Trigger

13

TRIGG

Trigg opened his eyes, abruptly realizing his cover was blown. The bullets had surprised him, as did the men who tried to attack Stormy. He had shifted without his knowledge because of his injuries, which was something that often happened to aid a shifter in healing. But he didn’t intend on it happening in front of Stormy.

Trigg rolled over onto his back, then spotted her in the distance. She was leaning against a tree, watching him, her breathing deep and slow.

“Stormy,” Trigg said. “It’s okay. It's me.”

Stormy stepped out of the darkness toward him, swishing the beam of light at him. He could sense her heart beating faster in the shadows of night.

“Who the f**k are you?” Stormy whispered.

Trigg could feel himself healing, which, in itself, wasn’t a painless process. His body was rejecting the bullets. It was pushing them through his skin and rebuilding itself rapidly. It was a process that happened to humans over time, but something shifters could count on.

“Can you hand me that blanket?” Trigg asked.

Stormy stepped toward their camp, vanishing into the dark, then emerging quickly. She tossed him the blanket with a look of betrayal on her face.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Stormy said with a hardness in her voice he hadn’t heard before.

Trigg wrapped the blanket around his waist, feeling his body pushing out the metal embedded in his skin. He grunted and tried to focus on her at the same time.

“My name is Trigger,” he said. “Or Trigg, if you prefer. I was sent to get you back to the states.”

Stormy crossed her arms, her charming body framed flawlessly in the dim light.

“So a wolf was sent to save me from the Ukrainians?” she inquired.

He stared at her for a few seconds, then sighed. “The U.S. government sent me to get you.” He wasn’t ordered to keep anything from her, but he wasn’t going to share everything.

She nodded, looking away. “My mother then. You’ve heard of Senator Miller, I suppose? I didn’t know she had the use of the U.S. military at her disposal.” She turned back to him. “Had the Ukrainian kidnappers demanded a ransom of money or something else?”

“The Ukrainians didn’t take you,” he replied. “The Russian mafia ordered the hit.”

Her jaw dropped, spreading her luscious lips he so wanted a taste of. She stared at him with wide eyes, appearing golden in the minimal sight he had of her.

Trigg took a step toward her, and she didn’t move. “Do you mind if we return to camp?” he asked. “I need to rest to heal for a bit.”

“You don’t need any medical attention with those holes?” she said, her eyes wandering his body in ways that went above concern.

Trigg could sense her attraction to him. She didn’t want to admit it to herself, but she found him alluring, even as a human. It made his stomach spin with excitement.

“Not as a shifter,” he responded. “We can usually heal ourselves pretty fast.”

“Shifter. Right,” she said. She let her arms fall to her side, and then she began walking. Trigg trailed behind her, and they arrived at their tiny campground. Stormy took a seat on a pile of pine needles as Trigg rifled through the bag he had brought with him.

“Do you know how all this happened?” she asked softly. “Why was I kidnapped? Does it have anything to do with my mom?”

He shook his head. “No. The bratva, what you call the mafia, run the major mining operations in Russia. They didn’t want you here because, the truth is, you’re too influential. You would have really been a threat to them.”

She blinked in disbelief. “So, they were just going to kill me?”

He nodded. “Probably. I’m not sure. I didn’t know their plan. But it wasn’t a typical hostage situation. I got lucky when I had enough time to save you.”

She looked up at Trigg with tears in her eyes. “I may have gotten out of the house on my own, but I’m alive now because of you. Thank you,” she whispered. He smiled and reached out for her, squeezing her hand gently.

“My pleasure,” he said, smiling. Trigg dressed in the dark, thankful to no longer be naked in the wilderness. He sat in front of her as she leaned back against a trunk. She was looking thoughtful. Trigg noticed how her eyes kept wandering over his body, and she forcibly made herself look him in the eye.

“I’m going to rebuild the fire,” she said. “You should eat something.”

Trigg smiled before she returned to the darkness. He had to catch his breath after watching her walk away. The sway of her body seemed to call to him. It wasn’t something he had ever dealt with.

Romance wasn’t something on Trigger’s radar. He was born alone and believed that he was going to die alone. He trusted Kory only by instinct and sheer desperation. The Pakhan had used him to achieve violent atrocities merely in the name of greed and power.

Trigg didn’t know what he was feeling or if it would get in the way of his mission.

Stormy returned, placing down a pile of branches and sticks. Trigg remained silent as she used the matches to start the fire and stoked it to roaring. She retrieved a few MREs from the bag, tossing some to him, then tore open the top of hers. She sighed, staring into the lick of orange and candy-apple flames.

“It feels strange talking to you now,” Stormy said. “I was so used to you being in my mind.”

Trigg perked up, leaning forward with interest.

“You can still talk to me in the same way,” he replied. “Now it's just out loud for me.”

Stormy smiled. Something stunning was shining in her eyes. She moved the sticks around in the fire and spoke to him directly. “So was it true when you said in your wolf form that you have no family or close friends?”

Trigger nodded.

“I’m not really family or friend material,” Trigger said.

“Oh?” Stormy replied.

Trigger shrugged. Just how honest was he willing to be to her? He had always used women in the past for his needs simply because they were interested in him superficially. He couldn’t open his heart to anyone because he didn’t think he had one.