Alpha Shifter Standalone Collection Page 8

  There were a couple of men in full bird-watching outfits standing on the wide rooftop, binoculars pressed to their eyes as they swept their heads slowly from side to side. She could see their mouths moving rapidly, although she couldn't quite make out what they were saying. They must not have been speaking English. The tacky black and brown camouflage that they wore would have immediately drawn anyone's eyes to them, no matter where they were, which was ironic given their chosen attire. They didn't seem to be doing anything other than just looking out for birds, but something nagged at the back of Melanie's mind as she watched them.

  I didn’t know that you could birdwatch from there. I could have sworn that building was under private ownership, so they must have gotten the owner's permission to be up there. No one would blatantly trespass in open daylight, right? I’m not sure what they’re expecting to see at this time of year, anyway. Most of the birds around here would have flown off for the winter. The few that are still around probably aren't going to be out and about much because of that weird weather we’ve been having lately—Mother Nature is still trying to make up her mind whether she wants it to be winter or an early spring. No, by all accounts their presence there doesn't really make much sense. Plus, there is the camouflage gear that they are wearing. It doesn't match anything around them, so it wouldn't conceal them from the birds anyway.

  Her gaze followed the second birdwatcher as he made his way toward the edge of the roof, his binoculars now focused on her building and the many windows that surrounded her office. She watched as his binoculars slowly move. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she met the watcher’s gaze for the briefest instant. Her enhanced vision allowed her to clearly see the smirk of triumph on the man's face, and fear rose up within her from the sheer cruelty of his smile. He turned to his associate and must have called out to him, as the two disappeared from the rooftop shortly afterward. Melanie stepped back from the window, her heart pounding in her chest. Had it only been her imagination, or had he really seen her? She had felt as though she was gazing into the eyes of a giant snake while she looked at him, and the feeling that she had been about to be swallowed alive caused a small amount of bile to rise into her throat. Cold sweat dripped down the small of her back as she made her way back to her desk and sat down.

  She gazed down at her hands and found that they were visibly trembling. She closed her eyes and tried to take a deep breath, willing her rapidly beating heart to calm itself, even if only a little. Part of her thought that she should go and tell Barnaby about it, but she didn't want to disturb him. She knew that he had even more work to do than she did, and her overactive imagination didn't seem like a good enough reason to pull him away from his desk. She wasn't a child anymore; she needed to act like the grown woman that she was. That brief exchange had seemed slightly sketchy, but she decided she wasn’t going to focus on it too much, for now. Those case files weren’t going to go through themselves, after all.

  Taking a sip of her coffee, Melanie pulled her chair closer to her desk and picked up the first file from the stack in front of her. There are an awful lot of missing-persons files here. She pursed her lips, lifting one of the files and pausing as a picture slipped out from it. She watched the small 8x10 picture flutter onto her desk. Her eyes settled on the man in the picture’s face and froze, a cold lump of fear settling in the pit of her stomach. It was her old English teacher, Mr. Patterson. She hadn't seen him since the day she had graduated from college, six years ago. He had been one of the few instructors who had held a zero-tolerance policy when it came to students bullying shifter children. Of course, that had been before the current President had been elected, so times had been different. Is there anyone else that I know in these files?

  Leafing through the different files, Melanie soon found five other files related to persons that she had known at some point in her life. A former swim team member, a former middle-school art teacher, a former bus driver, a middle-school friend, and her high school home economics teacher. All of these people were either shifters or sympathetic toward them. That raises quite a few red flags. What if they interrogated these people before they killed them? Would any of them remember me? Would any of them give me up to try to gain their own freedom or to save their own skins?

  The thought was not a pleasant one, but she knew she would be doing herself no favors by ignoring the reality of her situation. If one of them had revealed the fact that she was a shifter, it wouldn't take long for the Enforcers to track her down. The bird watchers outside could have just been cleverly disguised field agents, and the fact that our eyes met could mean that they think I am on to them and are moving in, even now, to cut off my avenues of escape. Or maybe he smiled because he now knows I am here.

  She laughed nervously, and shook her head, before resting her forehead against her palm. I need to stop letting my imagination run away with me. This is all because I saw those Enforcers earlier. No one has ever had a reason to suspect I am a shifter, and no one has a reason now. Barnaby and I go out of our way to make sure we don't let anything slip, and I've kept everything related to my secret under wraps. I'm sure there is nothing to worry about. I need to stop letting my mind run away with me and get back to work.

  She endeavored to do just that, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she went about transcribing the information in the files onto her computer, and the stack of paperwork in front of her began to diminish rapidly. It was only the growl of her stomach, after a few hours, that made her pause from her work, her hand moving to rest on her stomach as she felt it rumble once more. I should order some lunch for Barnaby and myself. Perhaps I'll call the Chinese takeout place right down the road from us. I think he would really like the surprise, after working non-stop these last four hours or so. I know this week has been a long one for him, after having to handle the Janikowski account.

