Lucy's Wolverine (Lilly Town Shifters) (16 page)

             
“No,” Lucy said, moving her hand away.

             
“I know you want kids, but are you sure you want them now?
”
Lucy thought about it for a minute. Could she handle having a little wolverine running around? Yes she could, as long as Mike was with her. She wouldn’t know what to do with a shifter baby.

             
“Yes, I want to have Mike’s kids. I want to be with him. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I want to go to sleep in his arms every night and wake in them every morning. I want him to pull me away from my writing so we can have sex. I want to cook for him every night. I want him.”

             
“Yup, you’re in love,” Lexi said.

             
“I’m glad I could convince you,” Lucy said dryly.

             
“Lucy, you’re my sister. I just needed to make sure before I told you. And I had better be your Maid of Honor.”

Lucy laughed. Only her sister would say something like that. “I haven’t even told him yet. I just figured it out myself.”

              “Fine, but remember me when you start making your plans. And you’d better call Mom and tell her, or she’s going to be pissed if you go from single to wedding invitations. You know she’s going to cry. Don’t put that on me.”

             
“Okay,” Lucy said with a laugh.

             
“You know how she is. Please, do this for me? Call her now? Save your sister from her mother?”

             
“Okay, I’ll call her now. I love you,” Lucy said and hung up.

             
She knew Lexi would help distract her. She also knew Lexi was right about their mom. She would cry. She should actually have called her after her first date with Mike. She guessed it was best to just get it over with. She dialed the phone and waited for someone to answer.

             
“Hello?” her mom answered.

             
“I met someone,” Lucy said. She figured it was better just to rip the band-aid right off.

             
After Levi, she didn’t think she’d ever meet anyone. He wasn’t a bad person; like most people, he just didn’t understand her. Okay, so she didn’t understand herself most days, so she couldn’t really blame him too much. It hurt when he walked out on her. Everything had been great. He’d thought it was so cool she was a writer. He’d read her books and offered some advice. She’d listened, but it had been very clear that he wasn’t a writer. He’d been great, though: he hadn’t cared that she’d spend time writing and getting caught up in her book world.

             
After about six months, he’d wanted more of her time. He’d gotten tired of sharing her with her characters. This would have been hard for most people to deal with, and she understood that. He’d tried getting her to do other things and complained about her writing too much, telling her she needed to spend more time with him. After two months of that, her writing had begun to suffer: she’d barely been writing at all on account of trying to save their relationship. She hadn’t been able to go on like that. Lucy had finally had to admit to herself that she was a workaholic and loved being one. She loved that she was able to create a new world and live in it. Levi had left her after that, and she’d gone back to her life of characters who loved her and who were winning wars.

             
“Who is this?” her mom asked.

             
“It’s your daughter,” Lucy answered. Her mom knew exactly whom she was talking to. It just wasn’t every day that Lucy would actually start seeing someone.

             
“Please tell me he’s not some character you brought to life or something.”

             
“Mom, he’s a great guy. His mom was Sarah Talon.”

             
“Who?”

             
“One of my favorite authors.”

             
“Okay, so tell me about him,” she said. Lucy knew her mom had no idea whom she was talking about, but that was okay. She’d tried, but she couldn’t seem to wrap her mind around what Lucy really was, for she felt a job wasn’t who you were. For Lucy, that was who she’d been since she made the decision to write. Her job defined her, and that was something she was very proud of.

Chapter 28

             
“Sir, there are shifters surrounding the building,” one of his men said as he walked into Zeke’s office.

             
“What?” he yelled, running to the window. There were a few shifters walking around the back of the building, and some were standing around the house, looking to be getting in position. How the hell had they found out he was here? Paul! Paul had led them here. Paul was going to die. He wasn’t going to give them any more information. He couldn’t risk it. The man had to die.

             
“Call the men who are out and tell them to get their asses back here! We need all the help we can get.”

             
“Yes sir,” he said and left.

             
In the twenty years he’d been doing this, Zeke had never been attacked. He’d been fought, but no one had attacked him. How could one man do so much damage? In the four days since he’d sent the man home, he’d lost one of his compounds, his personal collection of shifters, and was now being attacked. How could all this have happened? Something shattered below him. The sliding glass door. They were coming and everything seemed to be falling apart. He knew he should stay and fight, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t let all his hard work come crumbling apart. He couldn’t let the animals win. If he died, so would his organization.

             
Zeke grabbed his gun, cell phone, and a flashlight. He was getting out of there, and he knew Paul didn’t know about the secret passages. There was no way he could know. He’d never told him. Zeke also knew that Paul was going to be going after him. He was the one who’d trained him, taught him every move to make. He just wished he’d seen the betrayal.

***

              “Go!” Bill said into his watch. He had to have the timing perfect to have surprise on his side. He knew they’d probably seen them moving in, but at that point it was too late for them to really do anything. Some of the shifters were in animal form while others were in human form with guns. If they were in their shifter forms, they couldn’t do as much, but they did have their own weapons. Bill had been reluctant to let Mike come. He wasn’t a fighter, not really. Mike knew how, but it wasn’t in his nature. But Bill knew he’d want to be there. These men had killed his parents and had tried to kill him. Bill would have wanted to be there if it were him.

