Chapter 23

Lindsey

Kyle and Kelsey had thrown me for a loop. I didn"t know what to make of our visit with them or the offer for me to become a full Pack member. I honestly had never let myself hope for such a thing. Banishment from any Pack usually gave other Alphas pause, but he didn"t seem bothered by it in the least.

I definitely had a lot to think about, and the reality that this wasn"t my decision alone to make was just starting to sink in.

From the Alpha"s house we drove down the mountain to a large lodge called Westin Lodge.

"The Lodge technically sits just outside of what Kyle designated as Westin Pack territory even though he still owes it and all the land surrounding it. He keeps it separate to allow dignitaries and guests to stay here instead of in his territory."

"I guess that makes sense. So what are we doing here?"

He gave me a sheepish grin. "Westin Force Headquarters. And as my mate, you are privy to the location and everything now. We"ll stop in and see Grant and then head home."

The way he said home warmed me all over.

I could barely even remember the last time I had a true home. I"d still been a teenager when I"d first been taken by the Raglan. So much had happened since then that it felt like two lifetimes had passed.

He parked in front of the Lodge and then we got out and walked hand-in-hand into the building. It looked like a very nice hotel, but nothing more. I couldn"t imagine where they were hiding Westin Force until we got into an elevator and he used his card to activate a lower level that wasn"t listed on the panel.

We took the elevator down and it opened into a bunker-like room. He had to swipe his card again to actually get into the facility. They had tighter security than any place I"d ever seen. Even the Raglan facilities weren"t this heavily fortified.

I took it all in, from the people and enormous server room to the hallways led to who knew what.

"Stop. You know better than to bring dates down here, Walker," a short portly man with glasses said.

"Archie, this Lindsey. Lindsey, Archie. He fancies himself in charge around here. Approve her or take it up with Kyle. We just need to check in with Grant. We won"t be long."

His beady eyes watched me closely, and then he pulled out his phone and called the Alpha. I couldn"t believe he"d called Walker"s bluff. We hadn"t said anything to Kyle about coming here or giving me permission.

The man nodded and turned to walk away from us.

"Does that mean we"re okay?" I asked.

"Yup."

"How did Kyle know to say okay?"

"Because he asked us to keep it quiet, but mates are allowed here and he knows exactly who you are. It wasn"t a bluff. Come on."

He poked his head into a few places and kept moving down a long hall.

"Walker? What are you doing here?" a man I hadn"t met asked.

"Oh hey, Colin. We"re looking for Grant, have you seen him?"

"Sure. He"s in the gym working out with T." He looked at me and smiled. "Hello Lindsey. I"m Colin. It"s really nice to meet you, officially. Are the kids with you? They"re pretty great."

"Colin helped entertain them while we were still in Louisiana."

"Thanks," I muttered. I really hadn"t thought about what they had done while I was unconscious.

"I think that"s everyone on the team now, except Lachlan. Is he around?" Walker asked.

"Yeah, but now"s not a good time. He"s in a session with Baine."

I didn"t have to ask who Baine was. It was a unique enough name that I highly doubted there was more than one. Baine was the man who shot me. I didn"t say anything though and tried not to show any signs of recognition.

"Okay. Next time. Come on, babe. Let"s go find Grant."

We went straight to the gym and walked inside. I smiled and gave a little wave to him.

"Hey, look at you. You"re up and moving around now. Did you shift like I told you?"

"I did. And it seems to have worked."

I didn"t even notice there was someone else in the room until a female laughed at something Walker said. My head whipped toward them as she playfully smacked his chest.

A growl ripped through me as I recognized her.

It was the skank posing as his wife back in Venezuela.

"Get your skank hands off my mate. This not a mission," The words blurted out of me before it hit my brain to discern if I should say them or not.

The girl turned on me, but Grant grabbed her by the waist, laughing as he threw her over his shoulder.

"Did you hear what she just called me?"

"They"re mating, T. Keep your hands to yourself."

Walker wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck. "I"m sorry. Taylor and I are so used to playing a role that we don't even think about it. I wasn"t thinking of how that would bother you. I"ll do better."

I still wasn"t happy and glared at the girl.

"I saw her draped all over you back at the market in Venezuela. She was there when I broke free, remember? I know who she is—your wife. That doesn"t mean I have to like her."

"Fake wife," Grant clarified.

"I know, but I still don"t like it."

He set Taylor down, but wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her back to him. It looked like a sloppy choke hold, and I was disappointed he didn"t put her in a full sleeper hold.

The woman and I continued to stare each other down.

"Babe, there"s nothing going on between me and Taylor. T, tell her."

Her chin lifted in defiance.

"Don"t even," Grant warned her.

She sighed and held out her hand. "Taylor. You must be the wicked beast of the east."

I nodded and took her hand to shake it. "Lindsey. It"s nice to officially meet the skank whore who gets to only pretend to be with my mate."

Grant groaned. "This is all your fault," he said to Walker.

My mate just started laughing.

Suddenly Taylor was smiling and laughing too.

"Uh-oh. Don"t you dare enjoy this."

My jaw dropped as he pulled her into his arms and kissed the hell out of her.

Walker leaned over and kissed my temple.

"You should probably know that Taylor is Grant"s mate," he whispered in my ear.

