Mercenary's Choice

THREE - Found

Owen Price stared out over the Park. He missed the days when he had been blissfully unaware of an Alpha's duties. There was a knock on his door. "Owen." He turned to see Quinn, his Beta. "The weird guy called again."

    "Which weird guy?" Owen sighed. "The weird guy who wants us to see if his babies are shifters? The weird guy who thinks his wife is possessed by an insane wolf?"

    "The weird guy who thinks someone is going to try to kill you today."

    "Fuck. That weird guy." Owen rubbed his forehead. "I swear to God Quinn, if I'd known what we were signing up for, I wouldn't have picked a fight with the last Alpha."

    "You're not fooling me." Quinn slapped Owen on the back. "I know you like being Alpha." Asshole. "He's on line 1."

    "Thanks." Owen muttered, watching as Quinn shut the door on the way out. All I want to do is go on my run, is that so much to ask for? He picked up the phone. "Hello?"

    "Mr. Price." A smooth voice said. "I told you I'd call when I had more details."

    "Look, I don't think you understand—"

    "I think you're going to want to listen to me." Owen felt a growl grow in his chest, but he tried to stamp it down. He wasn't used to being interrupted as Alpha. "Someone is going to try to kill you on your run today. They've been scoping out by the gate for weeks. Surely you've seen them." I have. Owen could smell the pine scent that they'd been trying to use to cover their own scent. It couldn't fully cover up the smell of deodorant though. "I think— I think they're going to use a bow." The man sounded concerned.

    "Why are you telling me this?"

    "Sometimes, when you have knowledge, it helps to share with someone. That way someone may share their knowledge with you in the future."

    "So it's a favor you're after." Owen tried hard to keep the snarl out of his voice. He was so tired of people asking him for favors.

    "Only if I'm right."

    "Any other tips?" Owen couldn't contain his sarcasm.

    "No. I've heard rumors about you. I know that you're smart and ruthless." The man sounded slightly awed.

    "How do you know this?"

    "It's my business to know things, Mr. Price." The line clicked. Fuck me.

    The door opened and Quinn poked his head through. "Well that was interesting."

    "You listened?" Owen's eyes shot to Quinn. Quinn gave him a wide smile.

    "Of course. I can't help myself. I'm nosy." Quinn handed him a small black case, the length of Owen's hand.

    "What's this?"
    "Sedative."

    "For what?"

    "Your assassin that you're going to meet on your run."

    "This guy is full of shit." Owen said. "He's probably just prank calling." Owen couldn't help but feel that he was lying to himself.

    "Whether he's up to something or not, you should take this, just in case."

    "Aren't you usually the one saying we should kill our enemies?"

    "But don't you want to ask your assassin a few questions first? I think it would be fun."

    "I hate you." Owen muttered. Quinn slapped him on the back again.

    "Off you go. Don't want to be late to your own assassination attempt." Quinn gave him another shockingly large smile and shoved Owen out of the office. Owen shook his head but couldn't bring himself to keep arguing.

    The outside air was crisp, despite the sun shining brightly down. As Owen ran through the Park, people got out of his way, respectfully bowing their heads and averting their eyes. Soon, he was on the main road, heading towards the South gate. He was about a half mile away when he caught the pine scent. This time, it covered a different scent, a female.

    Owen stopped, turning into the woods. Something was weird about this, it was the same decoy scent, but as he neared, he was positive that it was a different person. A singular person this time too, not multiple people. As he neared, he slowed down further, making sure to stay quiet and out of sight. These were his woods, he knew how to not be seen or heard.

    When he first saw her, she was laying down, facing the trail where he so often ran. He was to her side, so he could see when her face contorted in confusion and she sat up. She moved the crossbow away from her body and rested her head in her hands. What an awful assassin. Moving her weapon away from her body?

Even from a distance, he could tell that she was well built. Clearly muscular, with dark brown hair that was braided back from her face. A long scar cut past her left ear, surprisingly thick to have not killed her. The woman had clearly been through some stuff. He knew that if it had come down to it, she probably would have put up a hell of a fight.

Despite that, it was easy to come up behind her and poke her with one of the needles that Quinn had given him. She slumped forward, and Owen almost felt bad for her. She was going to kill you, you idiot. He told himself. Don't feel bad. He picked up the crossbow and knelt in front of her. I'm going to enjoy questioning this one. I'd love to hear the explanation for setting down a weapon mid-assassination attempt.

    He set his shoulder forward and reached to pull her into a fireman's carry. As he reached for her shoulder, he accidentally touched the skin on her neck. When their flesh made contact, he felt his stomach churn. It can't be.

Ignoring the feeling, he maneuvered her onto his shoulder and stood. With the crossbow in hand, he took off through the woods, sprinting as fast as he could back to his office. Quinn had failed to mention the fairly important detail of how long the sedative would last. Owen couldn't have this woman waking up while she could see him, or touch him.

It took too long to navigate the Park without anyone seeing him, and then climb the stairs with a grown woman slung over his shoulder, and he found that he was actually out of breath when he reached the top of the stairs. That was unusual, he was never out of breath.

"You're back soon." Quinn commented. "You sound like a human trying to run a marathon." 

"She seems very strong. Lots of muscle. Very dense." Owen replied.

"That's a lame excuse." Quinn told him. "She's kind of pretty."

"She was going to kill me." Owen set her down. "Maybe. I don't know."

"You don't know? I thought you knew everything. Isn't that your job as Alpha?"

"Quinn. Not now." He carefully bound her arms to the chair, avoiding touching her skin. It proved to be surprsingly difficult as she had pushed her long sleeve shirt up past her forearms. "How long does this shit last?"

"Oh, I'd say about an hour." Quinn patted Owen on the back. "Is everything alright, Owen? You seem tense. Especially for someone who thwarted his own assassination attempt."

"I'm fine."

"Very convincing performance but I don't believe you."

"Quinn—" Owen let out a sigh. I hate how goddamn observant you are. Owen thought. That's why he's my Beta. He reminded himself.

"You know what would convince me that you're fine?"

"What?"

"If you touched her." Owen bristled and then let out a low growl.
    "Excuse me?"

"I just want to see your finger touch her hand. Even for a second."

"No. You're being weird."

"I need you to admit it to me then." Quinn said.

"Fine. But not in here."

"Scared that she'll hear you in her sedated state?" Quinn laughed.

"I'd never admit it to you if I was."