CHAPTER THIRTEEN
2951 Words
Later that evening, Maria came to the mansion from school because Mia knew she was going to work late. She had not seen nor talked to Cole since his siblings arrived but his brothers made a great show of hanging out with her and goofing around just to get on his nerves. Cole had received a phone call earlier, then escaped to his suite, a pinched frown on his handsome face. Mia had a strange feeling that something was wrong. Her stomach flipped and turned in a way that screamed danger!
Mia watched as Maria played chess with Jackson. She smiled to herself. Maria was going to beat his socks off, she was exceptionally good at chess. Eli and Callaway had been entertaining her with stories from their childhood and their lives as celebrities. Apparently being a celebrity was fun and all but when they explained the anonymous threats, poke nosing from journalists and public scrutiny they often had to endure, she figured that being a celebrity was not really a bed of roses after all.
Mia sucked in a breath as Cole's baritone voice rang out in the sitting room. He did not sound amused. She quickly rinsed soap suds from her hands and went to check out what it was that had him so pissed. As she stepped into the huge room, his brothers were already seated on the sofas, Maria was moving from foot to foot near the door and Marjorie was standing next to her brother, her hands on his shoulders.
Cole as if sensing her presence brought his head up sharply from the scrap of paper he was trying to figure out and stared straight at her, his gaze burning with a possessiveness that Mia felt clear to her bones. Mia felt trapped in his storm-blue eyes, all her defenses stripped and the world narrowed away to the man that was slowly capturing her heart. Cole's brothers started to guffaw loudly and Marjorie shot them a glance that said "behave!". They shut their mouths immediately.
"We know she's yours, brother. You don't have to stare at her like you want her for dinner.", Callaway said, grinning widely.
" Yeah, Cole" Eli drawled, "Cut her some slack, will ya?"
Cole's gaze left Mia and swept over his brothers,
"Cut it out you asses. We've got a problem on our hands. Floyd's in town. He arrived this morning and yes Callaway killed the crazy mother fucker but it appears that he's back."
His brothers stiffened in attention and Mia felt her heart stop. Maria gave her a frightened look from across the room and Mia edged towards her sister, at the same time giving her a subtle nod that everything was going to be fine.
"God, don't do that, Mia. We're not about to hurt your sister or anything."
Mia froze. How the hell did he know what she was thinking? Did he read minds too? Was that part of his Lycan abilities? She knew some Lycans possessed psychic powers too.
"How'd you know that?" She asked,her voice barely above a whisper.
Cole's gaze bored into her once again. She felt like he could see straight to her soul.
"It's written all over your face, miss Rodriguez. But we'd never hurt you or your sister, I promise you that. Our role is to protect, not to harm or hurt others."
" Your role?"
Jackson cut in,
" Uh...what Eli means is that we'd never hurt you, Mia. You're safe with us."
" But you're murderers!" Mia wailed and grabbed hold of Maria's hands as they both made a move for the door. Mia heard movements behind her and a figure grabbed her, stopping her escape. Jackson grabbed hold of Maria too as she struggled and kicked in his strong arms.
The figure that caught her from behind suddenly brought his mouth to her ear and Mia's struggles stopped almost immediately. Cole.
"Callaway killed Floyd in self defense, Mia. He was moments away from being stabbed in the chest by that crazy sonofabitch. If he had not done what he did, he probably wouldn't be here with us today."
Callaway let out a low snort, his pride obviously stung by Cole's words.
"I'm alot harder to kill than that, but of course, riddling Floyd's chest with bullets was my only choice."
Mia knew Callaway meant to say that werewolves were very difficult to kill. The could only be killed by breaking their necks or beheading them entirely. But that was not foremost in Mia's mind, they were safe here, she and Maria were safe. Cole and his brothers wouldn't hurt them. Mia didn't know when she sagged with relief against Cole's chest but suddenly he was turning her in his arms and giving her a tight, fierce hug, her cheeks and breasts crushed against his chest. From the safety of her mind, she heard his muffled voice.
"I would never, ever hurt you sweetheart. I will always keep you safe."
Startled she backed away from him but his strong still wrapped around her did not let her get too far. She looked deep into his blue eyes and saw the lining of silver that always appeared there when ever he was upset. She should be scared of him, she should be running from his family but she could not bring herself to run away from this man. He had a strong hold on her heart, and it seemed he was not planning on letting go.
"Don't. Even. Think. About. It"
Mia stared at him,
"About what?"
He took a step closer to her and narrowed his eyes,
"About running away from me, Mia. I don't want you to ever think about running away from me. Ever." His voice was cold and his face was expressionless. Mia scrambled away from him.
