Once Scorched Always Safe

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Layne

they landed in France two hours ago, then made their way towards the parking garage where the vehicle was that she had had waiting for them after heir flight. Parker was making calls to some of their allies in Europe to decide on a rendezvous point. He contacted a group that spent considerable ime and effort tracking down supernatural in the hands of The Collectors. They are well known in Europe. The ten men and women were all upernaturals, two werewolves, three vampires, two shifters, a weretiger, and two wearbears. The weretiger was interesting and rare, so were verepanthers, they were both part of those supernatural species that collectors covet.

he was pacing back and forth in front of a small four–by–four off–roader while Parker made his calls when a searing pain ripped through her abdomen. The pain caused her to double over, knocking the breath from her body. When her breathing became stable, she reached her hand down to check for a round, considering the mission they were on it wouldn’t surprise her if they were under attack.

Lands wrapped around her upper arms as Parker pulled her up. “Rayne, what happened?” He moved her hand from her abdomen to search for an utward sign of injury.

I have…” She swallowed as the pain receded, “I don’t understand. I was just standing here waiting for you. Then the pain just hit me.”

and 1

arker looked around the garage, his nostrils flaring as he tried to catch any scents other than their own, “There is no one down here with us an eard nothing other than your sudden labored breathing!

I don’t know what it was, maybe I will have the medic with our friends look at me later,” Rayne looks up at him then reaches up to cup his cheek. “I ill be fine. Parker.”

fis eyes searched hers as his hands remained on her stomach, “I will feel better once you see the doc.”

1 will. So did they give you a location to meet them?”

we are to meet Kade, so that will work out pretty well. We have about two hours until we need to be

‘Yes, it is a small village about an hour from where w here, lets grab food, then get on the road.”

‘You think about food more than anything else, Parker,” She said with a laugh as she moved to get in th

in the off–roader.

That is not all I think about, I will tell you some of my thoughts during the flight later tonight,” He gave her ass a little slap as she walked away.

‘Why am I not surprised that you would have those kinds of thoughts on an airplane?”

Parker just laughed as he got in the vehicle, wiggling his eyebrows at her before starting the engine. They left the parking garage to head into the city to find food for Parker’s growling stomach. They found a little diner near the edge of town that offered carry–out, so he ordered as she waited. It would give her a chance to contemplate what cause the pain earlier.

She placed her hand over her stomach, the area where the pain hit her was on her left side, just under her ribs. She had been shot once, the pain she felt today was very similar to what she felt back then. A bullet laced with wolfsbane was how that Dark Witch had taken her down, Rayne knew she wasn’t shut today. There was no visible wound, no sound of a gunshot. What could have caused that pain?

Her mind was reeling with those questions as Parker come back with their food. He handed her the bag as he got in and started the engine. He looked at her pale lace before he closed his door. A worried expression replaces the grin on his face. “Are you ok? Are you still in pain?”

“No, I was just thinking of causes for what I felt earlier.”

“What did you think if that made your face go pale? You looked scared, Rayne

“I am not scared, it just wasn’t something that I had thought of before, but we will need to talk about when we get back home,” She reached into the bag to hand him his food

“Hey now, no distracting me with food. What is going seat to talk to her.

on, Rayne?” He put the breakfast burrito that he orde

ordered up on the dashboard as he turned in his

ey didn’t have time for, “We need to get going Parker, cat while you drive and I will tell you the

Rayne let out a sigh. This was a conversation that they first thing I thought about as we go.”

France and New Allies Await

He narrowed his eyes at her but did as she asked, “That isn’t the one that had you going pale, but fine, let’s get going.” He put the off–roader in gear, then pulled out onto the road.

“Remember when Ellia went missing?”

Ellia was a waitress in the bar when they had first opened. She was also a White Witch, one who Lynn had taken under her wing to train. One night she didn’t show up to work, then that night turned into a week, with no one being able to find her. Rayne went to Ellia’s apartment to check on her. She had returned no phone calls all week, which was very unlike the young witch. When Rayne arrived at the apartment her instincts went on high alert, the door was open with blood on the handle, the scent of the blood let her know it was Ellia’s.

She slowly opened the door to reveal a grisly sight. Ellia’s Ettle apartment had been thouroghly ransacked, but it was the blood on the walls that got Bayne’s attention. Her friend was nowhere in the apartment, but someone else was, someone who reeked of dark magic. The gunshot took her by surprise, then the pain hit her instantly as she felt the bullet enter her shoulder.

“That was the night they took you.” Parker said after he swallowed a bite of his burrito.

“That was the night that Dark Witch shot me,” Rayne opened her box that held the bacon

cheeseburger he ordered for her.

“Wait, are you saying that the pain you felt today was like a flashback of that night? Why were you thinking about that night?”

“I wasn’t, but the pain wasn’t a flashback, it was just similar to how it felt then. I am not sure what it was from, but it felt like it did when I was shot in the past.

“How the fuck is that even possible? You weren’t shot, there was no one else there but us.”

“I have

“What?”

a theory, but you will not like it,” Rayne was suddenly no longer hungry, so she closed the box and put it back in the to–go bag.

“The mate bond with Sebastion is still there.”

