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  Jessiah had just reentered when that Annie song stemmed from upstairs. At any other time Shane would’ve never let Micah go, but the look on Jess’ face broke no argument. Something wasn’t right. So his arms had dropped to his side subconsciously and though his body mourned the loss of her contact, his mind came to the forefront and he let her go.

  “What is it?” Shane asked him.

  “The General called us in like ten minutes ago,” Jessiah’s hand went through his untamed dark hair. “Any chance it’s a coincidence that it was only twelve minutes after I tried to access a Micah Everheart’s jacket?”

  “Not likely,” Shane admitted.

  “Oh and by the way, Cindy is a witch. Leader of a coven, in fact.”

  Shane cursed under his breath just as Micah returned with a pair of flats on her feet and all Shane could focus on were her legs. He longed to run his tongue over them, especially the back of her knees and up her inner thighs until he came to the notch between them where he’d thrust his tongue inside her wet sheath and mime what he planned on doing with his very hard member. But now was not the time to dream of such things. No now they had to make their way to headquarters downtown without breaking cover.

  Jessiah walked up to her and bent to kiss her forehead. “How about a trip downtown? We can go shopping and then catch something to eat,” he suggested.

  “Sounds good,” she said without hesitation. “Can we go to the Galleria on Main?”

  Perfect, Jessiah thought. And it was. The SIA was on the top level above a strew of shops and stores, lawyer offices, banking centers. It was set up that way for a reason, and today proved that thinking.

  “Sounds good, there are a few things we need to do there. The office called so we need to stop by and sort out a few issues.”

  Micah was heading toward the lift. “Nothing too serious I hope. What is it you do for a living?”

  “Financial advisors,” Shane said.

  Best looking financial advisors she’d ever seen. “You don’t look like advisors, except maybe of the naughty kind,” that earned her a sexy grin from Jessiah and her stomach warmed.

  “Interested in any advice, then?” Shane said as he scooped her up in his arms so that her legs were dangling above the ground.

  “More like an interactive display,” she murmured before his lips crashed into hers. After a moment she pushed at his shoulders and he placed her back on his feet.

  “What about you?” Jessiah asked.

  “Corporate banking lawyer,” she replied. “Lots of traveling.” She added for good measure. Especially since it seemed as if she’d be doing that soon.

  “Is that why you speak so many languages?” Jessiah knew why he and Shane did and wanted to test the waters.

  “One of the reasons. Not much to do when you’re practically immortal other than learn as much as you can. I’m sure you two are more than bi-lingual as well.”

  Jessiah couldn’t argue with her logic. He nodded. “Though there were a few languages you said what I gathered was ‘screwed’ that I’d never heard before.”

  “Hmm, only a few. Guess I’ve been slackin’.” She winked at him and hoped that was enough to change the subject.

  It was.

  For now.

  Chapter 9

  It was way too easy to part ways with Micah and Shane was trying to convince Jessiah that he was reading too much into it as they rode the metallic elevator to the top floor. Jessiah supposed he should be happy that it was easy, but it only made his suspicions all the more real.

  It wasn’t just her ability to sense his mind-invasion, or the multiple languages she knew, more than he and Shane spoke working for the SIA; it was the aura of power he sensed when she was around. Sure a dual-natured shifter was almost unheard of, Micah being the second one ever recorded in history--from what they knew--but there was way more to her than that. And he just knew that The General called them in suddenly because of his search in their database.

  The question was--why?

  They didn’t have to wait long. The moment they made it to the door he commanded them from within to ‘Come in.’ He was sitting behind his mahogany desk in his leather chair with his white-blond hair looking as if he’d run his hands through it many times. He was in casual attire causing both males to believe he wasn’t planning on being in the office today. And his eyes were dilated, dark, only a sliver of sky blue outlining them. He was not happy.

