Total Submission Page 3

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  Kyle was pleased to see that Pearson hadn’t made an appearance when he ducked into the Alpha’s office. Steel, his mate Levi, Phillip and Roger were already there, helping themselves to the breakfast trays that had been laid out. Deciding he would take his new mate out for breakfast, after the meeting, Kyle grabbed a big mug of coffee and went and sat next to Steel.

  “Thought you would still be pissed at leaving Iowa,” Steel said between his mouthfuls of bacon.

  Kyle grinned – he couldn’t help it really. Just thinking about his mate’s tight, hot little ass, sensual moans, and that talented tongue the cat had, was enough to put the smile on any man’s face.

  “You said to trust in Fate, my friend, and I do,” he said cryptically. He didn’t want to tell anyone about his mate until he had taken the chance to talk to Pearson. Steel raised an eyebrow that indicated he knew darn well that there was something Kyle wasn’t telling him, but just then Pearson and Dante came in, putting a stop to any further conversation.

  Pearson, Alpha of the Washington pack, and owner of the Bound and Bonded club, was a huge wolf, standing over six foot six in human form. The scar over his eye, caused by the errant tail of a silver tipped whip, did nothing to detract from his good looks, and his hazel eyes missed nothing as he glanced around his office. With his hand firmly locked in Dante’s, Pearson went over to the food and sorted himself out a plate, along with one for his mate. Dante was almost as big as Pearson, at six foot four, and Kyle admitted to himself they made a good looking and imposing couple. Dante was quieter than Pearson, and often kept his thoughts to himself, but like the Alpha, Dante’s black eyes picked up every detail and he watched the Alpha’s back like a hawk.

  When everyone was seated, complete with their food, Pearson started. “Okay. First things first, congratulations are in order for Kyle, who as you all know, went to find evidence that Jarrod, the man responsible for Dante’s unfair kill mark, is as gay as we are. I am pleased to say that the pictures of the sleazy little Alpha wannabe, being spit roasted by two human’s and clearly loving it, were the highlight of our day.”

  The men in the office cheered and Kyle just grinned, because, hey, what else could he do.

  “In light of the evidence, Dante and I will be heading to Des Moines over the next few weeks. I have already spoken to the Alpha there and asked him for a meeting at a neutral place, outside of his pack land, and the Alpha has agreed. I’ll let you know more about that, when the plans are finalized.”

  “Next,” Pearson went on. “This business with Favo. Steel, do we have any information at all on who this guy is, and what his beef with gay shifters is.”

  “I haven’t been able to pick up much on the Shifter network,” Steel said slowly. “We went and spoke to Phillip’s sister, while returning her husband’s body to her, and she just went off her nut. Clara, the sister, said she was going to the Shifter Council to get retribution for the death of her husband. She then went on some vitriolic rant about how the Fates never meant us gays to find mates, and that we were all abominations, things like that. She made the same comment Grier did when he was in that cell with Dante, about Favo’s work being the Fate’s work.”

  “Yes, well, we didn’t expect much else from her,” Pearson said throwing a sympathetic look at Phillip, who was just sitting staring at the floor. Clara was Phillip’s sister and it was she who had convinced Phillip to pretend that Colin, her husband, was his mate, so Colin could get access to the club. Grier was a friend of Colin’s, part of the same group of anti-gay fanatics, who had been killed by Dante after trying to kidnap him. Phillip had confessed all he knew when he had found out how bad things were, and had taken twenty lashes as punishment. His mood had never really been the same since.

  “I have been in touch with the Shifter Council myself,” Pearson went on. “Clara did lay a complaint, but given that Colin had come into our pack illegally and under false pretenses, and threatened to overturn the ruling of this pack without following pack law, they weren’t too concerned about it. When I mentioned Favo, they did seem interested and they have sent down one of their troubleshooters to work with this pack to find and eliminate the problem.”

