Behind The Alpha Book 4 CASS

(Chapter song ‘Royals' by Lorde)

EMBER

“I do not!”

“Oh, yes you do! The cosmos can hear you.” I laugh as I push open the door to Valentinos office.

“Oh, come on. Even if I did snore, which I’m not admitting to, it can’t be that bad.” He says.

I spin around and cross my arms. “Puck wanted to hex you.” I arch a brow.

His mouth goes small. “He did?”

I nod. “Yep. A nasty one too. Black goo would have been involved.” I eye him.

He rubs his nape. “I’ll make an appointment with the pack doc.”

“Thank you.” I breathe.

“Hello, to the happy couple?” Valentino laces his hands on his desk with a questionable look in his face.

I smile. “Hi, Valentino. Yes, still happy as all get out.” I glance at Cass and take his hand.

We walk to his desk and sit down in the two chairs in front of it. Cass kisses the back of my hand.

“Ok. The reason I called you both in is because I have a proposition for you.” He flicks his eyes between us.

“What about?” Cass asks.

He reaches into his drawer and pulls out a file. He slaps it down in the desk in front of us. We both scrunch our brows and Cass opens the file.

“The Bomber Squad.” Valentino grins. “I picked the name myself. I thought it would be good considering Mr. Love Bomber here.” He motions to Cass.

“Cleaver.” Cass narrows his eyes.

“I thought so…Anyway, the Bomber squad will be an elite, special forces department of love bugs. Top secret, high profile couples only. These are couples that will need the special talents, if I may, of love bugs such as yourselves.” He arches a brow with a smirk.

“Special Talents?” I say curiously.

“Yes. Surprisingly, your…creative approach to things are just what we need for a lot of these couples.” He hands Cass another file. “You two will lead and run the squad. All members will be vetted by you and whatever you need from the budget, just let me know.” He grins.

He reads the file. “The Royals? You’re kidding right?”

He shakes his head. “No. Those two…London’s dream couple right there, the problem is he…has issues with his family. We need you to convince him otherwise. This is a time stop couple. So, I don’t have to tell you that this needs to be quickly…before the due time.”

Cass sits forward and turns his head slightly. “I’m sorry…Time stop?”

I turn to him. “An important moment in time. We can’t change anything or expose us or it will change their destined outline.”

“Oh that makes sense.” He nods.

“It doesn’t, does it?”

He shakes his head. “Nope. Not one bit.” He turns his lips down. “Wait. Does that mean we have to go back in time?”

“Yes.” Valentino says. “Just a short trip. You’ll be in the best hands.”

“Reggie.” I cross my legs and arms and bounce my red boot.

“Of course. He is our resident time wizard.” He eyes me.

“As long as he gets us to the right time, I’m OK with it.” Cass says. “Where are we going?”

****

Big Ben rings out 11 o’clock as we stand on the corner of the busy London Street corner.

The double decker rings its bell as it travels through the intersection. People cross here and there, talking, laughing and shopping.

We wait outside a Café for the royal couple to exit. Leaning on a fence, Cass adjusts his leather gauntlets and inspects his bow. “So. Ready to lose this time?” He asks. He doesn’t look my way. He adjusts his red leather vest.

I pick at my leather jacket. “You mean are you ready to lose again.” I say with attitude.

He side eyes me. “Not this time. I got this in the bag.”

“Really.” I turn and lean my hip on the fence. “Ok. Love rate.”

He rolls his head to me and crosses his arms. “4 out of 10. At most.”

My jaw falls as I smile. “Are you kidding? He’s infatuated with her. That’s love right there.”

He shakes his head. “Nope. They don’t have that chemistry. I feel it. Right here. They aren’t a match.” He points to his heart and wags a finger at me.

I chew my cheek. “Ok, smart guy. You hit Harry and I’ll hit Meg. If it’s a match, you have to buy me a foot long at Hammer Stadium.” I raise my chin and smirk.

