At Year's End (The 12 Olympians) Read online

  At Year’s End

  Sandrine Gasq-Dion

  Dedication

  For Jenjo, who edits my messes

  Brandi Reynolds

  Kim Webb Balan

  My loyal readers

  My Facebook family

  Shane Perry, Rob B.

  Tony Dimitri Peniche for the cover.

  © Copyright 2013

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ~*Chapter One*~

  ~*Chapter Two*~

  ~*Chapter Three*~

  ~*Chapter Four*~

  ~Chapter Five~

  ~Chapter Six~

  ~Chapter Seven~

  ~Chapter Eight~

  ~Chapter Nine~

  ~Chapter Ten~

  ~Chapter Eleven~

  ~*Chapter Twelve*~

  ~*Chapter Thirteen*~

  ~*Chapter Fourteen*~

  ~*Chapter Fifteen*~

  ~*Chapter Sixteen*~

  ~*Chapter One*~

  Justice leaned against the tunnel wall, crossed his legs at the ankles and examined his cuticles. His brother Jesse was to his right, also waiting to get into the fight that was raging before them.

  It wasn’t that they weren’t ready.

  Rather, their brother Jaxon was taking care of business single-handedly. He seemed to be taking out some extreme anger on the rogue werewolves they’d come to battle. Jaxon was snarling, growling and — at one point — roaring in sheer rage. Rogue body parts flew in all directions as Jaxon unleashed his fury and anger.

  Justice glanced over at his youngest brother and motioned to Jaxon.

  “I don’t think he’s taking the idea of Elijah dating very well.”

  “What gave it away?” Jesse moved toward Justice as a rogue leg hit the wall inches from him. Jaxon wasn’t even using a sword; his massive claws and teeth were tearing rogues apart at an unheard of rate.

  The man was majorly pissed.

  “Well, he did tell him to find someone his own age.” Justice winced as another roar filled the room and a rogue head went flying by them.

  “I think he heard you,” Jesse whispered.

  Jaxon whirled around and glared at his brothers.

  “Yep. He did.” Justice raised both hands in front of his chest. “Just sayin’.”

  “Yeah, um, let us know when you want us to jump in, eh, bro?”

  Jesse wished he’d brought a damn deck of cards. As it was, they’d already played ‘I Spy,’ and the game hadn’t lasted long. Jaxon’s anger was squeezing all the air out of the tunnel, and he and Justice were just there for back up.

  Not that Jaxon needed any at this point. His anger was fueling him and when Jaxon got angry, people scattered. Often literally, in lots of little pieces.

  After their parents had died, Jaxon was the one Justice and Jesse had most worried about. His anger issues became worse as time went by, but for some reason he’d been calmer since meeting 16-year-old Elijah Newman a few years ago when they had all volunteered at Camp Pride.

  Well, calmer until Elijah had decided to start dating.

  A loud whimper brought Jesse out of his thoughts. Jaxon was holding a rogue off the floor by his neck.

  “Where. Is. Petey?” Jaxon brought the rogue right up to his face.

  “I don’t know! They don’t tell us grunts that kind of shit!”

  Justice coughed lightly as Jaxon’s grip tightened around the rogue’s neck.

  “Maybe we should keep that one alive, huh?” Justice motioned to the pile of dead rogues. “We might be able to get something out of him.”

  Jaxon snarled in the rogue’s face and threw him across the room.

  “Fine. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

  Justice exhaled as Jaxon left the tunnels. He called up top to Hayden.

  “Charges set?” Justice asked.

  “Ready to rip,” Hayden answered.

  “Okay, we’re on our way up.” Justice sheathed his swords and turned to Jesse. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted from all this fighting.”

  Jesse chuckled and grabbed the rogue by his foot, dragging him out of the tunnel.

  “Hey!” he whimpered.

  “Shut up,” Justice growled. “You’re lucky to be alive.”

  “You call this lucky?” he squeaked.

