Chapter 8

Deacon stomped down the stairs and kept going, he needed to put as much space between him and Giana right now. His creature was ready to step in and claim her.

“You want to tell me where your heads at, Deacon?”

Just like that his animal settled and he felt like that scrawny, scared kid that Calum had found all over again. Deacon took off his hat and tossed it on the ground, then rubbed his hands through his hair, trailing down his face to his beard. He opened his eyes and looked at the man that had saved him and given him a new lease on life. “She’s my mate, Calum.” He whispered, feeling the angst and pain flood him as he admitted it out loud for the first time.

“You found out? Just now?”

“No.” He shook his head. “No. Remember that call five years ago where I sounded like a complete lunatic?”

Calum grinned, “there’s been a few like that, but yeah, I recall it.” Putting his hands on his hips, he looked down at the ground. “It makes sense now.”

“The call?” Deacon rolled his shoulders trying to release some of the tension from them. He needed a good workout.

“No, why you trained like something unholy possessed you.” Calum came over and leaned against the table, looking relaxed, but Deacon knew better, Calum Dante was never relaxed.

Deacon snorted, “Yeah, well, something does and right now it wants out to claim his mate.”

“Do you believe in a deity?”

Deacon snarled, “do you?”

“No.” Calum shook his head, “I believe in human nature and animal instinct, one or the other always shows their true intentions.” He gave his head a shake like this wasn’t the time for a discussion about religious beliefs. “Your animal is not unholy. I’ve told you that.”

Deacon looked back at him, wishing he could feel it like Calum did, “no, just an abomination.”

Calum shook his head, an annoyed expression on his face, “no, you are a maned wolf. I would have told you if you’d asked.”

“A what?” Deacon looked at him, wondering if he was making it up.

“I traced your history, a long time ago.” Cal shrugged.

Deacon couldn’t mask his shock.

Calum gave him a hard look, “I wasn’t about to let you align yourself with the king and the Alliance if I didn’t know your history.”

“My father was a fox, my mother was...”

“Just stop blowing hot air for a second and listen.” Calum pushed away from the table and came back over to him.

If any other man had said that to Deacon, they would have been chewing on his knuckles through their busted teeth.

“It took a lot of digging and phone calls, to find out, but some of your mother’s clan broke off and came across the ocean to live here, in the states, she was a maned wolf. I’ve seen you shift, Deacon, run with your animal, the only part of your father you got was some of his darker colorings, the rest is a spitting image of your clan.”

“I’m still...”

“What? A mix? That happens, not often, but it’s not the first time and won’t be the last. Just because there are not twenty clans like you doesn’t make you any less a legitimate shifter.”

Deacon sucked in a breath and breathed some of the turmoil out, “it doesn’t change the fact that she,” he pointed to the house, “is an Alpha’s daughter and I’m a mangy mutt.”

“That is for the two of you to work out, not politics. No father can interfere if their daughter’s mate claims them, not even an Alpha.” He smirked, “and I don’t know if you noticed, but Gia, she has a mind of her own, and no posturing, permission, or social dictating stops her from doing what her heart and head tell her to do.”

“Fuck. Just fuck.”

Calum grinned, “I know that chant well.” He smacked him on the shoulder, “just keep your shit together so we can get through this. With Blair and Noah in on this, did you see the look in their eyes at the mention of Lindon?”

“Yeah, I caught the vibes.” He gave his head a slight shake, trying to focus, “Wynter told us the first one was straight takedown though, so I wasn’t shocked.”

“Yeah, the first stop is paying a visit to his brother, and I’ll tell you right now, it’s going to be fast and violent.”

Deacon rolled his shoulders, “I could use a little of smacking traitors around right now.”

Calum chuckled, “I think we all do.”

They both turned to watch Evanna walking quickly to the guest house.

Deacon didn’t know if he should ask or if it would be considered disrespectable. “Calum?” He waited until he looked back at him. “Jesse’s mate—” How did he word this?

“Oh,” Calum glanced at the house briefly, “if her hair is down,” he motioned to his own shoulder, “call her Leah, and don’t approach her without Jesse or one of the women nearby.”

Deacon gave him a look and was going to clarify the name, but Calum continued.

“If her hair is pulled up, it’s Evanna, and don’t sneak up on her if she has a gun.” He smirked, “if her cat comes out because you’ve upset either, be somewhere else, fast.” Calum turned and walked back toward the house without another word.

Deacon didn’t have time to figure out what that was about. He paced to the back of the yard, as far as he could without pressing his nose against the fence itself. He had to get his head together. This was too important. There were too many lives at stake here, not just his mate, but families, and shifters that were captives. Deacon may not be from a perfect clan, but these were his people too.

“Deacon.”

Turning, he saw York and Nox walking toward him quickly. Neither looked happy.

Going over, he picked up his hat, ready to settle this once and for all.

York stopped and held up his phone. “We’re with Deacon now.”

“What the actual hell was that shit?”