             
Phil kicked in the door and they all rushed into the house. He heard the glass door shattering as they went in through the back. He had a good team and knew they would succeed, but the question was, how many would get hurt in the process?

             
Rushing into the house, Bill kept an eye on Mike. He knew how to shoot, but Mike was family, and he didn’t want anything to happen to him. And he had a feeling Lucy would tear him a new one if anything happened to him. The house was chaos. Soldiers were being attacked by wolves or shot. They were falling like dominoes. Bill hoped it stayed this easy. He’d been in battle many times over the years and knew anything could go wrong in a split second.

             
He was really waiting for Mike to screw up, not because he didn’t think he could do it, but because this was his first fight. On first missions, soldiers could freeze up or make small vital mistakes. If you were mixing drinks it wouldn’t matter, but this was a life and death situation. That was why he always had someone fighting with a new soldier. A man was sneaking up on Mike, trying to take him by surprise. Mike was a very strong fighter – he seemed to be taking down a lot. He was taking out his aggression on these men for everything they had done to him.

             
Bill took aim and shot the Hunter between the eyes. They don’t mess with Bill’s family. Bill saw someone out the corner of his eye trying to attack him with a knife. Didn’t the man know you should yell a battle cry before attacking someone? He quickly turned and broke the enemy’s neck before turning to the next threat. Movement on the stairs caught Bill’s attention. Paul hadn’t been completely honest when he’d given them information. He knew why, though: he wanted revenge for the lies Zeke had told him. Honestly, Bill didn’t care who killed Zeke, as long as he was dead and unable to hurt anyone else.

***

              Paul ran up the stairs, determined to get Zeke before he could escape. He needed to die for all the years of brainwashing he’d done. He couldn’t believe he’d fallen for it. Paul had always thought himself a smart man. He had no idea he was so easy to manipulate.

             
Zeke was quickly walking into one of the rooms that had an escape route. Paul knew Zeke picked the house for a reason and couldn’t help but see why. Escape routes were important for a Hunter, especially if you ran the organization. You don’t want anything to happen to the evil bastard who condones killing people. Paul stepped into the room and saw Zeke pulling something and a door opening behind a fireplace. Of all the places to hide it, they put it in the most obvious.

             
Lifting the gun, he aimed for Zeke’s chest. Something held him back, though. He was the closest thing Paul had to a family. How could he just shoot him? They’d been friends for a long time. Best friends. It showed how wonderful his life had been when his boss, the man who had lied to him for years, was his best friend. Maybe when this was all over, he could get that drink with Mike. The guy didn’t seem that bad. But Paul was leaving to start a new life. He watched as Zeke turned around and fired.

Chapter 29

              Zeke could feel someone standing behind him and knew exactly who it was. He was the only one who would and could come after him so quickly. He was smart and knew exactly how to move to get to the target. Zeke had taught him that himself. Anyone else would have fought their way up, and he would have been long gone before they found any trace he’d escaped. Cocking the gun and ready to fire, Zeke turned around. He knew Paul would hesitate when it came to shooting him. He was soft. He would be a great soldier if he didn’t let his emotions get in the way.

             
He took one last look at Paul and fired. He didn’t think it was a killing blow: something had gotten in the way. He didn’t know if it was the look on Paul’s face or the need to get out of there, but for some reason he had trouble shooting Paul in the chest.

             
Zeke needed to make sure Paul was dead. He was waiting for movement, and maybe a small piece of him was hoping that perhaps he hadn’t killed him. Maybe he could take Paul with him and rehabilitate him? No! Paul could no longer be trusted. He couldn’t let his feelings get in the way. That was how Paul had ended up on the floor with blood pooling under him. He had to get out before someone found him. Turning back for the door, Zeke felt a sharp, burning pain in his back. He kept moving, but it was hard. It hurt like hell, but it was better than being dead. And he had something to live for – protecting the human population.

***

              Bill looked around the room at all the bodies on the floor. There were a lot, more than he thought there would be, but he was happy to see that none of them were shifters. There were a few minor injuries, but nothing bad. A few broken bones and bullet wounds, but nothing a day or two of rest wouldn’t fix. He was very happy about that. He always felt guilty when he lost someone or they ended up injured. He was the one who had sent them out, even if they did know what they had signed on for.

             
“Check the house and make sure we got them all,” he yelled out. He wanted the place blown and any sign of the Hunters in his town gone. The shifters around him started checking any place anyone would or could hide. Looking around at the carnage again, Bill saw blood spattered on the floors and walls, bullet holes in the walls, the furniture torn to shreds, and pictures on the floor. Some of the bodies were torn to pieces, a few missing limbs or a head. It was true carnage in his small town. It was something he’d seen a lot, but never wanted to see in his back yard.

