The Beta Read online

  He runs his fingers through his hair, and continues, “Theoretically, I’d like each team to be accompanied by a team of magic users, but we just don’t have enough manpower to pull off that sort of thing. So, I’ll settle for two per team. One for the entry team and one for the secondary entry team. Now, if I could get all you new guys to come to the front of the group, I’ll assign you to your teams and we can move on to the strategy portion of this meeting.”

  Vacating my spot against the wall, I walk to the front of the group with eight other guys. The man who I assume is Negan, is even sexier up close. Now that I’m not across the room from him, it’s easier to pinpoint his scent. I couldn’t do it earlier because he was too far and there’s too many people in the room. Sadly though, he must’ve been around someone wearing perfume because it’s clouding his scent and I can’t get a good read on it.

  He picks up a clipboard and says, “I just need your names so I can create a team roster for the teams you’ll be on. I’d like to do teams of five, but I don’t have enough vampire and demon volunteers for teams that size quite yet. Instead, I’ll be doing teams of three. Since vampires currently outnumber demons, I’ll be adding magic users to the teams without a demon since demons are also magic users. Any questions?”

  He glances at each of us and as soon as he confirms no one has questions, he turns to me and says, “Let’s start with you. Can I get your name please?”

  “Leland.”

  “Got a last name, Leland?”

  Grinning, I say, “Yeah, course I do.”

  The corner of his mouth lifts up in a small smile. “Are you going to tell me what it is?”

  “Maybe.”

  He raises an eyebrow at me but before I can say anything else, Vikan says, “Leland stop giving him a hard time you smart assed bastard.”

  Flipping him off, I laugh and say, “Kiss my ass Vikan!”

  “No thanks.”

  Shaking my head, I turn towards Negan and say, “It’s Voss.”

  “Like the water?”

  “Yes.”

  “Spelled the same way?”

  “Is there any other way to spell it?”

  “Well, you could spell it like vase but pronounce it Voss.”

  “I don’t though.”

  “Good to know.”

  With that, he continues down the line getting names from everyone else. Once he’s done taking names, he splits us into teams and moves to the strategy portion of the meeting.

  Get through the meeting Negan, you can freak out about scenting your mate later. I knew going into the meeting today that there would be new people joining the raid teams, but I never expected for one of them to be my mate. At first when I caught the scent, I was worried that the perfume my blind date wore had clouded my senses and I wasn’t actually scenting my mate, but after walking through the group of men to get to the table, I realized my nose was clear even if the perfume from my date still clung to my shirt.

  Knowing that I’ve been given a second chance at a mate has me shaking with contained excitement. The happiness I feel at the thought of being able to experience the love of a mate has me feeling warm from the inside out. I’m sure my smile would light up the room if I let myself show my happiness. I can’t do that right now though because this meeting requires me to be serious. Smiling might make the men in this room think I consider this sort of thing to be a joke and that would breed distrust and anger that could lead to challenges. So, while I desperately want to shout my happiness from the rooftops, it’ll have to wait until after the meeting is over.

  Since there are so many people in the room, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where the scent is coming from despite having all the new guys in a line. It wouldn’t be right to lean in and sniff each one without permission so, I’ll have to work out which of them is my mate after the meeting is finished. I know who I’d like it to be though. Leland. The sexy bastard ticks all of my boxes and his shiny bald head makes me want to run my fingers over it to see if it’s as smooth as it looks. Focus Negan.

  Beckoning everyone forward, I have them crowd around the table as I go over the strategy for raiding the new locations that we found maps to on a hard drive retrieved from the last raid. My plan is for us to hit them all at once so Carmine doesn’t have time to run if he happens to be at one of these locations. Since there’s more than one lab and I can only run the command center at one location, I need to choose a few other people to be in charge at the other labs.

  Naturally, Vikan and his mate will be one set. I’ll have to talk to them and see if they’d be okay with being split up and sent to two different locations. I know they’re mates and usually, mates don’t like to be apart from each other in dangerous situations but I’m hoping if they have a mind link, it will make the separation easier since they can keep track of each other through it and I won’t need to ask anyone else. They have every right to say no. I wouldn’t blame them if they did. I know if the roles were reversed and it were my mate and I, I’d probably say no to being separated.

  Once I’ve finished going over the strategy on how we’ll enter each lab and assigning teams to their locations, I look towards Vikan and Trager and say, “Vikan, Trager, I have to ask if you two would be okay with being split up and taking command of operations at two of the locations. If you’d rather say no, I’ll ask someone else to take over operations at the third location.”

  Vikan and Trager look to each other, then with a brief nod, they turn to me and say, “We’re okay with it. Since there’s only three locations we know you need someone you can trust implicitly to handle operations at the two you can’t be at. We have a mind link so if something goes wrong, we can contact each other and ask for support.”

  “Thank you both.”

