“Who the hell is this?” Vivi said and then slapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she said sheepishly when the man laughed.
“No problem,” he said and Vivi almost swooned, even his voice was perfect; it was deep, smooth, and flowed over her like the most perfectly tuned piano.
Brenda was blushing, she held up a hand and whispered loudly, as if he couldn’t hear, “This is Simon.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Vivi said, opened, and closed her mouth. This was Rissa's serial killer mate. “He's the serial killer?”
Once again, the man laughed and said, “Not the last time I looked, but I get why you are saying that. I promise, no slaughtering of the innocent today. I am just here to spend time with the Alpha and the Pack. Why?”
“Just come with me!” Vivi said and pulled the tall, large man behind her.
They entered the room and Vivi paused looking for her target. Rissa sat on the floor with her dog, Billy B, making him do tricks for pieces of turkey and laughing. Calli and Cherri were sitting with her with their pups that refused to move out of their owner's laps, instead sleeping. Perfect.
Kade stood up and looked around with concern when he saw who was here. Vivi grinned when she saw the look of panic come over him. He knew exactly what was coming.
Rissa’s head snapped up, her eyes narrowed, and she sniffed before letting out a blood-curdling scream. “HIDE THE CHILDREN! ARM THE MEN! THERE IS A MURDERER ON THE LOOSE! HURRY, HE'S GONNA KILL US ALL!”
Vivi put her hand back up to her mouth as she watched Rissa running around the room, shoving the confused children out of the room with their parents.
“DAMN IT, KADE, WHY AREN’T YOU BLOWING THE HORN, SOUND THE SIREN, WE HAVE TO KILL HIM BEFORE HE KILLS US. WEEIIOOO, WEEIIOO! THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THIS IS A REAL LIFE KILLER.”
Calli put her head in her hands and Vivi could see her shoulders shaking as her best friend lost it completely in front of her new mate.
“WEEIIOO, WEEIIOO, BILLY B, ATTACK, ATTACK.” And the small little ball of fur ran for the beautiful man and grabbed his pant leg.
“Uh, Merry Christmas?” the man said as Rissa stopped in front of him and put her hands on her hips.
“Oh really? So that’s how we are gonna play this, huh? Innocent, hot man walks into a room. Lull us all into a false sense of reality and then WHAM! Off with our heads, right?” Rissa yelled.
“Does she need medication?” the man whispered to Vivi, who laughed and shook her head.
“No this is Rissa, and Rissa this is…” Vivi started.
“I know who the hell this is, and I won't do it, you can't make me. DADDY!! I refuse the mating. I refuse to be alone with him,” Rissa yelled and then got into his face. “I know every pressure point in the body. I can kill you with two fingers.”
“OOOKAYY?!” the man said.
“Shit, Calli, get her under control,” Kade demanded and pulled Rissa back as she started wind milling her arms and legs as if she was going to fight the large, stunned, handsome man.
“Can’t do it, you heard her. WEEIIOO! WEEIIOO,” Calli laughed then she and Cherri grabbed Rissa and hugged her so she couldn’t go anywhere.
“What's going on?” the man said as Kade pinched his nose in frustration.
“I need a drink!” Kade muttered.
“I won’t go quietly,” Rissa continued to yell. “You can't make me be the Butcher of 5th Ave’s mate, I won't do it. He could force me to kill with him and be an accomplice. I can't handle prison, all those women in one room. NO..NO..NO..NO!”
“Well, I guess that is a no!” Calli laughed.
“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” the man yelled loudly, making everyone in the room stop and stare.
“See, told you he was a killer, his temper is out of control,” Rissa said smugly and stuck her tongue out at him.
“I'm assuming you are doing a good thing by getting the crazy wolf out for a day, but seriously man, you have to think of what kind of attention you are drawing here. When you take her back, you could have problems,” the man said, Rissa paused and frowned.
“You fucker, are you actually calling me crazy?” Rissa demanded.
