14
CODY’S POV
Fury surged through me so painfully, I almost couldn't keep hold of myself. I knew in military situations, when there was danger afoot, the last thing that I needed to do was get all caught up in my emotions. I had to be a strong, emotionless soldier so I didn't end up dead, and I didn't endanger the people around me as well.
Actually, it was much more the people around me that had me worried. I wasn't much concerned with what happened to me. Well, usually I didn't, but now I'd found a purpose for my life, hadn't I? My son and my harem as well.
"Who do you want to shift?" Grant asked me, turning to me because I was the leader in charge. "Who do you want outside the house with guns?"
"Jasper, Grant, you shift." They were both better at fighting in their wolf forms, and I knew that Phoenix was a kick ass sharp shooter. "Phoenix, you take the outside of the perimeter, and I will show Billie to the panic room."
"Wait, panic room?" she demanded. "I didn't know there was a panic room."
"Stark only told me about it. For a situation like this. I didn't want to say anything about it because I was kinda hoping that we wouldn't need to use it."
Ha! What a fucking stupid day dream that was. Anyway, there was no point in worrying about that shit now. It was time to act. The guys did as I commanded, and I took Billie up the stairs to Joey's room so we could get him.
Thank goodness he'd slept through everything that had happened. The very loud sex beforehand and the danger now. He did not need to be awake for this.
"I'll scoop him up gently," Billie whispered. "Then where do we go?"
I wiggled my finger, indicating for her to follow me, and I took her to my bedroom. I chose the room with the secret trap door to the panic room so no one else would stumble across it accidentally and freak out. Stupid really.
"Okay, here it is," I told Billie quietly, so as not to wake Joey up.
"Oh, don’t worry," Billie reassured me. "He's going to sleep like a log tonight."
"A bit like his father, huh? That's how I sleep after a day of fun."
We chuckled as we slipped through the small area into the panic room, which thankfully had been set up with all the trimmings to keep us safe and content for a while. There was even a perfectly good bed for Joey to lay down in.
"So, what do we do now?" Billie held up the gun she'd been given as we were hurriedly sorting out our plan. "Do we just wait? Or do we need to do something?"
"Let's just wait for a moment, see what happens next."
I didn't like to hang around and wait, just as she didn't. But we didn't have any choice in the matter. Not until we knew exactly what the danger was. It actually upset me that this had to happen just when we had let our guards down to have fun with one another, but I suppose we should have expected it.
"Do you think Joey will grow up to be a shifter just like you?" Billie suddenly asked me, with a strained pensiveness to her tone. "Do you think he will be a wolf?"
"I... I don’t know," I admitted. "I mean, it's likely that he has the gene, but we don't know if it'll show until he comes of age. With most wolves, it starts during puberty, but with others, it doesn't come until later. We can't always tell."
Billie nodded slowly, seemingly processing how she felt about that. "I think it'll be great if he's a wolf shifter," she finally concluded. "Especially if he has you four to guide him through it. I think that'll be perfect. Joey is a very lucky boy."
"So, you still want to be with us, huh?" I asked cheekily.
"Oh yeah, for sure. Definitely, I think it’ll be perfect. Don't you?"
I couldn't help but agree with her. I pulled Billie in close and kissed her gently. The kisses were no longer reminiscent of how they were six years ago. I realized now that there was no heart in it then. We were both too scared to commit to it then. Now, we were really feeling one another in a brand new way.
"Hey, Cody?" We were distracted by a voice crackling through the walkie talkie I'd actually forgotten I had on my person. These were a good idea from Jasper, I was going to have to thank him later on. "It's Phoenix. Shit's about to go down. I think we might need another sniper on the case. One on top of the roof."
Billie grabbed my arm and nodded at me. "Cody, I can do that. I've always been much better with a snipe rifle than you. You know this."
Instantly I shook my head. I didn't want Billie in the firing line at all. Stark set up this panic room for her and Joey precisely. But at the same time, I knew Billie all too well to know that she would not let this go. Not when she knew she was right.
Plus, if I was being honest with myself, I would have to accept that long distance shooting wasn't my best skill. I had other things that I was the best at, but this wasn't it. I deflated and let Billie know that she would have to climb onto the roof, even though it scared the living shit out of me. I couldn’t stand losing her now.
I never wanted to lose her six years ago, it killed me more than anyone could ever know, but now when I really felt like we could have it all... it was too much.
I grabbed her, pulled her to me, and kissed her hard. I hoped that I could at the very least communicate all that I struggled to say aloud with my lips. Billie leaned in to me, holding me tight, before finally, she pulled away, just a little.
