Forever Is Not Enough [Council Enforcers 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  Council Enforcers 2

  Forever Is Not Enough

  Benjamin Sullivan never wanted a mate. He never dreamed that when he actually found her, she would be the reason that he was kidnapped. Not only is she the reason, she is the one that tortured him for three months.

  Jacqueline Percival regretted the day she tried to please her father by inventing the drug that turns shifters rogue for him. When the new shifter that has been captured resists the drug, she believes he may be strong enough to help her finally escape her father.

  When she finds out that the man she has been unexplainably drawn to is her mate, can Jacqueline get over her guilt of what she has done to him? Can Ben forgive his mate before her father hunts them down or the secret that Jacqueline is keeping destroys them all?

  Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Shape-shifter

  Length: 47,386 words

  FOREVER IS NOT ENOUGH

  Council Enforcers 2

  Keyonna Davis

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

  FOREVER IS NOT ENOUGH

  Copyright © 2013 by Keyonna Davis

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-042-8

  First E-book Publication: June 2013

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

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  FOREVER IS NOT ENOUGH

  Council Enforcers 2

  KEYONNA DAVIS

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter 1

  “Everyone knows what to do, right?” Mitch Ericson asked.

  Benjamin Sullivan answered the question with an eye roll. They were there to take out one of the oldest living shifters and the head of the Shifter Council. No one really knew exactly how old Councilman Edmund Percival was, but everyone knew the man had a personal hand in creating the council in order to police shifters to keep them safe and to keep their secret from the humans. Somewhere through time, the councilman had decided that shifters were superior to humans and that he would rather rule over them than hide from them.

  Percival had decided the best way to make his dream happen was to somehow create rogue shifters to do his dirty work for him. Rogues were shifters that had let their animal side take over and had gone feral. There was very little human left in them, turning them completely into the predators lurking inside of them. There was no reasoning with a shifter that had turned rogue, and it was Ben’s job as a council enforcer to track them and put them down. It sounded brutal, but it was for the good of their species. Rogues were killing machines, not caring about the disasters they left in their wake, and they threatened exposure for their kind. The enforcer’s job was to keep that from happening.

  Now, it seemed shifters were going rogue across the country, and nothing was being done about it. Percival had friends all over helping him cover up the attacks from the council. So far, the human media was going crazy over so many “wild animal” attacks. It was only a matter of time before they figured out the truth.

  The only reason Ben and his friends had caught on to the situation was because of Tessa. She was Mitch’s mate and had witnessed a rogue attack one night on her way home from work. Whenever humans came across a rogue shifter, they were supposed to be watched. For one, to make sure the rogue was hunted down and taken care of so that it didn’t come after the witness, and two, to make sure the witness didn’t go telling everyone what they’d seen. If they did, then they were quickly dealt with. Tessa should have never made it out of the city if she was being monitored. Instead, the rogue was never hunted down and had caught her scent. It had literally chased her and her son to Mitch’s front door. Through research and friends of their own, they had come across Percival’s plan. Ben just hoped it was in time to take him out and do damage control. He hated to think what would happen if their secret was revealed.

  They had arrived hours ago at Councilman Percival’s property, which had turned out to be an actual mansion. It was a little rundown and had seen better days, but still, how could they have missed a property that big when they had searched for the rogues the first time?

  The councilman hadn’t even been trying to hide either. They had seen him several times, entering and exiting the house as he ordered the rogues around. Either the man was completely arrogant in his abilities to not get caught, or he had something up his sleeve guaranteeing his safety and making him sleep easier at night. The man had plenty of rogues guarding his house based off the stench covering the area, but from what Ben had observed, they weren’t the mindless, murdering beasts he was used to dealing with.

  “Their animals are still in control from what I can tell, but it’s like they’ve been trained to do simple tricks like dogs. Sit, stay, and kill, things like that,” Ken whispered, confirming his thoughts.

  “Okay, let’s get this over with. I have a mate to get back to,” Mitch growled.