I looked at them still kissing like a couple of teenagers.

"I"d hope so or she really is a skank whore."

Taylor burst out laughing, which halted their little make out session.

"I guess that would be accurate."

"Grant, huh? He"s one of the good guys," I said honestly.

"He"s the best," she said proudly. "But you two suck. You literally blew months and months of prep work for a long-term undercover mission. Now we"re back to square one."

"Shit. What happened to Nate?" Walker asked.

"The guy in the cage next to me?"

"Nate"s fine. He got bought by one of the better Collectors. At least we didn"t screw that much up," Grant explained.

"Why are you all looking at me?" I asked. "How was I supposed to know any of these plans?"

"I must say, the way you swooped in and snagged Walker to fly off with him was pretty freaking epic," Taylor said. "He did scream like a little girl, so that was pretty worth it in my book."

"No I did not," he protested.

I looked at him. "Sorry, but you kinda did."

"We"re screwed now," Grant said. "It was better for us when they were fighting. We"ll never survive it if these two actually become friends."

Taylor and I looked at each other and shook our heads.

"Too soon," I said.

"Yeah, maybe after they bond and calm the hell down some."

She was looking at me as she said it and I had no doubt that guilt was written all over my face.

She gasped. "You already did?"

"Shh. Be quiet. Kyle asked us to keep it to ourselves for now," Walker said.

"As if there is such a thing in the Force," Taylor insisted.

"And why would he even say that?" Grant asked.

"Because I"m going to be Challenged," I said calmly.

"No. You"re true mates, right?" Taylor said.

We both nodded.

"But it"s true. The Grand Council is insisting on it," Walker explained.

"Well shit." Taylor broke the silence that had fallen around us.

"Yup," I agreed.

We stood around talking for a little longer.

Grant did my checkup right there in the gym and seemed perfectly satisfied with my progress.

In the end, Taylor and I found a bit of common ground and despite my initial judgement of her, I agreed we could all get together for dinner sometime soon.

"You and Taylor are going to be really great friends. You"ll see," Walker teased.

"I always wanted a skank whore for a best friend," I said dryly.

"Now there"s the wicked beast of the east shining through," he teased.

"I"ll admit, that was a good one."

We continued the light banter on the drive home.

But when we pulled up to the house, there was a woman with hair as blonde as mine sitting on the front porch waiting for us.

"Another skank?" I teased him, trying not to be jealous of the number of women in his life.

"No." He jumped and ran over to her. "Lucy, is everything okay?"

"I"m sorry. I shouldn"t have come. Shelby warned me tonight wasn"t a good night for this."

"For what, Luce?"

She looked me over with pain evident in her eyes.

"Are you Lindsey?"

I nodded, and she burst out in tears.

"What did I do?" I asked.

She shook her head and wiped her eyes.

"No, it"s nothing you"ve done. Well, I guess that"s not true. It"s everything you"ve done."

"Where"s Micah?" Walker asked.

"He"s at home with the kids."

I suddenly remembered Shelby mentioning this woman and asking if the two of them could take me out and talk sometime.

"You"re Shelby"s friend."

She nodded. "You have no idea how much it means to me and her to meet you."

"Maybe we could do this another time?" Walker said.

I shook my head. This woman was hurting so much. I didn"t know why she looked at me like I had all the answers, but if there was any way at all that I could help her, I had to try.

"It"s okay. We have a lifetime together for us, right?"

He smiled and kissed me. "Right. Do you want me to run next door and send Shelby over? I suspect she has many of the same questions."

"I"m so sorry I just barged in on you like this."

"It"s fine, Lucy. Go ahead and get Shelby," I told Walker. "Do you want to come in?"

Lucy nodded.

It was odd feeling like she expected me to have all the answers to life or something. Me? I"d been in captivity for so long, I had no idea how the real world functioned anymore. It was absurd to think anyone would like to come to me for help.

But soon, Lucy, Shelby, and I were all sitting in Walker"s living room.

"So what"s up?" I started.

They both started talking at once and then stopped and laughed.

"I don"t know how much you know about our children, but they could be like you," Shelby explained.

"I was held in a Raglan facility too," Lucy surprised me by saying.

"You"re an Experiment too?"

I wasn"t alone? There were others that had survived and found their way back to humanity too? I suddenly had so many questions.

"Not exactly," she said, bursting the bubble of excitement that had started to form. "I was artificially inseminated with an embryo that was though."

"My triplets' mother was experimented on before they were born, too," Shelby explained.

"But they look perfectly normal, so what"s the concern?"

"We don"t know what will happen or what they"ll be when they come of age and shift for the first time," she explained.

"What if they"re monsters?" Lucy said. "No offense."

"None taken."

"We"ve heard of the Experiments, but everyone says they have no humanity whatsoever, yet here you are. Were you always like this?"

"No, I wasn"t. For a while I was lost within my beast."

"But you broke free from it," Shelby insisted.

"I learned to work with my beast. I learned to control her, and I learned to live in harmony with her. Just like every shifter must learn to do. It was harder and took longer, but it is possible. I can't believe I"m the only one to overcome it."

The two women hugged and cried.

"They have a chance of a normal life," Lucy cried.

"It"s possible. That"s all we needed to hear. It"s possible," Shelby said.