Freelance: Mercenary Shifters (Mercenaries For Hire Book 1) Read online

  The song was getting dangerously close to its climax. My moment to strike was coming up. My knee pressed against his closed stance. He widened just a bit so my knee brushed against his inner thigh. Perfect. I rubbed against him some more.

  With a boom from the song, and a quick upward jab of my knee, I killed his lust.

  His lips tightened considerably, eyes flashing with his anger. There was a moment’s pause until he opened his mouth and roared. My heart pounded. Oh shit.

  He doubled over in pain, releasing his hold on me. I scurried back.

  Chapter 5

  Dominic

  Blinding, white-hot pain shot through me.

  Fucking hell.

  Childbirth had nothing on being kneed in the dick. Especially when you had a hard-on for the girl you were supposed to kidnap. I looked up at her from my position. Still doubled over in pain, I shot her a vicious smile. I hoped she got the hint. She needed to run, and she needed to run fucking fast.

  When I caught her, she was going to pay.

  My little human mate had some major balls, I’d give her that. I fully realized how fucked up this situation was. There was no part of me that was inclined to give her to the men who wanted her. But fuck, a job was a job; even if the mark was also my mate, my reputation was at stake. People would never hire me in this city again if I botched this job. At least that’s what I told myself.

  Eden backed away from me, edging toward the she-bear she had come with. I didn’t know what this girl was involved with for someone to organize her kidnapping, but she kept strange company. The she-bear moved forward and looked like she was going to grab Eden.

  Hell, no. I did not just get kicked in the dick for her to take away my prize. Sucking in a tight breath, I climbed back to my feet and straightened my shoulders.

  “That would be a really fucking stupid idea,” I said.

  The she-bear really took me in and fear entered her eyes. Her eyes flickered to her friend, then back to me. A growl built in my chest. How fucking dare that bear even think about touching my mate. My mark, even.

  A booming shot rang out through the suddenly dead air in the club.

  Eden screamed, ducking down. Her hands went over her head, and she made herself as small as possible. Squatting, the she-bear advanced toward her. I didn’t know that I trusted her not to take Eden while I dealt with the armed person behind us, but Eden’s safety was paramount.

  Another few shots rang off. The music that had died away was playing again, so I figured it must had been a momentarily pause in the song. Either way all the noise made it hard to pinpoint where the gunshots were coming from. I snarled. I didn’t have time to worry about Eden with someone fucking shooting.

  I turned toward the new assailant to find that it was three. They were all hooded, faces hidden in the dark lighting of the club. I hated the strobe lights. I couldn’t get my eyes to focus long enough in the dark before another burst of light. The one who had been shooting stood with his gun pointed upwards.

  Immediately the other two started moving through the crowd. The clubbers were huddled in the same posture Eden had taken minutes before. A few of the men actually tried to cover some of the women. It was noble, but it wouldn’t last. The smell of fear coated all of them. Soon they would break. In the crowd, I was the only one still standing straight, though they hadn’t noticed me. Luckily, there was a large pillar in the way which hid us for a few precious seconds from the gunmen. I glanced back at Eden and the she-bear. From the information I had received, I was certain it was her roommate, Bonnie.

  “Get her the fuck out of here,” I hissed at Bonnie. She peered up at me, eyes wide, a question at her lips. I shook my head and showed my fangs, hoping she understood I wasn’t fucking around. These people were looking for someone special, and I had a feeling that I wasn’t the only one hired to get this girl.

  I was told the bare minimum. As per usual, I didn’t want a lot of information. I just needed to know who the mark was, and what had to be done. It seemed that I was going to have to find out more about my newest mark.

  Eden flinched when Bonnie touched her shoulder. Seeing her friend, her face filled with relief, and she turned to her for comfort. I scowled and tried to control the rage building in my chest. As I turned back to the gunmen, I felt a twinge of jealousy as Eden sought comfort in her friend. We did not have time for them to take things slow.

