Megan's Mark (4 page)

As the special, secured cell phone continued to vibrate, he jerked it from his jacket pocket with a grimace that turned to a look of interest when he saw the number on the caller ID.

“Yes?”

“Arness was there,” a low voice spoke into the phone.

“Megan Fields has taken out one of the hunters and captured the other.”

Braden Arness was becoming the problem he had predicted to the Genetics Council. He smirked at the ire in the voice on the phone, wishing he knew who his contact was; he would love to imagine the expression that went with the voice at the moment. He didn’t sound pleased.

“I warned you it wouldn’t be so easy.” He couldn’t help but gloat. “She doesn’t hide in that desert because she doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

He had tried to warn the Genetics Council of this when they decided to take the matter out of his hands.

They didn’t know the girl or her family as he did. Their special psychic powers would make it practically impossible to ambush one of them, especially Megan Fields. Her empathic abilities were stronger than most, harder to control, but definitely impressive.

“We’re turning over two units to you, Senator,” the voice rasped. “They’re ex-Navy SEALS and dedicated to our cause. Don’t mess up. We won’t try to cover you if you’re caught. You’re on your own.”

“And if I succeed? He could feel his cock stiffening at the thought of the control he would soon have over the delicate little Megan. If you succeed, you’ll advance to the next position,” the voice promised. “If you fail, you’ll die.”

He wouldn’t fail. And advancement within the Genetics Society was his ultimate goal. He craved the power that would come with the position of a section leader. One of the few that commanded their own units of Coyote soldiers. The spies would come to him then, their lives would be in his control. The thought of that power was almost orgasmic.

As the phone connection was severed, he allowed anticipation to begin building within him.

He didn’t see the Breeds as human or as animal; they were creatures. Tools to be used and nothing more. And Megan, by sheer chance, would become no more than a pawn in his efforts to see the creatures placed once again where they belonged-within captivity.

He would play with Megan a bit first though, see if she was as good as her father had always claimed she was. He could take her out at any time, but he wanted to see her fight. He wanted to see her scared. And he wanted that damned arrogant Jonas Wyatt to come to the realization that the Breeds were nothing compared to the Council. Nothing compared to Senator Macken Cooley. Wyatt was always so arrogant, so sure of himself and his power. Mac would show him once and for all the reality of true power.

Of course, Wyatt would attempt to save Megan. He might even have her placed in Sanctuary. It wouldn’t matter. No matter where she went, Mac knew his people could get to her. He wanted Wyatt to know that as well.

And maybe, just maybe before he killed little Megan, he would tell her why he had marked her for death. Not that she would remember at first. He knew her. Knew how her powers worked. David Fields, her father, had often confided in Mac as he worried for his daughter and her inability to process the empathic signals she received.

No, she wouldn’t remember that night; not until he took her life. He would have her, and then he would kill her. But in the meantime, he could play, just a little bit. The thought had him smiling as he turned back to his research, his dedication renewed, his determination to find a way to destroy those damned Breeds energized. He would succeed.

Chapter Two

Damn, she made him hard. It was the first thought that popped into Braden’s mind the next morning when Megan stepped into her cousin’s office and stared at him with instant suspicion.

She was dressed in tight, sexy jeans tucked into calf-high boots. A khaki shirt was buttoned just over the rise of her breasts; a wide belt cinched her waist and held the holster for her police-issue Wounder that lay just behind her left hip.

A fine film of perspiration dotted her brow as her dark blue eyes gleamed with amusement and a spark of menace. She would not be an easy woman to control, but he had already guessed that.

And she was aroused. That was his second thought. It slammed into him as the subtle, unmistakable scent of female heat reached his sensitive nostrils. He sat up straighter at the scent, narrowing his eyes in complete pleasure so he could relish it.

Who had aroused her, though? The prick to his male pride suddenly had him frowning at her. She lifted her brow, her expression mocking.

He restrained his chuckle, just as he restrained the need to meet her challenge. One thing was for sure: It wouldn’t be long before he had those pants off her ass and his cock seated snugly in that hot little pussy.