  They all grunted and split up, each heading in his own direction. Ryan and Ken were handling the rogues. Their
job was to make sure no one escaped. Mitch’s task was to find Councilman Percival and take him out. While they handled their tasks, Ben was going to handle demolition, something he did with glee. The plan seemed simple enough, but experience told him that the simplest tasks always had the potential of turning into a huge clusterfuck at the worst moment possible. As he ran through the shadows headed for the house, Ben prayed he didn’t blow himself or his friends up along with the house.

  He paused with his back against the house as he listened for any sound of movement coming from the window. In ten more minutes, Ben was going to bring the whole place down. That meant Mitch had around seven minutes to kill Percival and get his ass out of the blast zone.

  Ben moved silently, placing charges at strategic points he had already mapped out earlier. As he passed an open window, he paused when the smell of warm cinnamon hit him. He had never smelled anything better in his sixty-five-year existence. The hair on his arms and the back of his neck stood on end and Ben could feel his wolf’s excitement grow to match his own.

  Mate!

  Calm down, pup, I smell it too.

  Ben’s wolf was literally pouncing around in his head. He distracted Ben enough that he was hit over the head before he even realized he was no longer alone. Deciding to pretend he was unconscious, Ben slumped down. Hands gripped his arms and started dragging him toward the door of the house. With each step the guards took, he smelled his mate even more. It seemed they were taking him directly to her. He also smelled Mitch nearby, which he was grateful for. He had backup if he needed it. He heard shouting coming from a closed door as they neared it.

  “I told you to increase the formula!”

  “But, sir, if we increase the dose anymore, it could kill them.”

  The voice was female and Ben felt his fangs threatening to punch through his gums at the fear he heard in her voice. It was his mate. The quiver in her voice told him she was scared of whomever she was talking to.

  “I don’t care what you have to do. Just get it right. I’m tired of these pathetic little pets you created. I don’t want lapdogs. I want mindless beasts.”

  Ben knew the man they had been searching for was behind the door based on the conversation. The two men dragged Ben between them, headed directly for the door the voices were behind, and opened it.

  “Look what we found lurking outside, boss,” one of the men said, confirming the target was in the room.

  “Well, well, what do we have here? Jacqueline, go pack up. It looks like the council has finally caught on to our little plan. Joe, go warn the men there may be more enforcers out there. Jerry, take him with us. I can use someone fresh to work with.”

  Jacqueline, his mate’s name was Jacqueline. Ben wished he could open his eyes and look at her, but at the moment, he was supposed to be unconscious. He didn’t want to give away his element of surprise. Shortly after one of the guards left, Ben not only heard, but smelled Mitch as he entered the room. He stayed loose and relaxed as one of the guards lifted him up and pulled him in front of him. The shifter then pressed a gun to Ben’s temple, and he had to force himself to stay relaxed and fight the urge to act.

  “Enforcer Ericson, I’m delighted you dropped in for a visit. Unfortunately, we can’t be staying.”

  Ben heard Mitch growl at the man speaking. “Tell your friend here to let Ben go, and I’ll make it quick and painless. You hurt him, and I will make sure you end up begging me to kill you.”

  Ben cracked his eyes open just in time to see Percival laugh as he moved around the room, pointing at things. The woman he assumed was his mate, and who the councilman had been talking to earlier, trailed behind him, stuffing each thing he pointed out into a bag. “It looks to me like you aren’t in the position to be making demands. We have your enforcer as a hostage, so it seems we have the upper hand.”

  Ben watched as Percival strolled around the room like he didn’t have a care in the world while his mate trailed behind the man, grabbing everything he pointed to. He couldn’t see the woman’s face due to the fact that she kept her head down and her stringy hair fell in the way, but he could smell her terror from across the room. It made him want to shred every man in that room to pieces and then take her someplace safe.

  “I would say this visit has been nice, but that wouldn’t be the case for you. Either way, I must go.” Percival walked over to a bookshelf and pulled it away from the wall, revealing a set of stone steps leading down.

  Mitch’s watch alarm chose that moment to beep, signaling the explosives Ben had set were about to detonate. The noise seemed to set everyone off, and everything went crazy. Ben snapped his eyes open and stared directly at Mitch to let him know that his unconsciousness had all been an act. He didn’t want Mitch distracted from killing Percival by trying to save him. Ben let himself partially shift and brought his clawed hand up and raked it across Jerry’s wrist, shredding it to the bone. The gun he had been holding clattered to the ground.