“Uh, yeah!” the man frowned.
“Well then, sucks to be you, ‘cause we're mates,” Rissa said proudly.
Simon had been enchanted. Although she was crazy, he thought she was just what he needed. For the last six years, everything had been life and death. It was serious and daily the stresses became more and more intense. Now, it was like a weight lifted off his shoulders, but he didn’t really know how to talk to people anymore.
“Listen, I realize that you are new, so let me tell a few facts about my girl.” Brenda said slowly and sat down next to him. He should have smiled and said something smooth and charming. However, looking at all of the women that were standing there, he was a little unnerved. To be truthful, he had been in many strenuous situations, but this, this was going to be hell.
“Ma’am, I did read her file. I am sure it had all the pertinent information in it,” Simon said slowly and looked at Kade, who was grinning and leaning back with his arms crossed, seemingly enjoying the show.
“A file, that has only what she wanted to be in there. She was the Head of the Technology Section of the Drekinn. Do you know what that means?” Brenda said softly. “It means her IQ is somewhere close to ‘Crazy Ass Brilliant’, now, I know she is my girl and everything, but let me give you an example. When she was younger, she was watching a television show, and you know the humans limit our access to that stuff, as if we would go crazy from watching an old show of Law and Order or something. However, she decided at the age of seven she wanted to watch the same shows that her human friend told her about, so she programmed our television to receive all of the channels.”
Vivi and Shelly laughed when Cherri and Calli said in unison, “Mr. Weebly Goes to Town.”
“You got it, now that was when we knew she was special,” Brenda said softly. “She is a little high strung, but her father and I wanted to make sure that she was rising to her full potential. We all did, these three girls have been to every camp known to the Magical Community. They can use any weapon that has ever been made, and most importantly, Rissa has training in self-defense, martial arts, and more importantly survival training.”
“By survival training, she means they took us three girls out, dumped us on the side of the road, and left us there. Told us we had a week to figure out how to get back home,” Calli said dryly.
Kade looked at her in surprise. “Are you serious?”
Cherri snorted, “As a heart attack. The moms thought we should know how to live off the land and also, how to make it home if we somehow got lost.”
Vivi smiled and said, “It worked, you all survived, made it home, and also knew how to hunt and use your Shifter senses, right?”
“We were twelve.” Calli laughed.
“WHAT?” Simon said stunned, these women were dangerous.
“The point is all of them can disappear if they want to. If my girl wants to be gone, she will be and nothing you can do or say will bring her back here until she is damn good and ready. I suggest you figure out how to get my baby home. ‘Cause when I tell her father, he is going to hunt you down and take a strip off your ass,” Brenda said and stood up. “Ladies, I think it may be tea time.”
“Oh shit,” Calli said and put her hand to her forehead.
Kiki laughed and said, “Simon, maybe you should take this opportunity, shift, and find Rissa.”
Simon stood and they all felt his power flow out from him. He was pissed and wanted his mate—this could turn out badly if Rissa was in a snit.
Kade leaned forward and looked at all the men at the table. “Dudes, rally the troops, we have a few hours before the shit is going to hit the fan.”
Chapter Two
She ran, Rissa was determined to get to her hiding spot. It was right by the south border and she had to Shift in order to get there. Carrying h
er backpack in her teeth was a pain in the ass. Thank goodness, her wolf was large enough to handle the load, although at times she was tempted to let the bag go and just run. Her wolf loved the outdoors. Since being in the city, not being able to shift and run had been a pain in the ass.
Her hiding place was awesome, and far away from the main house. Calli and Cherri knew she could hide forever if she wanted to. The men would never think she was capable of this. They never looked beyond the surface, it was okay, Rissa was used to it. Many people underestimated her, she knew it, and accepted it. It was really because she was distracted so easily. Her dad told her it was because her mind thought so fast, that she couldn’t stay on one subject for a long time because she was always way ahead of the conversation.
