Bite (Bloodlines Book 1) Read online

  “Okay, on that note, I’m Dean Westbridge and this is my partner, Dakota Reese, and we’ll be taking over here.”

  “Dean and Dakota, that’s so cute!” Kieran couldn’t help but say. Did the Organization chapter here put agents together alphabetically?

  Dean snorted. “You really are an asshole.”

  “Well, Dean Westbridge…” Kieran stopped. Westbridge? “Ah fuck!”

  “Maybe you’re not as slow as you seem,” Dakota commented as she rolled the Mountain Man over and secured his hands behind his back with plastic cuffs.

  Kieran peered back at Dean, unsure of his next action. Things just got real interesting.

  The Organization ran off bloodlines. That was how agents were chosen and why they were able to remain secret. The first born, male or female, were sent into service, and very rarely was anyone else ever allowed to even know about their existence. The Westbridges were one of the original families who had formed the Organization. It was also the bloodline that Caspar had been born into. Part of an agreement the founders had made centuries ago. So Dean was related to Kieran’s boss—the man he loved like a father. This wasn’t good. He’d been hoping to avoid being on Caspar’s radar while he was supposed to be taking time off.

  “By the look on your face, I’m guessing you’ve figured out who my uncle is,” Dean said. “And if I’m remembering the last conversation I had with him, Caspar told me that you would be in town and to keep an eye on you.”

  Like he needed a fucking babysitter? Kieran scowled. “Then you haven’t been doing a very good job,” he taunted. “I’ve been in town for several days and haven’t seen you until tonight.”

  “But that doesn’t mean I haven’t seen you. Or how you drink way too much at the hotel bar before dropping several hundred dollars at blackjack?”

  “I’m a gambler at heart,” he quipped. How hadn’t he seen this man watching him? Well actually, Kieran knew. He didn’t give humans a second look. They were no threat to him. Kieran was untouchable. Or at least he’d always believed he was. This human male might be a challenge. Kieran turned his back to Dean, showing him that he didn’t find him any danger. Dakota had bound the mountain man, the rat guy, and was now bending over the young puppy-dog-eyed kid.

  Kieran strolled over to her with his hands in the pockets of his dark jeans. “That one’s not much more than a kid. He couldn’t fight off a tick. Do shifters get fleas and ticks?” he baited her.

  Dakota glanced up at him. “Could you be any more obvious?” she asked.

  He lifted an eyebrow.

  “Fine.” She finished securing the attacker then stood. “You can continue to play your games and push away everyone you meet. If that’s the way you want to play it, we can’t stop you. But maybe you should ask yourself why Caspar suggested you take the rest of your vacation here?”

  “He likes to screw with my head,” he replied with a shrug.

  “Sure.” She patted his chest before resting her palm over his heart.

  The heat from her hand seeped through his cotton T-shirt and he froze. For the first time in many years, his instinct was not to rip off the head of the shifter who touched him. Instead he ached to pull her close. He shook his head to gather control of himself.

  “I can see you’ve got this under control,” he murmured. Then he sped off. Kieran put every ounce of his energy in getting away from Dakota.

  He had a hotel to check out of and another lodging to find. Dean might have been given the task of watching out for him but Kieran wouldn’t make it easy for him.

  So let the games begin.

  Dakota grinned as Kieran disappeared almost right before her eyes. “Damn, he’s fast.”

  “And you need to be careful. Caspar specifically told us that Kieran hates shifters and that he’d like nothing more than to kill you,” Dean told her. “You shouldn’t have touched him.”

  Probably, but she hadn’t been able to help herself. It was so obvious that Kieran used his sharp tongue to push others away. He didn’t want people close to him but there was also a longing for connection deep inside him that she could sense. It was her job to read people—what she’d specialized in during training. Kieran Smith was so much more than what he appeared.

  “Maybe you should stay away from him. I can have Gabe help me follow him,” Dean said.

