Page 1

Prologue

It was hard to believe that they were in charge together. Why had Tyne decided on that? Xantos seemed happy enough, but she just wanted to get away. Moe had asked her first, and she hadn't known who would be partnered with her when she'd said yes. It would look weird if she'd changed her mind now, and she had hoped for a career working in security. The worst thing would be if they realized why she didn't want to do this. They might even think she had a thing for him and couldn't be close without being nervous. That simply wasn't true, but she wouldn't want anyone to believe that.

Sally could have liked him had he not been so arrogant and full of himself. Perhaps that overconfident behavior worked for him, as he had just arrived in Alaska and was already in charge of a new office. Not that she thought that was a reward. The reason it paid so much was because it was such a hard job, especially since it was a new office. Startups often faced problems and were frequently targeted by malicious individuals. These people hated paranormals, even though she would not be surprised if most of them did not have a pinch of the paranormal in them somewhere due to the centuries of breeding back and forth that had occurred.

While she couldn’t shift herself, she had some wolf in her. How much? She wasn't sure. Her mother was human, but her great grandpa had been a wolf. He had no luck having children with anyone but humans, or at least those with at least part human ancestry. He'd finally been able to have a son with a half-breed, but he'd been a little bit crazy. The crazy had continued down that bloodline until now. That pack was stuck with an alpha so nuts that she felt sorry for them. She was glad thather great-grandmother had moved away and left behind all that craziness.

Her family might be poor, but they had their sanity and their self-respect. They also had a knowledge of the paranormal world that they never shared with anyone outside the family. Sally was the first one, since her great-grandmother, who couldn't shift. Her mother had told her if she married a shifter, she would probably be able to shift. That was unlikely to happen since everything she had been told made her feel like it was too scary to even attempt sex with a shifter or any other paranormal, for that matter. She didn't hold anything against them. She simply didn't want to be like them.

Sally suspected that Xantos was a wolf. There was just something about him that made her feel that way. Wolves were usually tall and well-built. They had an air about them, and it was hard to determine their age. Some were confident, but others were like him, which was arrogant. He strutted around like the cock of the walk and, like any female, would just fall helplessly in love with him. Not this female and not under these circumstances. It was true that she was drawn to him for some reason that she didn't understand, but she didn't have to act on it, and she wasn't going to.

Chapter 1

Nowhere

Xantos had now been given that supervisory position that Tyne had discussed with him a year ago or more. He'd been given every kind of training that he could imagine and then some. It had surprised him that he had a partner to manage this small base out in the middle of nowhere. Most bases were near a town, but they were positioned between three small towns and surprisingly getting more business than they could handle. Sally was pretty and a little shy, and he could tell that she greatly lacked confidence and resented him because he didn't.

She did a good enough job, but she didn't do anything outstanding, and he wondered if that was because she didn't want to draw attention to herself. He wasn't one to ask questions because he didn't want anyone to ask questions about him. All he needed was a good job, a place to live, and to be left alone. Xantos was the son of a pack alpha from Nevada, and the guy was a sorry son of a bitch. It was amazing that, as the only son, he had not been treated better by his father. He'd not, and now they were both gone. His mother had gone to the goddess, and he'd gone on the run, avoiding anything that tracked back to his father.

He couldn't say that he would kill anyone on purpose, but he was sadistic and liked to mistreat people. Rumor had it that he was related to some of the alphas from up north who had been displaced and that the bloodline was tainted. Xantos could testify that his father's blood was bad, but he didn't know if there was a relationship between him and those up north or not, and he didn't really care. All he wanted was to be separate from any member who might be traced back to that family. Tyne had toldhim about the pack, and his father had then given him some information whenever he received it. He really didn't know how he'd known that he was the secret son, only that he'd known.

It wasn't as if he'd ever admitted it or probably never would. His boss just had a way of knowing things, and that was what made him such a good security officer. He'd known about his mother too and how they had escaped that horrible wolf. She'd waited until he was old enough to take care of himself, and then she swam out into the ocean so far that there was no way she could make it back. She had drowned. Xantos blamed himself because he'd not been with her. He'd been at work and unable to save her. He knew deep inside that she would have continued to try until she succeeded. Even though they'd left that horrible wolf, a small, dark, evil part of him had taken root inside her. She would have never gotten rid of it.

While he blamed himself, he also blamed the council who had supported that horrible wolf and allowed him to continue to abuse those in his pack and had never taken any kind of action against him. It was unlikely that they ever would. Perhaps if he had been stronger and tougher, he would have confronted him, accused him of what he had done, and taken him down. It was a dream that came to him sometimes, but he was sure he would never do it. For now, he checked the equipment on his truck and then went into the office to get his list. She'd left it lying on the desk while she went back to work in the equipment room, making sure that everything was in order as needed. Sally avoided him, and he wasn't entirely sure why. If that was the game she wanted to play, he would let her.