"You know I'm going to be fine, right?" she assured me with a sweet giggle. "I'm trained for this. This is what I'm best at. You just need to stay here with Joey."
I agreed because I really didn't have any damn choice in the matter, then I helped Billie climb out the window, as the panic room was the easiest way out onto the roof. Billie was still in her sun dress, and it seemed like she hadn't thought to get her panties on when we kicked into gear, so the view I got was something else. Honestly, she had me hard as a damn rock all over again. My mouth was dry, and I felt breathless with desire. My knees might as well have been knocking together with need, but now wasn't the time. Much as anger had no place here, a raging erection didn't either. To keep everyone safe, I needed to focus hard.
Once Billie was up on the roof, and in position, I kept the hand gun close to my chest. My son was here, my boy. I was still getting used to that, to be honest, but I freaking loved it. Joey was in this bed, dead to the world, and it was up to me to make sure no one got in here. The panic room was safe and secure, but with the bounty on both Billie and Joey's head, and the fact that someone had found us here, we couldn't afford to think that we were safe, even for a minute.
The love that ran through my body as I looked at Joey was boundless, endless, it was beautiful. I honestly felt like something had shifted within me the moment I found out the truth. My whole life had meaning and was complete. I wouldn’t usually have been okay with being the one left inside the house while others fought as I would have wanted to take charge, but I was content on staying put. For Joey.
"You're going to be fine, buddy," I whispered through the silence. "I promise you. No one can get to you here, nothing can happen to you when you are with us. You have the best guys in the world on the case, protecting you to the end."
Actually that was true. Throughout my military career and my security job for RedEye as well, I had been put in many teams and worked with all kinds of people, but none of them made me feel as comfortable and happy as these people. This all seemed like fate, the way that we had been put together. Stark knew exactly what he was doing when he put us all together. He sensed that we would blend well as a team.
Did he know that we would end up as a harem? Who knew, but for me, this was the best outcome. Now we just needed to get out of this alive.
What was that?All of a sudden, a sound struck me hard. One that had my blood freezing over, running ice cold. I raced to the window to watch what I could see from my very limited position. Gun shots, sniper shots. Shit, things really were happening. I didn’t know if it was Billie or Phoenix shooting, but I was afraid.
I held my gun tightly between my fingers, trying to glean some reassurance from the cold metal, but I wasn’t getting anything. This was a mess.
Then the wolves started howling. Grant and Jasper. Were they good howls? Bad ones? Was someone hurt out there? Shit, I really didn't like being stuck inside. I was like a wolf trapped in a zoo cage, pacing up and down desperately. The urge to run was absolutely overwhelming. I wasn't sure I could do this...
It was only for Joey. If I kept him at the forefront of my mind, I could push everything else away. I could ignore the rapid gun fire and the howls from the people I cared about the most. I could just keep pacing.
"Cody, I have to go join them," Phoenix crackled through the walkie talkie. "I'm shifting now. I’m just letting you know, okay?"
"Phoenix?" I called back, but to no avail. I wasn't sure why I even bothered. He wouldn't have said that he was shifting unless he was doing it that second. It was too late, he was gone. "Shit, Phoenix, what's going on out there?"
Every gun shot from then on made me wince because I absolutely knew that they were all coming from Billie. I trusted her shots, I knew that she was more than capable, but that didn't mean I liked it. I didn't like leaving it all to her.
I also didn't like the yelling and the howling. This was impossible.
"Cody!" Billie's blood curdling scream sent a shudder racing down my spine. I hung out the window so fast it was a miracle I didn't tumble out head first and hit the floor. "They are coming. I can't stop them all. Some are headed for the house."
I snapped into action right away, holding my gun close to my chest, ready to use it at any given moment. My heart thundered as I faced the door to the panic room. I didn't think anyone would be able to find the trap door, but who the hell knew who we were dealing with here? The number of enemies coming at us seemed to be endless. This bounty had really worked its magic for the Russians.
But that didn't mean we would be beaten. There was no way that we would allow ourselves to be defeated. We had worked too hard for that.
What was that?My heart jumped into my throat. That sound came from the house for sure. Someone had definitely slipped in through the main doors, and now... well, now we were in real trouble. The thumps and bumps of someone banging their way through our space killed me, but I just couldn't move. If I stepped out of this room for even a second, I risked someone slipping in and taking Joey.
No one would be able to forgive me if that happened. I wouldn’t forgive myself.