  Jesse turned and glared at the rogue, letting his massive canines drop. The rogue’s eyes went wide and he pointed at Jesse.

  “It’s true! You’re the white lion one!”

  “He could be the white tiger, or the Maltese.” Justice grinned. “You just never know with us.”

  “We don’t have time for ‘Meet the Salvatore Brothers’ right now — maybe later when we waterboard you, we can talk.” Jesse resumed walking.

  “Wait, what?” the rogue shouted.

  Justice elbowed his brother. “God, I love this job.”

  Jaxon sat numbly during debriefing. The only thing on his mind was five-foot-ten, dark-haired, blue-eyed Elijah.

  Jaxon closed his eyes and envisioned him. Elijah had the most beautiful skin, almost the color of caramel. But it was the eyes that had immediately captured Jaxon’s attention. Those big, blue peepers had looked at him through lowered lashes and he’d been toast. The soft pout of Elijah’s lips haunted plenty of Jaxon’s dreams. He could almost taste that plump, bottom lip.

  Jaxon shifted on the chair as his erection grew.

  That had been happening a lot more over the last year. He’d kept his emotions and libido in check as much as possible, but the older Elijah got, the more difficult it became.

  Then there was the non-kiss on New Year’s Eve. Jaxon had finally gotten the courage to kiss Elijah and been rebuffed. After years of telling a smitten Elijah that he was too old for him, Jaxon was truly worried the young man had actually moved on.

  “Jaxon?”

  He raised his head to find the whole team staring at him.

  “What?”

  “I asked if you were still good watching Elijah.” James Pruitt-Jacobs crossed his arms and shot Jaxon a look.

  “Oh, yeah. Of course I am.”

  “Good.” James nodded at the other men. “All of you have your charges. Remember, these men must be protected at all times.” James zeroed in on Killian, a shape shifter. “Any luck not pissing Stone off every time you talk to him?”

  Killian scowled. “I will protect him in animal form.”

  James grinned. “Oh, is that right?”

  “Yes. I will shift if he needs immediate protection.”

  “Because that won’t freak him out,” Jaxon drawled.

  “Says the giant wolf that sits in the backyard,” Killian shot back.

  “Elijah’s not freaked out about the wolf that sits in his yard.”

  “Well, then.” James crossed the room and took a seat behind his desk. “Take some time off, Jaxon.”

  “Wait, what?” Jaxon stood up. “Why?”

  “Because your anger is fueling you, and that’s when you can lose perspective. It only takes a second to get dead. I’ll assign someone else temporarily.”

  “But I
— ”

  “That’s not a request.” James arched a brow. “Fix the problem, and then come back.”

  “Elijah is not a problem,” Jaxon snarled.

  “You just proved he is,” Justice said quietly.

  “Fine!” Jaxon stormed past all the men and slammed the door behind him. He leaned against the wall and took deep breaths. His fingers curled and he fought the building anger.

  “How about a trip to the firing range?”

  Jaxon’s eyes shot open to see the wolverine shifter, Zack Duran, grinning maniacally at him.

  “I need to let off some steam, too.” Zack shrugged his shoulders. “Watching Brock Holloway is going to turn me into a serial killer.”

  Jaxon let out a breath and nodded. “Okay, sounds good.”

  The Skull Blasters’ operations were based in Seattle, but the training center in Arizona had grown tremendously. When there, they stayed in the Benson area, as it was a short drive to Douglas — and the border. James and the rest of the men had built a state-of-the-art facility for training to fight terrorists, rogues and any other threat that came along.

  Periodic trips to the Arizona center were necessary for a variety of reasons, so here they were. Speeding down I-10 brought back memories for Jaxon — memories he’d rather forget.

  The smell of smoke, the chilling screams...

  “Dude, you okay?”

  “Yeah.” Jaxon nodded. “Let’s just get there.”

