Aiden pulled his hoodie tighter against the morning cold and readjusted his rucksack. Why is it always so damn hard? It’s just a knock, he said to himself as he stared at the house across the road.
She was at home. He could sense her.
He forced his feet forward slowly, prolonging the feelings of resentment, fear, and pain that had started to bubble like a cauldron in his stomach.
“It’s just a knock. You’ve done it many times before, and it’s always been fine.” It was his homecoming mantra. Not that Sarah's place was home, but it was the closest he had to a home, and probably, ever would have. Aiden spent his days living in hotel rooms, using backpacks as wardrobes. He was used to hiding away from the world. It was part of his job.
Wiping sweaty palms on his black combats, Aiden inhaled deeply, then rapped a knuckle on the door.
“I don’t know why you still spend twenty minutes psyching yourself to knock on the bloody door, Aiden,” Sarah said. “People will think you either have issues or that you’re a weird, door-knocking stalker.”
“I do have issues, and I just might be a weird kind of stalker. I could be a psycho axe murderer for all you know,” he said, closing the door behind him.
“Still struggling to forgive me?”
Dumping his rucksack on the floor, Aiden shook his head. “Do we really have to repeat this conversion every time I come and visit? I told you, I understand why you switched me. I’d have probably done the same if I was mated to an Alpha. Hell, I’d have done the same if I was mated to a wolf at all.”
He didn’t fail to notice the pain in her warm brown eyes as she forced a smile. “You look like him, you know. He was just as stubborn as you, too.“
“Have you ever met an Alpha who wasn’t stubborn? Thank fuck I’m not in a pack. Not that they’d have a half-breed like me, anyway,” he said, stretching out on the sofa. “Seriously though, my issues aren’t with my lineage. I’m just not very good at this family thing, that’s all. It feels weird, I guess, having someone that cares and having somewhere permanent that I can come to. It’s not what I'm used to, that’s all.”
Sarah perched on the sofa by his feet and placed a hand on his leg. “I understand. We can take things as slow as you need to. I’m not going anywhere and will always be here when you need me. How’s the shifting going? I still can't get my head around why you can do what you can do.”
He didn’t understand it either. Sarah had told him before that Changelings didn’t shift, not really. They would take on the appearance of the baby they were switched with but not shift into something else in the way a wolf would. “Same as always. Humans, but no wolves.”
“It will come in time. The beast always comes. Speaking of shifting, I did some digging into what you asked, you know, the touch thing? I found nothing. But, I did remember something, a story from my childhood. It’s said that there was a faery prince who fell in love with a kelpie princess. He loved her more than anything in the world, but it was forbidden to have relations with anyone who wasn’t a faery. Anyway, he was followed one night when he was meeting his lover. They were both attacked, and as she lay dying, she cursed the king of the faeries. It’s said that he would morph into every faery that he touched because of that curse.”
Aiden rubbed his temples. The lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll. After completing his contract, he had stopped long enough to get his things and then gone straight to the airport. “Are you implying that somehow I’ve got a connection to this cursed king?”
Sarah tapped his leg and laughed. “I always thought it was just a story to scare us into sticking to our own, but who knows. It seems you’ve proved that there may be a little bit of truth in it, after all.”
“Faeries are just as bloody insane as wolves with their legends and tales. Why couldn’t I just be a normal bloody human?”
“Don't be ridiculous. Humans don’t have half as much fun as you do or the strength, my handsome half breed. Besides, it could be worse. You could sprout wings.”
Aiden roared with laughter at a vision of him fluttering around the nightclub on glittering wings, hunting a mark.
“Wouldn’t that be a picture and a sight for sore eyes? Knowing my bloody luck, I’d be the first flying fucking wolf.”
The feel of a vibration from one of the phones in his pocket cut his laughter short. Pulling it out, he looked at the screen, “I’m sorry, I have to take this,” he said.
Sarah nodded and walked into the kitchen as Aiden made his way back outside.
“Hello? Yeah, that’s me. Okay… Location?... I can be there in forty-eight hours... Of course. I’ll see you then.”
Aiden sighed as he placed the phone back in his pocket. He wouldn’t normally take a contract so soon after completing one. Doing so brought risks that he could do without. It wasn’t like he needed the money; he had plenty of that in numerous bank accounts around the world, but the call had come from someone he had worked for before, and when Rafael Hernandez called in the reinforcements, it was serious.
Previous Chapter
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Metamob Chapter Three
Stepping out of the car, Aiden scanned the darkness as he followed the two sombre-looking suited capos. As he approached the entrance to the Spanish-style Malibu villa, he watched the unblinking, stationary security cameras curiously. He knew Rafael Hernandez well enough to know that his security was as good as Fort Knox and seeing the cameras had been turned off was troubling. “Wonderful for you to visit. It has been too long, my friend.” Rafael said. Aiden shook his extended hand and was instantly pulled into a manly hug. “You've been working out, I see,” Aiden said, clapping the grey-haired gentleman on his back. “Of course! How else do you think I keep up with all my fine young ladies,” Rafael said, directing his hand for Aiden to take a seat.