  “Move,” I growled. Eden’s eyes met mine, then returned to her friend’s, searching for an answer. “Don’t worry, little chickadee. I will be back for you.”

  I waited until Bonnie had Eden covered, and then she started hustling her out to the exit in back. I rolled my eyes upwards. This was a complication I did not enjoy. My hide might be thick, but I hated being shot at.

  When I stood, the shooter’s eyes locked on my own.

  “Sit down.”

  His voice was low as if he thought he could intimidate me. I found that almost laughable. I stared him down. I could give him a little credit for not cowering, but I had my mark and now she was leaving. There was a good chance that her friend wasn’t stupid enough to take her back home, and their trail would be hard to pick up. But she was more than just a mark.

  She was my fucking mate.

  Yeah, this bastard was going to die, and he was going to die quickly.

  “Don’t think so,” I snarled, annoyance and rage fueling me and my animal.

  The leader leveled his gun to my chest. The gun was steady, but his hand kept rewrapping around the handle of the gun. I raised a brow.

  “Get on the fucking floor!” he roared, thinking it would intimidate me to ground.

  “Drop the gun.”

  “I said get on the floor!”

  While he shook in his boots, I felt a half transformation take over me. My skin hardened, scales rippling over my human flesh making me even more durable.

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  Probably shouldn’t goad him on, but he was getting on my nerves. Either he better shoot me or get the fuck out of my way.

  Another gunshot rang out.

  He shot.

  The bullet hit over my heart. The powerful blast was like a punch to my chest. I snarled as the rippling effects of the bullet traveled down my body. The fucker actually shot me. While it didn’t do any actual damage because of my scales, the pain still echoed in my body. I glanced down to where there was now a hole in my shirt.

  My eyes met the fucker who shot me. Fear crept into his eyes, hand tightened on the gun, and he brought up his other hand to wrap around the gun that now shook in his grip.

  “That really won’t help you, and it will only piss me off.”

  I waited until the idiot lowered his gun.

  “She ran off by the way. If you ever think of touching her, I will kill you myself.”

  The other two had stopped their search and turned toward their central partner. I wasn’t entirely positive they were looking for Eden. I was taking a guess. From the looks they shared between themselves, their stinking stench, and from the criminal slump of their shoulders, I knew I was right. I didn’t know what the hell they wanted with my mate and my mark, but I was going to make sure that they knew I meant business. When I strode forward, the gunman pointed his gun at me again. This time he aimed higher.

  I debated letting a half transformation take me. It would show my horns, but there were too many human eyes for that. There were too many potential enemies here that I couldn’t have knowing what I really was. A shifter—they might know that much, but they didn’t need to know what kind I was.

  “You really want to try that?”

  The idiot didn’t answer but kept the gun trained at my head. I felt half my mouth lift to a smile before I moved faster than they could think.

  I felt the sweet snap of his wrist in my hand, and the gun dropped to the floor. His eyes jerked wide and his mouth popped open with a scream of agony. Music to my ears.

  Smiling, I brought his arm back
wards and twisted so that he was in front of me. He was a smaller man compared to me, but he was a useful shield all the same. The other two finally understood what was happening, moving forward to help their leader. I twisted his arm a little more, causing him to grunt.

  “Now, boys, would you rather die tonight or would you rather forget you were ever paid to lay eyes on my mark?”

  I wanted to call her something else. I wasn’t fucking stupid though. If they thought she was more to than just a mark, things could get messy. But one mercenary to another, they would know I was serious by calling her my mark. And these boys didn’t seem stupid enough to fail to realize that I was going to get my fucking job done.

  Mate or no mate.

  The two who were free looked at each other before they spared a glance at the one I held. I glared down at them, trying to both intimidate and also seem uninterested by this exchange. Finally, they relented. Not that I accepted their compliance easily.

  I broke the arm of the man I held. Then I pushed him forward into the one on the right, gut punching the one on the left and knocking my elbow into his nose. Drawing back my fist, I rammed into the untouched man. I left them grumbling as I turned toward the exit.

