“Aries sent a joke,” Cam says. “It fell flat. He doesn’t have the same ability as Carter and Cash do or Sol and Ford, for that matter.” The lie slides easily off his tongue. Maybe one day I’ll be able to do the same.
Cam walks us backward into the room as he starts to nip at the base of my neck where it meets my shoulder. I shiver and bite back a moan. No male has ever put their mouth on my body.
“I’m going to go, then,” Cas says and turns on his heel. That’s one way to get rid of him. I’ll have to remember that. He doesn’t want to see Cam and me kiss or touch.
I close the door once we’re fully inside. Since I soundproofed the room, anything said will stay in here. I don’t have to worry about our minds being read either.
“Any idea?” I ask, trying to keep my head on what’s important and not Cam’s lips trailing to my arm.
“No,” Cam replies, lifting his lips from me. “He did say at the last training session that he was hunting down a lead. Maybe he finally got solid intel, so we’re going in.”
I haven’t been on a mission yet. Just training. This is different. There won’t be teams. No paintballs. This will be a real threat and there will be others out there who will want to hurt us. I have no idea what we’re going to be walking into, but I can’t ignore the low hum of excitement flowing through my veins.
Cam turns me in his arms until we’re face-to-face. “I’ll protect you,” he says seriously.
“I didn’t doubt you would. And I’ll do the same for you.”
“I can’t have you hurt.”
“And you almost died last time.”
He shakes his head, trying to dismiss it. But I saw the blood on Aries and the others. I saw it on the floor in the room where it went down.
“We’ll have each other’s backs,” I tell him. “And the others.”
Cam smooths a hand down my spine. “You’re my priority, Whit.”
“And they’re your pack brothers and friends.”
“It’s not going to be easy having us both possibly in danger since we’re mates. We don’t want to give Aries or the others a reason to kick us off the team.”
I stiffen. “They’ll do that?”
He shrugs. “I’m not sure. There are no other mated pairs on the team.”
Leaning in, I kiss the corner of his mouth. I still can’t believe I get to do this. That Camden is my mate. “Then let’s be on our best behavior until we’re safely home.”
Cam brushes my hair back from my forehead. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’ll do anything to keep you.”
15
Camden
All my senses are on high alert. I’m usually very attuned to my surroundings but having Whit along on the mission makes me hypervigilant.
We haven’t even known we’re mates for twenty-four hours yet and everything in my world shifted. I can’t let anything happen to him. If it were up to me, I’d have kept him at home where he was safe.
Tonight, Echo is our spotter. He’s up in a tree with a sniper rifle ready to pick off anyone who comes our way.
The mission: rescue three fae children and two fae adults from a known drug trafficker, who also dabbles in the trade of paranormals. Aries got the lead from one of his contacts. He and Thay went out yesterday to scope the scene and find out everything we’re walking into. Well, not everything. There’s no way to know it all, but we like to get as much intel as possible.
By the time we get to the quiet town in West Virginia and hike up the mountain to a remote location, sweat has become my constant friend, even though it’s not warm out. We had to arrive via portal far enough away that no one would detect the magic Thay used. Then it was up the freaking mountain on foot. I wish one of us could teleport.
I still can’t get the picture of Sol kissing Whit out of my mind. He did it so we would realize who we are to each other. Or better yet, I would. But that doesn’t negate the fact that his lips were on Whit’s. Just thinking about it makes me want to murder the vampire.
“You have to calm down, Cam,” Whit says in my mind. “You’re projecting your thoughts. I’m sure Thay heard you, too.” Like