Chapter 5

Chapter Five

" N o." Ross said it flatly, making it clear there was no discussion. "Where Dylan goes, I go."

"Your job is here," Eli barked.

They sat around the kitchen table again, Dylan to the left of Ross, their legs pressed against each other for support. They faced a wall of grim faces, Eli and Milo, Joe and Cal, Zeke and Owen. Niles, Eli's partner sat down one end of the table. The older wolves were nowhere to be seen. Cal had said Joe Senior wanted to show his mate around Sapphire Ranch.

Well, that one was simple.

Ross leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "I resign. With immediate effect."

"I told you he'd say that," Niles said to the table.

Eli scowled at him, but Ross noticed he didn't seem surprised. He'd been expecting that answer. That realization caught in Ross's throat. Did they want him to leave the Cavalry?

"You can't take Dylan away from Ross," Cal said quietly. "They are fated mates. They're supposed to be together. You'd fight fang and claw if someone threatened to take Milo from you."

Ross was grimly amused to see Eli's involuntary gesture toward Milo. Eli was a damned possessive bastard, and they all knew it.

Cal gave a sharp nod. "Exactly."

"They've only just met and it's not forever," Eli insisted. "Milo and I were separated because of our work."

"And Milo hated every minute of it," Cal said.

Milo sighed and nodded. "It's hard on a wolf to be away from their mate. It hurts in here." He pressed over his heart.

"It's a matter of days," Eli said. "Just to get tests done by the shifter doctor."

Ross noticed he didn't argue with his mate. "And to interrogate him. You forgot to mention that."

No one had actually said they wanted to interrogate Dylan, but Ross and his mate weren't born yesterday. Even if Dylan couldn't remember dick, he was a Cavalry man too. They needed information and Dylan hadn't provided it. Ross understood their frustration, he really did, but Dylan was his mate, and they were sticking together.

Eli stared up at the ceiling, clearly counting in his head, and expelled a long breath. "Intel has given us information concerning Dylan's movements after he went dark. We need to know how much he remembers of that time."

"But I don't remember anything." Dylan shivered.

Smelling his mate's sudden fear, Ross put his left arm around Dylan and pulled him close. "I'm not leaving you," he insisted. "Whatever they do, I'll be by your side."

Don't go scorched earth on your career. Let them do what they want and then I can come home.

Ross wasn't sure where home was going to be, but he still shook his head at Dylan's shaky comment. "We go together," he said out loud. "You need to see a shifter doctor. But they can come here. Or wherever we find to live."

Remember the farm? Ross's dream might come true sooner than he expected. Would that be such a bad thing?

Despite his brave words, Dylan was relieved by Ross's decision. He could feel that through their mate link.

"Ross, this is not your call," Niles said. "You know that. After Jake's betrayal, we can't take any chances. This is an order."

"Stuff your orders," Ross said succinctly, and held back a grin at the derisive snort from Owen. "I don't work for the Cavalry anymore and my mate doesn't go anywhere without me."

He grasped Dylan's hand under the table and entangled their fingers. He needed his mate's closeness and comfort too. Ross looked around the table; aside from Eli's scowl and Niles's look of resignation, the rest looked smug, especially the wolves. They'd all expected this reaction.

"You need to answer some of my questions," Dylan said suddenly. "I'm tired of knowing nothing about myself."

Eli nodded. "If it doesn't affect our assignment."

"How long did I work for you?"

"Six years, three years in undercover assignments."

"How old am I?"

"Twenty-eight, nearly twenty-nine."

Ross blinked. Despite his youthful appearance, Dylan was older than he expected.

Wolf genes.

Now I don't feel I'm lusting after a kid.

Dylan shrugged at Ross's comment. Age isn't as important to us as it is to humans. We have a longer lifespan.

You do? Ross blinked. He hadn't discovered that.

"Is my name really Dylan Anderson?" Dylan asked Eli.

"That's the name you gave us. It could be as much a lie as the history on your resume."

Ross scowled at Eli, but he knew his soon-to-be-ex boss had a point.

Dylan seemed to miss the exchange, lost in thought. "What pack am I from?"

"I don't know," Eli admitted. "You said you were from Ohio. Your history checked out, but I guess shifters know how to lie to humans."

Three of the shifters in the room bristled, but Milo nodded. "We know how to hide our past. There are packs in Ohio though. I have contacts there. I'll make a few phone calls."

For some reason he focused that at Ross who nodded.

"Niles and I only found out you were a shifter just before you went on the assignment," Eli said. "When you discovered about Cal and Milo, you admitted you were a shifter, and asked to be included. The fact that no one knew is what made you perfect for this assignment."

Ross processed this. "You sent a shifter to infiltrate the hunters?"

He'd never gone undercover. He knew he didn't have the skills for it. He was a bodyguard, ‘a damn babysitter' as he muttered when he bitched about his job.

"We knew there were shifters working for them. We didn't know how many and most humans wouldn't recognize a shifter, even those of us mated to one. We needed information and Dylan was the right person to get it."

Ross's stomach turned at how lucky he'd been to find his mate. Dylan could have vanished, and he'd have been waiting forever for this wolf.

I'd like to point out I found you, my mate.

Dylan's comment made his heart beat a little faster. His mate had traveled hundreds of miles not knowing why or who he was going to find.

"I was in place and then I went dark?" Dylan said.

"We tried to find out what had happened to you. We had another operative, a human, in there, but they didn't know either."