I backed towards the bed, putting as much of myself in front of Joey as I could just in case someone came in here all guns blazing. I kinda wanted to shift into my wolf form, so I could really protect him, but there wasn't enough room here. It put Joey at risk, and that was the worst thing that I could do.
No, the gun was all I could do to protect Joey. I had to focus on that.
I heard a wolf growl which seemed to be coming from within the house. I hoped that was a good thing. I hoped one of the other guys was going to take these intruders out before they got into this room. I was the last line of defense, and I didn't want anything to happen that would lead me to fucking up. If I screwed up, that was the end of everything. It was a hard pill to swallow. Although I didn't like being out of the loop.
"Cody!" Billie screamed again. I leaned back out the window to see what was going on now. "They are in the house. Someone followed. Are you okay?"
"Me and Joey are both fine," I reassured her as best I could. Although there was a definite tremor in my voice. "No one is in here. Are you okay?"
She didn't answer right away because she was too busy firing off a whole bunch of shots. I couldn't see what she could, I could barely see Billie, but she looked grim. The situation had to be worse than I thought.
"What's going on out there? How many are there?"
Billie shrugged. She gave me nothing which terrified me. My blood ran icy cold. I was so afraid of losing anyone in this situation. Where the hell was Stark and the other men he was sending our way? I knew it was a vague plan and not set in stone, but holy shit, we needed as many people as we could have right here, right now. If there were endless enemies here, then we were potentially going to be in a lot of trouble. We needed as many people as we could get on our side.
Where was the satellite phone? Shit, did I leave it outside? We all rushed off to our positions, and I wasn't exactly thinking straight, so now I wasn't sure. I had a horrible feeling it was sitting on the kitchen table, far out of reach.
"Shit!" I raked my fingers desperately through my hair. "Oh God, I hate this."
I slammed the window closed, not because I didn't want to listen to Billie anymore, but because I wanted to do something. I couldn't do what I needed to in here, I had to edge my way towards the trap door. I wasn't one hundred percent sure if I was about to go through it, to the kitchen to get the satellite phone, because I didn't want to leave Joey alone, but I just needed to see what was going on.
There was a lot of noise. I couldn't quite tell what was going on where. I couldn't be sure if these sounds were coming from inside the house or not. Even as I pressed my ear up against the trap door to listen. It was all so messy and chaotic.
"Fuck you!" Whoa. That was Jasper, inside my bedroom, that much I could be sure of. Obviously in his human form as well. When did he shift? And he wasn't alone. Who the hell was he with? "You piece of shit. Human life is worth more than a bounty. I don't care what the Russians are paying you, get the fuck out of here."
I pressed up my body against the door, so no one could get in. Jasper wouldn't try anyway, he was too busy fighting the guy. His priority was obviously to keep Billie and Joey safe as well. But I hated it. I squeezed my eyes shut and silently screamed at the sound of the ruckus outside. I despised myself for leaving Jasper to deal with it alone, but I had no choice in the matter.
Bang!All of a sudden, the fight landed on top of the trap door. Bodies slammed so hard against it––it was a good thing that I was pressed up against it too. They might have come flying through it otherwise, then everything would have been over. Bang! Bang! Were those fists? Feet? Who was winning here?
The guy fighting Jasper yelled something in Russian. I didn't understand much of the language, but I picked up a couple of words. They were very evident threats because of Project Hammond and the sensitive information stolen. Gory words of death were also thrown around, which made me want to throw up. I honestly wasn't sure how Jasper was doing such a good job of holding it all together. It had to be the intense adrenaline coursing through his veins because of the fight.
"Stand back," Jasper suddenly yelled, much to my surprise. I automatically followed his instructions even though I didn't know who they were aimed at, and thank goodness I did. I slammed myself against the wall as a bloody bullet––which must have pierced that man––came flying through the door.
If he hadn't warned me, I might have been hit.
Jasper shoved the body to one side and flung the trap door open. How the hell did he even know it was here? I guess he'd been more switched on with everything than I gave him credit for. He was just like that.
Or perhaps he'd sensed my presence. We were definitely somehow more in tune with one another after we'd connected as a harem, which was an interesting perk.
"Here. I assume you want the satellite phone," he told me breathlessly as he shoved it in my hands. "You stay here. I know you don't want to, but you have to stay put. We all need to know that you are keeping Joey and Billie safe and sound."
I was just about to nod regretfully, to slip back inside, and to make the all important call to Stark, when a bone chilling sound pierced through the air, echoing in the Denver woodlands. A howl––the sort of howl that only came once in a life time, right at the moment of death...