"Jeez, Cole. Do you read minds? Is that your little super power?"
Cole folded his massive forearms against his equally massive chest, the movement making Mia's mouth water.
"I don't read minds, Mia, but I sure as well can read expressions and yours had run written all over it."
Mia's face hardened, her pride resurfacing
" You can't blame me for wanting to get my sister and I to safety. And I'm sorry for assuming you guys were psychotic killers but it's not as if I had many other choices on what to think."
" You can compare us to any other element under the sun, Mia, but don't you ever compare us to those that hurt you. We would never hurt you or your sister."
Mia looked down, her hair falling like a thick veil over face. Then her sister asked with a small voice from the other end of the room where Jackson had finally set her down.
"Who is this Floyd guy anyway. What's his deal?"
Mia looked up at Cole, expecting his answer,
" Floyd is Jack Steve's assassin. He's the most highly paid assassin in the whole of America and he's Jack Steve's puppet. Worst of all, Jack labelled me as his sworn enemy after our match a few weeks ago but that was after he sent Floyd on a murder mission to Spain some months back, to kill me. Luckily I was with my brothers but the situation got ugly really quick and Callaway had to kill him...in self defense. I don't know how he survived but some how he did and I just got news from my eyes at the airport this morning that he was spotted coming down from one of the late morning flights. Floyd is back and I really don't think he's here for a damn tea party. When I kill him this time, I'll make sure he stays dead."
When Cole was done talking, his fists clenched and unclenched at his sides and his once blue gaze glowed a dangerous red. Wolf eyes. They were beautiful even in his state of anger.
Callaway inched closer to him and whispered,
"Your eyes bro, you're gonna give us away."
Marjorie spoke up for the first time since the whole fiasco started,
"It's okay. She already knows about us."
The air in the room seemed to turn frigid as everyone in the room trained their eyes on Mia. s**t! This was not how she envisioned asking Cole to tell her if he was a shifter or not.
Cole turned to his sister,
"What are you saying, Marj."
Marjorie moved from her position on the sofa, one elegant brow lifting as if to show indifference. She came to Mia's side and placed her hands on her shoulders.
"What I'm saying is, Mia here knows that we're shape shifters. Infact, she knows all about our species."
Mia watched as Maria's face crumpled then she let out a low shriek and launched for the door, before Mia could stop her,the double doors flung open and a gorgeous twenty something looking young man stepped into the room. Maria crashed into him and sent both of them tumbling to the polished floor. The new guy wrapped his arms tight around her to cushion the effects of her fall and Maria started sobbing. Harsh hard sobs that came straight from her heart. Mia's heart broke at the sight of her sister's tears and a lone tear ran unchecked down her own cheeks.
Rather surprisingly, the new guy wrapped his arms tighter around Maria and she sobbed into his chest. Oddly enough, he even looked content to just lie there and let her bawl all over his expensive looking shirt. After what seemed like forever, Maria lifted her head and stared at him, long and hard. Then she asked,
"Are you one of them too?"
"One of who?"
She rolled her huge eyes,
" Are you a Lycan?. You know, those horrible creatures that hurt other people..."
" Maria!" Mia shouted, appalled at her sister's choice of words. Maria ignored her and asked the guy again.
"Are you one of them?"
He let out a long sigh and said,
"Yes, miss. I'm a shape shifter, a lion to be precise, not a wolf."
Maria stared at him for a moment then she scrambled away, the tears running unchecked down her cheeks. She lifted a lamp from one of the side tables and waved it in the air like a banner,
"Stay the hell away from me, every single one of you. No body come close."
" Maria calm down"
" No sis, I won't calm down. What are you doing there? Come over here before any of these animals get their hands on you. I wouldn't be able to stand it if they ever hurt you again."
" Maria, it's okay..."
" No! No..it's not okay. These monsters hurt us. They killed our parents and almost took you away from me. I swear if any of you so much as come close to me, I'd rip your evil hearts out!"
Mia walked down to the door and faced her sister,
" Maria, put the lamp down, put the lamp down baby."
" How can you ask me to do that, sis. What if they try to attack us again. We cannot fight without weapons."
" Do you plan on fighting the five huge men in this room with a single lamp?"
" Well at least I have to try."
" Maria, listen to me, everything is fine just put the lamp down for a sec."
" Yes, Maria," Marjorie quipped, " We're the good guys, we would never hurt or kill anyone if they didn't deserve it. Yes I know we've killed, but we only meet death out on those who deserve it, like the rouge werewolves that killed your parents. We werewolves are only supposed to feed on animals but any werewolf that deviates and begins to feed on your species is considered a rogue and must be executed. Those are the kinda people we kill, the bad guys, not normal, innocent people.
