03-Strength of the Mate Read Free

You do not need to send one of your werewolves to keep an eye on me. I made it here an entire year, just fine. You have no business sending someone to spy on me, or to make sure I’m not stepping on my own dick.” He was shouting by the time he finished.
    “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” Tim sounded surprised and confused. “Adam, I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about. I know Dawson is being deployed to Iraq, but that’s all I know.”
    Adam stood in the center of his hooch, sat-phone pressed tight to his ear. He gripped the phone so tight his fingers ached. His chest heaved with each breath as he stared blindly out the window.
    Tim’s genuine response stole some of Adam’s anger. “You’re telling me that you have nothing to do with your administrative assistant being assigned to the battalion that provides security for my convoys?” He didn’t want to give up his anger.
    “That’s what I’m telling you,” Tim said evenly. “First, I know you’re in Iraq, but I have no idea where you are in Iraq. Second, Noah makes all decisions about where his werewolves are deployed, when he sends them on specific missions. Third, using shifters for my personal agenda would be an egregious misuse of a highly valued resource, and would violate the trust both Noah, and his pack, have in me. I might risk that trust to save your life, but never just to keep tabs on you.”
    Tim’s calm logic stole the last of Adam’s anger. “So, it’s just a coincidence that a shifter from your office is being deployed to the base where your brother is working as a private contractor.”
    “Yes, it is a coincidence,” Tim said with a quiet laugh. “I promise. I’ll have Noah call you in the morning, if that would help.”
    Adam sighed heavily. “No. I believe you.” Christ. Now he felt like an idiot. How did Tim manage to always do that to him? “I’m at Camp Fallujah. Third battalion, third Marines provides security for convoys. I work for Ares International, by the way. I don’t remember if I ever told you.”
    “No, you didn’t,” said Tim. “I’m glad to know that.” He paused. “I would have been able to find out where you are, if I’d wanted to. I didn’t try, because if you’d wanted me to know, you would have told me.”
    Adam wasn’t sure how to respond. “It never occurred to me you’d want to know,” he said hastily. “So, the werewolves are pretty excited that Rivers is being deployed here. I don’t know all the details, but I guess they don’t like the guy who’s their leader, right now.”
    “Huh. That fits with what’s been discussed in the office. Noah’s used the word bully. I guess the guy is big, and strong enough to win fights, but can’t organize, and has no leadership skills. Some wolves have been injured during the full moon runs, which is a big deal.”
    Adam was suddenly tired. He sat down on his bunk, resting his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know all the details, just what I’ve seen and heard, myself. I’ve only been here a few months, so I’m still getting to know the guys. They’re only now starting to talk about this kind of stuff in front of me.”
    “They don’t know I’m your brother, do they?” There was no censure in Tim’s voice, only humor.
    “They do now,” Adam said dryly. “I let it slip that I’d met Noah and a few others. Including Rivers.”
    Tim laughed. “It’s just as well. Your secret would have come out when Dawson came aboard anyway.”
    “That’s what I figured,” he confessed. “Rivers didn’t strike me as someone willing to deceive his fellow Marines, even for your brother.” No doubt that kind of integrity fueled Adam’s ill-advised attraction to Dawson.
    “You’re absolutely right,” Tim replied with a chuckle. “Dawson’s diplomacy and negotiating skills are astounding, but they’re cultivated. He’s naturally a direct, opinionated, no-nonsense Marine.”
    “I thought so.” Adam stood up. It galled him to ask