It was true, she did always think far ahead, and her thoughts would wander. She could have a conversation while she thought of a computer application and design a new weapon. It was just the way she was built; it made her appear to be a space cadet—she wasn't. Only the Treacherous Bitches knew her. Damn it, now she was going to have to find a new BFF, she wondered if there were any stray wolves out here to talk to. She hated talking to herself—it freaked her out because sometimes she would answer herself.
Finally, she arrived to her shelter and no one would find it. She already thought of them tracking her scent. She sprayed the woods with so many different scents, they wouldn't be able to pinpoint hers. Besides, she used the old fashion Hunters scent that her father had in his supplies, she found it when she was young, it came in handy, she bought as much as she could find at the antique stores. No one really knew what they used it for in the olden days.
Rissa made an awesome shelter, it was against the border fence so she had protection from the weather, should another snowstorm hit. She smiled when she entered the little entrance. It went back about six feet and then opened up into a large room. The roof she had made from tree branches, they blended into the trees already lining the wall. Lucky for her the wall was full of vines and winding branches because it was so overgrown. The wall was extremely thick, whoever owned this land before had to be a bit paranoid; however, it worked out for her.
There was natural erosion, which she took advantage of. The ten-foot thick wall at the base was only two feet deep; it gave her a nice, warm cave to huddle into. Over the last few weeks, Rissa had brought everything she needed to survive. HA, they would be sorry. She had a bed already made, and her pictures of Billy B and the Treacherous Bitches, already hung up on the wall. A large piece of carpet she found in the storage area of the main house was on the floor so she wouldn’t get her feet dirty. Rissa hated wearing shoes while in the house. She already had her boots and shoes right by the entryway on a small, separate carpet that said ‘Welcome’. Everything she could ever want.
Rissa shifted and quickly put her clothes on to keep warm. When she was done, she pulled out the bag she brought, added the supplies to the cubby she called her pantry, and the other closet. They were both full of stuff. Moving swiftly she went to the back of the shelter, it was her office. She grinned when she saw her laptop was already set up.
She had her own power source that she ran underground, and programs were up and running. They had no clue who they were dealing with. She grinned when she sat down and watched. Several cameras she placed all around the compound were working. Rissa clapped her hands and made a ‘woot—woot’ sound while pumping her fist in the air.
One of the cameras was in the conference room, one in the main room, and one in her bedroom. She knew they would search. With her program, she could adjust the security cameras on the grounds to make sure they couldn’t see her when she ran.
They were all in the conference room; Rissa adjusted the camera, and then turned up the sound so she could hear. Shit, the moms were in the room. She laughed when her mother took her Twisted Mate to task, damn right she could totally survive out here. She smiled, when they talked about when they were kids, she remembered it well.
When her mom said she was going to learn how to survive with her friends, Rissa had been excited. That was until she found out they were just driving them out to the country and leaving them. Calli and Cherri had been pissed. They screamed and yelled for about thirty minutes before they all realized the moms weren’t coming back.
Rissa handled situations like that differently, even then. She hadn’t cried or screamed; instead, she took in their surroundings and began to think. Rissa knew what they had brought with them, and she also had a photographic memory, and had once seen a map of the state of New York, even though the moms had driven around in circles to try to confuse them, Rissa knew exactly where they were.
She announced this to her friends when they calmed down, and then they made their plans, it had really been awesome. Rissa turned and looked at the small souvenir she still carried with her of that trip; it was the catalyst to all the classes she’d taken. She grinned and looked at her necklace that she took everywhere with her. It was a tail, of course, some people didn’t realize it until they looked closer, but it was the tail of the first bunny they killed on their first night. Rissa had captured it in her trap she constructed and therefore got the kill. Those days they were alone, figuring out how to get home, planning their mothers’ murders for when they returned, and when they became blood sisters. The third night on their trip was when it happened. Unknowingly, they started this whole entire prophesy by mingling their blood together, at least that was what Pilar said.