  “Isn’t troubleshooter another word for assassin?” Roger asked. “They’re the ones who go in and do all the dangerous shit, when shifters go rogue and stuff, right?”

  “As far as I know, yes,” Pearson said. “It seems this bloke Styles has information on where Favo can be found, although the Council has asked that their man, be the one to go find this guy, and ultimately kill him.”

  “That doesn’t sound right,” Kyle said. “The man is attacking our pack. He has got informants in here with the idea of annihilating all of us. Why should some troubleshooter come in and get the kill? How do we know this Council guy doesn’t have the same ideas about gay shifters that Favo has?”

  “Apparently we aren’t the only gays Favo has tried to take down,” Dante explained. “Although this is the first time he has tried to take down a whole pack. However, from what the Council could tell us, Favo has been targeting gays that have been forced from their pack, and killing them. The Council weren’t aware of how bad the problem was until it became clear, through what happened to us, that this bloke now has followers and some grandiose scheme of wiping out whole packs.”

  “And apparently the shifter coming to help us is gay as well,” Pearson chimed in. “So we have no worries about him being on Favo’s side. If you’re worried about it, Kyle, and he’s cute, you can always fuck him and turn him to the dark side.”

  “Ha, ha,” Kyle said, although he knew the truth of the matter was that if he hadn’t just been mated, he would have probably done just that. He loved variety and an assassin would be quite a different experience. “Besides, you all know that I like my men submissive. What’s the chances of a Council assassin being my type?”

  A knock sounded on the office door and it was Pearson’s turn to grin. “Guess, here’s your chance to find out,” he said, before calling out, “Come in,” to whoever was on the other side of the door.

  The door opened and in walked Teric. But not the Teric who had taken Kyle’s cock so beautifully the night before. Oh, no. This Teric was dressed to kill in more ways than one. Without looking at Kyle, Teric walked up to Pearson’s desk and held out his hand.

  “Hello, Alpha Pearson. My name is Teric Styles. I’m the Council troubleshooter you have been expecting.”

  “Hell no,” Kyle said, before he could stop himself. Well one thing was settled. He already knew that this assassin was his type.

  Chapter Five

  Teric could smell Kyle the moment he walked into Alpha Pearson’s office and he kicked himself that he didn’t take ten minutes to do a spot of research on his mate before heading into this meeting. It was clear that Kyle was some kind of enforcer for the Washington pack, given his size. Somehow Kyle didn’t strike Teric as working in an advisory capacity. The man was too big and too full of himself for that.

  However, Teric knew enough about pack protocol to understand that he had to greet the Alpha first. So with a confidence he didn’t feel, he strode over to the desk like he owned the place and introduced himself to Pearson. Pearson introduced him to his mate, Dante, who Teric was aware of – Dante’s unfair kill had been lodged with the Shifter Council and Teric wondered if Pearson was aware of that. If he was going to be part of this pack, and lord knows, now he had been claimed, he didn’t have a lot of choice, then helping them out with that little issue would surely help him cement his position.

  But first he had to do his job. Teric had heard of Favo’s vendetta against gay wolf shifters some time before, and had an interest in the case purely and simply because he hated fanatics of all kinds. The fact that the man had now decided to try and wipe out a complete pack showed the guy had escalated from a man with a grudge, to a cult leader – and unfortunately his followers list was growing. The Council had decided that the shifter had to be taken out. I
t was hoped that once the head of the group was gone, the intensity of hatred currently being generated among the shifter community would dissipate.

  Explaining that fact to a pack of wolves, might not be the easiest job Teric had ever had. He stayed facing Pearson and spoke to him, ignoring the elephant in the room, that was his mate, who he could feel was sitting behind him.

  “I understand from your report to the Council, that Favo has lodged threats against this whole pack,” he said calmly. “Is this right?”