Metamob Chapter Four
“Your coffee, Sir.” Aiden smiled his thanks at the buxom waitress, then admired her rounded backside as she walked away. The sway of her hips brought another smile to his face as he pictured his hands digging into her flesh while she rode him through the night. I might have to come back here for a visit after I'm done, he told himself, still watching the waitress as she leaned across a table to clean it. Shaking his head to clear the cock brain, he turned back to his laptop and the Internet search he had been doing. Having ruled out several Charlie Garcia's who were the wrong age along with a few who had died, he had ended up sitting at a café in Hastings, eyeing up the waitress while working a hunch. He had found a Charlotte Garcia who was the right age but, according to records, had been adopted out of the United St
Metamob Chapter Five
Listening to the continuous ting of rain hitting the roof of his car, Aiden stared at the red-bricked house across the road. He had parked in a side street, away from the streetlights but still close enough for him to watch the house without attracting too much attention. After leaving the car park, he had waited for Charlie to drive away and then followed her until she got home. The whole drive had only taken twenty minutes, but it was the longest twenty minutes of his life. He had never felt such an instant and intense attraction before. Not with anyone. But those eyes… He couldn’t stop thinking about those caramel eyes that were so deep he could drown or the way her dragon tattoo crept over her shoulder and covered her heart as though it was pro
Metamob Chapter Six
“My afternoon appointment was rescheduled so I’m getting off for the rest of the day. I’ll be around town if you need me, though. Not that you ever do,” Charlie said. “I’ll be fine. Tell Zoe I said hi,” Jamie said. Charlie felt a stab of guilt as hope crept across his face. “She won’t call, you know. You’re not her type, babe, but I did try to tell you that before you went and threw yourself at her.” “I know,” Jamie said, “But you never know. She might feel sorry for me and give me a chance.” Shaking her head, Charlie couldn’t help but laugh at his determination as she let the shop door close behind her. Jamie was a glutton for punishment when it came to the ladies, which often resulted in Charlie’s sh
Metamob Chapter Seven
He knew Charlie was there, even before he saw her ruby red hair shimmering in the lights as she stood at the bar. His eyes wandered over her hourglass figure, lingering at the handles on her hips. Aiden instantly had a mental image of pulling those hips to him so he could bury his face between her thighs. He had always been drawn to a woman with a larger body. In his eyes, skeletons and bones were made for graveyards, not bedrooms. Aiden found a table that offered a good view of the club floor and kept his eyes on Charlie. The failed attempt the day before had left him perplexed. He had always been a bastard when it came to a contract. There had been countless times he had heard the screams of women and the pleading of men but he had never cared. He had adapted his skills, learned to get things done before his victims even knew what was happening and had never let his feelings get in the way, until now. Get your hands off her… A
Metamob Chapter Eight
He knew Charlie was there, even before he saw her ruby red hair shimmering in the lights as she stood at the bar. His eyes wandered over her hourglass figure, lingering at the handles on her hips. Aiden instantly had a mental image of pulling those hips to him so he could bury his face between her thighs. He had always been drawn to a woman with a larger body. In his eyes, skeletons and bones were made for graveyards, not bedrooms. Aiden found a table that offered a good view of the club floor and kept his eyes on Charlie. The failed attempt the day before had left him perplexed. He had always been a bastard when it came to a contract. There had been countless times he had heard the screams of women and the pleading of men but he had never cared. He had adapted his skills, learned to get things done before his victims even knew what was happening and had never let his feelings g
Metamob Chapter Nine
Aiden shot Charlie a look of warning then raised his hands in defeat. “I give up,” he shouted. “I'm done with you and your shit, Charlie.” “Are you for real? Seriously?” She asked. “Of course I’m for real!” Aiden shouted. He scraped the dining chair across the tiles as he stood. “I can’t fucking cope anymore. One minute you’re all loved up and the next, you’re accusing me of fucking the bitch across the road! What the fuck goes on in your head, Charlie?” "Look at you, acting like the innocent party in all of this. I know what I saw. How long? How fucking long?” “You saw nothing because there was nothing to see. It’s all up here.” Aiden tapped his temple as he spun on his heel. “I'm going out.”
Metamob Chapter Ten
Charlie paced the floor as she stared at the phone in her hand. Her stomach felt like a knotted rag being whirled around on a spin cycle as she willed the phone to ring. She had thought her world had crashed around her the moment Aiden had told her who he was, but that had only been a tremor in the quake that had brought her running out of her house faster than should have been possible, and racing to the dingy bed and breakfast, where she had rented a room for the night. After fainting in the shop, Aiden had spent hours trying to convince her that he wanted to protect her, rather than kill her. Dropping onto the single bed in the corner of the room, Charlie thought about that conversation. “Yes,” Aiden said, “He sent me. I tried to call it off but it doesn’t work like that. He will send others if I don’t complete the