Their Unusual Mating [Paranormal Protection Unit 5] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  “All right, don’t worry, Bets. The twins are on assignment, but I will ask Trey if he will call his boss. Don’t worry, Bets, we will figure it out,” she assured her friend with a smile. “Can you e-mail me the most recent picture of Rimi? I haven’t seen her in about eight years, so I need a new one, please?”

  “All right, doll. Thank you.” Betsy sniffed. “And tell your boys thank you. Just find her for us?” She was getting too old for this, and she knew it. “Call me as soon as you have any news for us.”

  “We will, Bets, we will.” Disconnecting the phone with her friend, she turned to Trey and explained everything.

  “I know that this isn’t your typical type of case, honey, but will you please look into it?” she asked Trey softly.

  “Of course, baby. I need to go in and make a report anyway, so I will talk to Talon about her. We will see if we can find your little human friend.”

  “Thank you, honey. Oh, and tell Talon I said howdy,” Kat said with a smile and winked at her man, watching him leaving her and heading off to the headquarters that were about ten miles from her home and business.

  Stepping outside, Trey signaled the guard he was heading off and to wrap tighter around the house. Moving to his bike, he stopped by one of the Fae Guards and looked at him. “No one in and no one out,” he said softly. Getting a nod, Trey got on and pulled out, calling into base so that he could give Talon a heads-up.

  Chapter Four

  Rimi had answered hours’ and hours’ worth of questions. It seemed as if there was a total flood of them, and she couldn’t seem to keep her eyes open after a short time. Yawning again, she laid her head on her forearms and looked to the detective. “Can I please, please leave? I’m utterly exhausted. Maybe you can have an officer take me home?”

  “We would, ma’am, but…” The paunchy, older, and balding detective leaned back in his chair as he said, “Your home has been burglarized. It’s not going to be safe for you right now. Not at all. Right now we need to keep you in protective custody because of the danger that is currently revolving around you.”

  “Someone broke into my house?” she asked and jerked as if hit. Wide-eyed, she looked at the detective. “What about my kittens? There are four of them. They are just babies.”

  “There were no kittens, I’m sorry.”

  She sniffed, couldn’t cry, wouldn’t cry, oh fuck it! She was crying. Grabbing the tissues, she began to sniffle and sob. Dammit, those kittens were her babies. Yes, call her the crazy cat lady, but they hurt her fucking babies! Dammit!

  “I need to go home. I want to make sure that my babies aren’t hiding somewhere. Please?”

  “How about if we help you? We will bring two cars of uniforms and my partner. We will get your things, and then we are putting you into protective custody. Right now we understand that your godmother is about to have a heart attack and has sent in a special force. They will be here come morning.”

  “Oh crap, Aunty B,” she whispered in horror. She hadn’t made her normal last two calls to her aunt. It wasn’t that she hadn’t wanted to. She just hadn’t had two seconds to do so. “I need to call her. Bless her heart, poor Aunty B is likely having a heart attack.” Good lord, she was a terrible goddaughter. She hadn’t called her godmother like she should have. Just another sin to tack onto the endless list of them she seemed to be accumulating lately.

  “You can call her from your home, but once we have you in a protective home and environment there are no calls allowed out, deal?” When she nodded, he smiled. “Sit tight, Ms. Coleman. I will arrange protection and we will get moving, all right?” At her nod, he again nodded and stood, rising to go to the door and looking back. “If your cats are there, we will find them,” he added, a little softly for her since it was obvious that it was distressing her.

  * * * *

  “We will be collecting Ms. Coleman, removing her and her belongings from the situation, and taking her back to base,” Talon told the team he’d had to scramble to pull together. Too many things going on in too many places all at once. “The locals know we are coming, they just don’t know yet that we’re going to be pulling jurisdiction on them. Be polite, be nice, and for the love of the Gods, nobody rip anybody’s arms off. They may be small town, but they are the law there and will be treated accordingly.” He shot a look to the Jaguar changer on the mixed-up team sitting next to Trey. “Got it?!” he asked specifically.