  “No problem.”

  Pointing to the locations that are nearest each other on the map, I say, “You two will control operations at these two locations and I’ll take the third, here. Now that everyone has their assignments, we’ll send the scouts ahead and once we receive their intel we’ll move on the labs. The intel from the hard drive was limited so we need the scouts to give us more information. The last thing we need is to send a small group of men into one of these labs only to be facing an entire army. We can’t afford to lose people in this fight so, we need to play this safe and smart. Once the scouts return with their intel, I’ll contact each of you, so you know when to move. Dismissed.”

  The men file out of the house while I put away the maps and papers. We usually lock up this house when we’re done but since it’s not exactly fortified, I hide the important things. Just in case someone turns out to be a spy. I’m probably just paranoid but I feel it’s better to be safe than sorry. Once I have everything put away, I head for the front door. Trager and Vikan exit ahead of me and as I’m about to leave, my phone rings. Pulling it from my pocket, I glance down at the screen not even realizing that the storm door is closing until it smacks me in the face.

  “Ouch! Son of a bitch!”

  Feeling blood run from my nose, I put my hand up to catch it while trying to lock the door behind me. Somehow, I manage to do it without dropping my phone. My nose is still bleeding when I close the door and step out onto the porch. Damn spring-loaded glass door. I’ll be removing that sucker as soon as I get a chance. Wiggling my nose to test it, it doesn’t feel broken. Pulling my bandana from my back pocket, I use it to try and stop the bleeding since covering my nose with my hand isn’t helping.

  Keeping the bandana pressed to my nose, I step off the porch. Remembering my phone was ringing earlier, I pull it out and see a missed call from my sister. Hitting the call back button, I put the phone to my ear as I walk towards my house.

  “Hey Nee, how’d lunch go?”

  “It was a disaster.”

  “Seriously? What happened this time?”

  “You didn’t tell her not to wear perfume. She smelled like she doused herself in an entire bottle of the stuff and I started sneezing almost immediately. I
had to tell her I had a reaction to strong perfume scents. We didn’t even get to order because I was sneezing so much, I had to leave. I ended up getting a sandwich from the deli on the corner.”

  “But you didn’t hate her, right? So, there’s a possibility you might hit it off if she doesn’t wear perfume the next time.”

  “No. I’m done with blind dates.”

  “But…”

  “No.”

  As I’m walking, I hear a rustling sound from the woods on my left and turn just in time to see Leland sprinting towards me, eyes hazed red, with Trager and Virak hot on his heels.

  “I have to go, sis.”

  “Wait, we haven’t finished talking. Nee, I think if you’d just give her another chance you might find happiness.”

  “I can’t talk right now, there’s a very pissed off vampire headed my way.”

  Ending the call before she can say anything else, I brace myself for the attack I’m sure is coming. Only, instead of Leland attacking me, he skids to a stop in front of me, grips my face between his hands and snarls, “Who hurt you?”

  He’s only an inch taller than I am at six-foot two, so I don’t have to look up to meet his eyes. “It was an accident.”

  Just then, Vikan and Trager stop behind him. Trager tries to pull Leland back while Vikan does the same on his other side and says, “Leave him alone, Leland. Come on, let’s go. He doesn’t need you giving him a hard time.”

  Leland looks over his shoulder at Vikan and snarls, “Back off,” then turns to me and says, “Tell me, who hurt you?”

  Feeling a blush creep up my neck, I say, “Well, it’s kind of embarrassing really. I wasn’t paying attention when I walked out of the meeting house and the storm door smacked me in the face.”

  The anger immediately drains from his face and his grey eyes return to their normal color. With gentle hands, he moves the bandana from my nose and says, “Let me see.”

  He brushes his thumbs across both sides of my nose checking to make sure it’s not broken. With him so close, it’s easy to scent him. Breathing in his scent of citrus and sandalwood, arousal surges through me and I have to bite back a groan. When he finally steps back, there’s a spot of blood on his thumb that he licks off. His eyes haze red briefly before returning to their normal grey color. Leland turns to Vikan and Trager and says, “You two go on ahead. I’m going to stay here and chat with Negan a bit longer.”

  Vikan narrows his eyes at Leland and says, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Who knows what you’ll say or do?”

  Leland glares at Vikan and says, “If you don’t get out of here right now, I’ll tell Alistair all about who accidentally totaled his favorite VW in the seventies.”

  “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Try me.”

  Vikan sighs and says, “Fine but you’d better be nice.”

  Leland looks at me and smiles mischievously, “Trust me, I’ll be very nice.”

  Trager laughs and says, “I think I see what’s going on here. Vikan, let’s go.”

  Without giving Vikan a chance to protest, Trager drags him into the forest, and I’m left alone with Leland, my mate.