  “No.” While Kieran might have issues, it hadn’t been hate that she’d seen in his eyes. The spark of attraction had been unmistakable. He wasn’t exactly what she’d been expecting either so she’d paid attention to every detail. “I’m not backing off.”

  When she’d touched him, he’d been shocked. Kieran’s body had been hard and cool but his eyes had been full of heat.

  “Shit,” Dean muttered. “You have that look on your face.”

  “What look?” she asked with fake innocence.

  “The one that says you’ve found a lost puppy to bring home,” he said.

  She’d laugh, but he wasn’t too far off. Kieran needed to know that someone cared for him. He was lost in his own world and very alone. It wasn’t in Dakota to leave someone to flounder about. The fact that she was attracted to him just added to her need to care for him. Whether he liked it or not.

  A groan sounded from behind as she whirled around. The biggest of the shifters was waking up. “Let’s get these guys processed so we can get back to your secret mission,” she said.

  “I can’t believe I let Caspar talk me into watching him,” Dean bitched.

  “Like you’d ever say no to Caspar,” she said. Caspar was better to Dean than Dean’s own father. Because of the respect Dean had for his uncle, there was no doubt that he’d do anything Caspar asked. “You know he’ll be gone by the time we get done here and back to his hotel.”

  “Yeah,” Dean agreed. “Let’s get these three loaded and I’ll call Gabe to stake him out. He won’t leave town so we’ll find him.”

  “Maybe,” Dakota said, not really agreeing. Now that Kieran knew they were watching him, there was no telling what he would do. She didn’t think he’d just disappear, though. His personality made her think he’d try to make it really hard to keep their promise to watch him. Kieran would probably do his best to show them up.

  “I’ll get the little guy,” Dean said as he walked to the youngest of their prisoners.

  “Thanks,” she grumbled as she strode to the largest man, and the only one who was awake. “Hey.” She lightly kicked his side. “Get up.”

  The man scowled at her. “Who the fuck are you?”

  Dakota dropped to her knees in front of him. She let her jaguar come close to the surface. She had a powerful animal inside her, and the way the guy’s eyes widened, she knew he hadn’t been prepared for the wave of dominance that she released. “Any more questions?” she growled.

  He shook his head.

  As she climbed to her feet, she grabbed his arm and hauled him up. Dean had already carried the smallest to the back of their SUV and was now headed in her direction. She pushed her detainee toward Dean before turning to the last guy. He was scrawny and damn ugly. No wonder he’d turned to a life of crime. Dakota bent to lift him up and threw him over her shoulder.

  Dean just shook his head at her. It was an ongoing joke between them that she did most of the heavy lifting and that he was the brains in their partnership. Sure, it had something to do with her shifter strength, but really Dakota enjoyed showing off her muscles and Dean was really smart. They worked well together.

  She carried the last suspect to the SUV, then Dean helped her get him inside.

  “You drive,” Dean said as he circled around the back of the vehicle. “I’ll make the phone calls to track down our wayward Walker.” It was the first time Dean had brought up what Kieran was.

  “Have you ever met a Walker before now?” she asked as she slammed the back door shut. She climbed into the driver’s seat and started the SUV.

  “No,” Dean said as he joined her. “There are just so few of them. My dad,
and of course Caspar, talks about some of the older ones but I’ve never come face to face with anyone like Kieran before.”

  She hadn’t either. “I’ve read a lot of reports involving Day Walkers,” she said. “I wonder how much is true and how much they put into the reports to keep their secrets.”

  “I would think if the information comes from our files, it would be pretty accurate,” Dean told her.

  “I don’t know,” she argued. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to only put in the details they don’t mind us knowing about?”

  “They’ve been around too long for the Organization not to know almost everything,” he told her.

  “Okay.” She put their SUV into reverse and started to back out of the alley. She still thought her partner was wrong but only time would tell. The more she could watch Kieran, the better idea she would have about how Walkers worked.