  “Absolutely, boss.” Tryggr smiled slowly, all predator. “No tearing off arms. But legs are still a go.” He was yanking Talon’s chain. One damn time, and an accident at that, and you got yourself labeled as the guy that tears off arms. It had been successfully reconnected. What was the big deal?!

  Trey growled and shook his head. “No legs either, hotshot,” he muttered darkly. “Katherine will have my balls if I don’t bring her ‘sister’ home.” He rolled his eyes. “The two haven’t even spent more than a few months together, but Katherine has it in her fucking mind that she’s her sister, and I would do whatever it took to make my mate happy.” He added with a grin, “Especially since she has this way with her tongue when I do something that makes her happy. Hell yeah.” He growled. “Oh, one more thing.” He looked at each man there. “This girl, Charisma Coleman, she knows jack shit about us and it needs to stay that way, got it?”

  Talon got nods from everyone and looked to Quincy. “Skittles will be sending you details on the fly. Keep your phones handy and on vibrate only. All communication will be via comms. We are going in looking like black ops all the way, lads. They want us all stereotypical, we’ll give them stereotypical.” He grinned.

  “Oh hell yeah,” another changer murmured in appreciation from the back. “Hey, boss, can we do a rapid descent from the chopper? Can we? Huh, huh, can we, boss?” A couple others were grinning at that.

  Shaking his head in amusement Talon, nodded. “Yes, you guys can play it up to the extreme. Just remember we’re on their turf and technically we have no jurisdiction there. But what the locals don’t know won’t get me shit upon.” Besides, with Charisma’s godmother…He was pretty sure he was fully covered from shitstorms. “Wheels up in ten. Good luck, fellas, and we’ll update you as we go along.”

  * * * *

  “Good lord, what did they do to my house?” Rimi asked with a frown as she turned around in the shattered remains of her home. “I loved this.” She gently touched a wooden figurine that her godfather had whittled just for her, and now it was a shattered mess. A sob tore from her lips as she moved. “Good lord,” she whispered softly and moved to the next room. More tears.

  Rimi wasn’t poor, not by any stretch, but she worked hard for absolutely everything she had. Nothing had been given to her apart from the handcrafted items that her godfather had given her since she was born, and now, now they were all gone, and it broke her heart. Things could be replaced, she knew that, but it was the memories she would miss so very much.

  “We will have a cleaner come in as well,” the detective told her. “I’m so sorry, again I’m sorry.” He truly meant it, too.

  “Thank you,” she whispered and moved to the hiding place that the kittens had found, a place that was just behind a loose baseboard and pulled it free. Yes, she knew that was a place that mice would likely hide, but since it had been knocked down, maybe, just maybe her babies would be there as well.

  “Come on, babies,” she said and dropped to her knees. Rimi didn’t realize the view she was presenting to anyone on her hands and knees, with her skirt hitched high as it was.

  * * * *

  “Approaching the house now,” the pilot reported as they moved silently through the night.

  “Copy that,” Trey responded and looked to everyone else as they double-checked weapons and gear. It might be a cakewalk of an assignment, but he was pleased to see that they all were approaching it like every other mission, serious and down to business.

  When the helicopter went into a smooth hover, the doors were slid open, ropes tossed ou
t, and every man leapt out in unison, zipping down the lines to land featherlight on their toes. Unhooking, they all moved into positions, weapons down though to ensure they didn’t get perforated by the locals all standing around looking shocked.

  Trey waved off the pilot, who would go and set down in a nearby field to await further orders or their arrival at his location. Moving toward a deputy, he looked down at the man. “I’m looking for the sheriff,” he said, holding up identification for his inspection.

  “Uh…” The deputy swallowed. “He’s inside, sir, with the witness collecting a few things for her move to the safe house.”

  “Thank you.” He nodded and with hand signals deployed all his guys, except the asshat Jaguar changer, out and around the house. He and the cat went up the walkway to the door and inside. Both of them stopped dead at the scene before them. Girl on her knees peering into a void, showing just a hint of her panties, with the sheriff and two deputies all heads cocked, getting a good look.

