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His first location looked innocent enough, but after yesterday, he would be checking things out much more carefully. When he knocked on the door, a young boy answered and invited him in. The kid took him on a tour through the house so he would see what he needed to do, and it was clear that there was no one else there. He had to appreciate his wolf senses because they would not let him down. Returning to the truck, he quickly gathered what he needed and got to work. The job was done quickly, and he marked it off the list, preparing to go to the next one.

Today was a better day as he worked his way through his list and got all the way to the last one. No, he hadn't taken a lunch break because he was too focused on completing his tasks for the day. He was to number five on the list, and if it went as well as the others, he might even manage an extra. As he arrived at the job, he felt nervous because the house looked likea complete dump and seemed like it would fall down if given a good kick. That would make anyone anxious, wouldn't it? His hand was on a Taser as he knocked on the door. An elderly gentleman answered, but he looked clean and reasonably well-dressed. This wasn't the way the others looked at all.

“My children have been bothering me about getting some kind of security because I live alone, and none of them are nearby.”

That made sense, and he wasn't the first one who had got security because they were older and had no one close by. The older man toured him through the house, showing him everything he needed to see, and then went back out to retrieve his equipment. The house wasn't too big, and he thought he could get it done quickly. When he was finished with the job, he told the man what he needed to do and headed out to his truck. That was when the trouble began because he was attacked. He was able to knock several out with one Taser, and then he grabbed the other one and knocked the rest of them out. He looked around to see if there was anyone else that he needed to take out, but there wasn't. Xantos restrained them and contacted the state police.

He reported it, and then he left, going back to his office because he'd had enough for the day. Remembering that he needed to clean out their pockets, he did so before leaving. Admittedly, he was tired of dealing with these people, and he wished there was something he could do to remove them from the game. They seemed to think this was a giant game and that harassing and aggravating the security personnel was a form of entertainment. If he could figure out a way to cause them enough grief, they would stop. Then again, if being turned into a frog wasn't enough to make you quit, what the hell would? Xantos couldn't think of anything worse than being turned into afrog. He'd heard others speak of it who had been through it, and they said that it was a nasty taste in your mouth that didn't want to go away.

Back early, he headed into the office where food was cooking and fixed himself a large plate. Dealing with evil assholes seemed to build his appetite, and he fixed himself a large bowl.

“Any problems?” Sally asked.

“I was attacked again, and I restrained them and left them for the state police. Here's the money they had on them.” He piled it on the table for Sally to get.

"They seem to be focused on you and the office," Sally observed.

He wondered why it was true. They were changing the way they did things. Going after the strong even though they had to know they would lose. Was that what they had been directed to do? Xantos heard noises at the door and saw that the other field personnel were coming in one by one. They fixed their plates and sat down with him and ate. When they were all finally there, he realized that none of them had been attacked, and he was glad because they didn't need that on top of everything else. It was clear that none of them had any idea of the attack that he had gone through. He thought about telling them so they would be aware and cautious, but he realized that they should be careful anyway, and being nervous at work wouldn't help them.

Did any of them know something? No, because none of them said anything or looked at him differently. The phone rang, and Sally answered it. She looked up at him and held the phone out in a way that he realized the call was for him. He hurried to the office, where he picked up that phone, and he saw her put it down.

“I heard things were happening," Tyne mentioned.

“They've been coming after me and Sally. We don't know why, and we are not the best choices since both of us are a little stronger than some of the other ones.”

“I wonder if they know something that I would not expect them to know. Something's going to be happening soon, and you're going to get a choice that you've not had before, both of you. I don't really know anyway that this group of people would have any idea what's happening. There must be another reason that they're focusing on the two of you. All of you need to be careful, as there are no attacks anywhere else. They are focusing strictly on your office.”

Tyne had dropped that information bomb, and he was gone. Xantos couldn't imagine anything that was going to happen that would affect the terrorists. He also found it hard to understand how they could know something about paranormals that many paranormals themselves didn't know. How could they be aware of the inner workings of a world that they were not part of and wanted to destroy? They must have had inside information if they knew about something like that. What paranormal would be feeding them information like that? Or was it an outsider who had gotten some information that they shouldn't have?

This was difficult enough without adding more people and more information. These terrorists needed to be taken out. He wasn’t sure why Tyne didn’t just send them enough help to clear out these guys. Maybe he really didn't have that much help because he always seemed to be shorthanded somewhere. It was also possible that he was afraid of getting in trouble with the human police. It would look too much like a war, and they couldn't afford that kind of attention. Hell, there were a lot of reasons, so he guessed he could understand. Xantos also didn'tunderstand what the big secret event was that was coming up and why Tyne kept hinting about it but wouldn't tell him.

He wasn't sure this was something he would be interested in, and he wasn't sure who else would be involved, as Tyne had also been hinting about that. Apparently, it was a life-changing event, and he would be in the middle of it. Maybe he didn't want to be in the middle of something like that. Xantos had heard Tyne had been involved in several activities concerning alphas. Hopefully, that wasn't what this was about. Xantos didn't know what he would say if that was what he was presented with. Yes, he'd love to fight the son of a bitch, maybe even kill him, but he didn't know how he felt about taking over a pack. No one in the pack had ever been strong, and they had given his mother and him no support whatsoever.

