***
Will stood at the door and waited. Oh, he was so ready. He didn’t want to think about what would have happened if he and his colleagues had come on the mission with him as human and with no help from a supernatural mate. He and his team would have perished for sure because rogues were not known to take prisoners. Will couldn’t feel thankful enough to the powers that be, for having his back. And he sure as fuck wasn’t going to allow any rogue to kill his colleagues. Not on his watch.
He didn’t have to wait for long. As soon as Jaxon stepped out of the door, Will gave him a head-butt across his face which caused Jaxon to stagger. He caught himself before he could fall but his entire face felt like it was on fire.
“What the fuck!” Jaxon’s eyes widened in shock as he looked at the G. I Joe circling him. “So the military is now hiring werewolves, huh?” he smirked. “You picked the wrong candidate to fight with this time, mate.”
Jaxon lunged at Will, aiming a kick at Will’s feet but the soldier was fast. His arm came up to block the punch aimed at his head even as he stepped aside. Stan chose that moment to step out with his cargo, effectively distracting Will. The soldier gasped when he felt the slash on his chest just as a fist caught him square on the jaw.
“Fuck!” Will growled. It hurt like hell. When he saw the crimson spreading across his chest, his eyes turned amber.
“Shit! Don’t shift, Will,” Stan called out. “Fight it. I’ll be right back.” He made a beeline for where they’d parked the jeep. “And don’t fucking kill him or get killed,” He shouted as he ran. No matter what, they couldn’t leave the body of a werewolf for humans to discover. That would be risking exposure.
Stan’s first instinct had been to drop his cargo and help his mate. But he also knew that doing that would break his connection with the passed-out cryptanalyst. He didn’t have any choice but to take his cargo to the jeep because he needed to get him out of the way. The situation was just fucked up.
“They sent a boy to a man’s fight,” Jaxon taunted as he and Will circled each other. He didn’t know what had distracted the military wolf earlier but he hoped there would be more distractions for him to use to his advantage.
Will let out a furious growl. Getting slashed with a knife and getting called a boy made him so angry he felt an energy he’d never felt before invade his body. When the rogue took another swipe at him, he reached out and caught his wrist, then with practiced ease, squeezed the pressure point there. That sent a blinding pain shooting up the rogue’s arm.
“Goddammit!” Jaxon howled as he lost all feeling in his arm. The knife dropped to the floor.
Even as Will kicked the knife out of the way, he threw a heavy punch, catching Jaxon in the temple which sent the rogue reeling backward.
“Still think I’m a boy?” Will growled as he grabbed his opponent’s pain-filled wrist and pulled his arm over his shoulder, crouched low, and slammed him on the ground.
“Fuck!” Jaxon groaned. Despite the painful impact on the concrete floor and the spots dancing in his vision, he sprung to his feet albeit shakily. “Just give back what you stole from me and let’s end this,” He growled as he kicked at Will, his booted foot catching Will in the ribs.
Will went ballistic. And that was when the real ass-whooping began. He went at Jaxon with blinding speed and strength, lashing out with two hard cuts to Jaxon’s midsection which made the rogue double over in pain. Will didn’t stop. The speed and ferocity with which he handled Jaxon shocked the rogue.
At that point, Jaxon was certain that there was more to the soldier than met the eye. Hell, he didn’t even have the slightest chance of protecting himself, much less retaliate. He knew that his best bet would be to somehow catch his opponent unawares. What worried him even more was the questions that the soldier kept throwing at him. He wanted to tell the twat to go fuck himself but somehow, he rather found himself responding truthfully to all the questions. The only good thing was that as a mere hired help, he didn’t know much. Either way, Jaxon knew he was fucked! As a supernatural being, he knew how to disappear and not get caught by the people who had hired his services. Unfortunately, his twat of a manager didn’t have that advantage. Miguel was definitely going to lose his life. Fuck!
Back in the jeep, Stan placed his cargo in the back seat just as Ty’s jeep drove up to park beside Will’s. ‘How are you holding up?’ he asked Will on his mind-link but didn’t receive any response. ‘Shit.’ He broke into a run without bothering to close the door of the jeep.
Stan’s heart pounded as he ran. ‘Relax,’ he heard his wolf inside him. ‘Have some faith.’
‘Faith?’ Stan growled. ‘That’s rich coming from you. Where was your faith when you were insinuating that he would cheat on me with Rodriguez?’
‘Aw come on, don’t tell me getting him to erase those doubts didn’t boost your confidence and make you happy,’ The wolf snorted.
‘Zip it, you silly mutt.’
Stan took a quick look behind him to see Ty jumping out of his car and rushing to look at the man in the back seat of Will’s jeep. Satisfied, Stan rounded the corner to where Will fought the rogue just in time to see the rogue’s knees give out. He felt his stomach drop when he saw his mate’s claws. Will was a breath away from wolfing out.
“Shit!”
Stan could hear the sound of two other jeeps pulling up. He knew that Ty was going to come looking for Will anytime soon. It would be a disaster for Will to be seen in his current state. Stan chanced a look at the rogue, noticed the smirk on his bloody face, and immediately knew what was happening. He was taunting Will and getting him angrier. The asshole wanted Will to lose control and attempt to shift. Since werewolves were most vulnerable at the point of shifting, the rogue was most likely waiting to strike as Will shifted. Stan couldn’t let that happen.
“Let him go, Will,” Stan called out as he ran towards his mate.
But Will didn’t even look like he could hear anything because he’d virtually lost control. Stan threw himself at Will even before he got to his side, causing the angry soldier to stagger backward. Then he wrapped his arms around Will’s neck and promptly went for his mark. At that point, Stan didn’t have any choice but to play dirty.
‘Tell him to get out of here, Will,’ he instructed urgently even as he latched onto Will’s mark and began to suck on it. ‘Hurry, before Ty sees him.’ Stan knew that the Arrowhead’s first instinct would be to shoot at the rogue. And they couldn’t allow that as a bullet wouldn’t kill the rogue which would raise questions.
Trying very hard not to moan, Will did as his mate had instructed. “Get the fuck out of here,” he growled at the rogue who was staring up at him from where he crouched.
“What are you?” Jaxon breathed. He hadn’t missed how the werewolf’s eyes had suddenly glazed over. It was almost as if he’d been plunged into a sea of pleasure.
“If you don’t get out of here this very instant, I will end you,” Will moaned instead, completely confusing Jaxon.
For some reason, Jaxon didn’t doubt the threat. “This is not over,” Jaxon said as he got to his feet. “Not by a long shot.” With that, he wobbled away.
‘Now breathe with me, baby,’ Stan breathed. ‘Come on.’
“I’m fine,” Will whispered, his eyes fluttering shut in bliss. “Thank god for sneaky mates,” he added breathlessly even as they heard footsteps running their way.
And on the other side of the museum, Jaxon Spencer opened his palm and stared at the dog tags he’d torn from the neck of the soldier. The stupid wolf had been too focused on beating the crap out of him that he hadn’t noticed when he yanked it off him. That wolf boy had not only cost him a fortune but had also bruised his ego like it had never been before. He was going to hunt him down and give him a taste of his own medicine, Jaxon vowed. No one fucked with Jaxon Spencer and got away with it. That soldier werewolf and his pack were going to burn for what he’d done to him.
“I’ll be seeing you, Ian Williams.”