  I was going after my mark.

  My fucking mate.

  Chapter 6

  Eden

  Adrenaline filled my blood, made me want to run faster, made me want to keep moving until I couldn’t breathe. Made me giddy. I slowed down a little, dragging Bonnie with me. She was moving at a steady pace, but my head spun. What was it? Was it sneaking out with that jackass’s help? The excitement at the club? Or the jackass himself? Something had my head lighter than ever and my heart racing like it never had before.

  This night was exhilarating. Utterly addicting. The fear that should have been present was absent. Bonnie tugged at my arm, trying to pull me with her. I didn’t want to move. I needed breath. I wanted this feeling of lightness to fill me up. I had such a sheltered life before I convinced my father to let me out of the community. Still I held onto the rules, patterns, and values that had been ingrained in me since I was a baby.

  “Come on, Eden. We have to get you home.”

  Bonnie pulled me again. She had superior strength, but she never used it against me. Now I felt how she was barely containing just dragging me along where she wanted to go. I yanked my hand out of hers.

  “Isn’t that the first place he would go?”

  Bonnie went silent as she bent her head down in shame.

  “Not that home, Eden.”

  Shaking my head, I backed away from her. If my parents found out what happened tonight, if they knew half the places that Bonnie had dragged me to, and that I was sometimes a willing participant, they would never let me leave again. I wanted to prove that I could live out in the real world without their help. I hated that part of the deal I had struck with my dad was that I would allow him to pay for an apartment. Of his choosing. It was everything he wanted for me, but it wasn’t what I had wanted.

  “No, please. We can handle this.”

  The lie slipped out easily, but I didn’t believe a word of it, and she wouldn’t either. She leveled a look at me that said it all.

  “We can’t. Please don’t make me call him. Let’s just go home.”

  I bit my lip and nibbled on it. If she called my dad, it would be over. That would be it. He would never even let me out of the house without a bodyguard. But …

  “We will go home for the weekend.” Bonnie opened her mouth to interrupt, but I put my hand up. “Wait, let me finish. We will go home for a long weekend. We can call my dad and tell him we were going to come up tomorrow. We will wait this out. If those men see I’m headed home, I’m sure they’ll give up.”

  I hoped. I didn’t know for sure. I was also hoping that my dad wouldn’t see through our reason for coming home.

  Bonnie glared at me for a bit before she let out a long breath. “Fine, but we are hitting the road tonight and not stopping until we get there.”

  I held in my squeal of delight.

  ***

  Bonnie was running around the apartment, getting all her things together. I wondered briefly if she wanted to go home for good. I looked over at her. Our kind … well, her kind really, weren’t known for pack existence. Even so, I had been an outsider my whole life. I knew how it felt to be alone in a place that was crowded. I wondered if she felt that way out here. I watched her from the couch as she ran from her room to the bathroom. I wanted to laugh at the frantic expression on her face, but honestly I was over my adrenaline high and was feeling a little empty. It was more than feeling empty. I felt drained. Completely exhausted. I needed to get up and pack.

  I still had yet to call my parents. I was hoping to talk to my mom because I was certain Dad could detect lies over the phone, even though he said he couldn’t. Bonnie was in her bedroom when there was a knock on our door. I looked at it, wondering who would be knocking so late at night. Or early in the morning? I didn’t think it was our neighbor—she was an elderly lady who lived like a hermit.

  Rising, I went over to the door and peered through the peephole. There was a hand covering it. A sensation rose and tingled across my skin. Without a doubt, I knew who was on the other side of that door. Surprise filtered through me. Surprise, fear, and hints of desire.

  I rushed away from the door, but didn’t make it far before there was a loud crash. Stopping, I looked over my shoulder. The door had been kicked open, the jam on the doorframe hanging at an awkward angle. I backed away as it slowly swung open, revealing the very tall and annoyingly handsome shifter from the bar.

