by Paige Tyler
Zane glanced over to where his tall, dark-haired boss, Gage, was talking to Alyssa’s bespectacled boss, Nathan. Those two were getting way too chummy in his opinion.
“I somehow doubt this situation is going to be wrapped up anytime soon,” he said. “That rumor your boss leaked to the press about an electricity fire starting down in the basement during a Black Swan meeting isn’t going to hold water for very long. Sooner or later, news agencies are going to wonder why the FBI was down there and why most of the people rescued are men and women who’d been missing.”
“That’s Nathan’s problem to solve.” Alyssa gave him a smile. “I was more interested in us. Where do we go from here?”
Zane moved closer until he was standing between her legs. He reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Since I’m in love with you, I was kind of hoping we could go to Dallas. My flat is kind of small, but we could get a bigger one if you want. Or a house even.”
“Move with you to Dallas, just like that?” She blinked. “I know you want to be there for your pack, but what about my job? Are you suggesting that I quit?”
He shook his head. “I’m not suggesting anything like that. You said it yourself—you spend almost all your time on the road looking for things that go bump in the night. Wouldn’t it be better to have a place to come back to that you can call home?”
Alyssa regarded him thoughtfully, her heart thumping fast. He hoped like hell he hadn’t pushed too hard, too fast. But the idea of letting her get away wasn’t something he was ready to do. Not after everything they’d been through.
“Say we do this,” she murmured, resting her hands on his shoulders. “How are you going to handle my job? As you pointed out, I’m on the road—a lot. Is that something you can deal with?”
He wanted to howl at the thought. But didn’t. “Will I be thrilled that you’re out there on your own, going after creatures you know almost nothing about? No, not at all. But it’s who you are. I get that. So if dealing with it is what I have to do to have you in my life, then I’m in. As long as you promise me one thing.”
She looked at him curiously. “What’s that?”
He slipped his hand into her hair, then bent forward until his forehead was resting against hers. He’d done that with her when he was in wolf form and it had been amazing. It felt even better now. “Just promise that if you’re out there on the road and run into something you think you can’t handle, you’ll call me and let me help.”
She gazed at him warmly for a few seconds and then tipped her face to kiss him. “I promise.”
Alyssa kissed him again, so long and so thoroughly he thought maybe they might need to find a room—or an empty FBI tactical response vehicle. But then Alyssa slid off the brick wall, tugging Zane along the sidewalk with her.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
She smiled at him over her shoulder. “To go talk to my boss and tell him I’m moving to Dallas—immediately.”
Chapter 14
Alyssa slid onto the bench of the picnic table where Trey, a huge, muscular werewolf named Brooks, and his mate, a high school teacher named Selena, were sitting and glanced around the SWAT compound, amazed at how many people were there. Zane had told her it would be a small cookout for the Pack, their significant others, and some of their closest friends. She now had reason to doubt his mathematical skills, since there must have been at least seventy-five people milling around the fenced-in area despite the chilly weather today.
Rachel was handling the line of grills on the far side of the volleyball pit with the help of Zoe and Chloe. The beta werewolves looked much better than they had when she’d seen them in LA. That probably had a lot to do with the smiles they’d both been wearing ever since moving to Dallas last week with Jake. After leaving Los Angeles, he’d taken them back to their home in Utah—or at least what was left of it—to deal with the aftermath of their parents’ murder and their subsequent kidnapping. The worst part out of all of it was that the police in their hometown had no leads about who’d killed their mother and father, other than some grainy footage from a convenience store security camera showing a bearded man in a hoodie transferring an unconscious Zoe and Chloe from a white van to a dark SUV. After that, there was nothing.
Jake had considered taking the girls back to Santa Fe with him but had ultimately decided he wanted them to be around other werewolves—especially betas—so they could learn to be comfortable with what they were and be safe. Gage was trying to talk him into transferring to the DPD so he could join SWAT and the Pack, but at the same time, Nathan was attempting to woo him to STAT. Alyssa thought he’d be an excellent addition to the STAT team, so she hoped he’d take her boss up on the offer.