  “Gotcha, baby girl,” she said and reached into the hole, wiggling slightly and pulling out first one ball of completely midnight-black fur and nuzzled her for a moment. “You gave Mommy such a scare. Now let’s get your brothers. They are the stubborn ones. Of course you being the girl are far smarter and know to come when your momma calls, don’t you, darling?” she asked the kitten and was rewarded with a lick to her cheek which made her giggle. Out of all the hell, this was what she needed, her kittens, their unconditional love.

  Grabbing the second ball of fur, a solid white cat, and then a third fluff that looked like a wild cat with its orange fur and black streaks and spots. “There you are, Monkey,” she teased with a smile and hugged him under her breast with the other two kittens before reaching in again for the fourth one.

  “Come on, Mercury, get your hairy ass out here,” she muttered and wiggled down even more so she could reach further in. “Ouch, you little shit.” She grumbled but didn’t pull her hand out. Finally she was able to get the silvery-gray kitten from the hidey hole and pull him out.

  Finally rising to her feet, she turned to look at the detectives and smiled. “I have…” She then saw them. All of them. Suddenly it hit her just the lovely view she had given these men. “Well hell,” she muttered and looked to the massive men. “Who the hell are you?” Since the detective and officer simply couldn’t get their dirty fucking minds from the gutter she wanted to know who was in her home!

  Pulling his ID out again since he seemed to have everyone’s attention finally, Trey nodded to them. “Treasach Campbell at your service, ma’am. Your godmother sends her regards,” he said and looked to the cops, who had been leering at her bottom. “Orders from Mount High.” He handed them over, semi-fake but they’d never figure it out. Thank you, Skittles! “We’re taking over her protective detail from this point out. You are to continue the investigation, and should you require Ms. Coleman for questioning or to testify you can contact us through our offices.” He passed over a card and lifted a brow at the detective. “That won’t be a problem, will it?”

  “No, no problem,” the detective said and passed the shield and ID back. “We understand who her godmother is and had expected you.” The detective looked to Charisma. “If we need you we will make the calls. The home that you had been showing is currently being dusted and then the team will come here. We will find whoever did this,”

  Rimi nodded and looked at the two big men, holding her babies close. “I need to get a litter tray and litter for my babies as well as food for them. I have a bag for them.” She had a carry bag that was normally for puppies, but she took her babies with her instead. “I also need to get some clothes.” She looked around and sighed. “Well, if I have any that are still intact that is,” she murmured. “Is it all right if I head up to my bedroom?” she asked the men, her face still flaming because of them all seeing her on her knees with her freaking ass in the air. Wonderful.

  “Absolutely, Ms. Coleman.” Trey nodded.

  “I’ll take the kittens, ma’am,” Tryggr, said holding the carrying case in hand. Taking each kitten, he eased them into the bag. “I’ll keep an eye on them,” he promised.

  “Thank you.” She looked up at the large man. “Please make sure to keep a very close eye on them? My babies have been stressed far too much tonight. So please, take very good care of them?”

  “Absolutely, ma’am,” he assured her with a small smile and tickled one of the kittens on the chin. They were adorable.

  “After you.” Trey signaled up the stairs and followed when she finally moved after a moment’s hesitation. Staying back five steps, he kept his gaze up, mostly because he was mated to the best woman on the planet, and second, the female had already been embarrassed enough for one night.

  Walking into her bedroom, or at least what was left of her room, she sighed. Looking around, she wanted to cuss. “Looks like we will need to get more than just litter, food, and a tray while shopping,” she muttered. Walking into her closet, she frowned. “Good lord. Instead of taking the clothes that are worth tens of thousands of dollars, they ripped them to freaking shreds.” It was such a waste. Frelling hell. Tossing her hands up, she shook her head. “I have nothing that is usable here.”

  Taking a look inside, he winced. “Well, take a quick look around for anything salvageable, documents, passport, whatever.” Hopefully she’d been smart to put such things in a lock box. “The shopping won’t be an issue. We can do that either locally near where you’ll be staying, or on any number of trips into the base, or via the Net.” Looking around, he frowned slightly and moved to the center of the room, taking a slow spin. Tipping his head, Trey dug out his video camera and began to tape the room. Something looked oddly familiar about the destruction, but he needed someone else’s opinion on that.