  “Sit,” his deep voice commanded. He was a lion shifter and while most were formidable, General Tiberius Saxon was more than that. He was highly intelligent, sharp, calculating, and quick to act first, then if feeling inclined to he’ll consider thinking of asking questions later. According to stories of him in his active duty days, there may have been one or two times he thought about asking questions... They were never asked.

  So when he said ‘Sit’ they sat.

  He was looking at his laptop and hit a few buttons until the large flat screen TV came on. “Just thought you outta know what you’re getting yourself into.” He hit play and they watched a video from over eight years ago come into view.

  There must’ve been about twenty-five to thirty elite SIA soldiers. The ones humans would compare to SEALS but were pissants compared to these. They were spread out around a training yard waiting for their exercise to begin. Director Nelson was off to the side. With a nod the order to ‘begin’ was given. However, the thirty shifter soldiers stood looking around for a clue as to what they were supposed to be doing. Then mayhem ensued. A soldier bigger than Jessiah flew through the air as if of his own accord, but with a force that knocked him and the other soldier that he landed on, out. Another on the opposite side, not a moment after the large one took flight, had his legs go out from under him. Then two soldiers on the far end of the yard, a second later, were trying to fight an invisible force so quick and deadly that it had them cradling a broken leg here, an arm there, ribs, and bleeding broken noses. It was amazing to watch, as if it were a movie and the only thing missing was the popcorn and Goobers. Another nod of the Directors head and everything went quiet, except for the soldiers who were looking around for the next assault of the unknown.

  Then the video was paused.

  “What do you see?” The General asked.

  Both shook their heads. “Nothing, absolutely nothing,” Jessiah said.

  The General nodded then resumed the video. A split second later a form appeared in the midst of the soldiers and both males released a gasp.

  “No fuckin’ way,” Shane said.

  “The Chameleon,” Jessiah said in awe.

  Yes. The Chameleon stood at about five foot five, one hundred and fifty pounds all in her ass and boobs, and slate blue hair with charcoal brown tips pulled into a braided pony tail.

  “Fuck me,” Shane said, ever eloquent with words. “Micah?!”

  Their eyes remained on the screen. They saw the awe in the elite soldiers eyes as well as what could only be said was embarrassment at being beaten that badly by... you guessed it--a female.

  But screw that, she wasn’t just any female. The Chameleon was a legend able to break into any fortress with nothing more than its, well her skin. She was an entire arsenal in and of herself. No need for guns, swords, knives but a marksmen and master all the same. She’s sent in as a team... all by herself.

  “Japan, 1958?” Jessiah asked.

  The General nodded.

  “Russia, 1962?” Shane was next.

  Another nod.

  After about seven seconds they both said, “Germany a year-and-a-half ago?!!”

  Nod.

  It took many moments for the depth of this revelation to settle into understanding. The General gave it to them, sitting back in his chair, arms on their rests, hands still.

  Jessiah stood up and began pacing. “How did you know we found our Mate?”

  “First off let me say Micah Everheart is my daughter in every way that counts,” The General said.

  Shane chuckled.
“That explains your ring tone. I’m guessing you’re the one that called her after you called Jess?”

  He nodded and actually smiled. He knew of her Annie ring tone. She called him Warbucks when they were outside of the office. “She used to have Darth Vader’s theme song, but I was downgraded to Daddy Warbucks years ago.”

  Shane and Jessiah exchanged glances laughing internally.

  “I also knew that you two needed her to complete your triad but it was not my place to intervene,” his head lowered a bit, “though I wish I had especially with Ian.”

  He opened a draw and pulled out two notebooks then got up to hand one to each of them. There was a picture of a Chameleon on the front of them. “You’ll need that to understand Micah the soldier. You need me to understand why she’s adamant about refusing your Claim. Though I imagine her beasts are on their backs showing you their bellies.”

  Damn, he knew her well. Jessiah admitted to himself he was a bit envious of that, but he would rectify this soon.

