Page 13

All Things Change

He'd recovered from the attack and was as good as new.

While Harry had been the one who had pulled him out, it was the fact that Sally kept a close eye on him that had led to him being saved.

Had she not noticed that he had not come back to the office at his usual time, she wouldn't have called Harry, and Harry would never have helped him.

Was he grateful? Damn straight, but he didn't know how to show her.

Their relationship was weird, and he didn't understand it any more than she did.

His feelings were hard to understand, and he knew that he wanted her in his life, but he wasn't sure how.

She fought any feelings that she might have for him, and he had to admit that he did the same.

Under the circumstances, it would be hard to be ready when morning came.

He got out of bed and stretched, and he could still feel a slight achiness even though his wolf had healed most of it.

Xantos knew that had he been left with those brutes much longer, he might not have been able to recover.

He was glad that Harry had been there to handle them because a little stint as a frog might make them appreciate the danger that they were in when they messed with paranormals.

A stay in a paranormal prison was something they might not survive.

It was hard enough on paranormals, but a human, few had lived through it, and he didn't feel bad about that.

It wasn't just that they had tried to kill him, but the bastards were sadistic, and they had tried to put him through as much torture as they could before he died.

That had turned out to be the only reason that he had survived.

He headed downstairs, and as soon as she saw him, Sally brought him something to eat.

None of the others knew what had happened, or they would have already been asking questions and overwhelming him.

It was best that they didn't know, and there was nothing they could do about it.

The danger they faced was no greater than it had been before, and it was something they needed to be cautious about.

Since they already knew what could happen, he didn't feel bad about not telling them that it had happened to him and he had almost died.

Xantos had a feeling that Sally didn't track any of the others as carefully as she had him.

He thought it odd that they had attacked him rather than one of the less experienced and weaker field personnel.

That had been their tactic in the past, but they were changing their approach.

Even though they'd not had any success with the weaker people on the team, they wanted to go against one of the strongest? Those terrorists made no sense.

By calling himself one of the strongest, he wasn't being arrogant; instead, he was being honest. It was just a fact.

He wasn't sure what was going on with those people, but it was evident that no one in his group was safe.

They rarely attacked the strong males, preferring instead to target the females, hoping that one of them might be weak enough to take her down and have their way with her.

They had tried that more than once. He wasn't sure what had caused this change in their behavior, only that it was apparent they had undergone a change.

If he had the opportunity, he intended to take them down and subdue them.

Was he angry? Hell, yes, and he would show them just how angry he was if he got the opportunity.

They were all done with breakfast, and everyone hurried out to their trucks so they could start their jobs.

They hopped in to complete their work and have a chance to be at the top of the list. He felt uneasy about going out after what had happened the day before, but he would get over it.

He would stay at the top of the list and get those bonuses.

Xantos wasn't going to let anyone beat him in anything.

It was bad enough that he had been caught and abused and needed someone else to free him and heal him.

That was something that he hoped would never happen again.

Checking to ensure that his truck was fully stocked, once he was sure it was, he hopped into the driver's seat and took off.

He had five locations and two spares in case she got done early.

Everything should be routine today because the whole group of those terrorists had been taken out, and surely that would make the others think twice about attacking him or anyone else.

Sometimes, it was as though they didn't have a brain between them.

If he was constantly being taken down and taken out to the point that no one knew what had happened to him or they told a wild story about being turned into frogs, he would stop and find another job. Why they didn't was beyond him.

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 like a 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 a frog.

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.”