“And if it’s not, you have to…” He taps his chin as he thinks. “Give me a kiss. And not a ‘back in 5 minutes' kind of kiss either. A good one.” He eyes me.

I stitch my brow and tilt my head. “That’s not a real bet, Cass.”

He leans to me. “Don’t care. That’s what I want. Take it or leave it.”

“You are a strange man.” I chuckle.

He grins. “Is that a yes?”

“Get your arrow, tough guy.” I say as I lick my lips and prepare my kiss.

He pulls out his gold arrow, puts the arrowhead in front of his lips, leans to me and blows. His gold power hits the arrow and fuses with it. He smirks. “Pucker up, love. You’re going down.”

I shake my head and laugh at my idiot of a mate. He’s goofy, but I love every inch of him. “Just…get ready.” I give him a shove.

We watch the Café door as the couple comes out they’re laughing and carrying coffees. You can see the love he has for her. His problem? His family. They don’t like her and he’s not moving forward with her because of it. That’s where we come in.

Cass loads his bow. I watch the shimmering gold string dance light on his bare, muscular arms as he aims. He stands tall, pulls back and fires. At the same time, I kiss my palm and blow the kiss off my hand. The two fire at the same speed through the traffic and people. They’re perfectly timed and in sync. They even criss cross back and forth before lining up with their targets.

Cass wraps his arm around my neck as kisses my forehead.

In a simultaneous strike, our hits strike the couple. They’re engulfed in a pink cloud and Harry absorbs the arrow. His aura appears. Then hers glows with brilliant radiance.

Cass smiles. “Damn.” He rests his head on mine.

“Told you.” I lift my head to him. “Completely in love.” I grin.

“Ok. You were right. Now, you get the kiss.” He holds my head in his arm and kisses me deep.

We part and watch the couple. I hug my arms around my gorgeous Alpha as we watch them stop and look at each other. He kisses her with a heart full of love.

They separate and he pulls out his phone.

“What’s he doing?” Cass asks.

I smile. “He’s telling his family to shove it.” I push off him and cross my arms.

Cass nods. “Good for him.”

I turn and wrap my arms around him. “He wouldn’t have had the strength if it wasn’t for you.” I’m so proud of my big strong love bug.

“I’m sure he would have at some point. I just gave him a push.” He rests his forehead on mine.

“True. Now, she has just as much love as he does.” I hug him, resting my head on his chest. I watch the couple kiss again. “They’ll have a love no one can get in between. Just like us.”

He lifts my chin. “Just like us.” His soft voice still gives me butterflies. He kisses me slow and passionately.

He breaks the kiss. “Let’s go. I have a hot dog to buy.”

I raise my brows. “And box seats.”

He leans back. “No. The bet was for a foot long.”

“And box seats. I’m changing it.” I push his arms off and place my hands on my hips.

“You can’t change it. We agreed.” He points in my face.

“I can and I will.” I spin around and walk down the street.

“It doesn’t work like that, Em. You’re getting the dog and that’s it.” Cass says to my back as I open a portal.

“If you want loving, Mr. Love Bug, I get my seats.” I chuckle as I pull out my phone to update the file.

“That’s coercion.” He points to me.

I smirk. “Sexy coercion.” I open their file.

He narrows his eyes. “Ha, ha.” He says in a snarky tone.

“Uh oh.” My mouth goes small and I raise my head.

“What?” He mirrors my face while flipping his eyes between my phone and me.

“Um…We were supposed to shoot them in the Café.” I wince my face.

His jaw drops. “What? What’s that mean?”

I look at my phone and write match made. I shut it off and stuff it back in my pocket. “Um…I’m sure it’s fine. It’s such a little thing, I doubt it’ll change the timeline.” I spin around. “It's not like he’d throw away his crown and move halfway across the planet.”

Cass rubs his hair and chuckles. “You’re probably right. That’d be insane.” He laughs.

“Completely insane.” I laugh as we walk into the portal.