This was why she was so hurt, her friends should have sided with her no matter what, they could have respected the fact she wasn’t going to mate with the crazy ass murderer, but instead, they tried to convince her she was wrong. Rissa snorted, this was bullshit.
She followed them every time they did something butt ass crazy, and the one time she needed them, look where they were, sitting in the same room with the enemy—it pissed her off. His perfect hair—perfectly, gorgeous eyes—the amazing muscles—grrrrrr—they should have totally killed him by now. It would solve all her problems. Still, no, they sat and argued with him; trying to convince him she was worthy. WTF?
Find her? Seriously? Rissa sat back and folded her arms as she watched the men leave the room. Her friends were left there, she sighed, and watched.
“Where do you think she went?” Calli said and looked around the room. Cherri and Kiki were shaking their heads and Sabrina sat there stoically. Trina was the one who answered.
“Are you sure she didn’t leave the compound?” the cute little wolf said, she was an Enforcer and one of the people who would be on the Pack Council, when they formed it.
“Yeah, she wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave the compound,” Kiki laughed worriedly.
The three girls looked at their leaders and waited. Cherri and Calli sighed loudly and then Calli jumped up on the table, making Rissa pull back from the screen.
“You crazy bitch, get your ass back here before I hunt you down and shave your head bald. You know I will do it!” Calli growled at the camera.
Rissa laughed and flicked on the microphone she had installed; she would never cut herself off completely, that would be rude. “Treacherous Bitch Number One, I am not speaking to you. Wait, I will for one minute, then I will never speak to you again. I can’t believe you are siding with him. Remember the blood oath, no men before friends, and you both have left me in the dust and put that Twisted Mate ahead of me. WHY? Because he is supposedly one of the Betas, blah, blah, blah. Well fuck you!”
Cherri looked up at the camera with her mouth open. “What did you say? We would never put a man before you!?”
“Ha, Treacherous Bitch Number Two, you are worse than Number One, you tried to make me change for a man. ‘Do your hair up nicer!’—‘Don’t act so geeky’—‘Wear a push up bra’. Well fuck you, too; I don’t have to change for anyone, especially a murderer. So, these are the last words I am going to say! Leave me alone, I will check in only with my mother at a certain time. You can trace me or find me,” Rissa
snarled and then pushed the microphone and the camera. She knew Calli saw the little red light that was why she knew about the camera. Whatever, her mom and dad would be finding their instructions soon, and then she would only talk to them.
Wow, this was the first time she was truly on her own, no one with her, no one to rely on. Shit, Rissa sniffed and looked around the room. SHE WAS BY HERSELF! she thought and threw herself on the bed and began to sob.
Chapter Three
Phillip walked through the small compound he established months ago and sniffed the air, something smelled funny. He looked forward to the time where he and his little group of Shifters could come out of hiding, but for now, he waited for the signal from his sister.
He became the leader when he and the rest of his friends became separated during the wars all those years ago. Since then, Phillip and the Shifters he picked up along the way searched for his friends and family. Finally, he found his sister, just a year ago. It was a step in the right direction.
She told him to come here and establish a protected Magical Community. He had several Fae, wolves, and cats that were with him, and that was what he did, and waited. Many thought because of his age, his mate died in the wars like so many of the others mates, but no, he had not been lucky enough to find his mate. Hopefully one day he would, being who he was, he had plenty of time. His kind lived for a lot longer than what many thought, five hundred years was nothing. His parents would still be alive had one of his fathers’ not accepted his mate's life span. His kind could do that. When a dragon accepted his mates fully, his life span was the same as theirs; just like wolves and cats.
Phillip loved all of his parents; he had a bit of each of them when he shifted. However, it was the Dragon side, which allowed him to have an elongated life. Many thought that a Dragon, because they were so rare, had a short life span. No, they could live for a long time, it was only when they met their mate and accepted them, their life span would be changed to that of their mates. It was so romantic when you found your mate, but when you search and search for years, it really sucked.