  The General leaned on his desk deciding against taking his seat. “What’s in there are just words, facts, calculations, and predictions. It makes her life seem very... technical. But it is far from that.” He went to his desk and opened the cabinet on the other side pulling out a bottle of Jim Bean. He pointed it toward them as an offer and not surprisingly Shane accepted, what was surprising was so did Jessiah. While pouring three glasses he continued. “Most people, and by most I mean even her best friend Alicia and her ex, your brother,” Damn, Shane thought, he wasn’t pulling any punches, “and those that she lived with in the Greenland Pack orphanage, don’t know that she practically raised herself.” He handed them the glasses. “Micah lived what I suppose would have been considered a normal life with a mother and a father, though test results insinuate neither were her biological parents, until the age of eight. She came home from school one day to a completely empty house. Not one stitch of furniture, food, clothes, electronics, absolutely nothing left to indicate a family had once lived there. The locks were even changed. After eight years she suddenly had nothing.” He shot his drink back and poured another. When he turned back to them he wasn’t surprised they had done the same. After refilling the glasses he said, “I know what I may have done if I were in that position, but it’s not what she did. The next day she was back at school, in fact in all her years in public school, never once did she miss a day.

  “She admitted to being terrified, crying herself to sleep at night, confused, and lost. But still each morning she got to school on time, and each evening she completed her homework. You’d think that it would have only taken days, perhaps weeks for someone to become aware of the child’s situation, but it took years. She was fifteen when it was finally figured out. During which she’d offer her services in helping out around neighbor houses, cleaning for the elderly, mowing lawns, shoveling snow, walking dogs. Anything someone her age and size could do to survive, to obtain money for clothes, for a few hours of heat or AC. She didn’t have much according to what she’d tell you, but the fact was she had nothing. She had to go through her first change on her own. Can you imagine a nine-year-old girl shifting into a large blue-gray wolf without direction or support for the first time?”

  Unconsciously they were shaking their heads. The first transition is the worst, hours of pain, confusion, rage. Some didn’t live past the first change because they kept fighting it, not knowing how to relax into it. Not knowing they need to let it flow. That’s why support was needed. Forget the fact that a nine-year-old should have never gone into the transition. Hell that didn’t start until puberty, thirteen at the earliest.

  “I don’t know how she survived it at that age. Alone. But she did, and was left scared shitless in its wake. Still she kept on moving. She taught herself how to hunt, how to survive. She learned how to keep her wolf tame. And for Micah that is not a small feat. She is Alpha, not an Alpha. Just Alpha. Her wolf is so dominant she could bring anyone to heel and I mean that, know it from experience. There’s no such thing as a battle of the wills when she’s involved. It is her way or no way if she’s inclined.

  “Maybe it was a blessing after the curse of transitioning that early. For years it was how she was able to survive the nights, shifting into her wolf to keep her safe, to keep her warm. After six years of solitude, living off of instincts outside a school building, a misstep brought her to the Greenland Pack. She was chasing a young buck and unknowingly crossed paths of the Packs hunting party. She got the kill but was cornered and over powered until she agreed to meet the Alpha at that time. It was a long time before she would open up as to how she survived on her own, and when she did, she played it off as if it hadn’t been longer than a year. They found a wooden hut that had slips of material, paper; cardboard, anything she found to use as a bed inside. But the hut was solid, built as a professional would have done, even if it only had four walls.” He took a swig.

  “I asked her about it and she shrugged and said she borrowed a few library books on the topic and followed directions. Simple as that. So there she is now at age fifteen in a Pack, yet still alone. Looked down upon because she was abandoned, looked different with her hair, behaved different, acted as an Alpha would, and could. She had a bed, a roof over her head, and food. She should’ve thrived and she did, but not with anyone’s assistance. She did it all on her own. Then Fate throws her another curve ball. She’s jumped by supposed Pack mates in her wolf form, and her wolf is overwhelmed. I’m talking lacerations, chunks taken out, near to the point of dying until she retreats and a huge tiger takes her place.