  “Bonnie!” I turned my head, calling out for her without taking my eyes off of the large man who stood in the doorway.

  His eyes flashed a deep crimson red and fear shot right down into my toes. I continued to inch backwards, never taking my eyes off of Jackass.

  With a burst of fear and a kick of adrenaline, I twisted around ready to make a run for Bonnie’s room. But I’d backed myself right into the pathway of one of our side tables and I tripped. A startled yelp escaped my lips as I fell to the floor. Throwing my hands out in front of me to break the fall, I squeezed my eyes shut.

  A steel band wrapped around my gut, halting my progress and pulling a loud grunt from me. My hair whipped forward as I was pulled backwards and cradled against a strong, solid form. Breaths coming in rapid pants, I tried to register what had happened. My cheek was hot against his thick powerful chest. Why did I feel so safe with him?

  “Eden!”

  Bonnie’s voice pulled me from my shock and my eyes blinked open. Bonnie stood in front of our large window—which led to a small outside porch—blocking the night view. My head lay in the middle of his chest, gently. I was still in shock. That had to be it. Otherwise I would have been pressing my head away from him.

  I started to struggle in his grip and tried to push away. He didn’t even seem to notice my efforts, but growled at Bonnie. His canines were exposed; I was right earlier in the club, they were long and deadly. Swallowing hard, I continued to wiggle against him. His blood red eyes shot down to mine and I saw desire there.

  “Better stop those movements, chickadee.”

  His hips pressed a little closer. I was certain that was not a gun pressed against my stomach. I let out a surprised squeak as I tried again to push away from him.

  “Let her go,” Bonnie roared. Her voice had become morphed, the vocal cords scratching together, and it now sounded more animalistic.

  My attention was stolen from the problem nestled underneath me and went to my friend who was trying to control her shift. Fur sprouted from every pore, her muscles expanding as skin gave way to fur. Sharp, deadly claws gutted from her hands, which were slowly turning into thick, heavy paws. Dread pooled in my gut.

  The man, who I was sitting on, obviously was a shifter, but still it worried me that she was exposing herself to this stranger. I understood that it was instinct—fear or anger had pushed her into
the shift—but … I was scared for him. I couldn’t possibly begin to point out why I felt that way, yet I did.

  Even further, my father. He would know the moment one of his bears shifted. He would send guards over here to extract both Bonnie and me. Did I want that?

  The man who held me hadn’t actually hurt me, but had still threatened my friend. Broken down our door. Uncertainty swamped me. There was too much to think about. Too much I didn’t know.

  Bonnie, a giant raven black Kodiak bear, stood on her hind legs in our living room. Our spacious apartment looked teeny-tiny now. She opened her maw and released a loud, angry roar. The sound echoed around our place and bounced painfully in my ears. I slapped my hands over my ears trying to lessen the pain. He looked to Bonnie then to me. The man who held me peered down at me with flecks of concern, as his lips tipped down, until they steadied into a scowl.

  I stared at him defiantly. I might not be able to shift myself, but I wasn’t scared of him. He shocked me even more by what he said next.

  “You’re human and totally unafraid of the Kodiak bear in your house. Color me impressed.”

  I didn’t know what he wanted me to say. This was normal. My entire family were Kodiak bears. I grew up in a community of shifters. I was the only human.

  “She really isn’t that scary … to me,” I answered. Bonnie, who stood on her hind legs, was now well over seven feet tall. I glanced back at the man who held me. He appeared entirely bored.

  “What do you plan to do, bear?” His voice took on a bit of a hiss.

  His blood red eyes hadn’t just changed color. His pupils were slits, like a reptile’s. He had some serious gumption if he wasn’t scared of the seven feet tall Kodiak bear who took up more than half of our living room. She was my friend, family member, and even I felt fear slither down my spine.

  What kind of shifter was he if he wasn’t scared of one of the biggest apex shifters out there?