“You wanted to see me?” Megan prompted her cousin with a mocking lift of her brow as she closed the door behind her.

Braden turned his gaze back to Lance, quirking his brow when he caught the other man’s less than pleased expression. Lance hadn’t been thrilled by the order that came from his superiors, nor by the information Braden had given him on the Coyote’s interrogation the night before. Not that much had come of that.

“Take a seat, Megan,” Lance sighed.

Slouched back in his chair, his ankle propped on his knee, Braden turned his head once again to watch her walk across the office. She moved like a spring rain, smooth and silky. And damn if the smell of her didn’t have his mouth watering.

“Okay, so here I am.” She stopped at the desk, eyeing the chair beside Braden with no small amount of suspicion and a glint of humor as a smile was quickly controlled. “I don’t want to sit next to him. He bites.”

She crossed her arms over her breasts, nice, compact little breasts with just enough fullness to tempt him. Her mock frown informed him that yesterday’s little adventure hadn’t really angered her. Those winged black brows lowered over ocean blue eyes that looked deep enough to drown a man, and challenged at the same time. He loved a challenge.

“She shoots.” He restrained his smile as he turned back to Lance and nodded in her direction. “I needed some sort of defense.”

Lance wasn’t amused. He wiped his hand over his face and muttered something about “damn stubborn women.”

Braden completely agreed with him.

“Why is he here? Don’t we have enough problems to deal with?” she asked.

“Sit down, Megan,” Lanced groused, obviously not in the mood for this little meeting. “Even if it means moving the chair.”

She did just that. Braden smiled at her slowly, wickedly, as he watched a light flush color her bronzed flesh. The information he had on Megan had been as clear, concise and well put-together as Braden had come to expect from Jonas.

Her relationship with her cousin had been part of the report. It seemed she and Lance had been sniping at each other for months due to her insistence on taking the desert patrols rather than the safer assignments in town. But they were closer than most brothers and sisters, let alone cousins.

“I do have work to do today,” she finally pointed out a bit impatiently when neither of them spoke.

“No, you don’t.” Lance sat forward then, bracing his arms on his desk as his frown darkened. “You’re about to get exactly what you’ve been wanting for the past two years. Congratulations.” He wasn’t pleased, but Braden was already aware of that fact. Lance was madder than hell, not just at Braden and the Bureau of Breed Affairs. but also at Megan.

“Really?” she drawled in mocking amusement. “That’s interesting. So, does this mysterious want of mine include a gun?” Evidently that was one argument she hadn’t managed to win against her cousin. She hated the police-issue Wounder and had been harassing him to requisition a more powerful gun for her.

“Use one of your own,” Lance harrumphed rudely. “You have enough of them, and since you’re no longer on official duty, I can’t stop you. Or use one of his. You seem to have done fine with it yesterday.”

Megan cast Braden a look from the corner of her eye.

Braden gave her a smug, satisfied smile as her gaze moved fully to his. Finally, she turned back to her cousin rather than voicing the mocking retort he sensed lay on the tip of her very pretty tongue.

“Are you going to tell me what it is I’m getting? I have a lot of wants, you know. Or are you going to let Mr. Arness do your talking for you?”

Spicy. That’s what she was. Just spicy as hell. He loved it.

He lifted his foot from his knee and set it slowly back on the floor before straightening in his chair. He never took his eyes off her, staring back at her intently, loving how she met his gaze and hid the nervousness he could feel growing inside her.

Sometimes the animal DNA he possessed came in damned handy. The natural empathic abilities easily picked up the emotions of those around him, filtered them and came across without the emotional impact on his own psyche that a normal person would experience. He knew what she was feeling, but he didn’t feel it himself.

He growled, a deliberate, rough vibration that rumbled dangerously from his chest as he lowered his eyelids and let his gaze rake over her.

Heat flushed her face and he’d be damned if the soft, spicy-sweet smell of her sex didn’t have him ready to jump her then and there. He wondered if she had glimpsed his hard-on. It would be damn hard to miss if her gaze slid down just an inch farther.

“Menace,” she muttered, clearly not intimidated as she turned back to Lance. “Why is he here again? You haven’t explained that one yet, Lance.”