  “They didn’t stand a chance. But then she was ousted treated like a pariah. After all who’s ever heard of a dual-shifter in the real world? And just when she was thinking of running, in swoops Ian. He’s older, good looking, takes an interest in her, sweet-talks her and so she moves in with him at the age of sixteen. But as with any sociopath once their victim gets comfortable they slowly transition into the monster they truly are. He verbally incinerates any self-worth she felt. He took her virginity, her self-esteem, makes her feel self-conscious about her looks, begins making her doubt herself. Making her depend on him, making her believe now that he’s in her life she cannot live without him.

  “She’s a teenager, impressionable. He made her believe she could’ve done better for herself, should have done better on her own. As if her struggles were not struggles at all, as if they never were. He’s worming his way into her mind, eating at her psyche. Until four years later she has a case of de ja vu and comes home to a missing Ian.”

  He finishes his drink. “I couldn’t help it. By the time I found her he’d just started beating her and I wouldn’t let that happen, so I killed him. Painfully.”

  He stops to let them have a moment.

  “She doesn’t know that part, does she?” Jessiah asked.

  “No. I’m not hiding it. If it comes out, it does. I’m not ashamed for ending him. I only wish I’d gotten to her sooner. She’s just never asked and I’ve never mentioned it. She believes my involvement in her life began years after she was recruited when it happened prior. At that time she was fragile. It was as if all the energy she spent on her own, making her own way, had reversed. She was drained and I believed her thinking had been warped. If I had told her I was the one that took him away she may have retaliated, not seeing it for what it was. A rescue, a chance at a new life. One she deserved more than anything. I couldn’t take back those horrible years, but I could help her see her worth. Help her find her strength again. In a way I was able to provide that but that was only in her career. Here she knows she’s a valued member of the team. She’s needed, and most of all wanted for exactly who she is. But out there, in her personal life, she’s still that eight-year-old abandoned girl, wondering what she did to deserve this. She thought she found someone who cared about her, who saw her. But really he was feeding his own cruel nature.

  “Then decades later comes Cal and he sweeps her off her feet. Her wolf adored him. H
e was able to wash away aside her hesitance, get her to lower her guard, promise the world and I suppose for her and considering what she’d experienced in life, he did give it to her. Until she caught him cheating on her. Another person to abandon her, to discard her feelings, her love for them without any reason. You have to understand Micah can give you the epitome of love. When she was with Cal she gave him everything. She was loyal, faithful, trusting; saw only him. She loved him with every part that she as a female was. And he broke her, again. She gave him nineteen years of herself only to find him with a, and I quote ‘Stick figure, leggy blond.’”

  Shane sat up straight, his mind instantly went back to the first time he saw her at the club. She had been closing the distance, moving toward him until Sheila the epitome of a ‘stick figure, leggy blond’ placed her hand on his chest. Then the look of lust and desire, morphed into what he now recognized as fear of rejection. Abandonment. Not only was it bad enough that he looked like the sibling he never knew he had, but he was there with a blond similar to the one she caught her ex-Mate with.

  Well, he looked at Jessiah. Didn’t that just suck. His sexual escapades did come back to haunt him, just as Jess predicted.

  “So,” The General continued, “you can see her issue with not one but two males claiming to be her Ever Mates coming into her life, and doing what was done before? Promising her the world. Aiming to open up her heart again, for what she believes is the inevitable...”

  “Right,” Jessiah said. “Abandonment.”

  “Well, we’re just going to have to do something about that,” Shane said.

  “As an FYI, I had to let Cal off the hook as he is a civilian but I will not stand by and watch Micah get hurt or abandoned again. Clear?”

  Oh yeah, it was clear.

  “10-4,” they both said.

  The General nodded. Then went back to the seat behind his desk. “You’ll want to read her file, I gave you her personal background; those will do the rest.”