The Shifter and Her Human Mate

John Hill’s POV The man stared up at me, his wide blue eyes opened with surprised betrayal and terror. “How did you find out it was me?” He whispered. “It’s what we do.” I said without emotion before I fired my weapon with a silencer right into his forehead. He fell backwards immediately and hit the floor with a loud thud. I walked over my former comrade, disgust and anger rising in my throat. Anger at him for betraying our bosses and company secrets. And disgust at myself that this life is all I know. The man trembled in fear as soon as he opened his hotel door and saw me. He knew he was done, and knew his time had come today. My victim knew it would be no use trying to fight me. My legal name is John Hill. A boring, simple name. I grew up in foster care my entire life and never met my parents. I don't even know if they are alive. No one ever told me the circumstances that landed me in the custody of Virginia's Children's services. Foster care taught me how to fight from an early age. Unfortunately, my readiness to raise hands got me tossed around between Juvenile Hall and group homes. I aged out at eighteen and immediately signed up for the Marines, knowing it was either that or jail. I started my career in the United States Marines, blasting my way all over the world on various assignments. Never once have I been injured in the line of duty or even come close. My Marine buddies joked I had to be made of Teflon. It wasn't long before the Agency heard of my talents and recruited me. They gave me my code name, Ghost. Because I leave absolutely no trace behind in my work. Apparently, that makes for quite the killing machine. A job I'm VERY good at. I have few friends except my fellow hit men, and even those are distant friendships. There is no wife or children waiting for me at a humble ranch house with a green lawn and white picket fence. In my line of work it’s better that way. Their lives would be in danger every single day. I keep a residence, a small one bedroom apartment nestled in Washington DC. I'm used to being away months or even a year at a time, depending on where my assignments take me. I have devoted almost two decades to the Agency. But for the past year, I have been increasingly disillusioned. I’m thirty-nine years old. Surely it isn’t too late for me to walk away from this life, find a nice woman and try to settle down. Though my luck with women has never been great. It's like they can sense the darkness in me. If I left the agency, I would be completely alone. This life isn't an easy one to live. So many get recruited, but very few stay as long as I have. They either get killed or get out when they've had enough of death. I've only made one steady friend in the years I have been in this business. Crane, the code name for my best friend, retired a few months ago. His real name is Daniel Gallagher, and he comes from Belfast. He has been traveling all over making up for lost time. Sometimes alone, sometimes with his daughter, Ellie. Daniel has family and friends to spend time with, so retiring was of no consequence to him. I don't have anyone. Daniel Gallagher’s work in the Agency wasn’t heroic, but it was very important. He was our reconnaissance guy, our eyes and ears. And for me, the heart and soul of the Agency. Daniel is a good man, and he is the only man on this planet I would trust with my life. After I cleaned up the mess and made the necessary disposal of my co-worker, I gave Daniel a call. “John, I was just getting ready to call you! You are a hard person to get a hold of!” I smirked at the running joke among us Agency men. “You caught me after a job. Guess.” “That lad in London?” “No, worse. It was one of ours.” I didn’t miss Daniel’s gasp. “WHO!” “Cobra.” “WHAT! WHY!” “I honestly don't know anything. It came from up top and Mr. Z handed it to me.” “God in Heaven!” Daniel muttered. “Daniel, I’m getting tired of this.” I inhaled sharply, realizing too late I had spoken my true feelings for the first time. I braced myself for a litany of why I needed to stay in my job. “John, when was the last time you took a vacation?” “Well…it’s been…” Shock hit me hard as I realized, in over twenty years with the Agency, I have never once taken a vacation. I’ve been all over the world on assignments but never one where I could actually relax. Just how much vacation time do I have built up?! “Ellie has been hoping to visit New Orleans when she turns eighteen next week. I have plane tickets, but Audra doesn’t want to go, and I don’t want her ticket to go to waste. Care to join me in Louisiana?” It would be really nice to go to New Orleans without killing someone for once. “Daniel, I have really missed the French Quarter. But I don’t want to take your wife’s ticket. She could change her mind after all.” "Ha! You know Audra. Once she sets her mind to something, that's it!" "Still though, if I accept and Audra turns around and says she wants to go after all, I don't want to be the cause of trouble with you two. But I'll tell you what...I really do need a vacation. It will be a couple