Zoe and Chloe weren’t the only ones keeping Rachel company by the grills, Alyssa noticed. So were the team’s collection of mascots and pets—dogs Tuffie, Leo, and Biscuit (the newest addition to the family), as well as Kat the cat. Alyssa was surprised at how patient the animals were, not to mention well behaved. They didn’t even fight over the chunks of meat Rachel tossed their way every once in a while. Unlike the pit-bull mix, Labrador, and dachshund, the black cat refused to eat anything that touched the ground. Any morsels Rachel gave her had to be perfectly cooked and placed on the plate in front of her, or the picky feline wouldn’t even look at it. Alyssa smiled every time she saw it.
Listening in amusement as Selena tried to talk Trey into asking the medical examiner he had a thing for out to dinner, Alyssa picked up her bottle of water and took a sip, her gaze going to her boss, Nathan. He was sitting at one of the far tables with Gage, Zane, and the SWAT team’s two squad leaders. Nathan had been in Dallas for three days now and had spent nearly all that time at the compound in meetings with the commander of the team and the acting chief of police, Hal Mason. She’d overheard snippets of their conversation and had a fairly good idea where those three days of meetings were heading—more joint operations between the STAT team and the werewolf pack. The one in LA had gone well, so why not? She certainly wouldn’t mind.
As if sensing Alyssa’s gaze on him, Zane flashed her a grin, then got up from the table and headed in her direction, slowing to pick up two cheeseburgers from Rachel on the way. Alyssa had to admit she loved watching him move. It was difficult to believe, but he was even more graceful than he had been when she’d first met him.
Even though the weather was cooler than it had been in LA, Zane wasn’t wearing a jacket and she took a moment to appreciate his sculpted biceps. When he sat down beside her at the picnic table, she leaned her head against his left arm. Other than the barely discernible scar along the back of it now, it was almost like the gunshot wound had never happened.
“I saw you eyeing the grills and thought you might be hungry,” he said, setting the plate of cheeseburgers on the table.
Alyssa reached for the bottle of ketchup and squeezed out a puddle on the plate big enough for both of them. “I could definitely go for a burger, but I was actually thinking how sweet it is that Tuffie and the other animals help Rachel cook.”
He chuckled. “More like waiting for her to drop a whole tray of burgers.”
She laughed and dipped her burger in ketchup. “We’re still taking Tuffie home with us tonight, right?”
All the members of the SWAT team shared custody of the beloved pit-bull mix, so she went home with a different person every night. They even had a duty roster to make sure everyone got their turn with the adorable pup. Alyssa’s family always had dogs when she was growing up—still did—and not having a dog to come home to every night was one of the things she’d missed when she’d joined the FBI.
“Definitely.” Zane grinned and leaned over to kiss her. “I love hearing you say the word home.”
She smiled. “Not nearly as much as I love saying it.”
It was the truth. She’d been in Dallas for two weeks now. After leaving LA, she and Zane had gotten on a plane to Washington, DC, packed up her stuff, turned in the key
s to her apartment, then flown to Dallas that very same day.
Since then, she’d been living with Zane in his small two-bedroom apartment, and while it was approximately the size of a shoebox—one made for flip-flops—she loved every minute of it because she was with him. And while it was seriously tiny, he’d decorated it surprisingly well. She’d kind of expected the typical bachelor pad, but his place could be on one of those home-and-garden shows. Outside of spending time with the Pack so she could get to know everyone, the two of them hadn’t left the apartment much. Heck, they’d barely gotten out of bed.
Across from them, Trey took his attention off his plate of ribs long enough to look at her and Zane. “I overheard Nathan telling Gage the STAT team cleaned up everything in LA. That true?”
