Chapter 2

• Deacon glanced over to see Nox drop his phone into the cup holder. His expression wasn’t good. “Problems?”
• Nox shifted in the seat to a more comfortable position. “Sister.”
• “Ah.” He said it as if he understood, but he didn’t, not really.
• “She let herself be recruited to the clan coordination team.” He made a noise of annoyance.
• “That’s a problem?” Deacon had met many of the members of that team, their job wasn’t an easy one.
• “Yeah, that’s a problem. She’s an Alpha’s daughter and shouldn’t be doing shit like that.” He huffed out a breath picked up the coffee cup and gave it a shake to see if there was anything left in it.
• Deacon didn’t voice it, but he didn’t agree. Having a member of an Alpha family visiting other clans seemed like good optics to him—especially with some of the rivaling clans’ disagreements they’d seen and been sent to peacefully oversee. “I met a woman on that team, she’s Alpha too, Amari…”
• “Amari is different and completely capable of looking after herself.”
• “You don’t think your sister is?” He looked back at the road, “capable?”
• “Sure, she can track and shit for fun competitions, but this is the real world, man, she has no idea.”
• Deacon went through half a dozen replies in his head, none of which would have earned him any points, so he settled on saying something to pass the focus to someone else. “Jesse is a straight-up kind of guy; I don’t see him allowing someone on the team if he doesn’t think they’re capable.”
• He felt Nox’s eyes on him but didn’t bother looking over.
• “Let’s hope he knows what he’s doing.” Nox picked up his phone, “my dad is pissed. According to Nash, the prince backed my sister being on the team.” He snorted, “I know you’re not from a clan, so you don’t get it, but this is causing a lot of rifts in my world right now.”
• Nox always did that, brought up Deacon’s past, like it was the reason for anything that wasn’t going the way the man wanted. Truth be told, in his opinion Deacon had worked harder and proven himself by going from clan less to working for the king. Deacon pulled his cap down further to shade his eyes, “well, if Jesse and the prince say she’s golden, then I guess she is.” He glanced at him to be met with an unamused look, “have a little faith—man.”
• Nox made another sound of annoyance and then turned and looked out the window, “yeah whatever.”
• Deacon reached into the pocket of his vest and pulled out a new mint-flavored toothpick. Clamping it between his teeth, he focused on the road. They’d crossed the border and since the back tires had moved over that invisible line, his guts were in knots. He hated this side of the border. There was nothing but bad memories of violence and hunger pains over here for him. He rolled his head from one side to the other, trying to loosen the tension in his neck. He couldn’t afford to get bogged down with that shit right now. Things were really heating up with his team and the whole Alliance, there was no time for emotional history. Deacon was primed and ready to lay a beat down on all that was a part of Aiden Tomas’ world.
• He glanced at Nox again to see he was glaring out the window. Deacon didn’t dare say he knew who his sister was, that would end about as well as a nuclear bomb going off. He’d met the petite, sexy little fireball, Giana Marin at a gathering of the clans almost five years ago. She’d taken his breath away and made his animal want to howl at the sky. She was his mate, and he was so unworthy of a female like her. He’d run like a coward from the gathering and called Calum Dante as he drove his rusted-out, duct-taped truck off the property. Calum had helped to steer him in the right direction, and he hadn’t looked back since then.
• He’d spent four years proving to himself and any doubters that he was a worthy male and a force to be reckoned with. If it weren’t for Calum, Deacon probably would have died in that backwoods shack a long time ago. Calum had found his sick, half-starved, pathetic ass and brought him back with him. That man was the reason Deacon did what he did now, help others. Not everyone had the strength and means to control their life’s direction. Deacon liked to believe he was part of balancing the scales for those in need.
• It had taken him two years to prove his allegiance to the Alliance and king and then another two of busting his hump to get on the Incursion team and prove his worth there and nothing was going to make him turn away from it now. Not some Alpha family brother, that was for sure.
• Deacon hadn’t seen Giana in all that time, but in the back of his mind, she was always there. She was the driving force and reason he changed his body, his health, his entire being, on the chance that if he ever had the balls to face her again, they would be on more equal ground. Of course, there was a good chance he’d swallow his own tongue and asphyxiate on it if he did see her again, but that was up to fate and he had all the faith in the world that what was meant to be, would be.
• His phone ringing had him jerk as if someone had poked him. It was his boss, he hit it and put it on speaker, then looked over to see Nox was aware of who it was too. “Boss?”
• “Deacon, you’re with Nox, right?”
• “I’m right here.” Nox was sitting upright in the seat now like she could see he was at attention or something.
• “Good, one less call—because I have time to play fucking secretary here.”
• They both smirked at her tone, Wynter Carr was not an a-typical female in any way at all. She was blunt, and rude and Deacon was pretty sure she wasn’t even aware that she was a female most times.
• “I just got a call from Devin Addison. From now on when the co-ord team is transporting or going into unknown situations, one of us ride shotgun.”
• Nox nodded his head. He was such a yes-man, suck-up sometimes it turned Deacon’s stomach.
• Deacon looked back at the road, “did something happen to cause this change?”
• Wynter made a sound like she wanted to spit, “yeah, someone tranq’d Jesse and had plans to take off with his mate,” she laughed that deep almost manly laugh of hers, “haven’t met her, but I plan to, she put a bullet right in one of their hearts from fifty feet away.”
• That got Nox’s attention.
• “Everyone all right?” Deacon was smirking, but it was more from his passenger’s reaction than from the fact that a woman made an awesome shot.
• “They’re fine. Keeping her location on the hush from now on though.”
• Deacon nodded. “All right. There’s a lot of hush happening now.”
• “I don’t know how those sadistic bastards are finding ours, but I plan to take the unkind end of my rifle and jam it right up their…” there were voices in the background for a moment. “Zain, from the Alliance offices, will be sending you boys locations and shit to assist the co-ord team from now on. Solid?”
• “Yeah, Boss.” Nox answered fast.
• “Got it.” Deacon looked at the road marker they’d just passed, “we should reach our destination in the next two hours.”
• They could hear her cursing someone out in the background, “that shit has been back burner’d, I’m told, the new destination will be sent to you shortly.” She cleared her throat, “keep it tight, I’ll be talking to you both tonight sometime.”
• “Will do.” Deacon reached forward and hung up before Nox could say something else that could only be labeled ‘kiss ass’.
• “Damn this is getting intense.” Nox turned around grabbed the cooler and dragged it closer to the seats.
• “Jesse must have one hell of a mate.” Deacon grinned.
• “Tranq darts, what’s with that shit?” Nox mumbled.
• Deacon shifted his hat back on his head and rubbed his hand over his forehead. “It’s new.” He glanced at him, “and means we’re going to have to have our heads on a swivel all the time now.”
• Nox nodded, “yeah, just what we need.” He looked back out the window.
• Deacon clamped his teeth down on the toothpick. If they were going to be helping members of the co-ord team, at some point he was bound to run into Giana. His heart felt like it was doing the obstacle course right now. He wanted to see her more than his next breath, but that was also the reason he’d avoided seeking her out all this time. Shit was getting intense all right and he didn’t know if he was going to come out the other end of it unscathed.