  After the meeting, I was on my way back to the coven with Trager and Vikan when I caught the scent of blood. The way it called to me like a siren song told me the blood belonged to my beloved and instinct took over. Seeing Negan when I burst through the trees filled me with elation. I felt drawn to him almost immediately which is why I was so disappointed at not being able to scent him properly. Now that I’ve made sure he’s okay, snuck a taste of his blood to confirm what I already knew, and sent my friends away, I’m ready to take him home and make him mine. But first, I’d like to get him cleaned up and get to know him a little better before we claim each other.

  As soon as I’m sure Vikan hasn’t convinced Trager to come back, I take Negan’s hand and say, “Which way to your place?”

  He squeezes my hand and says, “This way. It’s not far.”

  We walk down the path, hand in hand until we come to the last house on the row. Negan keeps a tight hold on my hand even after we’ve walked into his house. “Nice place.”

  He smiles at me and says, “Thanks.”

  I get the sense that he’s a little nervous so to take his mind off things I tug on his hand slightly and nod my head towards the back of the house. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up and then we can talk.”

  He grins at me and says, “I’m hoping we’ll do more than talk.”

  “Oh, we will. You can bet on that. We do need to talk though.”

  His bright smile dims a bit when he says, “You aren’t going to tell me you don’t want me, are you?”

  “No, of course not! If I had planned to do so, I wouldn’t have tasted your blood earlier because now that I’ve had it, I can’t walk away. Really, the talk isn’t a bad thing and can even wait until after we’ve claimed each other, I just wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible so I can spend the rest of the night laying claim to your delectable body without worrying about having to have a conversation afterwards when I’m too blissed out to string more than a few words together.”

  “Too blissed out to speak, huh? I like the sound of that.”

  He leads me down the hall, through the bedroom, and into the bathroom. Opening a cabinet, he grabs a wash cloth and wets it with warm water. Taking the wash cloth from him, I push him towards the toilet where he sits. Gripping his chin gently, I tilt his head back and begin wiping away the blood from his face.

  “So, what did you want to talk about?”

  “I heard from Alistair that you’re the beta of this pack so, I think once we claim each other, I’ll be the one to relocate. I’ve got some things to get from my apartment and my room at the coven house but that’s it. Also, with my job, I could be called away at any time but usually I’m not gone for more than a few days. If that much time apart will be too hard on you, I’ll quit. I’m sure if I asked, your alpha would let me fight for an enforcer position.”

  “You’re an enforcer?”

  “For the vampire council.”

  He looks down at my gun holsters and says, “That explains a lot.”

  Laughing, I kiss his forehead and say, “I never leave the house without a weapon. When facing multiple rogues, I need an advantage of some kind since I usually go in alone. I took inspiration from a movie and had the council create UV bullets so any vampire I shoot, is immediately incapacitated with sun poisoning.”

  “Do you like your job?”

  “I love it. I’ve always wanted to make a difference. Originally, I’d planned to join law enforcement but with my sensitivity to the sun, I’d have to work exclusively at night and sometimes schedules don’t work out that way. So, I became an enforcer for the vampire council. Eliminating rogues who have been harming people is my way of making the world a better place.”

  He wraps his arms around my waist and says, “Then, I don’t want you to quit. I’ll be fine for a few days but if it’ll take a week or longer, we’ll have to find a way to visit each other.”

  “It’ll never take that long. Simply, because once I tell the council I’ve claimed a shifter mate, they’ll give me assignments that won’t take very long so your wolf doesn’t pine for me. If I think the job will take longer than three days, I’ll tell the council and they can send someone else.”

  “Okay. Promise you’ll let me know whenever you have to leave? I’d hate to come home and find you gone.”

  “Of course, I’ll let you know.”

  “Is that all you wanted to talk about?”

  “For now. Anything else can wait.”

  Dropping the wash cloth into the hamper behind me, I take Negan’s hand and lead him into the bedroom. Using my grip on his hand, I pull him around in front of me, so his back is to the bed and press a kiss to his lips. I try to start slow so I can savor his taste but as soon as our lips touch, Negan groans and wraps his arms around me, pulling me closer. Unable to pass up the opp
ortunity to explore, I take advantage of his open mouth and slip my tongue inside, tangling it with his. I can feel his hard cock pressed against mine. In order to get more friction, I use one hand to palm his ass and push him closer.

  Negan pulls away and reaches for my gun holster. He tries to undo the clip but can’t seem to and growls, “How do I take this off?”

  Laughing, I press the button on the top and pull the clip apart. Slipping the holster from my shoulders, I place it on a nearby chair and remove the two secondary holsters I have at my back. I have knives strapped to my legs, but they’ll come off with my pants. Negan grips the hem of my shirt and pulls it up. When he sees the two knife holsters in the waistband of my pants at my pelvic bones, he laughs. “I think the next time we do this, I’ll make sure you’re weapon free before we start anything. We could already be naked.”