             
Mike walked up to him. “Is this the big secret you’ve been keeping from me?”

             
“Yeah.”

             
“Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have cared. You’re protecting people. That’s heroic. I know war is necessary. It’s not pretty, but it is what it is.”

             
“Because I’m ashamed. Because I don’t like doing it. I don’t like the death that follows me with it. I like to heal things, not destroy them.” He didn’t mean to say all that. He was protecting Mike, which was why he kept it from him… wasn’t it?

             
“Then why do you do it?” Mike asked.

             
“It needs to be done and I’m very good at it. My father trained me as a doctor and my uncle trained me for this. I took over from him when he was killed.”

             
“You still could have told me. I’m not mad you didn’t. I do understand, but this doesn’t look easy on you. You don’t like killing, I know that. I would have been there for you if you’d needed me,” Mike said, putting his arm on Bill’s shoulder.

             
“And what would you have done? I don’t want this life for you. You don’t need the guilt on you.”

             
“Hell no! I don’t want to do this. I meant I’d sit and have a beer with you, and just be around if you needed a friend.”

             
“Thanks,” Bill said, and left Mike standing there. He felt bad leaving like that, but he really couldn’t deal with it all at that moment. He needed out of all the blood and death.

***

              “Mom, he’s a great guy. He’s nothing like Levi,” Lucy said.

             
“I just want to make sure you don’t get hurt.”

             
“I promise I’ll take it slow. I’m really happy, Mom.”

             
“I want to meet him,” her mom said sternly. Lucy knew her mom loved her, but was also conscious of how she could be a little over-protective. Lucy had never had the best taste in men. They had all tended to have mental problems.

             
“I’ll bring him out to meet everyone soon,” she said with a smile.

             
“Okay, tell me what else is going on,” her mom said.

             
“I finished my book, finally, and I’ve gotten some really good ideas for a new series.”

             
“Lucy Ann Kartright, you go on your computer right now and book a ticket to come here. I know you: now that you’ve had another idea, I won’t see you for another year. You might as well bring your boyfriend too.”

             
Lucy couldn’t help but smile. Her mom knew her way too well. She pulled her laptop into her lap and said, “Okay, I’m sitting at my computer right now.”

             
“Good. Just give me the details and I’ll make sure I’m there to pick you up. Don’t forget to tell me when your flight is so I can remind you.”

             
“Yes Mom.” Her mom liked to mother her, but really Lucy needed it sometimes. “Okay, I’m booked to leave a week from today. I’ll E-mail everything to you, but I’m going to give it to Mike too, so I should be okay.”

             
“Good. I’ll see you in a week.”

             
“Bye Mom. I love you,” she said and hung up.

             
While Lucy was on the computer, she figured she should probably check her E-mail. There wasn’t anything too important: just some junk, a few fan letters, and one from her editor about the book she’d just finished up. Looking at the clock, she saw another hour had passed by, yet still no sign of Mike. At least she had been able to distract herself for a little while. Too bad it hadn’t lasted until he got back.

             
She gave up on trying to write, but there really wasn’t any sense in trying to do anything else. She knew she’d be distracted by not knowing what was going on with Mike. Instead, she pulled a chair up to the window and just waited for Mike’s truck to pull in. She had a bottle of water, car keys, and her phone just in case they were needed. She really hoped they wouldn’t be.

***

              Paul felt a burning, searing pain in his shoulder, but he had to get Zeke. He had to kill him. With a grunt, Paul sat up and fired, hitting Zeke in the back. It was low, but there was still a chance he wouldn’t make it. If Bill planned on blowing the place, maybe it would slow Zeke down enough. It didn’t stop him, though; he was out through the escape door.

             
He fell back down to the floor. If he died, he could at least say he tried to right a wrong. He hoped he was able to do so. At least the shifters were out of the compound. Maybe he’d made some people happy. Maybe he would bring more happiness if he just died. Closing his eyes, he wondered if death was best. He wasn’t leaving anyone behind. His family was gone and he’d sure as hell ended the friendship with Zeke. He didn’t have any reason to live. The rest of his life would consist of him running from either Zeke or the shifters, or possibly both. No, it wasn’t worth it. He closed his eyes, ready to let the darkness take over.

             
Paul was starting to feel cold and tired. He could feel the stickiness of the blood under him. He had always wanted to die in battle. It was an honorable way to go. This was the way he wanted to go: saving people and fighting for their rights.

             
“Wake up,” a female voice said from above him.

             
He opened his eyes and saw Emily looking down at him. “I know you want me dead. Just leave me here to it,” he said, and closed his eyes again.

             
“Nope, you’re coming with me,” she said, reaching down and picking him up before throwing him in a fireman’s carry. Paul groaned in pain. It was almost worse than the pain when he was first shot. Emily carried him out of the room, but before they left, he saw all the blood on the floor. Some near the escape door from Zeke and a lot on the floor where he had lain. Maybe he would die.