  Zack pulled up to the gates of the base’s firing ranges and showed his ID. They all had the new ones now — featuring a skull, crossbones and a noose. There were words etched in the silver: Mors Cum Terrore Novo Venit.

  Death has come with a new terror.

  The team had grown from four men to many, many more. The Skull Blasters were now an elite fighting unit rivaled by none other. Jaxon had taken shooting lessons from the notorious Devin Lyons. The psychotic FBI special agent was now married to Andrei Panchenko, the head of the Russian Mob and ex-husband of Vicious Vince Markov.

  They bumped along the desert in the unit’s Jeep until they came to a flat, wide-open area. Targets spread out for miles. Zack pulled up to one of the railroad ties that marked the beginning of the shooting range.

  Jaxon jumped out of the Jeep and walked to the storage shed off to the right. Zack followed and they entered together. Jaxon found the switch on the wall and a panel moved, showing a number pad. He punched in his own code and the floor opened in front of them.

  A narrow staircase led them below ground, and to the arsenal that awaited them. Jaxon shot a look at Zack, who looked like a kid for whom Christmas had come early. Multiple weapons lined the walls, from RPG launchers to M16s and AK-47s. Jaxon grabbed a few weapons and ammo, and then waited for Zack to make his selection. He seemed to be drooling over the weapons and Jaxon tapped an impatient foot.

  Zack looked over his shoulder with a grin.

  “This is like…wow!”

  “You’re an odd one, aren’t you?” Jaxon laughed.

  “My dad trained me. He said someday they’d come looking for me. I didn’t understand what he meant.” Zack bit his lip. “I do now.”

  “I’m sorry,” Jaxon offered.

  “Don’t be. I learned how to survive.” Zack finished making his selections, and then turned with a wide grin. “Let’s go!”

  The sound of the explosion rocked the ground beneath them and Jaxon let out a shout of triumph. This was definitely therapeutic. His anger seemed to be melting away as he tore apart targets. Zack was screaming like a banshee as he tore through massive chunks of rock and the old cars that were used for RPG practice.

  Jaxon shot his last round and felt a surge of satisfaction as a rogue target blew apart nearly a mile away.

  “Yeah! That was awesome!” Zack cackled.

  Jaxon grinned and leaned up against the Jeep. He reached into a cooler and plucked out two bottles of water. He handed one to Zack and twisted the cap off his own.

  “So, a wolverine, huh?” Jaxon took a long drink.

  “Yep. Better than a panda I guess,” Zack chuckled.

  “I don’t know, man. Have you seen how mean those things can be?” Jaxon snickered.

  Zack sipped his water and eyed Jaxon. The man was roughly six-foot-two, with blue eyes that seemed to swirl into grey and green as well, and dark hair that was styled in spikes. Tattoos ran the length of his arms, and his faded blue jeans hugged him in all the right places.

  “So, Elijah?”

  Jaxon nodded.

  “He’s pretty damn sexy.” Zack winked. He had to laugh when a low growl slipped from Jaxon.

  “Chill, dude. Just sayin’. So what’s the low down? He doesn’t want you?”

  Jaxon pulled at the label on his bottle and sighed.

  “He did. I met him at Camp Pride and he came on really strong. It stayed that way for a while, then all of a sudden, bam! He’s got a boyfriend.”

  “You waited too long, huh?”

  “He was sixteen! I wanted to wait until he was at least eighteen.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Almost twenty-five. Not quite.”

  “Dude! That’s it? I thought you were like, way older! Six years isn’t shit. From what I hear, Elijah’s been through the wringer — and that tends to age people. I know some people who are thirty and act like teenagers. Age is a number; it’s the person you need to see.”

  Jaxon’s mouth dropped open in surprise. He didn’t think he’d ever heard that many words come out of Zack’s mouth. The guy just didn’t talk.

  “What?” Zack winked. “I know when to keep quiet and when to say my piece.”

  “What about you? Watching the child of Aphrodite?” Jaxon smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.

  “I’m immune,” Zack scowled.

