"So you're the lost little lamb I hear so much about."

I frowned. "What are you talking about? Who are you?" I tilted my head sideways. "Why are you ...floating upside down?"

"I'm Anansi."

Like that was supposed to mean something. I narrowed my eyes. "And?"

A pout formed on his face. "You've never heard of Anansi? The spider trickster." 

Still clueless, I shrugged.  "Sorry."

"What is the world coming to when gods are forgotten about?" he muttered as he righted himself. He was about seven feet with a lithe frame.  There were striking white tattoos going up his dark skin from the wrists to the sides of his neck.  Thin strip of gold fabric coverd his nipples and he wore red harem style pants with gold embroidery.  His eyes were a golden orange and a white line ran from the top of his head to his chin dividing his face in half.  He looked me over and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Why are you here?" I asked. We were in the middle of a mission.  I didn't have time for gods.

"No particular reason....maybe." He smiled. "Who's to say?"

I rolled my eyes. Trickster god. Of course. They never give a straight answer. Although, this was the first time I'd met a trickster god or any god for that matter.

He pinched my butt making me jump into the air. "Zander's got impeccable taste as always."

I rubbed my sore buns.  He pinched like an old lady.  "You know Zander?" That was surprising.

"I am a god. I know many things." His mood darkened and his orange eyes were fire. "Like there are bigger forces at work than you think and what you think you know, you don't have a clue."

What the what? "In English please."

Anansi flicked his wrist and his smile returned. "That's all I can say for now, little lamb. We're not 'sposed to meddle. War concessions, interfering with the mortal immortals, yada yada. Boring blah blah."

I covered a giggle. This god was nothing like what I expected. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Not all angels and demons go blindly along with whatever's going on and not all of us are in the loop on the goings and comings either."

Mahina, as Sabian would say. He was making my head swim with his riddles and double speak.

He took several steps back towards the trees where he came keeping his eyes on me. "A blood bath is coming and your enemies are already in the walls. Watch your back, guardian." A shimmering red light fell down like rain around him and he was gone.

"Daniel, stop fartin' around!"

My head snapped around and Graven and Amon were snapping on gloves and looking in my direction. I looked around and my eyes widened. The injured were starting to arrive. I grabbed a pair of gloves out of my pocket and quickly put them on. How long had I been with Anansi?

We worked for hours. During the firefight, there were injuries on both sides. Some of the council members had been beaten and tortured. Several Murtaz came in with dislocated or broken jaws in addition to bullet and knife wounds. One had both his arms broken and another had his leg torn off. Rumor had it Alpha Snow, the quiet pretty one, had been responsible for one of those.

A female naga and a male werewolf wrestled a captured Murtaz over to a cot in my treatment area and slammed him down. They quickly told me his injuries and I set to work patching him up as they held him down. He called us every name in creation and thensome in addition to putting up one heck of a fight. Curious, I grabbed his face with my thumbs on his chin, ignoring his screams as my claws dug into the sides of his head. My eyes searched his looking for the way in to his mind. His eyes were defiant and hateful so I knew I wasn't going to get anything by entering through his windows.

"Do your worst. I'm not telling you shit!" he spat.

He thought.

I merely stared at him. Slowly, I blew my breath across his face for no reason other than I could. His eyelashes fluttered and his brows drew together as if confused about what I was doing. He tried to pull away but I held firm. I forced his jaw open and he began to thrash in my hold. A sick feeling of power radiated through me as I squeezed his head making him scream and sink to his knees. I bent down so we were nose to nose then began to suck out his life force.

It was a sharp taste like bitter melon not prepared properly or with the seeds but I didn't stop. I felt his lifeforce entering my body and joining with my own. I trembled slightly as all his memories flashed through my mind.

He had been a good man once. A husband and father. A dispute resulted in the death of his pregnant wife. Enraged, he'd killed the person and gone to supernatural prison. When he was released he went in search of his son to find he'd left the supernatural world to live with humans and wanted nothing to do with his only parent. With nothing to live for, he became a mercenary.

A hand landed on my shoulder. "Daniel, that's enough. Anymore and he'll die."

The man's cheeks were sunken in. The eyes were large and looked too big for his face. I exhaled and his essence flowed back into him. His cheeks puffed out and it reminded me of a balloon. I did a full body shudder as the last traces of him left my body.

I turned to see Cisero, Graven, and Zev watching me. "He doesn't know much. Like the others, he's a lower cog in the big wheel of things." I looked around at all the Murtaz they managed to detain. All had been questioned and none of them knew anything. "Could it be they sent all these lower ranks to prevent us from finding out anything?"

"Yeah. Seems so." Cisero stalked off to the tent with the radio.

The drained man was placed with his friends and I cleaned up my workspace. From what was heard on the radio, things were wrapping up and we'd be leaving soon. I wondered if all missions were like this. It had a few dicey moments when we were under attack that I was worried about but once we arrived, it was such a rush.  I liked it. 

I looked up just as I'd taken my gloves off and rushed to the front of the tent. The familiar werewolf was pale, sweaty, and looked pained. His fists were clenched at his sides and he moved stiffly.

"Hold on, beta," I wrapped an arm around the older man and helped him to my cot. He moved like a robot and groaned in agony with each step. He was shaking and panting heavily when we finally made it to the cot.

I quickly took his pulse and listened to his chest. His pulse was through the roof. No one's heart should be beating as high as his was. I began running lists through my head. "What's going on?"

"H-hurts. E-Every...th-thing. Can't...can't take it."

There wasn't any blood or bruises on him anywhere. But there had to be something. "Where are you injured?"

"Not...not me."

"If not you, then who?"

He gripped my wrist in a crushing hold. "P-painkillers. Please."

I pulled a syringe and a bottle of morphine out of my field kit. The beta's symptoms didn't make any sense. What was going on? I filled the syringe and jabbed it into his arm. Before the plunger was even fully down, the beta had relaxed and was staring at the ceiling. I retook his vitals to see everything had calmed down. Whatever was affecting him seemed to be gone.

Cisero re-entered the tent and I waved him over. The beta sat up and scrubbed a hand over his face. "I'm good now, kid. No need to worry."

I wasn't buying that shit. Cisero's eyes narrowed as he approached the cot. "Dean, you alright?"

He nodded. "I'm fine. I told the new kid not to worry."

Cisero just raised a brow. "It's kind of his job to worry and keep us alive."

"Yeah."

Cisero clapped him on the shoulder. "Why don't you take a breather? I'll call Dom."

Dean's eyes widened as he quickly got to his feet. Odd reaction. Why wouldn't he want us to call his alpha?

"Theres no need to bother him right now. He's got a lot on his plate with his mate being pregnant and the blood moon coming."

I frowned. "But you're the pack's beta." Shouldn't they be concerned over him too?

"I'll be fine."

Cisero gave him a hard stare then nodded. "Alright then."

I looked at Cisero with wide eyes. "But, sir –"

The older alpha ignored me but hadn't taken his eye off the beta. "You're off duty for the next forty-eight."

Dean sighed. "Yeah. Okay. Thanks." He patted my shoulder. "Thank you, Daniel. I appreciate it."

"Don't mention it," I grumbled as he walked off.

"Daniel."

I almost forgot Alpha Cisero was still there. "Yes, sir?"

"Keep this to yourself."

"But-"

"There's something going on with the beta and until we find out, I need you to keep it to yourself."

"Yes, sir." I gave a curt nod and tidied up my area.