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  Mitch didn’t know how true the words he’d spoken were.

  The kitchen had been cleaned and the island wiped down by the time the two men made it. Piper stood on the other side of the island, nervously twisting her hands together.

  “Wow!” Mitch exclaimed when he entered.

  Jace barked out a laugh. Of course Mitch would be taken with the large, open well-lit room. Mitch was a remarkable cook, learning early in life, and enjoyed the duty. He had always said that if he hadn’t joined the military, he would be a world famous chef. Jace believed him.

  When he’d retired, Jace had even tried to get Mitch to come cook at the bar. He was still working on stealing Mitch, in fact. It bothered Jace that Mitch could be sent off on a mission at any time and he would lose touch with his best friend. If Mitch was to join him at the bar, he wouldn’t have to worry about his buddy as much.

  Mitch turned to Piper and grinned. “Wow, again.”

  She blushed but smiled slightly.

  “I’ve got to say, brother, you did real well.”

  He held in a moan. Mitch’s sense of humor was on the dry side and not everyone knew how to handle him. Luckily he seemed to remember his manners and held out his hand to Piper.

  “Mitch Bryant, darling.”

  Piper lifted an eyebrow but clasped her hand in his. “Piper Maxwell.”

  “A beautiful name for a beautiful lady.”

  “All right, that’s enough.” Jace was man enough to admit that anyone flirting with Piper irritated him.

  The grin Mitch shot him told him Mitch was doing it on purpose. Piper was shaking her head as she backed away. The twitch of her lips showing her amusement as well.

  He grumbled but wasn’t going to give Mitch any more fun.

  “Coffee?” Piper held up a pot.

  “Please, the drive was longer than I thought.”

  While Piper fixed Mitch up with his beverage, Jace pulled out a stool. “Have a seat. We appreciate you coming.”

  “No problem.” Mitch shrugged, and Jace knew it wasn’t really an issue for him. If anyone from the unit needed him then Mitch would be the first one there.

  “We have a lot to discuss but first I need a promise,” Jace said, as Piper passed a cup toward him. He pushed it over to his friend. Piper had positioned herself on the other side of the counter. Far away from Mitch in case he reacted badly and close enough to the back door that she could escape if need be. Jace knew how her mind worked but he wouldn’t let her run. If Mitch did cause any trouble, Jace was well trained to handle his friend.

  Mitch blew on his coffee before taking a small sip. “What exactly am I promising?”

  “Whatever you hear today must remain between the three of us. You can’t tell anyone, ever.”

  It was to Mitch’s credit that he didn’t answer right away. As good as the man was, he knew better to vow something that he might not be able to keep.

  “It’s a matter of life and death,” Jace added.

  “Are y’all in trouble?” Mitch’s back had straightened with tension.

  “Not like you’re thinking,” Jace assured him.

  Their gazes locked. Jace kept his features as calm as possible while his buddy studied him.

  “I promise.”

  The words, spoken quietly, sent a wave of gratitude through Jace. He glanced at Piper, who was biting her bottom lip.

  “Okay.” Jace blew out a breath. “This is how it started.” And Jace told him everything.

  He started at the bar and the night that he’d found out about Piper. He didn’t skim over the part where Piper had killed Joe. Instead he told the entire story of what he’d witnessed. Mitch didn’t interrupt, even though Jace could see dozens of questions play across his face.

  He backtracked to Piper’s story and how she had been changed. It was hard to relay the torture she had experienced. She backed herself farther away from the two of them, even though Mitch never glanced at her.

  His friend kept his eyes on Jace the entire time.

  When he finally stopped talking, his throat was dry and he felt nauseous. Mitch remained silent for several minutes.

  Piper was shaking as she watched them.

  After what seemed like forever, Mitch finally stood and looked over at her. He didn’t move toward her, though. Instead he dipped his head and jammed his hands in his pockets.

  In a low, controlled voice Mitch spoke, “This…I’ve got to see.”

  Chapter Three

  Piper really didn’t think this was a good idea. Still she followed Jace and his friend out of the back door, down the deck steps and into the yard.

  Her heart was beating furiously and she felt dizzy.

  Did she really trust this stranger enough to shift in front of him? No, but she did believe in Jace, and he wanted her to do this.

  Normally when she started her transformation, she’d undress first. It wasn’t necessary though. She’d shifted before in her clothes and although they’d disappeared when she’d turned back, she had no trouble becoming her wolf in clothes.

  She moved several feet from the two of them and dropped to her knees. She needed to calm down first or her transformation would hurt more. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

  “Give her a little time,” Jace said to Mitch.

  Piper was glad that he understood how difficult this was for her. Before they’d come outside, Jace had even told her she didn’t have to do this. But she did. If Mitch was going to help them, he needed to know for certain.

  Closing her eyes, she pictured her other form. She actually didn’t know if that helped or not, but she’d read about shifting like that in a book and it made sense. The easiest time to shift was when she was scared. The wolf seemed to take over at that point and she was able to just let go. But her nightly runs had helped her control herself better, so she could now call on her animal to come forward anytime.

