Shea: The Last Hope (9 page)

"Unfortunately I’m scheduled to be on hand at the shift change in the morning, so I have to be there at 5:30. How about tomorrow? I have Saturday and Sunday off."

"Perfect, until then I’ll make do with thirty minutes of snuggling. We’ll prove that not all men fall into a stupor after getting their rocks off.” Griff said and kissed him.

Lev laughed outright, life was good!

Chapter 5

Roarke stared out the window of the building, he and his Rogues had moved into in Omaha. Since leaving Denver, they had been busy. Recruiting more followers to help them had been essential. Even though he had taken all the promising Rogues with him, it still wasn’t nearly enough to pull off the kind of war he intended to wage against the Chosen. They had no clue what they were dealing with.

Thank goodness, he took all the Seer's papers. Since being in captivity, she was a fountain of information. The old woman was so out of it; sometimes she thought she was talking to Quin instead of him. It proved useful playing the stupid Alpha.

They all thought they were so smart. If they came together and claimed their spots, then the suns would shine down on them and allow them to reveal themselves to the humans.

Ha, like that was going to happen. Roarke had plans, and they didn’t include letting the humans know they existed, his plan was succeeding, and he would soon control more than half of the country's resources. He was going to be the one in power, not the silly humans that thought they could make laws that he had to follow. No, he was going to be one of the richest, most powerful wolves in the world, and there was nothing they would be able to do about it.

He laughed to himself, his plan was full proof. He would gather his followers and then slowly take over the heads of the major companies that he had chosen. Once that was done, then he would begin to take over the country's infrastructure. Once he had enough of the most important people on the planet safely changed and in his corner, they would then take the control away from the New Council. No one will follow them when he had so much power. And Jordan would be by his side, and Hope would be under his control. That child was a fountain of power, one that he wanted to harness.

As the only human on the Council, Jordan would be invaluable to him. Besides, he was sure she was his true mate. When he saw her, things fell into place. There was something about her that called to him; he just wasn't sure what it was.

Roarke picked up the phone and made the call he had been waiting for years to make.

"Frank?"

"Yes brother," the man on the other end of the phone replied. He hadn’t even sounded surprised to be hearing from him after all these years, it just went to show you how much faith people had in him.

"It’s time for you and Tina to come home. I am sending you the address of where we are now. Tina needs to inform her Clan that they need to be prepared to come also. Her brother, Diavolo, is going to be needed soon," Roarke said and hung up without waiting for an answer.

There was no need to talk over the phone. His brother knew if he was finally calling after all these years, then the time had come for them to begin the true fight for the control of the shifter community.

First, they needed to get the people in place they needed. Diavolo promised that they would have them soon, Roarke had made a special holding cell for the prisoners; he needed to make sure none of them could escape. He was not going to make the same mistakes that Braden made; his cell was magic proof, and had no windows. The people he had chosen to take were the ones who would be of the most value to him, they just didn't know it.

Roarke thought for a few more moments about what he needed to do and then pushed the button on the intercom. "Trixi, I need you in here for a few minutes," he said and then sat in his plush chair and unbuttoned his pants.

He had hired the secretary not for her typing skills, more for the full lips and tight ass she had. He made it clear from day one what her job was, to service him... She was just the thing he needed to use when he became tense and felt out of sorts.

Roarke closed his eyes as he heard the door open and then said. "On your knee's bitch,"

and laughed when he heard her whimper. He knew she hated to perform oral sex, which is what made him so hard, guess she heard about the last secretary that had choked on his cock. Damn that had felt good, pushing down her throat as she swallowed and coughed against him trying to get air. That and thinking about Jordan laying in his bed naked and tied up.

Chapter 6

Cami practically bounced the entire way to the bookstore. Her mates had rented a stretch Hummer limo for them, so they could all be together. They had begun the drive with a small toast of champagne for the women who were not pregnant. For those who were, they got sparkling apple cider.

"Okay, let's go over this again. No one embarrass us. No gushing or rambling, at least until we get her alone. While we are at the store, just get your books, introduce yourselves, and then when lunch comes, we can grill her on the sex scenes," Cami said and the others laughed.

They arrived at her first storefront, and Cami grew excited. She hadn’t been able to come and visit as often as she liked. She received updates from Sarah and Judy now on a daily basis, and was happy with the changes the girls had made in the store. Sales had been excellent.

"We are here!” Cami crooned and waited impatiently for the Enforcers, who were assigned to them get out and checked everything over. The other women laughed. It gave them a good reason to dress up. Even Cloe had worn something that looked a little dressy. The black stretchy pregnant pants and black sparkly tank top had been as far as she would go.

The Enforcers finally opened the door for them to get out and Cami clapped. "Go, go."

Sarah and Judy were at the door, and they held it open for the women to go in. Cami grabbed the girls and hugged them before proceeding. The bookstore was arranged to hold the large crowd they expected today, chairs and a table of food adorned the north wall, and then the author table was set up on the south wall. There were stacks of books already on the table. Cami waved to some of the wolves she knew and then grabbed Tripp's mom and pulled her along with them as they walked around the store.

Cami smiled and pointed to her friends to the table. They chatted excitedly while the bookstore began to fill up. They all looked around expectantly when Judy raised her hand.

"I would like to thank all of you for coming to the signing today. We are lucky to have a bestselling author in our midst. She will be here for the next two hours signing books and answering questions, so without further ado, Shea Channing." Everyone clapped and watched as the tiny woman walked out of the back office. Cami grinned when she saw that her picture on the back cover of her book did not do her justice. Her long, curly, red hair and flashy green eyes fitted her ivory skin perfectly. She could only be five feet tall, and she was so thin that Cami was sure she had to dress in children’s clothes. Not that she looked like it. No, she was wearing a pretty green outfit that matched her coloring perfectly.