  Beside her, Dean was speaking to Gabe about arranging a more detailed surveillance on Kieran. Gabe worked on a team with Dare, a bear shifter, and Riley, a fox shifter. Their team backed her and Dean the most. There were currently four squads of agents in the Las Vegas area. Her boss, Marcello Sparro, had concerns about the number of supernaturals who were arriving in town. There was talk about recruiting more agents.

  Secretly that was the reason that Kieran had been directed to vacation here. Dakota didn’t know why Caspar wouldn’t just tell Kieran what was going on. Instead Caspar had told Kieran he needed time off, and told Dean to keep an eye on the Walker. She wondered what else they didn’t know.

  As she drove south, heading to the Organization headquarters, she kept her eye out for Kieran. There was a good chance that he might follow them. To her knowledge, Kieran didn’t know where their office was located, and that information would be beneficial to him to find if he was planning anything against them. It wasn’t like he’d be able to type them into a Google search or look for them in the phone book. They didn’t exist to the outside world.

  While the general public might be aware that shifters existed, they had no clue what still remained in the shadows. Day Walkers were the closest thing to what people would call vampires. Yes, Walkers drank blood, had superior senses and were the scariest in the supernatural world, but they were also the rarest. And all the myths about vampires and how to kill them were pretty much bullshit from what her research had shown. Crosses, garlic and wooden stakes had no more control over them than they would on a human or shifter.

  It was interesting the way humans had accepted shifters easily enough and yet had never thought to ask what else was out there.

  Dakota made a left on Falcon Ave, which would lead her right into the underground parking garage of the Murphy Institute—the cover corporation for the Las Vegas Organization’s units.

  The Murphy Institute took half a block and rose three stories high. The dark brick hid one of the most advanced businesses in the country. Everything inside, from the labs, temporary housing and lock-up to the sleek offices were all state of the art. It could be a little intimidating the first time someone walked through the doors but Dakota loved it there. It sure as hell beat her training days of camping out for months at a time, constant cold and wetness, and the dorms she’d grown up living in.

  Unlike most of her coworkers, Dakota lived on site. She didn’t see the point of getting her own place, since at any time she could be sent away for a temporary assignment or for a permanent relocation. Why get comfortable when in a second she could be gone? Her partner was the total opposite but he had more contact with his family than most agents.

  Dakota hadn’t spoken to her parents or siblings since she was a teenager. It was just too hard to hear about how well her family was doing when she’d never be allowed to join them. She had five siblings, two of whom she’d never even met. Not that she didn’t keep an eye on them, but she kept it strictly to her files and under surveillance. She made no effort to contact them and they didn’t even seem to think about her, ever.

  She shook her depressing thoughts away. This was her life, and for the most part, she enjoyed what she did. As the eldest child, it was her duty to follow the agreement that her ancestors had made. She was a third-generation agent and her family depended on her to watch out for the innocent.

  “We’re here,” she told Dean as she slowed to a stop at the guard gate leading into the underground parking. Her vehicle was equipped with a tracking device and a bar scan on the window so the sensors could pick her up, but she still had to show her ID to get inside.

  She rolled down her window before she flipped open her identification. “Hey, Margie,” she greeted the guard on duty.

  “Hi, Dakota, Dean.” Margie walked up to the driver side. She peered in the back. “Three?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Dakota confirmed. “We’ll take them directly to the third-floor lock-up.”

  Since the shifter suspects had targeted humans, her and Dean’s job was to get them processed so the law-enforcement agents could be informed. They’d call in either the local police or use the newly formed Shifter Coalition, depending on how severe the crime was. With these three jokers, Dakota guessed it would be the locals who would have to come pick them up.

  The Shifter Coalition worked more like the FBI or Homeland Security but was run entirely by shifters. Their presence was common knowledge as shifters had publically started the agency so that humans knew nonhumans were being policed as well. Dakota had only met a couple of Coalition agents since they’d opened an office close by but those she’d met seemed to be good people. It didn’t bother her that they were in her town. It actually helped. While the Coalition took the more public cases and had to work within human laws, Dakota and the Organization could continue to slink around in the shadows.