  “Suurre you are,” Jaxon laughed.

  Zack sighed in frustration and grabbed another round of ammunition.

  “Feel like destroying some more shit?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I do.”

  After another hour, they were back on the freeway and Jaxon closed his eyes as the warm sun of Arizona beat down on him.

  God, but he’d missed Arizona.

  Zack was humming along to the music from the radio as they flew down the road. An exit sign came into view and Jaxon turned to Zack.

  “Um, can we make a stop before we go to the airport?”

  “Sure.” Zack nodded.

  Jaxon sat up in the seat as they drove down North Alvernon Way. More houses had gone up since they’d live here; it still held its charm though.

  Jaxon indicated the road and Zack pulled to the end of a dead end street. Jaxon jumped out of the Jeep and walked to the piece of land that used to house his family. An olive tree stood proudly out front. He and his brothers had already contacted a construction company and it seemed they were already moving on building the new house.

  Zack came to stand beside him.

  “So, what is this?” he asked.

  “It used to be my house, before the rogues came and killed my parents.”

  “Dude,” Zack shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry.”

  “What about you?” Jaxon glanced over at Zack.

  “Men in uniform took my dad. I never saw him again.”

  “Your mom?”

  “Never knew her. All I know is that she had dark hair and eyes like mine.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It is what it is. I’ve learned how to take care of myself. It wasn’t until John Quinton happened upon me that I had any real hope of being free.”

  Petey and his cohorts had imprisoned Zack in Siberia and experimented on him in an effort to discover how the shifting process worked. He had been rescued with a polar bear shifter and a black panther shifter.

  “And now you get to hang out with all of us. Isn’t it great?” Jaxon chuckled.

  “Peachie!” Zack laughed. He sobered and glanced at the olive tree. “Why don’t you take some time here? I’ll go scamper
off and have fun.”

  “Did you just say scamper?” Jaxon snorted. He got a punch to his bicep and then Zack ran off into the desert. Jaxon sat under the shade of the tree and closed his eyes.

  He inhaled deeply the scent of the earth and tried to calm himself. Truth be told, he still couldn’t get his anger under control. He had run out of time. Elijah was dating another man. Jaxon scowled, keeping his eyes squeezed shut. He wasn’t the home-wrecking type, so this was going to take some finesse. First things first, he needed to spend time with Elijah — alone. He was going to win the younger man back if it killed him.

  A low growl to his right alerted him to Zack’s return. He opened one eye and peered at the shape shifter. Wolverine Zack was pretty damn fascinating. His coat was dark brown, with white fur running along his sides. It amazed him that someone Zack’s height could transform into something so much, well, smaller.

  Jaxon chuckled and got a snarl from Zack.

  “You’re so cute,” he joked.

  Zack bared his teeth, which only sent Jaxon into a bigger fit of laughter. He snorted and bit Jaxon’s thigh.

  “Ow! Little fucker!” Jaxon rubbed his leg as the wound immediately healed — big benefit of being a werewolf.

  Zack smirked and then trotted off toward the Jeep.

  Jaxon glanced at his watch and was surprised to see an entire hour had passed. He walked over to the Jeep as Zack pulled his cargo pants on.

  “Dude, that was so wrong.” Jaxon waggled a finger at him. “These are my favorite jeans.”

  Zack laughed. “Serves you right. Wolverines are badass.”

  “When I get home, I’m going to watch a documentary on them,” Jaxon vowed. “I want to know what makes you tick.”

  “Well, if it helps, I have all their characteristics. It’s what and who I am.”

  “I think it’s awesome.” Jaxon smiled at the look of suspicion on Zack’s face. “No, I’m not yanking your dick.”

  “Fuck, I hope not,” Zack laughed.

  They loaded up and drove to the airport. The rest of the men had already arrived and were laughing and joking. Jaxon took a seat next to his big brother and reclined the seat back.

  “Everything okay?” Justice asked.