of days before I can get a flight back to DC. When do you leave?" "We're catching a flight in three days." Daniel told me. "Sounds good. Give me a few days and I will join you there." "I'll be glad to see you, old friend. I know Ellie and Audra will be too." "Looking forward to it." We made plans for a day to meet up in New Orleans until he had to get off the phone. I headed back to my motel, and after I got settled in, I saw that I had missed two phone calls and a FaceTime request from my boss, Mr. Z. Bracing myself for the a** chewing, I called Mr. Z back. "Ghost! What the hell took you so long!! You know the rules! When I call, you better answer immediately!" Mr. Z shouted at me. "I apologize, sir. Finalizing things took a bit longer than usual." Something told me I had better not tell Mr. Z I talked to Daniel Gallagher earlier. He was livid when Daniel retired and made his life miserable right up until Daniel's last day with the Agency. "Spare me the details! I trust all went as planned?" "It did, sir. I will be at your office at 0900 on Monday to drop off the requested items, and then I'm taking a long-overdue vacation." "Good, good. I have another assignment for you....Wait. DID YOU JUST SAY YOU WERE GOING ON A VACATION!? WITHOUT ANY F*****G NOTICE?!" S**t. "Mr. Z, this last job about took me out. It was not easy to fire Cobra. I need a break to recuperate." I kept the emotion out of my voice. "Ha! You...recuperate!! You spent almost a month in Indonesia and you need a vacation!? Give me a f*****g break!" Mr. Z sputtered. "That wasn't a vacation!" I was in no mood for Mr. Z's petulance. "This last assignment was in f*****g paradise, and you are telling me you need a vacation?! No! I can't spare you, Ghost! I need you for this next project!" "Sir, you're going to have to give it to someone else." I am trying to be as respectful as I can to this man, but felt my disgust ready to boil over. "I won't do that, Ghost! Either you take this job or you can kiss this life goodbye!!" Mr. Z screamed at me. "Let me make sure I have this straight. You are threatening to fire me because I want to take a vacation, something I have not requested in the twenty years I have been with this organization!? You can't do this and I'm sure Internal Review will not allow it!" He wants to be d**khead? So can I. "Don't you threaten me! If you want to keep your job, you had better report here by Monday morning! Good night!" The finality of the hang-up was clear. The moment I put my phone back in my pocket, I knew my time with the agency was done. And surprisingly, I felt relieved. It wasn't like I didn't have enough to live on. Unlike the other men in my field who spend their money on women and d***s so they can forget how they end human lives every day, I saved my money diligently and had a stock portfolio worth millions. I also had something else. Something I'm not exactly in a hurry to get to Mr. Z. I took out the USB flash drive I acquired from my deceased former co-worker that supposedly had Agency secrets on it. I opened my laptop and inserted the USB. The files came into view and I clicked on them, not believing what I was seeing. Many of the images were of naked people. I went through them carefully, wondering if there was some trafficking ring that the Agency stumbled upon. None of this made sense. If that was the kind of thing the guy was into, it wouldn't have been a serious enough infraction to eliminate him. There had to be more. I went through the remaining pictures...and saw one that made my blood run cold. A dark-haired woman was hugging a large black wolf. The size and color of this wolf told me it wasn't a typical natural wolf. And it certainly wasn't normal for some tiny young woman to be hugging it! I searched through the files on the USB and came across a video. I could barely control my hands shaking as I clicked on it. Many people were gathered around what appeared to be a ceremony of some kind. There was no sound. Two of the men began taking their clothes off. And then.... "WHAT THE F**K!!" I ran the video another three times, my eyes just not believing what I was seeing. Wolves. Those men turned into f***** wolves!!! I sat down with my head in my hands trying to process what I saw. And then something hit me. "Why was Mr. Z so insistent on getting me back so fast, then trying to send me to a job when he has hundreds of other men at his disposal? Why did it have to be me?" I whispered to myself. I scanned through the remainder of the files and came across a Word document. "Z, I can no longer participate in these activities. These beings would never hurt a soul unless that soul meant them harm. You will not hear from me again." This wasn't a sanctioned hit by the Agency. Mr. Z made it personal. And I was next. "That's why he wanted me back so fast. He was going to eliminate me even if I never looked at this file. One more link in the chain." I told myself in disgust. I have to get this USB to Daniel. He will know what to do with it. After I showered and checked out of my hotel, I caught the next flight to New Orleans.