “As long as you don’t shoot me with a tranq gun, it’s permanent.”

The others—who despite the soft-spoken nature of their conversation couldn’t help but hear it due to their enhanced hearing—all joined in the laugh.

Nadia grinned and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “In that case, I accept.”

She was nervous about starting a brand-new life in a place she had never been, with the man she had met a week earlier. It sounded crazy when she thought of it that way, but from the inside, she just knew that it was meant to be. True love, fated love, whatever anyone wanted to call it, she had thought it crazy.

Until she’d met Jared. He completed her in every way that mattered, and some she had never thought of before. They were the perfect match for each other. She was nervous about her new life, but the one she was leaving behind didn’t have much going for it either. She was strong, and confident that the friends she was making truly liked her, which would make it much, much easier.

“Genesis Valley it is!” Justin said, pulling his mate, Shay, tight to him.

Nadia smiled, feeling Jared’s hand find hers. She leaned in on his shoulder contentedly.

***

The sun was just rising over the tops of the snow-capped mountains, coloring the sky a beautiful orange as they cleared the last hill, and she gasped in awe at the panoramic view displayed in front of her.

“
This
is Genesis Valley?” she asked in disbelief. “It’s stunning.”

“It is that,” Jared said from beside her at the wheel of his brand-new truck, bought to replace the one lost in the warehouse fire. His voice was soft, and filled with emotion. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it,” he said wistfully, and she saw his fingers tighten slightly on the wheel in response. “A long time.”

She squeezed his hand, the one that had rarely left her grip since he had rescued her.

“Well, we’re back now. For good,” she said firmly, giving him a nod of support.

Her eyes returned to the vista in front of the truck. The road dipped down and then wound back and forth through a forest of massive trees full of green in the late-summer bloom. A small town was visible in the distance, nestled up to the foot of a titanic mountain, the biggest one nearby.

“That’s the town of Origin,” Jared said, noting her gaze.

“Do you live there?” she asked.

“No, I live up on the mountain itself,” he replied. “There’s a large complex there, owned by a company that employs me, and almost all the other shifters in the Valley.” He smiled at her. “But all of the Sentinels have an allotment of land just outside the city as well, where we are allowed to build a house if we so desire.”

She shot him a hopeful look. “I get to help build us a house?”

The big shifter chuckled, a pleasant sound that filled her with joy. “If you want, then absolutely, yes. I would like that very much.”

Nadia was filled with a giddy happiness at that prospect. Designing her forever home with her forever man? Nothing could be more perfect.

“Oh my goodness!” she gasped, pointing into the air. “What is that?”

Jared leaned forward and looked up through the windshield. “Oh. That, judging by the color, is Ferro. He’s our resident dragon shifter. Good person too.”

“A dragon shifter? Those are real?” she asked in surprise, feeling like a child all over again for some reason.

“They are very real actually,” Jared said. “Very real.”

“Wow.” She didn’t know what else to say.

“I love you,” Jared said abruptly, glancing over at her as his hand held the wheel steady.

Nadia blinked, taking a moment to reply as she stumbled over the words. Then her eyes met his, and suddenly it was easy as breathing.

“I love you too. I don’t know how I would have gotten through the past week or so without you, and I’m excited to discover how I’ll get to live the rest of my life with you.”

Jared smiled, and gave her hand a squeeze, which she returned tenfold.

“Trying to overpower me already?” he teased.

“You had better be careful, mister,” she joked. “I brought along my trusty tranq gun! I’m dangerous with it.”

Jared roared with laughter. “No argument. I give up!”

She smiled and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. “I’ll never give you up,” she whispered.

“And I’ll never let you down,” he replied, giving her a wink as he quoted the popular song.

Nadia rolled her eyes. “Can I get out here?”

Jared laughed again and pulled her close.