“So what?

Wait, a

are you saying that you are feeling his pain now?”

“I never have before, but I think this one is different. I think someone shot him with a bullet that can kill werewolves, or weaken us.”

“Wolfsbane. What has he gotten himself into since leaving Bodega Bay?”

“That is something that I will have to figure out when we get back home, but for now we have a mission, the rest will just have to wait.”

“We should go to Redwood when we get home or fly straight to Portland when we leave here, deal with whatever it is in

person.”

It surprises Rayne he would even mention it but knew he was probably right, whatever it was would need to be dealt with in person. His idea fell in line with what she was planning for when they got back home, she just hadn’t expected him to bring it up. He was right though, going to Redwood was the only way to find out what was going on with Sebastion

They arrived at the tiny village where they were to meet the rest of their group, Parker pulling into the small parking lot next to the hotel they were meeting at. They parked a near black van and a dirty brown EV in the lot at the side of the hotel. The parking lot was otherwise empty. Parker cut the engine as they parked the off–roader. It was time to go meet all their new allies. She knew Parker would be interested in meeting the two shifters. Getting to meet more of his kind was something he always wanted.

Rayne followed Parker into the hotel. They were meeting the others in the hotel dining room. The sound of laughter was eas walked down the long corridor. When they entered the dining room all the laughter stopped as all eyes moved to the two of them. She was taken aback aletle at the intensity of the gazes of the ten people in the room. One man stood apart from the others as he leaned against the wall at the back of the easy enough to follow as they room, Rayne knew right away that he was a shifter. He moved in their direction as soon as he spotted them.

“You to must be Parker and Rayne, I am Devon, leader of this little ragtag group of misfits,” His voice a deep, scratchy like he had smoked a pack of cigarettes for most of his life. He was five foot nine with silver hair cut short on the sides with spikes of hair on top. His eyes were a pale grey that seemed to look straight through them from a moment before he focused on Parker. There was an eagle tattoo on the left side of his neck. The eyes matched his eyes exactly,

Parker reached out to shake Devon’s hand, “Yes, nice to meet you.”

rance and New Allier

“Well, let’s go meet the others then we can get to the details of what we are all getting into,” Devon nodded his head in Rayne’s direction then turned around to lead them back to the rest of the group. They spent the next thirty minutes being introduced to the other nine members of the team.

Marco was another shifter. His dark brown hair was loose down to his shoulders, his eyes were so dark they looked like coal. He was shorter than all the others in the room, standing at five foot even. He looked at her like he wanted to do sexual things with her but backed off when Parker put his arm around her waist, showing the other male that she was taken. That irritated Rayne. She was no man’s possession.

Then there were Davis, Edgar, and Melanie, all three were vampires. Melanie asked to be called Mel. Her striking blue eyes seemed to stare straight into Rayne’s soul, her blonde hair was streaked with purple highlights. Her mate Davis sat next to her, his pale blue eyes were looking at Parker, he was glaring at him like there was something that he didn’t like about him. That reaction cause Rayne to make a mental note to ask Devon about Davis later.

Edgar, he was all smiles as he stood to give Rayne a hug, his green eyes twinkling with merriment. He was probably the happiest vampire that Rayne had ever met, which was a pleasant contrast to the dark and broody Davis. There was a light aura around Edgar that made Rayne think he was capable of magle, which was something that she would have to pay attention to later.

The two werewolves, Rodney and Sophie, sat on a bench together. They were mates. Her blonde hair stood out against his reddish–brown hair. Rodney was close to six foot nine, making Rayne crane her neck to look up at him. His green eyes were soft with a look that was welcoming, they contradicted his gruff outward appearance. Sophie was just plain rude. Her blue eyes hardened as Rayne and Parker approached them for introductions. It was as she saw Rayne as competition for Rodney’s attention. Parker sensed this somehow, so he placed his hand on Rayne’s neck in yet another display of ownership. She was going to have to speak to him about that.

Dominic, the weretiger took one look at Rayne, let out a growl then stormed from the room. Devon told her it was because she looked like Dominic’s mate Evangeline, a collector had captured her. They all had been looking for her for the last two years. The thought of his mate being trapped in some human’s collection was driving Dominic crazy, Devon and the others were frustrated that they couldn’t help him. Rayne felt sad for Dominic, hoping that her resemblance to his mate wouldn’t cause any problems.

The last of the group that they were introduced to was the werebears, they were siblings, Delanie and Morgan. They were both tall with very commanding auras. Their hair was a reddish–brown with Morgan’s being braided in a long braid to her waist. Their eyes made Rayne think of whiskey, pale amber, with Morgan’s being a shade slightly darker than her brother’s. The closeness that they had as siblings made Rayne think of Alec when they

were younger.

After all the introductions were made, the team spent the next few hours going over maps, satellite images of the area where they would meet Kade. They worked on a plan for surveillance, decided on signals for communication, then they all split up to get to work on the task at hand. Rayne and Parker shook hands with Devon, then they too left to make their way to meet Kade, both wondering exactly what was waiting for them. Who were they going to rescue? What rare supernatural creature was waiting for them?

Author’s Note

The characters I introduced in this chapter will come to play in other books later,

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