Deacon’s eyes widened when he heard his own team leader’s unhappy tone coming through the speaker.

“Don’t even try some suck-up bullshit, Nox—I was on the phone with Devin, our prince, as he stood there watching it.” Wynter growled in frustration, “I know it’s just some pent-up testosterone kind of shit because you’re sitting idle but put a cork in it—I won’t have members of my team pulling that drama BS again. Solid?”

All three of them nodded.

“I asked if we were solid.”

“Completely,” York said quickly.

“Got it, Boss.” Nox added.

“Solid.” Deacon whispered, knowing even over the phone she’d hear him.

“Good. Now hang up the phone and go be fucking team players together.”

York hung up and looked from one to the other. “What the hell, guys?”

Nox glared at Deacon then spun back toward the house.

York shook his head and looked back to Deacon.

Taking off his hat, he smoothed the long hair on top of his head back and put the hat over it. “Just going stir crazy.”

York nodded, “I get that, but dial it back, okay? I do not want my ass on Wynter’s shit list or to look like an idiot to the prince.”

“Yeah, sorry.” He watched York walk away. He had no problem apologizing to York, Nox on the other hand—that wasn’t going to happen, not with the way he’d treated Gia.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to settle some of the chaos in his mind. The taste of jasmine hit his tongue, lifting his head, he watched Gia walk across the yard. His animal settled, which concerned him more than if it had been raging. The last five feet felt like it took an eternity. He debated on jumping the fence, rather than doing something epically stupid and ultimately embarrassing.

She took off her hat and looked up at him. “I just wanted to say thank you.”

Deacon was struck by her eyes; he’d never seen them this close before. From a distance, they were grey but up close, they had golden flecks in them, and he couldn’t look away.

“No one has ever done something like that for me.”

His brain cued him that she was waiting for him to acknowledge that she’d spoken to him. “It wasn’t right for him to get all up in your face.” Was the best he could come up with. His creature was just as stunned as he was right now, her scent, being this close— He backed up a few steps and looked at the shed, he couldn’t get too close to her.

“We’ve met before.”

He cleared his throat, of all the things to talk about, this would have been the last thing he would have picked. “Yeah—I was, I should apologize for being an ass back then.”

Flipping her hair back from her face, she shrugged, “A boy acting like a pompous jerk is something I’m used to.” She motioned to the house, “you’ve met one of my brothers, there’s more like him.”

“I’m sorry about that.” He grinned fleetingly. His eyes were memorizing her face while she stood so close. The trace of freckles across the bridge of her nose made him want to kiss them, taste them. He took a step back so he wouldn’t act on his thoughts.

The smile on her face faded. “This uh, team is quite the mix.”

“The ops,” he could talk about that. It was a safe topic. “It’s long overdue—taking action.”

Gia nodded and wrapped her arms around her waist, “I think so too. I’ve heard of so many being taken; it has to be stopped.”

“We’ll do that.”

“I’ve only been on the coordinator’s team for a few weeks.” She bit her lip.

“You wouldn’t be here if they didn’t think you couldn’t do it.” He motioned to the house, “Calum and Jesse picked everyone here.”

They both watched Evanna come out of the guest house, gone were her jeans, and instead, she was wearing a long skirt. Her hair was down. He frowned, so she was no longer Evanna? He really needed to clarify that with Calum. Looking back down at her, he saw the look in her eyes change, it was harder now. Something had changed in the last few moments. His creature wanted him to move closer, to take her scent into their body. Deacon crossed his arms over his chest so he wouldn't reach out and touch her.

“Are you really going to sleep in the shed?”

Ignoring his animal, he nodded. “Yeah, there’s too many walls and bodies to stay there.” He jerked his chin toward the house.

“It is crowded.” She said in a quiet voice. “I should uh, get back. They’re going to pair everyone up.” She grimaced, “if I know my brother, he’s in there pushing to be with me.”

The anxiety coming off her almost choked him, “I’m sure...”

“Deacon. Gia.” Jesse stood on the deck. “You two are partnering up. From now on you’re her shadow, Deacon.” He opened the door again, “Illias is going over the gear now.” He went back in.

She turned and looked back up at him, something was going through her mind, and he couldn’t catch the expressions flashing through her eyes. “We should, uh,” she motioned to the house.

He lurched, “Yeah, we should get back in there.” He nodded.

Her eyes searched his for a moment then she turned and started walking.

Deacon stood there—froze on the spot, how the hell was he going to stand working closely with her? He couldn’t even breathe around her. Glancing at the fence again, he debated if he should have jumped it and run. He started walking, then spotted Calum standing in the window looking out at him. Blowing out a breath, he looked at the grass ahead of him. If this was some sort of test, he was going to fail. There was no way he could be this close to Giana all the time and not come off as some sort of a jerk. He needed to be though; it was for her own good. She was out to prove to her brother—he frowned, brothers most likely, that she belonged in this type of life. The last thing she needed was some mangy mutt, who happened to be her mate, claiming her.