"So you've got more than one operative with the hunters?" Ross asked.

"We're working with agencies across the country to infiltrate the hunters, but yeah, the Streersons were our targets," Niles said.

"That doesn't answer the question."

Eli looked as if he were chewing glass. "I can't say too much."

"Because of me," Dylan concluded.

Eli gave a curt nod.

"Did you ever doubt me before?"

"No, you were one of our best undercover operatives."

"So why do you believe he's a traitor now?" Ross demanded.

Easy, mate, easy. Eli is doing his job.

Ross knew that—in theory—because he'd been part of the Cavalry for long enough. But Dylan was his and he wasn't about to stand down.

"Because I'm a wolf shifter," Dylan said. "You think I'm another Jake."

The discovery and actions of the traitorous lion shifter had done so much damage. Jake had shaken Eli's already tentative faith in the shifter world.

"I don't know what you are," Eli admitted. "But you are still a Cavalry employee, even if your mate has resigned." He gave Ross a scowl. "And we take care of our own. I need a doctor to check you over."

"I called the doc in Wild Creek," Milo said. "He's willing to come. The alpha says he'll only let him come here if he has an escort."

"I can arrange that," Eli said.

"I don't want any of Cal's brothers here." Joe spoke up suddenly. "I'm not putting Cal or Owen at risk."

Eli inclined his head. "Understood. We'll protect our pack the whole time he's here."

"Oh goodie," Owen muttered without enthusiasm. "More babysitting."

Zeke bent down to whisper something in his ear and Owen shivered, his skin flushing. The wolves around the table clearly heard what he said by their sudden smirks, even Dylan. Ross didn't need to know what the huge man said, the effect on Owen was enough.

Eli sighed.

Ross lost his mate somewhere between the end of the meeting and lunch. Dylan had been dragged away by Cal to find him more clothes and he'd been hauled into a meeting with Eli and Niles in what had been Joe's childhood bedroom. Ross sniffed at the musky aroma. It smelled very familiar. Zeke and Owen hadn't been just sleeping the night before. Eli and Niles didn't seem to notice.

Ross had always liked his bosses. The two men were polar opposites. Eli was intense while Niles was a joker, but when it came to business, they were both focused. And right now, all that focus was on him and it was too much, particularly as he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.

"Let's talk," Niles said.

"About?"

"Your scorched earth performance in there." Eli jabbed his finger at the door.

Ross gave him a steady look. "There's nothing to discuss."

"You can't just resign on the word of a man you've known for five minutes," Niles protested.

"He's not just any man. He's my mate. No one's gonna hurt him."

"You can't know that," Niles said.

Eli huffed. "I feel the same way about Milo."

"Milo didn't go dark for weeks."

"Actually, he went dark for years," Ross pointed out. "He wasn't out as a shifter or as gay. We don't call him the hidden wolf for nothing."

"That's true," Eli admitted, although he scowled at Ross.

"And Milo is the one resigning as sheriff," Ross continued. "So what's the difference?"

"He's not a traitor," Eli snapped.

"You don't know that Dylan is," Ross shot back. "You know nothing at all."

Niles leaned back in his seat. "He's got you there."

Eli's scowl deepened. "Which is why we need you to help us find out."

"How?" Ross demanded. "What do you expect me to do?"

Ross found Dylan on the verandah, leaning on the rail, staring out over the paddocks, his expression pensive. "There you are. Do you want to eat?"

"I'm not hungry," Dylan said, sounding distracted.

He gathered Dylan into his arms, pressing a kiss into the nape of his neck. "Did Cal manage to find you more clothes?"

"I have enough flannel shirts and jeans to last me until I die. I didn't know they came in that many colors. Did he buy up Target?"

"Cal seems to have them on demand. He did the same for me when I started working on the ranch. He takes care of us all."

Dylan sighed and leaned back against him. "Interrogation over?"

"For now. They're kinda annoyed at me for resigning."

That was an understatement. But from his mate's snort of laughter which made his toes curl, he didn't need to explain.

"Did you expect any different?"

"No," Ross admitted. "But I don't care. You're the most important thing here, not them."

"You've known me for less than twenty-four hours," Dylan said softly.

"You're my mate. What does time have to do with it?"

Dylan tilted his head and pressed a kiss under Ross's chin. "I knew you were out there. I could feel you here." He pressed a hand against his heart. My wolf knew it too.

Ross kissed him. "And I knew you were there. I didn't know how I knew, I just did. That's why I wanted to stay part of the pack even though I didn't have a mate of my own."

"Do you think they'll let us stay together?"

Now Ross understood the reason for the pensive expression. He furrowed his brow. "Why wouldn't they? Not that they have a choice. We're mates and are destined to be together."

"Every time you say that, it makes me shiver inside," Dylan admitted. "My head is empty, but my mind is sure no one has ever cared for me as much as you do."

"I hope not, because otherwise I'd have to fight them, and I don't think I'd win against a shifter."

Dylan chuckled and resumed staring out at the paddock. "What happens next, Ross? What are they gonna do to me?"

Ross pressed his lips together.

"Mate? What's wrong? Why are you angry? I can feel it in here." Dylan tapped his head.

"That was what the talk was about. Niles and Eli have a plan to find out exactly what happened to you. And they want me to do it."

Dylan pulled out of his arms and turned to face him, leaning against the rail. He folded his arms across his chest and fixed his green gaze on Ross. "Tell me what they want you to do to me," he ordered.

Where did Ross start?