"You've got something to say, wolfie? I can fucking throw you off this ledge and The Firm won't fucking bat an eye. You know why? Because if you keep making yourself expendable, I'm going to take you up on your goddamn offer one of these days, you hear me? Do I make myself clear!?"
Dice could feel his eyes flashing the dark brown of his bear and his aggravation boiling over. It had been weeks since he talked to Spade and that one punch he'd gotten in wasn't anywhere near enough to sate his need to just take out his anger on something, someone. Price simply happened to be the wrong goddamn wolf at the wrong time.
"Whoa there, Dice. We get it. Time to get to work," Thor said, his voice careful and non-confrontational.
Dice didn't spare him a look, though he could see from the corner of his vision how Thor stepped closer, his hands held up in a soothing way. He didn't believe it for a second. Thor was probably the first one who'd toss him over the side of the building if given the chance.
Price's eyes were golden and his lips were pulled back, showing the wolf within him through a thin veneer of humanity. The rooftop was brimming with testosterone and barely restrained anger, the six members of Shifter Squad Nine caught in an unexpected standoff.
Usually, Dice's rational mind would have interfered and made quick work of the situation, gauging his leverage and making a plan to turn this all his way. But ever since learning that he hadn't only failed his mate, but his firstborn child, Dice hadn't been quite as in control of his faculties as he would have liked. The fact that he was threatening to throw his pilot to certain death while standing high above Abu Dhabi was probably a good sign of that.
"Do you fucking understand me?!" Dice repeated, glaring at Price, who had stubbornly kept his fists by his side.
"I understand," Price confirmed.
As if recoiling from one another, Dice let go of the werewolf and the two stepped away from each other.
Dice slicked his tongue over his teeth, rolling his gaze over his ragtag team of miscreants, before turning around and heading back for his bag.
"Come on, we need to get ready," he said, his words tinted by the growl of the bear.
If the human Dice was angry, then the bear was absolutely livid. It had taken endless convincing to get it to see why they needed to let Meredith go in the first place and now with Spade's announcement about the baby, Dice had to admit that the bear had been right the whole damn time. It was a bitter pill to swallow.
Dice scooped up his bag and pushed through the glass doors, hearing the low mutter of conversation behind him. If he had to take a guess, he'd assume that Prowler and Thor were talking Price down from promising to pilot the next helicopter he found himself and Dice in straight into the nearest mountain. Dice couldn't blame him from wanting to do it.
He had murder on his mind and it didn't seem to be getting any better with time.
The rooms afforded to the team were lavish and up to par with the city they found themselves in. It was an interesting change to the little bunkers and belowground compounds that had made up their living quarters over the last several dozen missions. Dice wasn't sure whether he was supposed to read anything out of it, but it did seem that Spade preferred keeping the wild and barely controllable Shifter Squad Nine more in the jungles and the boondocks than anywhere near actual human habitation.
Again, Dice couldn't exactly find a flaw in that mode of approach. If he had to make the decision of where to allow the members of his team to be seen, he'd probably have half of them committed and the other half shoved into maximum security prison.
You just threatened to kill one of your teammates, and you fucking meant it. You're no better than the rest of them.
The thought was chilling.
The first room he saw was a big kitchen and living room, with a sunken seating area, a glass fireplace and a big bar. Dice tossed his pack on one of the ivory couches and headed straight for the alcohol, pouring himself a generous helping of the first whiskey he could find.
"That's more like it," Ryker said with a purr, stalking in with Rio and Thor.
Dice stepped away as the werelion went to pour himself a drink as well, keeping distance between himself and any other squadmate. He couldn't trust himself at the moment. But he was going to have to get a grip real fast. His mate's life depended on it.
One by one, the team piled in, storing away their gear for the time being. Price and Prowler were the last ones to enter, the werewolf twins obviously not in the best of moods. A surge of guilt burst through Dice at the dark gaze of Price, but he swallowed it down.
No time for remorse right now. They have to be at their best today. With this lot, it's always been about the punishment, not the reward.
The thought settled him slightly. Prowler closed the sliding door behind him and his brother just as the werelions found seats on the couches and Thor leaned against the marble kitchen counter. Shifter Squad Nine had never looked more out of place than they did surrounded by gold trim, expensive textiles, mahogany and marble.
"So, do you want to tell us what this mission's all about, boss?" Rio asked, a familiar glint of amusement shining in his eyes.
"I do," Dice said, taking a long, calming breath.
This was it. He had to lay everything out and make sure it went perfectly. Every step from now on could make or break his future and while he needed the help of every man on his team, he couldn't trust a single one of them enough to tell them the whole truth.
Not yet. Maybe not ever.
"Listen up."
It was going to be a hell of a ride.
Eleven
Meredith
Meredith had been certain that no amount of cover-up could hide the dark, almost black circles she was sporting under her eyes and the ashen look of her skin. She had, of course, been proven wrong.
The wonders of modern make-up never ceased to amaze her, though truth be told she wasn't giving the astounding feat of making herself look human half the credit it was due. How could she, when she was surrounded by three beefy werewolves, shoved into a tiny elevator that seemed to be going up endlessly?
Some months ago, she would have been cracking jokes right about now, trying to make her captors joke. But of course, that was back when she actually knew the names of her guards and they shared more than hateful glares and mumbled one-word sentences with her. Glancing at the three brick walls around her now, she hedged her bets and decided to stay quiet, her hands wringing her wrists in that annoying way she'd come to do.
Shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot, Meredith could still enjoy the view being presented to her.
Who would have thought that the most travelling I would do would be as the hostage of a terrorist shapeshifter cell? she thought with some wry humor, her gaze flitting over the magnificent, if not odiously overdeveloped expanse of Abu Dhabi.
They were in Etihad Tower number one, heading up to one of the highest floors. She'd been brought in with a blind over her eyes on the last car ride, but the whole process of getting her to Abu Dhabi had been a long one. She'd been travelling for two days now, mostly by car, and the best she could tell was that she'd been in the desert the whole time.
I wish they'd tell me what's going on.
Meredith bit her lip, looking down at herself. She was dressed in an ocean blue gown that was off the shoulder and her hair was done in neat, flowing waves, with a few pearls dotted into the hair above her temple. She was in high heels – something that she hadn't experienced in years now – and wore a diamond bangle on her left wrist. It was surreal, coming from ragged sweatpants and tees and lab coats, to being dressed in designer clothes and having her hair and make-up done by professionals.
A girl had been carted in to fix her hair and face and bring her the clothes a scant hour ago and Meredith was still unsure what to think of it. Maybe they just wanted her looking pretty when they shot her in the head? Who knew?
Her stomach twisted as the elevator smoothly came to a stop. One of her nameless guards stepped forward, right in front of her, and whipped out a sealed envelope as the door opened and a steely-eyed sentry met him. Meredith could see the men standing outside the elevator sporting assault weapons, looking like they were plotting the takeover of a small nation, while laughter could be heard in the background, mixing with the lovely sounds of classical music.