  “Any documents of importance are kept in my safe deposit box,” she told him. “That includes all of my documentation on passports, birth certificates, and so on as well as my babies’ adoption papers. So there is nothing here.” She sighed then and shook her head. “Why in the hell would someone do this?

  “He was there for me. He had somehow hijacked Hector’s phone number so that he could send me a text with that ‘hot sales tip,’ and he was there to kill me, wasn’t he? But why? I’ve never, ever done anything to anyone, so why in the hell would they want to kill me?”

  “Not sure, ma’am,” Trey said as he moved to her closet to film the scene there and then into the bathroom. Not a lot of damage, discounting the mirror in a thousand and ten pieces. Continuing to film, he moved through the entire upstairs before looking to her. “Let’s grab your purse and then we will head out, Ms. Coleman,” Trey said, filming even as he went down the stairs, carefully making sure to get all the holes in the walls, even way, way up in the two-plus-story stairwell. Interesting. “Tryg, round up the boys. I’m going to do a quick walkthrough down here and outside, and then we will head to the rendezvous.”

  “Got it.” He looked to her and held up the bag. “They’re all currently asleep. I found a clean towel to give them a little more warmth. I hope you don’t mind, ma’am.”

  “Thank you,” Rimi whispered and looked down at her babies. “They are so very young, been through far too much.” Looking up at the man, she smiled. “Rimi. My friends call me Rimi, by the way,” She looked down at her contentedly sleeping kittens. Yep, she was the crazy cat lady and knew it.

  “Tryggr,” he said, rolling the sounds all together. “Or Tryg, which is easier for most people to pronounce. I’ll answer to either. Roundup time, lads, meet out front. The lady and I are coming out and we’ll be heading to the pick-up zone once Trey is finished filming.” Glancing to her, he waved a hand to the door. “Rimi.” He smiled slightly. “If you would.”

  Moving to the kitchen, Trey slowly panned around. “Skittles,” he said to Quincy, their tech guru, “I’m going to be uplinking a video to you as soon as I’m done here and we’re moving to rendezvous. Take a look through it and give me your opini
on.”

  “Any hints?” Quincy asked him, sounding distracted.

  “No, I don’t want to bias you in any way. I have my own thoughts but I want to see what you think without any info from me. We’ll talk when we get back to base,” Trey murmured, easing out of the house into the yard which, in comparison to the interior, was pristine. He knew it would be, but what he wanted was a shot into the windows. He was pretty sure that all signs of disruption would be non-existent.

  “Copy that,” Skittles said and covered the mic. “Why don’t you just get up and get it?” he asked with a chuckle.

  Shooting him a dark look, Maya said, “Because if I get up I will have to pee and if I have to pee I will want something else to eat.” She rubbed her belly. “Because it seems as if that’s all I do lately, well now that I’m no longer puking my freaking guts out.” She grumbled. “Why don’t you just float it to…well hell.” She looked at her belly. “You aren’t allowed to say the word ‘food,’ darling. I’m freaking starving now and have to pee. Come help me up.” It wasn’t that she was at the end of her pregnancy so much as she was just really tiny beforehand and was now pregnant with a really, really large baby boy.

  Laughing softly, Quincy secured his board and got up to go to her. Rounding the desk, he eyed up his gorgeous bond-mate. “You get more beautiful and radiant every day, darling,” he said softly. Taking her hands, he helped her pull herself up out of the chair. Tugging her slightly so she overbalanced and, conveniently, fell into his arms, he kissed her. “I love you, darling mine,” he whispered softly against her lips. Pausing, he winced at Trey’s voice in his ear. “Not you, ass—” He stopped at her warning glare of death and pain. “Twit.” He shrugged. She wanted him to clean up his language. It was like asking a leopard to change his spots. Which she did try with one of the changers. Thankfully she still had both hands and her head attached. Sighing at the laughter in his ear, he let Maya go and picked up the lip balm she’d dropped.