  Around 12:30 pm, a knock on the office door came as a welcome distraction from both the sheer amount of reading she had to do and the paranoia she had been feeling for the past few hours. She rose and made her way to the door, the money for the delivery boy held gently in her hand. When she pulled the door open, however, it was immediately obvious that this was no delivery boy. His sharp, angular face was framed by long locks of black hair, and his features were distinctly Native American. He was dressed in blue jeans and a white muscle shirt beneath a leather vest with many pockets. His golden-brown eyes came into view as he slid the black sunglasses he was wearing down onto the bridge of his nose.

  He lowered his gaze enough to look at her. The man standing in front of her was easily a foot taller than she was.

  “Is Barnaby in?” he asked gruffly, the faintest hint of an accent Melanie didn't quite recognize evident in his voice. “I need to speak to him immediately.”

  “Mr. Bernstein is currently working and has asked not to be disturbed except for important business and emergencies,” she said, swallowing gently as the scent of his cologne made her feel slightly light-headed. He smelled so good to her—the musky notes of the fragrance caused her to shiver gently. Snap out of it, Mel. That is the wolf part of you reacting.

  “Do you consider a van full of Enforcers an emergency? If so, then I would spend less time gabbing with me and more time fetching your boss. It looks like the building is about to be stormed, and I have a suspicion that you are the one they are looking for,” he said, crossing the room and knocking loudly on Barnaby's office door.

  “Yes, Yes, I am coming,” came the hurried reply from the other side of the door, Barnaby's head poking out a few moments later. “Oh, Manu, I wasn't expecting to see you today.”

  “I wasn’t planning to come see you today either, but there has been a change of plans. I just received word that someone seems to have leaked your location to the Enforcers, and now a van of them are pulled up out front and are cordoning off the area. We will need to get any Shifters in here out before the Enforcers can come in here, or else they will capture them for sure,” Manu said, his eyes settling on
Melanie in a way that caused her to shudder slightly.

  “But, how would they know if anyone here is a shifter? All they would be going on is hearsay,” Barnaby said incredulously. “I know they are a rag-tag group, but I doubt even they would go in somewhere guns blazing just over a couple of rumors.”

  “That is just the problem. We think that it may have been someone back at headquarters,” Manu said, reaching a hand behind him and pulling a pistol from the holster strapped to his belt. “After all, we are the only ones that you told about Melanie's heritage.”

  Barnaby's face set in a grim mask, and his eyes narrowed slightly. “That will be a problem that will have to be dealt with at another time. For now, can I trust you to get Melanie out of here, Manu?”

  Melanie turned to Barnaby in confusion. “Aren't you coming with us?”

  “They are only looking for shifters, which means I will have a better chance than you will of getting out of here unscathed. They can try to interrogate me, but I can assure you that I will not betray your secrets, nor those of the Organization. Besides, if I go missing now, there is a chance they will go after Barbara. I can’t afford for that to happen. For now, take Melanie to headquarters and fill her in on everything. God willing, I will rejoin you once I have taken care of things here,” Barnaby said, doing his best to smile for Melanie. “I know that this situation will cause you some distress, Melanie, but I need you to bear with it for now. Manu is a good friend of mine, and a skilled warrior. He will see you to safety, have no fear.”

  “Barnaby,” she began to say, clearing her throat when her voice faltered the first time. “I don't want to leave you.” The memories of her Uncle Brian’s death were still fresh on her mind, from earlier, and she didn't think she would be able to take the guilt if Barnaby's association with her had somehow put him and his wife in danger.

  “Don't act as if this is our final goodbye, Melanie. We part only to meet again,” Barnaby said, reciting the Shakespeare quote that she had heard him use so many times before. “Now hurry. Every moment we waste is another moment that our enemies have to try and close the net about us. Flee now, and let us have our time for mirth later.”

  “Be safe, Barnaby,” she said, turning away from him and nodding to Manu. He nodded back silently and headed toward the front door of the office, slowly pulling it open and peering out. He motioned for her to follow, and he slipped out of the office immediately afterward. Grabbing her purse from where it sat under her desk, Melanie gave Barnaby a half-hearted wave before slipping out of the office after Manu. As she was leaving, she didn’t see the sad smile that briefly formed on the older man's face. Be safe, my dear. I wouldn't be able to face your uncle in the afterlife if you die now. I hope we can meet again soon.

  He took a deep breath and turned in the direction of his office, before pulling a small vial from his desk. It was filled with a crimson-red liquid that seemed to glow dully in the light. He pulled the cork from the vial and drank the contents quickly, grimacing as an involuntary shudder ran through his body at the revolting taste. He threw the vial into the nearest garbage can, and shook his head as he felt the liquid beginning to go to work. His glasses went opaque as the sunlight hit them just right, the light briefly allowing the faintest hint of gold to glitter in his eyes briefly. It is time for me to get to work.

  Chapter Three

  Despite his large frame, Manu moved down the stairs without a sound. Melanie followed closely behind, swallowing nervously as her eyes darted around anxiously. She was aware that her inner wolf was starting to struggle within her, from panic, and she did everything in her power to wrestle back the primitive instincts that were bubbling within her. The wolf side of her could sense the enemies nearby, and it wanted to fight. Her breathing was quick and shallow—the fear of hyperventilating starting to creep into her mind. Just when she thought she might get dizzy and faint, she felt her feet come off the final step and slip. A faint gasp escaped her, and her eyes closed as she prepared herself for the feeling of the hard concrete base of the stairs rushing up to meet her.

