“Mika and Dad are already waiting for us,” Cross said as he nodded to the corner office.
Ransom followed the hybrid as they crossed the room, and he knocked on the door. They entered as someone from inside called them in.
“Mika, Dad,” Cross began. “This is Ransom. Ransom, this is Daric, my father, and Mika Westbrooke. They’re co-heads of the Guardian Initiative.”
Ransom recognized the two people inside the office from the other day. The tall man standing behind the desk was obviously Cross’s father—they were practically twins, except Daric was older. The woman seated behind the desk, on the other hand, had led the meeting and the team.
“Welcome,” Daric greeted warmly. “Nice to finally be introduced to you, Ransom. I’ve heard so much about you from Cross.”
“Thanks for coming on board,” Mika added.
“Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “Let’s skip the small talk and get on with business. ”
Mika raised a dark brow. “The Alpha told me you prefer to get to the point. I like it. I don’t like bullshit either. So, let’s go on a tour first, and then we can talk some more about how we can work together.”
As she got up from behind the desk, Ransom noticed something he didn’t realize before—her stomach protruded out in front of her. Mika was obviously very pregnant.
“Something the matter?” Mika asked, foot tapping on the floor. “Yes, I’m pregnant. Do you have a problem with that?” she finished before he could say anything.
“Uh …” He didn’t know what to say exactly. “No problem at all. Ma’am.” Though he and Mika were probably the same age, he suddenly felt like a kid being chastised by his teacher. “Just … concerned.”
Her gaze narrowed into slits. “About what?”
Daric cleared his throat. “Ransom, you needn’t worry about Mika’s safety. She is carrying her True Mate’s child.”
What was it with these people and supposed True Mates?
“Dad, Mika,” Cross began. “I’m afraid Ransom doesn’t know anything about True Mates.” He turned to Ransom. “When a female is pregnant with her True Mate’s child, she is invincible. Nothing can harm her.”
“They’re also especially fertile,” Daric said. “As you know, it’s very difficult for Lycan to reproduce, but not with True Mates. Their first coupling always produces a Lycan—or in my case, a hybrid—pup. Why, Cross himself was conceived when his mother and I—”
“Let’s not talk about my conception, Dad.” Cross covered his face with his hands, though that wasn’t effective to hide the redness flushing his skin.
Ransom shrugged. “I didn’t mean to offend you, Mika,” he said. “I had no idea … or any idea really.” It seemed his entire world had flipped around in the last few days. Mages and magic babies? Who knew? He didn’t really care much about babies, though it made sense now, thinking back to this morning. Isabelle did seem to have an abundance of nephews. Were they triplets? They seemed to be similar looking and all around the same age, except maybe that large chubby one.
“So, now that we’re done discussing the birds and the bees,” Mika said impatiently. “Should we get on with that tour?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He followed Mika out of the office as she started the tour, which lasted most of the morning and covered the entire headquarters. Ransom had to admit, the GI headquarters and their operations were impressive. What he thought was a boring, bureaucratic office was actually a well-oiled machine, with everyone working together, from the somewhat chaotic IT department to the well-disciplined combat division. He also met everyone in charge, including Cross’s cousins, Lizzie Martin and Arch Jones, and was left starstruck when he was introduced to Cliff Forrest, former MMA Champion of the World. The guys back home would probably freak the fuck out when he told them Forrest was a Lycan.
“Now,” Mika began as they concluded the tour back at her office. “Lucas, Daric, and I are still discussing a final plan to lure the mages out.”
“And how would you do that?” Ransom asked.
Daric sighed. “I hate to say it, but the only way we can lure them out is with the dagger, or Lucas or Adrianna, or maybe all of them.”
“But at the same time, we can’t alert them to any trap.” Mika rubbed her temples with her fingers. “And it’s not like we can capture any of them when they attack the clans. It’s like they’re taunting us, but we still don’t know why.”
“Taunting you?” Ransom asked. “What do you mean?”
“For the past year or so, the mages have grown in their numbers and powers,” Daric began. “They’ve also been attacking many of the clans around the world. Yet, there seems to be no rhyme or reason or pattern.”
“They go to a clan’s territory, attack them, but only cause damage and injury,” Cross added. “They don’t steal anything or kill anyone.”
“Hmmm.” Ransom scratched at his chin. “That’s weird.”
“Tell me about it,” Mika said. “We’ve been trying to figure out what they want.”
Infiltrating territories, but not doing anything … “If I were them, I’d only risk doing that if A: I was confident I had the numbers to back me up and B: if I was trying get information,” Ransom said. “Like trying out their defenses.”
Mika, Daric, and Cross all looked at each other. “How could we have missed that?” Mika said incredulously.
Daric frowned. “We have been too focused on the artifacts and Lucas and Adrianna.”
Cross gave him a funny look. “How’d you guess that?”
“Life as a Lone Wolf and bein’ part of an MC isn’t exactly a bed of roses.” He swallowed down the memories threatening to surface. Deflect, he told himself. Or they might figure out the truth. “Pops said in the early days of the MC, before he settled down, it was like the Wild West. Lots of fights, wars, that kind of shit. He taught me a thing or two.”
“Your father