****

We walk into the pack house after traveling around the world putting power couples together. We’re both dog tired and need some time to relax. I told Valentino we had pack business to attend to. It’s not a total lie. I’m learning what a Luna does and Cass has a backload of pack members he has to vet. We can’t be love bugs all the time.

We slump onto the couch and Cass puts an arm around my head. “So, I suggest, we have a shower, get dressed and find a nice restaurant for dinner.”

“Or…we could stay in and get some sleep.” I arch a tired brow to him.

He pulls me into his lap. “We could stay in and not sleep.” He wiggles his brows.

I giggle on his lips. “That sounds good.”

“Yeah, you like that idea.” He grins.

I nod fast. “Yeah.” He grabs my head and kisses me hard.

“Cass?”

We break the kiss and turn to the front door. “Deacon?” Cass says as I get off him.

Deacon Riley is one of Cass' best friends. He’s a good looking guy. Short black hair, tanned skin, thick muscles and lots of ink. He’s the same age as Cass, but looks younger. His wolf must be strong.

Cass gets up and meets him in the middle of the common room. “What’s up? What brings you this way?”

“I have to talk with the council on this thing that’s going on in my pack. It’s gotten weirder.” He brings his brows together as he shakes his head.

“Ok. What’s going on?” Cass folds his arms.

“Well, we haven’t found the building, but all of a sudden, my pack is targets for rogues. Cass, I’ve never seen behaviors like this. They’re classed, organized. Cass, they can mind link.”

“Wait. Dea. Rogues can’t do that. They’re brains are too fucked.” He holds up his hand.

“These ones can. It’s like zombies with brains. We can’t seem to pin point why this is happening.” Deacon rubs his head.

I stand with them. “Could they be getting better?” I ask.

Deacon shakes his head. “No. They’re definitely not getting better. They’re still mindlessly killing people, even each other, but it’s like someone is trying to make them a functional, independent pack. We need to stop this.” He looks between us both.

“Do you think this has something to do with your sexy librarian?” Cass asks.

“She’s not a sexy librarian!” Deacon scowls.

“Ok.” Cass stops him. “Does this have something to do with her?”

Deacon rubs his nape. “God, I hope not. The longer she’s missing, the more scared I feel. I know it’s stupid because we just met, but I can’t help but feel…protective.” He eyes Cass.

“We’ll find her. Don’t worry.” Cass places a hand on his friends shoulder. “Your room is how you left it.”

Deacon smiles. “Thanks buddy. You wanna come to the meeting?” He leaves for his room in the back.

He looks to me. “You go.” I smile. “I’ll have a nice hot bubble bath.”

His face falls. “Bubbles?” He mumbles. He gets his classic puppy dog face on.

I laugh. “Stop. Your friend needs you. There’s plenty of time for that.”

He grins. “Ok.”

“CASS!”

We turn.

Deacon comes out pointing to his room. “There’s a goat in my shower.”

“Say what now?” Cass' eyes widen.

“There’s a fucking live goat…in my shower.” Deacon says again.

I raise my head to the air. “PUCK!”

“You rang.” We turn and he’s on the couch with a cup of milk.

“Why is there a goat in his shower?” Cass pushes by me and leans to him.

“I couldn’t put it in his bed…” He scrunches his face and raises his glass to his lips. “That’d be weird.” He chuckles before taking a drink.

“Why is there a goat in the house at all, Puck?!” I scowl at him.

“Duh…I’m lactose intolerant.” He arches a brow and shakes his head. He takes another drink.

Deacon steps up behind Cass. “Dude. Goats milk has lactose!”

Puck stops mid sip and his stomach grumbles so loud we all make a weird, cringe face.

He holds his stomach and almost literally turns green. He sets the glass down on the coffee table.

“Excuse me.” He groans, leaps over the couch and runs down the hall.

“GET RID OF THE GOAT!!” Cass bellows.

“WILL DO!!” Puck chokes his yell as he empties his stomach.

Cass turns to Deacon. “We'll…um…we'll clean it up.”

Deacon gives us both questioning looks as I shrug and chuckle nervously at him. “Welcome home?” I grin.