Shea raised her hand and smiled. When she spoke, her voice seemed to float around the room. “Thank you so much for coming. And to Cami, the store owner, thank you for the invite.”

Cami smiled and waved. She felt someone brush up against her arm, and she looked to see it was Kira, and she was grinning like a mad woman. It wasn’t usual for the woman to wear such a happy expression. They teased her about it being a result of her gifts.

Having all those strange visions, especially the ones of late, anyone would be serious.

Cami put her arm around her pregnant friend. "So exciting,” she whispered.

"More than you know,” Kira whispered urgently and Cami stopped what she was doing and looked at her friend.

"What?"

"She is the last Chosen; I can see her aura," Kira whispered.

Cami gasped loud enough that the rest of the women who were getting ready to go and get their books stopped and turned to rush toward Cami and Kira.

"What's wrong?” Cloe said firmly, going into her Enforcer mode. She raised her hands and snapped her fingers to the men who were standing at the door.

They came to them instantly and stood around them, making a barrier between them and anyone who would try to hurt them.

Cami laughed. "I think we're okay. But we'll need to make a phone call in a while."

Cloe and the rest of them looked at her in curiously. She wanted to shout it from the roof tops but there were humans still here. "Ladies, I think we should take this into the back for now.” Cami then turned to Judy. "Judy, would you please let the author know that we will be waiting in the back for her when she is done."

Judy nodded and then frowned. Cami and her friends had been so excited about Shea Channing coming to the store, and they were going to go into the back without getting a book?

Cami led the way to the large back storeroom. She had made sure there were couches and a place to hang out for authors and workers. Once all the women were in the room, and the guards were standing by the door, Cami turned and smiled. “NO FUCKING

WAY!" she yelled. Thank goodness, her mates had made sure that the back was soundproof. It was because they had intended on coming over for a little afternoon delight when they thought they were going to be staying in Denver.

Her friends jumped, except for Kira, who had been expecting the outburst. Kira laughed and said, "Yeah, seriously."

"But how could we have not seen it before?” Cami said.

"Well, every time we’ve seen her, she’s been in a picture or on television. We couldn't see the aura with those filters." Kira shrugged.

The others were watching their exchange like a tennis match, turning their head back and forth while they spoke in circles. Cloe finally had enough and held up her hand.

"Really, can we actually find out what the hell you’re talking about? I’m getting whiplash here."

Cami laughed and held out her hand to Kira, letting her know the floor was hers.

"I told Cami that Shea Channing was the last of the Chosen. Her aura is the same as all of ours," Kira said calmly.

The room was silent while they all took in what this meant.

"Fuckin A, we are going to have our own smut author to keep us supplied with naughty books for the rest of our lives. We’re going to be in heaven!” Jo yelled.

Trinity laughed and said, “Oh yeah, maybe she can tell us how they do a couple of those moves. I mean without getting a sore back."

They all laughed and then Cami said, "I gotta call Quin."

"Wait,” Lacy said and took Cami's cell phone from her hand. "If we call the guys, they’re gonna make us come back right now, with Shea in tow, then they’ll talk to her for hours and hours, and we won’t get a chance to question her. Why can't we wait a few hours and at least get lunch done? Then tonight, the guys can quiz her while we sit in the corner and read the book."

Cami grinned; her mates were going to be pissed. But that was exactly what they were going to do. Cloe smiled and picked up her phone. "Jean Paul, can we get a few more Enforcers to come and guard us while we are in town. We’re going to lunch at Margie's and Rodger’s, but we wanted to make sure everyone, including the Enforcers, got a meal."

She nodded and then grinned. “They can't say we're not careful.”

They sat back, smiled, and looked around, waiting for someone to make the move.

Finally, Trinity stood up, "Well, if we have all that settled; I think I will go and get my book."

She looked around expectantly and then ran for the door, so she could be first. The rest of the women pushed and shoved each other until they made it back into the main room.

Shea was smiling and talking to the women who were in line. The women of the Council stood back politely and waited. Finally, Trinity got to the front and grinned.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Hello, who should I make this out to?" the small woman asked.

"Trinity."

The author nodded and filled out the page and handed it to her; Trinity backed away, and the rest of them did the same thing. When Cami got up to the front of the line, Shea smiled and asked who to make it out to.

"Cami, my new Alpha female," Cami said quietly and then Shea looked up shocked.

"Umm, what was that?" the confused author said.

Cami leaned over the table and then whispered, "It may be best just to write it and then come into the back room, so we can talk. Your signing is almost over anyway, and we have a lunch date."

***

Shea filled out the book, handed it over, and smiled. Then she finished with the last of the people in the line, stood up, and thanked everyone who came. Shea looked at the group of women who were standing by the door that led to the room where all of her things were stored for safety.

Shea took a deep breath and walked to the doorway. Who were these women? She wanted to run out the side door and fly home. No one knew what she was. She walked slowly towards the obvious shifters. She wasn’t looking forward to this; Shea was a Fae, and a full Fae at that, it made her smaller than most people. When she was younger, she learned early on that she had a gift. Her Fae power allowed her to influence people with her writing. But she had also been told to stay away from shifters because they could be unstable. She had actually never met one up close. Now there was a group of them that she had to eat lunch with.

Shea pasted her work smile on her face and then looked at the group. "Ladies, I’m so looking forward to our lunch today."

Cami laughed and then said, "Bullshit, but nice try."

Shea shifted uncomfortably; she wondered what they wanted. She would never use her powers to harm someone. So she waited.

Cami held out her hand and motioned for her to go into the back of the store. Shea took a deep breath and walked through the door. She hoped she wasn’t going to get the crap beat out of her by a bunch of crazy women; she thought, and looked around.