Maria seemed to calm down a bit and she dropped the lamp back on the table.
"You guys aren't going to hurt my sister?"
" No, of course not. We would never hurt her, or you. We could even help you track down and execute the shifters that killed your parents"
Maria's face lit up,
" Really? That's..."
" Not going to happen" Mia cut in, " We really appreciate your efforts and kind gestures but we can fight our own battles. We don't need your help."
Mia heard Cole's groan of frustration from the far end of the room. No matter what anyone told her, she could not allow Cole's family to get involved in the circumstances that surrounded the death of her parents. The rouge werewolves that were after she and Maria's lives were dangerous enough without getting another family involved. She would not be able to live with her self if Cole or any member of his family died or got seriously hurt from choosing to offer their help. It was not happening.
"Aw, c'mon, Mia. Mr Anderson and his family are the good guys, they could help us get the rouges off our backs for good."
" Hold up," Cole told her, " they're trailing you?"
" Yes. They've been following us for seven years now, sometimes they find us and we have to go on the run again. We're never safe anywhere. We just moved here, but God only knows when they are going to find us, and we would have to run again. We're never safe anywhere."
" Why? Why did they kill your parents and why are they after you."
" Well, that's because..."
" Enough, Maria! I swear one more word from you young lady and God knows what I'll do."
" But Mia..."
" I said that's enough. Not. Another. Word.
"Mia..."
"Yes, Mr Anderson, I believe there's a reason for our assembling here. Please get on with it."
Cole gave her a look that said " this isn't over" but he did speak on it again.
" Seeing that Floyd is here, I asked Marj if she could get a read on him." He flicked Mia a glance " Marjorie is a Lycan witch. She can heal wounds and read minds. "
Mia gasped, this just kept getting better and better.
"Anyways, Marjorie read him and it seems that Floyd and his master are working in collaboration with a werewolf pack which consists of a Lycan witch with similar powers to Marjorie's. She healed his wounds and that's how he survived the bullets. "
Cole's brothers gasped at the revelation.
"Holy s**t, Cole, Jack Steve has a Lycan pack under him now?" Eli asked, " Could this get any better"
" Actually, it does. Floyd is here with someone, a woman, and she's helping him. The woman from what Marjorie could gather, is Jack's mistress and he sent her here to assist his minion in his work. However, Marj can't get a read on who the mistress is. She seems to be protected by an invisible wall, the work of their witch I presume. So, she could be any random woman and women are dangerous and complicated enough without adding random to the mix" Cole said, looking in Mia's direction."
"Man, it's even more complicated than I thought. Whoever would've believed that Jack Steve knows about us and must importantly, which pack is he in partnership with" Jackson, always the reasonable one of the group mused.
"I dunno man. I've doubled the mansion's security. CCTV cameras are to be installed in every nook of this house by tommorow morning. I know we don't have any need for guards but I've ordered for a trained team to be here by tommorow morning too. That way, if miss Anderson or her sister were to go anywhere, we'd be assured of their safety. Some guards will also be posted to Maria's school, for safety reasons. We've got a mad man on our hands and I do not plan on going easy on him. "
" Say, George, what are you doing here anyway? " Callaway asked the new guy
" He's our tech man. I flew him in all the way from New Jersey, luckily he could make it in time. He's going to man the CCTV cameras and help us tap into the electronic system of Jack Steve's mansion. He'll also install tracking chips into all our phones for easy tracking. "
" We've got noses for that. " Eli claimed smugly
" I know that, Eli, I meant tracking over long distances in case we encounter any glitches in our plan...and no one," Cole said, narrowing his eyes at Mia, " Is expected to leave the house during the day time without informing me."
"Calm your balls baby bro, we'll be as meek as lambs, won't we guys?"
" sure, sure" Cole's brothers answered, struggling to hold in gales of laughter.
"This isn't funny you guys. Anyway, y'all are yet to meet my masseuse. I'll introduce you to her in the morning. She's hot" Cole said winking at his brothers and Mia felt her blood run cold with anger.
"Let's all call it day. It's late anyways, you guys should get some rest."
Mia was about to go finish up in the kitchen, her blood still steaming when someone grabbed her arms in an iron grip. She whipped her head quickly and found her self staring into the bluest pair of eyes she'd ever seen, eyes that she found herself falling in love with day after day.
"Where do you think you're going, Miss Rodriguez. We have to talk."
" I don't have anything to say to you, Cole, please let go of me."
Cole scoffed,
" Haven't you come to realise already, Mia, that I would never, ever let go of you? I will always hold on to you and you do not have a say in this"
- Writer