“Making my life hell,” Lance grumbled as he flicked him an irritated glare.

Braden tilted his head in mocking acknowledgment.

“Fine, he can make your life hell and I can leave.” Megan moved to rise from the chair.

“Sit down, Meg.” Her cousin sighed then. “This involves you, too. Too much. Braden, as you know, is a Feline Breed. Lion, to be exact. His assignment here is a bit complicated.”

“And involves me how?”

Before Lance could speak, Braden broke in.

“In the fact that the Breeds you found dead in that gully were here looking for you. As were the Coyotes. Would you like to explain that?” He tilted his head, watching her closely, sensing her confusion.

“Me?” She shook her head, staring back at him, perplexed.

“Why would they be looking for me?”

“I was hoping you could answer that one.”

“Lance, what’s going on here?” she asked. A subtle scent almost of fear reached out to him, made him want to shield her, protect her.

“Our interrogation of the Coyote you wounded yesterday revealed they were here to kill Mark and Aimee…and you. They were to murder them in your area, where you would be drawn to them…” His choice of words had to be a mistake. “From there, they were to kill you, Megan.”

She licked her lips nervously as she shook her head in denial. “But I didn’t know them. I’ve never been in contact with Breeds or any part of the Council. Why target me? Why would they want me dead?”

Megan stared at Braden with the heavy weight of fear in her chest. She couldn’t imagine why the Council would want her dead, or why two Breeds would have been searching for her. She hadn’t been part of the Breed rescues, nor the investigations that had taken down the various Labs. She had left the Law Enforcement Academy and come straight home to her job within Lance’s office.

“I was hoping you could tell me.” Braden sat back in his chair then, watching her with eyes that mesmerized and seemed to see too much, too easily.

“I don’t know.” She shook her head. She was confused. This couldn’t have anything to do with her empathic abilities. It had to be something else.

“I’m here to find out why, then.” His voice hardened, as did the amber glow of his eyes. “I’ve been placed with the sheriff’s department to learn the reasons why our Breeds are dying here and what the Council wants from you. To do that, certain steps have to be taken.”

Why did she have a feeling this was the kicker? She could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice. And if that wasn’t enough, her stomach was rioting with nerves, a sure sign that she was not going to like what was about to come.

“Such as?”

“A Rep.” Satisfaction filled his voice. “I am required to live with, and to work with, a representative of the local law enforcement department. One who is aware of what I am, but will tell no one else. Since you are also part of the investigation, it’s been decided by the sheriff and the Bureau of Breed Affairs, that you will be that Rep.”

Oh, it was decided? As though she had no opinion’? No say in how she was maneuvered?

“Oh, I don’t think so.” She came out of her seat, instantly rejecting that idea. There was not a chance in hell.

“We have great motels here. Hell, Lance lives alone. Stay with him.”

Braden rose slowly to his feet, and she just couldn’t help it. She just couldn’t help checking out those powerful, long legs encased in faded denim and sitting in dark, scratched leather boots. She jerked her gaze back to his, her face flaming at the knowing smirk on his lips. Not to mention the more than impressive bulge between his thighs.

“Lance isn’t an option,” he drawled. “You are the reason they are here. They won’t stop until they kill you, Megan.”

“Bull. Shit,” she snarled. “If they wanted to kill me they could have done so at any time. Your Coyote is lying to you, Braden. Have you thought of that?”

“I thought of it.” He nodded slowly, that damned smile still in place. “I prefer to err on the side of caution. So, roomie, when do we head home?”

Megan turned slowly to Lance. Her cousin had been watching the argument silently, which wasn’t like him. The look on his face wasn’t comforting.

“Do something,” she snapped.

“I did.” He sighed, his look intent, determined. “I approved it.”

Like hell.

“Then you can disapprove it.” She could feel herself shaking, and knew she was making a mess of this meeting and she couldn’t help it. “You can’t make me let him live in my home, Lance.”

Her response to Braden Arness was too strong, it went too deep. Every cell in her body was tuned to him, and she didn’t like it. She didn’t want it.