  “Take a seat,” Pearson said after flicking a quick glance between Teric and Kyle. The Alpha’s knowing look unsettled Teric a bit, but he had years of experience in keeping his face impassive and he sat in the chair closest to him. Fortunately it was clear across the room from Kyle who was looking at him like he had grown two additional heads. Forcing himself to focus on Pearson, Teric listened as the Alpha explained what they had learned from Grier, the presence of Colin and the threats from Clara. The Alpha finished up by asking Teric what the Council knew about Favo and his abilities.

  “Favo came up on our radar after the death of his youngest son, about three years ago,” Teric explained. “The young man was apparently gay, and Favo had been upset about it – enough to kill the shifter at a pack meeting.”

  “He killed his own son?” Dante was shocked, and it would seem the others in the room felt the same way.

  “It’s not against pack law to kill a wolf considered defective in some way,” Teric said simply. The men in the room were quiet for a moment, clearly thinking about what he had said. It was true, among wolf shifters at least, and only in some packs, that a wolf could be culled from the pack because they were considered physically or mentally defective. It was a barbaric custom and one that the Shifter Council was trying to change. But to date the change had been slow in coming.

  “If it was pack law, then why did it come to the attention of the Council?” A tall, built like a brick shithouse wolf asked. Teric looked at Pearson who nodded.

  “That incident didn’t get reported to the Council until after Favo’s oldest son challenged Favo for his position as Alpha. Favo lost, was banished because the new Alpha couldn’t bring himself to kill his father, and then Favo complained the Council about a faggot being the Alpha of a pack. That is when we interviewed the new Alpha and found out about the youngest son.”

  “So this guy has always had a thing about gays?” Dante asked.

  Teric pulled out a folder from the briefcase he had at his feet, and opened it, scanning the contents quickly. He knew the information backwards, but he had learned that is was better sometimes to let shifters see that he had written proof of the things he was saying, rather than getting them to just believe anything that came out of his mouth.

  “Favo’s father met and married his mother back in the 1970s. They had three children –two sons, and a daughter. Favo’s parents were not a true mated pair and when Favo was about twenty years of age, his father found his true mate – a man and not a wolf shifter. His father left the pack, gave his Alpha status to Favo, and was never seen again. Favo’s mother, despite not being a true mate, apparently pined away and died shortly afterwards. At the time of his father’s defection, Favo tried to petition the Shifter Council to prevent gay matings.”

  “Clearly he was turned down,” Pearson noted. Teric turned to the big shifter. He knew Pearson’s tale probably better than anyone else in this room and he knew how important it was to Pearson that gay shifters had a place where they could love who they wanted to love. Pearson would never know it, but it was partly because of his personal history that Teric had been sent to deal with Favo.

  “The Council don’t believe in going against the will of the Fates,” Teric said. “However, what did concern the Council at the time, and you have to remember this petition was about twenty years ago, was that Favo had a lot of followers then. What concerns the Council today, especially in light of what is happening within your pack, is that he still has a number of followers who are prepared to kill a shifter, purely and simply because of his sexual orientation. This can’t be allowed to happen.”

  “What are your orders concerning this job?” Kyle spoke up at last. Teric had purposefully tried to put his handsome mate out of his head, while he dealt with the job he had been ordered to do. He needed to speak to the Alpha privately. He needed to speak to Kyle, also in private. He did not want to answer Kyle’s question in a room full of wolves who had no idea what Kyle and Teric meant to each other. But Kyle had given him no choice. A mate cannot lie to his partner. The spirits within them didn’t allow it. Teric had no choice, but to tell the truth.

  “I have been ordered to kill Favo,” he said quietly. The ruckus that erupted in the room was loud, and typically wolf. But all Teric could see was Kyle, glaring at him across the room. So angry. So fucking magnificent. Teric closed his eyes, unable to meet his mate’s stare as he waited for Pearson to bring the meeting back into order.

  “No disrespect Teric,” the brick shit house said again. “But every man in this room is bigger and stronger than you are. Why would the Council send you in to do the job?”

  Teric opened his eyes, and looked straight at the no-nonsense shifter. “And you are?” he said.

