Chapter One
Shane faced some pretty vicious things in his life. He’d once taken on a Tarantula shifter. Another time he’d arm wrestled with a zombie and won the hard way when he literally yanked the guy’s arm off. Hell, he’d even mistakenly watched Fox News for a few minutes until he was able to find the remote and change the channel.
As an assassin for his feline coalition, it was his job to face the bad and scary. He did it all without ever once blinking or breaking out into a sweat— until this moment.
Taking a deep breath, he raised his hand and knocked on the door to Carson’s office. While Shane considered the Cheetah to be one of his better friends, Carson had a smart mouth that never quit and Shane wasn’t looking forward to being on the receiving end of it.
The biggest fuck-it-all of it was that Shane wasn’t even there to talk to Carson. What he really wanted was to speak to Keegan, but since the Jaguar was never far from his mate, Shane knew he would have to put up with Carson’s presence as well.
“Don’t come in unless you have some booze. And I don’t want any of that human crap either. Give me some of the strong stuff,” Carson’s muffled voice called from the other side of the door.
Despite his nerves, Shane smiled. He knew that Carson would never touch that shit, but as always, he had to have some form of twisted greeting.
“How about a dead rat?” Shane replied. There was a long pause before Carson shot back, “Is it an actual one or a shifter?”
Shane barely refrained from rolling his eyes. “An actual one. I told you before that Mitchell won’t let me bring my kills home anymore. He said it dampens the vibe of this place.”
Glancing around the interior of the coalition’s headquarters, Shane thought that it wouldn’t be so bad for the place to have a makeover. With hardwood floors, neutral colored walls and large television screens covering one side of the wall, it looked like something out of a Jason Bourne movie. In other words, bland and boring as hell. A little bit of blood and guts would add a personal touch to the place.
“Come in, but you can keep the rat,” Carson said.
Since Shane had already fed it to one of the stray cats that hung around HQ, that point was really moot, but he left that unsaid. He’d known all along that Carson would have refused the gift. Ever since Shane left a Spider head on the guy’s favorite keyboard, Carson had become almost a prude when it came to carnage.
Shane opened the door, not surprised to see Keegan in his usual place, stretched out on the battered couch in the back of Carson’s office. The floor was littered with old files that contained information on other coalitions and packs. Since Keegan had a photographic memory and was the younger brother of the coalition leader, he’d been assigned to be a liaison of sorts.
Carson let out a bored sigh as he cocked one pierced brow. “Don’t tell me. Mitchell wants us to go out on another mission?”
“No, actually I came here to talk to your mate,” Shane admitted.
Keegan jerked in surprise. Short and thin with speckled brown hair, he was normally laid back and quiet. So it probably came as a surprise to him that the coalition badass was coming to him for anything.
Narrowing his amber eyes, Keegan said, “If you want some information on one of the other coalitions so you can go in there and kill somebody you need to find, leave. I don’t deal in assassination.”
Shane wanted to point out that since he’d joined the coalition, every target he’d taken out had been on Mitchell’s orders, but he kept that tidbit to himself. Keegan thought the world of his older brother. Shane didn’t want to burst the little guy’s bubble by telling him the ugly truth of what leading a coalition sometimes entailed.
Shifting uncomfortably on his feet, Shane admitted, “No, it’s more of a personal question.”
Setting down a file, Keegan sat up straighter. “Sure, what is it?”
After he shot Carson a look that just dared him to make some wiseass remark, Shane said, “I don’t know what to get Trevor for Valentine’s Day.”
There was a snort of laughter from Carson before he said, “How about a heart full of chocolates. But this time make sure it’s not an actual heart. Nobody wants to get an internal organ as an I-love-you gift.”
Keegan glared at Carson. “Be nice. Shane is coming for help, not for your snarky remarks.”
As always, Carson immediately backed down under the reprimand of his mate. While Keegan may usually be the nicest guy around, he didn’t let Carson get away with being too much of an asshole. On the other hand, Keegan was also known to be fiercely protective of Carson. A trait Shane could relate to since he’d do anything for Trevor.