NEW ASSIGNMENT

While I slept I had dreams about the past. I dreamt of the night that my parents died, of the night that my cousin finally showed his true colors and turned against me.

In truth I had never trusted the man anyway. He had been a snake even when we were kids. He was an asshole that thought the world owed him everything just because he was born strong.

It had been known within the pack that he was strong enough to be the next Alpha for years, that is until I was identified as a born female Alpha. That had irked him to no end.

I had spent a lot of my childhood avoiding him and the conflict that just meeting him would cause me. Victor Portis, that's the man's name, he had tried to make my life a living hell.

And when trying to intimidate me and threaten me didn't work Victor started to campaign for us to get married, putting me and him both at the top of the pack. He had these strange ideas that he could control me and one or the other of us would just be a figure head. I'm sure you can guess which he planned that for.

I was even certain that Victor had something to do with the accident that killed my parents. They had been heading home late one night, coming through the mountains when their car went off the side of the road, no brakes had been hit prior to the crash.

Why was I so convinced that Victor had something to do with it? Because Victor had been talking about taking over the pack too frequently around the time they died. Not to mention that Victor was a car enthusiast that was often seen going in and out of the garage at the pack house. And because someone had tampered with their breaks.

I had tried to prove it, repeatedly. I had tried to get someone to believe me that they had been murdered, but no one would accept it as a fact. No one ever wants to accept things like that because it means that people you know and trust are in fact evil.

That was when I had grown tired of the politics of the wolf world. I had seen the hatred that people had for each other and I had seen the damage that it could cause. And I knew that the only way for me to have any say in how to fix it was for me to be the Alpha. But that wouldn't guarantee my safety, I would end up just as dead as my parents and then my sick and twisted cousin would still get his wish.

So why then, would I stay? Why would I put myself into that kind of danger? Why wouldn't I take myself out of that equation and go somewhere that I would be safe?

I didn't intend to lose my life so that Victor could realize his dreams. I intended to live my life the way I wanted, at least mostly. And I was happy, for now.

When I woke the next morning I realized that I had actually been asleep for over twelve hours. It was six in the morning now and I had fallen asleep around three in the afternoon. I never slept that much, ever. I was the type of person who was always up late and always up early. I never slept as much as most people did. But I guess my mind had needed to process things, and apparently dredge up memories of the past while it was at it.

I stood up from the bed and groaned, stretching out the sore and cramped muscles. I had slept so long but I felt like I had actually slept like shit. I was even still tired, which was not like me at all. What the hell was going on with me?

It didn't matter though, I had to get to work soon. I hopped into a hot shower that would hopefully loosen up my body a little then when I was out I went to get dressed. I grabbed a plain light blue t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and my typical leather jacket. I finished the look off with my signature high braided ponytail and my pair of black biker boots. I felt much more comfortable dressed this way.

Now that I was ready for the day, it was time for me to go see Ronnie. I was technically considered self employed with my line of work, but all of us bounty hunters had bail bondsmen that we worked with. One of my typical go to guys, well gals, was Ronnie.

Ronnie was a mountain of a woman but she was everyone's dream nonetheless. She was six feet one inch tall and on the heavier side but she was such a beauty that every man seemed to get goo goo eyes when they saw her or when they heard her husky, sultry voice. She seemed to have no problem in the man department.

When I walked into the office, Ronnie was sitting there alone with a smile on her face.

"How did I just know you were going to be the first one here today?" Her slightly deeper voice mixed with her lustrous way of talking made her sound like she should be on some late night radio show that dealt with some very risque topics.

"You know me, Ronnie, I'm a workaholic." I grinned at her. "Got anything good for me today?" I perched myself on the corner of her desk like I usually did.

"Are you going to hand this next capture over to the local PD like you did with Saul James?" She was smiling at me though, so I know she wasn't upset. "You know if you don't take them in yourself I'm not supposed to pay you, right?"

"There were extenuating circumstances." I shrugged my shoulders to let her know that I was not particularly bothered by it that much. "If I didn't call Lucian in, I might have killed the man. Plus, we needed to have an ambulance there for the woman he had been holding captive."

"Point taken. I'm paying you for him anyway, I know you're the one that actually caught him, but I might not be so generous next time." She was laughing though, so I knew she was joking. She would pay me the next time too.

I watched as she started to flip through some files on her desk. Ronnie had them all in the computer, but she still preferred to do things the old fashion way too. It was always easier to memorize things if you could touch them, or that was what she always said.

"Looks like I've got a slippery guy who is wanted for CP. He got out on bail and was supposed to wear a tether, but before they could set it all up he ran. Cops haven't been able to find him at all, and since he was a nonviolent offender it looks like they're not putting much effort into finding him."

I could hear the disgust in her voice, she hated all men who committed crimes against kids, and I couldn't blame her. A pornography charge might not seem important to them right now, but what if that pervert escalated next time becuase they didn't peg him as a priority.

"Alright, I'll find him."

"I know you will, sweetheart." She handed me the duplicate file with all of his information in it so I could keep it for my records like I preferred to do.

"Oh, and this one just came in this morning. It's nothing major, just some dumbass that missed his hearing on his DUI. Do you mind nabbing him before you go? You should be able to find him easily, he doesn't look like a flight risk to me."

"Sure thing Ronnie, I'll get him while I gather intel on the CP."

"Thanks a bunch babe." She winked at me as I slid off her desk. Ronnie was a very open type of woman, as I had learned many years ago.