  The mountain had the grace to blush a bit, but he said in his gravelly voice. “I’m Steel. I head this pack’s security, am head enforcer and run my own security company.”

  Teric flicked through his file again and found Steel’s details. He grinned and looked up, catching Steel’s eye. “I see you are also a former Marine and you are active in the BDSM lifestyle. Tell me Steel. In your experience would you say that a man’s size is a direct reflection of their courage, their strength and their skills?”

  Steel looked at the pretty wolf beside him, who Teric presumed was Levi, Steel’s true mate. The pretty wolf had on a gold chain, garnished with emerald chips that matched the wolf’s eyes exactly. It was an expensive piece and yet it was also clearly a mark of ownership if the key on the chain around Steel’s neck was any indication. The two men were obviously having a mind link conversation which had to mean they were double mated. It would seem little Levi had more strength than was obvious at first glance if a man like Steel would submit to him.

  “I stand corrected,” Steel said finally. “I admit I know nothing of your skill level, degree of courage or how you intend to do your job. I simply felt…”

  “You looked at me and made an assumption,” Teric said, but he wasn’t looking at Steel, he was looking at Kyle. The man looked like he was deep in thought.

  “I think what concerns all of us,” Pearson interrupted smoothly. “Is that killing Favo is necessary to the well-being of our pack. The guy wants to kill us all. I am sure you have had plenty of experience with wolf shifters before. Surely you can see that it is important for this pack’s honor, for us to have some input into the death of a direct threat towards us?”

  “The Council has taken that into consideration,” Teric said, tearing his gaze from his thoughtful mate and looking at the Alpha directly. He knew he didn’t have to worry about his attitude being considered a challenge to the wolf. As a cat shifter he could never run a wolf pack of his own. “They have agreed to let me share the intel we have on Favo, and have suggested that if you wish to take part in his demise, then you might be open to letting some of your wolves work with me to get the job done.”

  “Otherwise?” Pearson asked.

  “If that is not agreeable to you, then I have instructions to keep my intel private, and to do the job myself. It would be dangerous for both me and your pack members, if we were both approaching the same target, with a different endgame in mind.” Teric had to stay firm, although he knew that last snippet of information would probably send his mate into anger overdrive. From the roared out “NO!” that came from Kyle, and the anger with which his mate addressed his Alpha, Teric knew he had guessed correctly.

  Pearson quickly got the room back under control as Kyle went at Pear
son, and Steel tried to stop him. “That’s enough,” he roared, causing every shifter in the room to submit with the exception of Dante, and Teric of course. He wasn’t bothered by Alpha powers. It was one of the reasons he was so good at his job.

  “Steel, Levi, Phillip and Roger. I want you to continue the hunt for whoever is spying on us within the pack. Report back to me in four hours. I want answers.” Pearson snapped out. “Kyle, you and Teric are to stay. I want to talk to you both in private.”

  Figuring this wasn’t going to be pretty, Teric hunkered down in his seat and waited for the other men to clear the room.

  Chapter Six

  Kyle had just about dropped dead from shock when his sexy little mate walked into the Alpha’s meeting and introduced himself as the troubleshooter from the council. There was nothing in the man’s behavior the night before that suggested he was anything more than a delightfully sensual submissive. Probably an office worker, or a waiter, or something similar. One who had taken Kyle to the moon and back more than once through the night. To see him walk in, dressed in a sharp grey suit, with confidence oozing from every pore was both shocking, and Kyle admitted to himself, more than a little arousing.

  But when Teric started to speak. When he explained what it was the Council had sent him to do, every fucking cell in Kyle’s body went into protective overdrive. The fact that Pearson was considering letting Teric go after Favo alone was more than Kyle’s wolf could bear, and for the first time in his life, he had spoken out against his Alpha. And for the life of him, he really couldn’t care. His mate was heading into a nest full of fanatics and Kyle had to stop it. Fast.