Four new people would be joining them, and Sally would have to help train them. They were making no appointments at the office and only setting things up through phone calls, so she would just have to take the phone with her. They were soisolated that Tyne had temporarily set up a grocery drop until they figured things out. It was true that the three towns were near them if fifty miles away was 'nearby.' So close and yet so far when it came to getting small items that you needed daily. Everyone was in charge of their own food, but Sally cooked occasionally, and she wasn't half bad. She was good to share, and since Tyne was paying for the food for a little while, at least she wasn't out of pocket on it.

Xantos could cook a little bit, but he was impatient and often took shortcuts that could affect the quality of his meals. Sally tended to do the job right, and she had a few meals she cooked that were delicious. In this region, being a good cook could draw in a mate. She could also hunt and fish, which was unusual for a female, even in this area, unless she was native, which she wasn't. He wished he could get the female off his mind, but that wasn't happening. Even in his dreams, she came to visit him, and he didn't understand it because that had never happened to him before. As he loaded some equipment out of the equipment room, he caught her scent, which only made things worse.

Checking out his list, he saw the usual five locations. Sally had done a good job of clustering them together so he could go in one direction, and they wouldn't be too far apart. She also made a note at the bottom that she was catching two locations today. That was set up so that she would be back in the afternoon when the first new person appeared. It would be her job to provide them with the necessary information and assign them a room. The house the office had been relocated to was huge, and initially, everyone working out of the office would have a room there. There were even a couple set up like mini apartments, and he and Sally shared one of those. The other one would go to anyone with children or a couple that both worked here.

It was an easy day, which told him the Pure Blooders probably hadn't caught up to the fact that they had a new office open or they didn't want to work in such an isolated area. Xantos hadn't dealt with those people much because they hadn't been active in southern Missouri, where he'd been working before. Tyne had cautioned him that they were active in this area and that he would need to be careful. Every day without trouble was a blessing from the goddess, and as he pulled into the base, he was pleased with his day's work. If Sally got her two jobs done, covered the office, met up with the new person, and got them settled in, he would be happy with what she got done, too. He locked up his truck and headed into the office.

That someone else was there was immediately evident because Sally and him were talking. He seemed to be a friendly guy, and he hoped that he was good at his job. Xantos had learned from watching other managers that when you had someone who wasn't good at their job, you ended up having to do a whole lot of work until they improved, or you had to let them go, and then everything fell on you. He didn't mind doing his share, but he liked to take a day off occasionally, and that wouldn't happen until he had a full crew, and they were all up to speed.

“Hey, Xantos, This is Terri. Xantos is the field supervisor, and you will be working with him tomorrow," Sally explained.

Terri was not a guy, but her voice was husky. That's why he made the mistake. She was a cute blonde with blue eyes and about five feet tall. There was a look in her eyes as she looked at him, but he wasn't going to touch that, not at work. Besides, he hadn't had any interest in any females since he'd met Sally. He wouldn't let her know that, but it had really put a cramp in his style because male wolves needed regular sex, and he wasn't getting it. Nothing he could do about it until Sally decided thatshe was interested in satisfying his needs. It was time to put his attention elsewhere because he was starting to get hard, and that would be noticeable since Terri was a wolf.

The only reason she probably hadn't noticed right away was because of the smell of cooking food. Xantos went to check out the crock pots that Sally had going and filled a bowl of food. He felt like just wolfing up the food, but he needed to use his manners.

“Thank you for the food, Sally. You are a great cook.” He praised.

“You're welcome. I'm glad you like it. Currently, Tyne is providing supplies until we have everything sorted out so we can arrange for our own food to be delivered. I've been cooking something every day, so anyone here will have food until we figure out how to get our own food brought in. Tyne has connections that we don't have, and he dropped a monthly supply when we opened this office. If we can't find anything else, Tyne will do a monthly delivery, and each person can pay for their own food.”

“Sounds like a nice bonus to start with.” Terri approved.

“Terri has gone through the training course and worked for Tyne for a few months before transferring here. I think it won't be long before you're able to turn her loose. Xantos usually likes to work alone.” Sally explained.

He remembered that they'd had a discussion, and he'd told her that he'd train people, if necessary, but once they were ready, they'd be let loose because he preferred to work alone. Xantos wasn't the only one who liked to do that because other field managers worked alone as much as possible. It wasn't that he was antisocial. It was that he could hit his stride and workthrough a setup in less time alone than he could when he was working with someone.

“That's alright. I like to work alone myself. That way, if something goes wrong, I know I made a mistake, and it's easier to track back and find it. Usually, nothing goes wrong, and then I get all the glory for doing a wonderful job," Terri admitted.

Sally laughed, but it didn't sound like she was too sure that it was a joke. He wasn't sure either. Was she explaining to them how she felt about the job and about having a partner?

“Partners aren't required unless you are training someone, or we begin to have trouble with the Pure Blooders. I'm sure Tyne has explained to you how they've been known to attack our people, but they don't seem to be in this area yet. You should still take all possible precautions," Xantos explained.

“Tyne did explain, cautioned me, and gave me a Taser because he said that had been the best weapon so far that females should use. He even gave me some training for it, and I believe I do a pretty good job. Those bad guys won't know what hit them.”