  It took several moments before she felt the tingle down her spine. She lost herself in the pain and sound of limbs stretching.

  When she did open her eyes, she saw the world in black and white. The fact that she couldn’t see color was always a little frightening. Even with the shaded vision, though, her eyesight was sharper. Plus all of her other senses were magnified when she shifted.

  “Holy shit!”

  The cry scared her enough that she dropped to a defensive stance, baring her fangs as she peered up at Mitch.

  His face had gone stark white. “Holy shit!” he repeated.

  Jace had positioned himself between her and his friend. Piper didn’t like that. If Mitch was to attack, she didn’t want Jace injured.

  “That is fucking amazing!”

  Well that wasn’t exactly fear she was hearing. Jace must have picked up on it also because his shoulders dropped some of their stiffness.

  “Can I…? Can she…?”

  Piper dropped to her stomach and just watched the humans.

  “What?” Jace pressed.

  “Can I touch her? Does she know us?”

  Chuckling, Jace waved his hand. “Yeah, crouch down.”

  “Can you come closer, Piper?” Jace asked her.

  She debated. The enjoyment she received from Jace petting her called to her but she wasn’t sure if Mitch would have the same effect. She didn’t want to hurt Jace’s best friend.

  “It’s okay.” Jace gestured for her get up. “I promise.”

  As she climbed to her feet and started toward him, she perked up her ears to catch any sounds that shouldn’t be around them. Not finding anything out of the ordinary, she relaxed enough to flop down at Jace’s feet. He’d know what she wanted.

  If moaning was possible, she would have let out a relieved sound when Jace sat beside her, burying his hand in the fur at the base of her neck. Oh yeah, that spot was her favorite. Hard to reach on her own.

  His petting drew enough of her attention that she didn’t tense when Mitch moved closer. She eyed him warily as he joined them on the ground. The fact
that he wasn’t at her head helped resist the urge to bare her teeth, so she went completely still when he reached out and his hand hovered over her flank.

  “May I?”

  Well, it showed manners that he’d asked, but she couldn’t actually answer him. Instead she huffed heavily.

  “I think that’s a yes,” Jace told him with a smile.

  She needed to master a glare in her wolf form. Maybe she could practice.

  Mitch’s palm gently brushed over her thigh and Piper found she didn’t mind the touch. Laying her head on top of Jace’s leg, she closed her eyes and accepted the petting.

  “Not sure what to say here,” Mitch spoke quietly.

  She didn’t know why he was whispering.

  “I’m in awe though.”

  Thumping her tail, she tried she show her appreciation of his acceptance.

  “Every time she transforms, it both astonishes and scares me. The only thing I know about what happens is from movies and books. I would have never believed this was possible. But what if someone found out about her? I have to be able to protect her.”

  Piper licked at Jace’s hand. She knew that he worried, but for the first time, she truly understood why he was pushing her to know more about her change. Jace’s mind worked differently from hers. He gathered information and made a plan. Piper was more of the ‘wait and see what happens’ type of person.

  “We’ll figure this out. I actually might know where to look.”

  “Really?” Jace’s tone was sharp.

  “Yeah, I was going through some records on our last mission.”

  “Wait!” Jace demanded. “Why were you looking at our assignment?”

  Mitch grunted. “I always hacked into our files. Made sure the reports we gave were accurate and no one was messing with the intel.”

  “You’re a paranoid son of a bitch,” Jace told him.

  “Yeah well.” Mitch shrugged. “Anyway, Cody reported he saw something strange the second night on watch.”

  Jace frowned. “He never told me.”

  “Didn’t say a word until later. That’s suspicious right there,” Mitch declared with conviction.

  “I’m almost worried about what you’re going to say,” Jace confessed.

  Piper wanted to reach up and sooth him. Instead she snuggled deeper into his lap. The new positioned blocked her view of Mitch but she would hear if he moved—especially since both men continued to run their fingers over her.

  She liked the extra attention.

  “What did he say?” Jace finally asked.

  “About two hours after he’d gone on guard, he thought he saw someone through the trees. You remember how thick the jungle was. A lot of soldiers thought they saw things. Being alone out there causes shadows to morph and if you’re not careful, you start seeing shit that doesn’t exist.”

  While Jace had told her a little about his time in the service, he’d never shared anything like what Mitch was talking about. She couldn’t imagine being so far from home, in some foreign place, scared and fighting for their life.

  “Cody reported to his shrink that he swore he saw a young man staring at him through the jungle. When he started to approach, the figure moved away slowly. By the time he got to the spot, he didn’t find anything but fresh paws print. Huge prints. Then he heard a howl.”

  The men fell silent.

  Piper lifted her head. Jace was shaking his head. “He never told me.”

  “Hell, man,” Mitch replied. “What would you have said?”

  “I don’t… I don’t know.”

  “Nothing to say. He didn’t say anything to us and if he had, we would have laughed it off. But now that we do know about shape-shifters—or whatever—maybe we should talk to him.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Jace said after several beats. “But we should get ready for work. Are you coming with us?”

  Piper rose when Jace smacked her back lightly.

  “Yeah, I could use a drink.”