  Instead, she felt a pair of muscled arms wrap around her effortlessly and pluck her out of mid-air. She opened her eyes to see Manu smirking slightly, his gun nowhere to be seen as he set her down on her own feet. “Careful now, Miss Nightingale. That last step can be a doozy,” he said softly, his voice as warm as honey in her ear.

  “Sorry, I guess I overstepped,” she replied lamely, turning her face away from him so he wouldn't see the faint blush that crept into her face. “I'll try to be more careful from now on.”

  “Careful is good,” Manu agreed, pulling his gun back out from its holster and holding it as if a policeman would, as he turned toward the door that led out into the parking garage. “Our enemies are almost upon us. Do you have any weapons’ training?” he asked, glancing back over his shoulder to look at her.

  “I took a gun safety course and I have my concealed carry. Why?” she asked, snapping open her purse and carefully pulling out the small pistol contained within.

  “Well, that is admittedly a little better than I had hoped. Do you play shooter games at all?” he asked, cocking his gun slowly.

  “I did start playing them a little with my friend Becky on weekends, recently” she admitted, slipping the magazine into the gun and cocking back the slide. The sound of the bullet sliding into the chamber was both frightening and mildly reassuring. At least she wasn't defenseless now. “Becky said that with a little more practice we could probably try to go pro.”

  “This isn't going to be like one of those games. A bullet here is for keeps, and believe me, there will be no re-spawning, if you die,” he said, his last words causing a cold sweat to drip down her back.

  “Let's hope we don't have to worry about that,” Melanie replied cheerfully, doing her best to sound more confident than she felt. “Anyway, you go first. I'll bring up the rear.”

  The two made their way slowly through the parking garage, their guns moving back and forth as they went. The sound of their footsteps echoed around them with each step, the false calm putting Melanie on edge. It was like one of those moments in movies where everything goes quiet right before a big action scene broke out or a jump scare happened. All it would take would be one small occurrence to get the entire situation in motion. That small occurrence, however, turned out to be the appearance of a single officer, who had the misfortune to come out of the door directly in front of Melanie.

  “Hey, You, don't move!” he called out, his hand moving down to try and pull his gun from its holster as soon as he caught sight of the pistol gripped in her hand. “Don't make me hurt you.”

  Melanie froze, her finger refusing to pull the trigger, even as the officer pulled out his own weapon. She had never been a violent person. She didn't go out of her way to hurt people, and she was blatantly aware of the danger of the item that she held in her hand and the finality with which came with its use. There would be no going back once she had used it and that thought gave her pause. The world seemed to slow to a crawl, as she watched the officer slowly raise his gun to chest height, preparing to fire at her.

  A blur of movement to her right caught her attention and her eyes barely managed to register the sight of Manu's large body hurtling toward the officer faster than he had any right to move. Manu slammed his shoulder into the officer's stomach in one of the best football tackles Melanie had ever seen. The impact caused the smaller man to be lifted, bodily, from the ground and he was sent hurtling back a few feet. The officer struck a nearby car and slid unmoving to the ground, his gun clattering onto the ground at Manu's feet.

  “Let's get moving. If he is here that means the others can't be far behind.”

  She did as asked, and the two of them made their way toward a familiar black Mercedes, which Melanie recognized as Barnaby's car. The sudden blinking of the car's headlights alerted her to the fact that Manu had the keys, and he dropped them into her hand before making his way around to the passenger side of the car
.

  “Wouldn't it be better if you drove?” she asked, looking around nervously before climbing into the car. It seemed no other officers were making their way into the garage just yet, but that didn't mean they weren't on their way. “I don't exactly know where we are trying to get to.”

  “I have to make some preparations for us to get into headquarters, and they aren't the kinds of things that I can do while trying to focus on driving. I can give you directions,” he replied shortly, climbing into the passenger's side and closing the door behind him with finality. It seemed there was no time or use in debating with him right now. Besides, the thought of putting as much distance between them and the Enforcers sounded like as good of a plan as any to her.

  She pushed the key into the ignition and twisted it gently. She was relieved to hear the luxury car roar to life immediately, and she shifted it into reverse so to pull back out of the parking stall. “How is Barnaby going to be able to get home, if we take his car?” she asked, heading toward the entrance to the parking garage and exiting out onto the street.

  “He said that he will arrange to be picked up by one of the other members of the Society when he feels it is safe enough for him to do so. I wouldn’t worry about him right now. We are only just beginning the hard part of our journey and I have no doubt that someone is going to come after us or at least try to intervene, very soon,” he said, his eyes glancing toward the street in front of them. Then, his eyes widened abruptly. His hand reached over to grip the steering wheel and he wrenched it to the side, forcing them to take the nearby right turn, Car horns honked indignantly behind them as they went.