Why should he care about what happened to them? Their lack of care and concern was one of the reasons his mother was dead. He couldn't even remember any of the people in the pack because he had been isolated from them and so had his mother. Maybe that was partly so no one would care about them, and no one did. Reflecting on the past gave him a headache, and he tried not to dwell on it too much. Why was he thinking about it now? This might have nothing to do with what time I was thinking about. It could be a better job, one in management over multiple office fields. Yeah, right. He wasn't even sure the time had those kinds of positions available.

Xantos tried to push things out of his mind. It needed to be clear so he could get some sleep since it was bedtime. That was not the best time for his thoughts to be racing, and as he took his shower, he tried to clear his mind of negative thoughts. Sally came to mind, and he was hard as a rock. His hand moved to his cock, and he began to stroke it. He closed his eyes, and Sally filled his mind as his hand closed firmly around his rod,and he stroked faster and faster. His orgasm was coming, and suddenly, his seed hit the wall of the shower and ran down to the drain. Her name was on his lips as he collapsed against the wall. What was this woman to him, and why couldn't he get her off his mind?

His sleep was surprisingly good, and he got up in the morning ready for whatever the day would throw at him. He was the first one downstairs, arriving even before Sally did. Since he wanted to eat what she cooked for breakfast, he went and prepared his truck first and then came back in. Sally was there now and in the middle of cooking food for everyone. It was hard to deny that she was a good person, one who would do that for everyone, even when she got nothing out of it. As soon as she saw him, she fixed his plate and then her own, and they sat there quietly eating.

Even without talking, they felt a sense of camaraderie, and he enjoyed sitting with her for breakfast. Other people began to arrive, and they fixed their own plates and sat down to eat as well. Some of them spoke, but most remained quiet. It was business as usual, and everyone quickly got their lists and headed out once their food was eaten. Xantos could only hope that he and Sally and he supposed the rest of the field crew would have a good day. The enemy had been more active than usual, and there was no reason to expect them to stop. All they could do was be careful and hope that they would survive until the enemy's interest was elsewhere or they ran out of money. They didn't seem to care about any of these people, and he labeled them cannon fodder.

He went to the farthest place to begin, and nothing stood out there. Each place after that had no problems, and he finished his five places early enough to add the sixth. He could only hope that losing so many people had slowed them down. Xantosheaded back to the office and was the first one to arrive, giving him the choice of food that was cooked for supper. It felt good to be here alone with Sally, but it wouldn't be long before the others arrived. He had to admit that he wanted her badly, and the only thing holding him back was the fact that she didn't seem as interested in him as he was in her. That was hard on the ego and something he had never dealt with before.

Almost as if on cue, the first of the field crew arrived, followed by the rest. As soon as he finished supper, he went up to his room. He watched a little TV, but he also listened so he would know when Sally came to the room. It took a while, but when he heard her open the door, he went into the shared living space.

“I've thought about us a lot, and I'm not sure how you feel, but I can't get you off my mind.”

Sally blushed, and that told him that she had been thinking about him a lot as well.

“I thought of you, but I don't want to get involved with a paranormal. How would that work when I couldn't shift?”

He wasn't sure how to answer that, so he didn't say anything at all, and he went back to his room, where he lay in his bed and thought about her more. At least he had tried to sort out their relationship, even though it hadn't helped him at all. Sleep found him eventually, but he dreamed of her, and he remembered that in the morning. Xantos wasn't sure why he wanted that woman so bad, only that he did. His wolf was unhappy because he had expected to claim her or, at the very least, to have her for the night. That was a part of him that was not used to not getting what he wanted.

In the morning, he hurried to get ready and get down for breakfast. His wolf would have to be happy with a good meal and the company of the rest of their crew. In his head, he heard agrowl. Maybe his wolf was a little spoiled because where females were concerned, he was used to getting whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it. That wasn't going to work where Sally was concerned. He hurried downstairs and saw that Sally had made it before him. Breakfast was cooked, and as soon as she saw him, she got his plate ready and set it on the table. It wasn't long before the rest of their crew arrived.

Xantos went and checked out his truck and then came back in and grabbed his list. She seemed happy that he had taken an extra place the day before. Doing so would disrupt them, but it might help them catch up. He knew the Tyne hoped that they would catch up soon, but it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Tyne had discussed sending extra people in to do the catchup work. One of them might be Harry, and he knew that Sally would love that. She would go out into the field with her.

There was no doubt that some customers were becoming frustrated with the length of time it was taking to set up their security, especially given the recent increase in crime in the area. No one could blame them, but they were overwhelmed and handling everything as quickly as possible. If Tyne sent extras, he was sure it would be next week. It was not unusual for him to do that in a new office like this one once things were up and running. Those sent were from other offices that would work on a short-term basis until their personnel were returned. Tyne had many at the home office who were willing to work overtime and wanted to do so.