  “I bet,” Jace said with a smile. “If you wanted to get your hands dirty in the kitchen, Marcus wouldn’t mind if you joined him.”

  “Just might do that. I’ll head inside and clean up first, though.”

  Piper waited until Mitch had disappeared back through the house before she started to change back. By the time she was finished, her muscles ached and she was panting.

  Jace took the blanket they kept on one of the chairs and wrapped her up.

  “Are you going to talk to your other friend?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure. Cody was only with me for only one job. I don’t know him as well as Mitch. But if he mentioned what he saw to his counselor, it may be worth getting a hold of him.”

  “Is that why he is seeing a psychiatrist? Because he saw a werewolf?”

  “No, we all have to report to a shrink when we come off a classified mission. It’s part of trying to keep our heads on straight.”

  “Oh.”

  “I’ll talk more about it to Mitch before we decide. I think Cody is still in, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to track him down.”

  She snorted. “Especially if Mitch can break into all of your records.”

  “You’re telling me. Damn, that man is one scary dude sometimes.”

  There was nothing else to say on that, although secretly Piper liked the fact that Mitch was a little on the crazy side. He’d accepted her easily enough. It was interesting that Jace’s best friend was even more paranoid than even Jace had believed. While they were looking into Piper’s problem, maybe she could find out what caused Mitch to be so suspicious.

  “Can he really cook?”

  “Yeah, just wait until he gets to the bar. You won’t believe what that man can do in a kitchen.”

  * * * *

  Piper couldn’t put into words how good Mitch’s food was. If she hadn’t witnessed for herself the preparation of the masterpiece she’d been served, she would have sworn it had come from some five-star restaurant.

  Mitch waved off everyone’s compliments but the pleased gleam in his eye was obvious. Already she liked Mitch and that was rare for her.

  Even though she had been terrified sharing her secret with someone new then shifting in front of him, Mitch somehow just made her want to spend time with him.

  A group of loud college-aged guys came in, drawing Piper out of her thoughts. She had to get back to work.

  She grabbed an apron and quickly tied it around her waist before heading in the direction of the young men’s table where they were seating themselves. Jeers and teasing greeted her as she stepped up.

  “Okay, guys.” She held up her hands. “First let’s see some ID and then we’ll get you all taken care of.”

  There was some good-natured groaning but each of the six pulled out their wallets. Anderson’s Loft was a popular spot for twenty and thirty year olds but they all knew that Jace ran a clean place. No underage drinking, drugs or any other illegal activities.

  Piper checked to make sure all the guys were of drinking age before taking their order of beer and tequila shots. “Be right back,” she told them then headed for the bar.

  She was halfway across the floor when the door opened again. Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled at the newcomer. “Take a seat anywhere. I’ll be right with you.”

  Jace smiled at her when she reached the counter. She handed over the ticket she’d written the order on. “Time to get to work, boss,” she teased.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Patting the dark wood top while smirking at him, she turned on her heel. There was something in air. A static connection between the two of them. It might be from her shifting earlier, the stress or maybe there was always a sort of awareness between the two. But tonight she could feel that something important was going to happen.

  Of course she could just be still riding the wave of shock that Mitch knew about her. Mitch came out of the kitchen and they passed each other as she went to take the new customer order. Mitch winked at her. />
  It was going to be okay.

  The man sitting at one of the high-top tables looked to be in his early twenties. She’d have to card him too. His light brown hair was long and shaggy but not in a stylish fashion. Piper got more of an impression that the young man had missed several haircuts.

  He glanced up and her gazed locked on his brown eyes. Sad eyes.

  “Hi,” she greeted. “Welcome to Anderson’s Loft.”

  “Thank you,” he responded softly.

  “I’m sorry but I do need to see some ID.”

  He bit his lip but nodded. She waited while he slowly withdrew his wallet from an inside pocket of his light jacket. Fumbling with removing a driver license from the protective sleeve, he flushed a little.

  Setting the document on the table, he peered up at her. Piper slid her hand over the hard plastic and picked it up. Bobby Gibson, twenty-two, from Flagstaff, Arizona.

  “Okay, sir.” She offered him a small smile. “What can I get you?”

  “I’ll… Uh I’ll have a beer, please.”

  “What kind?”

  “Um, Bud Light?”

  So not a big drinker, she hazarded. Nervous, definitely. Maybe he was meeting someone. A date. Blind date? “You got it.”

  She set the license back down and strolled over to the bar. She handed over the ticket for the new order then picked up the order for the large group.

  After delivering the first round to the cheerful young guys, she glanced over at the lone man. He was watching her but not in a way that was creepy. Instead the stranger reminded her of a lost little boy searching for something.

  Well, hell. She didn’t know where that feeling had come from. She’d never been great at reading people in the first place. Jace had this uncanny ability to look at someone and just know when there was more going on. Then he’d use that intimidating but caring stare to make someone want to reveal their deepest darkest secrets.

  She knew from experience.

  Piper had never been able to relate to anyone other than Jace. Maybe she should have Jace serve this Bobby guy and see what Jace could pick up. But another quick peek and she knew she needed to tread carefully with the uneasy young man.