  With the threat against Ben’s life taken care of, he watched Mitch lunge for Percival, intent on finishing the man. Before he could get there, the little weasel grabbed Jacqueline and yanked her in front of him.

  “Stay where you are, or I will rip her throat out.” Percival’s hand sported three-inch claws to back up his threat.

  Ben stared into the tear-filled eyes of the woman staring up at him just as a deafening boom sounded and the floors began to shake, nearly bringing them all to their knees. Ben knew their time had run out, and he needed to save his mate. He let out a howl and dove at Percival and the woman. All three lost their balance and tumbled through the darkened stairwell that Percival had revealed.

  “Ben!” He heard Mitch shout from the doorway just as another explosion sounded. Debris began to rain down from the ceiling.

  “I’m okay!” Ben yelled, not wanting his friend to risk his life to save them. “Go, get out. I’ll find another way.”

  “No, I’m not leaving you here. Can you get back up the stairs?”

  “No. It’s blocked down here.” Ben tried to look around, but there was hardly any light. Even with his enhanced vision, he could barely see. He knew there was no way Mitch would make it in time to save him.

  “Stay there, I’ll figure somethi—” Another explosion cut Mitch off.

  Ben fell, cradling his mate in his arms, and huddled down to keep the falling chunks of ceiling from hitting them in the head. “Mitch! You have to get out now. That was the third bomb going off. The last one will bring the entire house down. Get out now! I’ll find another way.”

  Ben knew Mitch was hesitating, not wanting to leave him behind, but Ben needed him to get out. He knew exactly what the next explosives were going to do, and he couldn’t have his friend dying on his conscience. “Think of Tessa and Nico. They need you. Run, Mitch!” That seemed to get him moving, and Ben sighed in relief as he heard Mitch’s footsteps leading away from the doorway.

  “Don’t you dare die on me, Ben!” Mitch shouted.

  Ben lifted Jacqueline and move into a little alcove he’d caught a glimpse of. He had just enough time to tuck his mate under him and curl over her before the last bomb went off. Ben felt searing heat on his back and a large chunk of the ceiling struck him in the head. The last thing he remembered before he passed out was the strong smell of cinnamon and fear coming from his mate.

  * * * *

  Ben tried to roll over, but fire shot through his limbs, stopping him from moving. He moaned and opened his eyes, blinking through the haze that covered them. Each time he opened his eyes, he prayed that he would wake up from his nightmare. Each time, he felt disappointment when he opened them and saw the same stone ceiling he had been staring at since being strapped to the bed.

  He had no idea how long ago that had been. Time didn’t seem to mean anything to him anymore. Ben’s only measure of time was the scent that had kept him going. His mate. Her scent was tinged with fear and regret each time she stepped into the room, but he couldn’t stop himself from look
ing forward to it. Since first catching her scent, things had gone to shit pretty fast, leading up to where he was now, strapped to a bed and being continuously pumped full of god-knows-what drugs.

  All Ben knew was that he had to fight whatever drugs they were giving him. He had been cut off from his wolf since the first injection, and he had never felt so alone. He felt his wolf trying to claw its way out of his body, but he wouldn’t respond whenever Ben tried to speak to him. It took all his strength to hold his wolf back and not let him take over. It became harder and harder to fight each time his mate stepped into the room with a syringe in her hand. He tried to tell himself that his mate was human and had no idea what they meant to each other, but the betrayal cut deep each time she injected him without a word or a glance and then left the room.

  Ben smelled her coming and stilled himself to fight whatever she was about to give him. His mate entered the room and closed the door behind her. He heard her heart rapidly beating and watched as her shoulders tensed before she turned from the door and headed his way.

  Not once had he seen his mate’s face, and it was killing him. He was a man used to getting what he wanted, and a mate was something he’d never wanted. Now, he was willing to give his last breath if she would just look up from behind her hair once and show him her eyes.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  Ben froze and stiffened at his mate’s touch on his arm. Her voice had been so low he was sure that if he hadn’t been a shifter he wouldn’t have heard her. It was the first time she had ever spoken to him.