  “This is it,” she said to her passengers.

  “Where are we and what in the hell was that man earlier? He wasn’t a shifter and he sure wasn’t human,” the big guy asked.

  Dakota glanced up into the rear-view mirror so she could see his eyes. “This is the final stop of our tour. You’ll be passed off to the cops from here.”

  “Cops!” he shouted. “I should be the one pressing charges. That man was a lunatic.”

  “That man could have killed you and no one would have ever known,” Dakota said honestly. “Instead he called for us to pick you up. You should count yourself lucky.”

  The prisoner snorted. “Yeah right.”

  “And if you know what’s good for you,” Dean added, looking over into the back seat, “you’ll make sure your paths never cross again.”

  Dakota pressed her lips tight to hide her smile. The way all three prisoners paled spoke volumes.

  “What was he?” the youngest looking asked in a whisper.

  “You best pray you never find out,” she warned.

  He nodded frantically.

  Chapter Two

  “No, Remy,” Kieran growled into the phone. “I do not need you to come up here and keep an eye on me.”

  “I didn’t say keep an eye on you. I just thought you might want some company,” Remy argued.

  “I don’t,” Kieran said firmly.

  “Yeah right.” Remy snorted. “That’s why you went hunting earlier?”

  Kieran didn’t know who Remy had heard that from but he’d put his money on Lettie. The woman never had learned to mind her own business. He’d call her on it but Lettie would just cluck at him and probably wouldn’t let him play with her newest toys if he pissed her off too much. “I was just in the neighborhood. Now I’m back at my hotel and getting into the shower.”

  That was sort of the truth. He’d gone straight back to the room he’d gotten when he’d arrived in town but he’d quickly packed his things and sneaked out. His hotel had been off Strip but he’d decided it would be better to hide in plain sight. He’d moved to a better-known place right in the middle of the action. It would make it harder for Caspar’s spies to find him. Give Kieran time to start stalking them first. But he did plan to take a shower
, so he wasn’t actually lying.

  “Come on, K,” Remy whined. “I like Vegas.”

  “You like all the pretty lights and sexy woman,” Kieran replied. “You hate the crowds, noise and smells of the big city. Just stay with your family and turn into a furry beast. I don’t need you here.”

  Remy sighed. “Fine, but if you get into any trouble, you know our boss will send me anyway so you better be on your best behavior.”

  Okay, so hunting hadn’t been the greatest of ideas, but he’d found out Caspar had put babysitters on him so it hadn’t been totally wasted. “Caspar won’t hear a peep from me,” he promised. As long as he could keep Dean off his trail—and that shouldn’t be too hard—he figured he could stay under the radar. Maybe he’d call his boss and tell him he was moving on. No, Caspar would grow suspicious. He’d just bide his time and watch those who were supposed to be watching him.

  Kieran could hear a lot of racket coming from Remy’s side of the phone.

  “Remind me again why I came home?” Remy asked, sounding frustrated.

  “You love your family,” Kieran answered him. A wolf shifter needed pack, and it was hard for Remy to be on his own. Kieran figured that was why they’d become such good friends. Remy’s shifter side craved the closeness of others.

  “I’ll stay a couple more days but maybe I’ll join you for the last week. I need a vacation from my vacation.”

  “Okay,” Kieran laughed. “That’ll work.” He just had to get rid of Dean and that sexy shifter first. No! Damn it, Dakota is not sexy, she’s an animal. And the only animal that Kieran could ever stand was his best friend.

  “I’ve got to go,” Remy said as a woman shouted his name. “Call me if you need anything.” He hung up before Kieran could respond.

  Kieran shook his head as he placed his phone on the nightstand next to his king-size bed. He’d checked into one of the nicest suites that the hotel had to offer. The room had a large bedroom with an adjoining bathroom, a living area with a wet bar, flat-screen television, a smaller dining area, and a good-sized kitchen. It was a lot more expensive than the room that he’d left but it was luxurious, which he appreciated.