Nodding, Zane took a big bite of burger, chewed once, then swallowed. “They went with the human-trafficking angle to explain all the enthralled people, pinning it on Stefan and the muscle heads who worked for him.”
“Are those people the vampires screwed up ever going to be okay?” Diego asked as he sat down across from Alyssa.
“Stacie, the girl Stefan tried to escape with, seems to be coming out of it,” Alyssa said. “But the ones who had been there a really long time haven’t responded to any of the drugs the doctors at the psychiatric facility where they’re staying have given them. It’s only been two weeks, though, so with time, maybe they’ll come out of it.”
She hoped. Though she hadn’t seen any of the people since they’d rescued them, hearing Nathan describe how they acted was enough to make her want to kill Stefan all over again.
They were still talking about that when some more of Zane’s pack mates joined them. Alyssa was amazed how warm and welcoming they all were. She felt like part of their great big family already. Of all of them, Alyssa found herself getting closest to Rachel. That wasn’t surprising, since they’d hit it off from the day they’d met. While Rachel hadn’t confided in her yet, it was obvious she was dealing with some stuff. Even now, pulling grill duty, Alyssa caught her nervously looking over her shoulder at the training structures on the far end of the SWAT compound several times, her eyes fixed on the darkened windows, like she thought someone was watching her. But so far, Alyssa couldn’t get her to open up about whatever she was going through.
“I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that there are other supernatural creatures out there,” Remy said.
Tall, good-looking, and built like the rest of the guys in the Pack, the Louisiana werewolf with the Cajun accent had joined them at the table a few minutes ago, along with his forensic scientist mate, Triana, and her mother, Gemma, a petite, outgoing woman, visiting from New Orleans.
Everyone in the Pack had echoed that same sentiment over the past two weeks. Alyssa found it funny that she had more experience with what was out there in the world than they did, considering she was human and they were werewolves. She’d need to get them caught up.
“What about the hunters?” Remy asked. “Now that the vampire coven is destroyed, do you think they’ll still be around?”
“I don’t think so,” Zane said. “At least not like we’ve been seeing over the past year, especially since no one is paying them now.”
“Plus, when we dug through the computers we confiscated from Stefan’s office at the parking garage, we got the name of every hunter he ever hired, so now we have files on them,” Alyssa added. “Almost all of them have a criminal past, so when they end up getting arrested again—which they almost certainly will—it will flag our system. Sooner or later, they’ll all end up in prison.”
Alyssa thought that news would be met with a round of cheers and high fives, but instead, the mood around the table—the compound even—turned somber.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “No more hunters in the world is a good thing, right?”
“Yeah, of course.” Diego absently rubbed his thumb back and forth on the label of his beer bottle. “It’s just something that Davina mentioned to me back at the club, about there being a balance to the whole werewolf–hunter thing. She pretty much confirmed that more people go through the change and become werewolves—and find their soul mates—when there’s a major threat out there. Now that the LA coven is gone and the hunters aren’t a factor anymore, that means the likelihood of anyone else in the Pack finding The One for them is gone, too. I mean, the whole theory behind why it’s been happening over and over again when it never had before was that the Pack was in danger and needed to be stronger. But if the danger is gone now…”
“The magic that pulls soul mates together is gone, too,” Trey finished quietly.
Alyssa frowned. Since moving to Dallas, she and Zane had had more than a few conversations about what the legend of The One meant to werewolves, but the stuff Diego and Trey were talking about was all new to her. Suddenly, she felt as gloomy as the rest of them. The thought of Zane’s single pack mates—her pack mates—never finding what she and Zane and every other couple had was almost enough to make her cry.
“Oh, I wouldn’t be too worried about that,” Gemma said softly, her gaze locked on Rachel over by the grills. “Something tells me there’s more than enough trouble out there in the supernatural world for every werewolf in your pack to find The One—and then some.”
While the idea of more trouble like they’d run into out in LA wasn’t a cheery thought, the idea of Rachel, Trey, Diego, and every other unattached werewolf in the Pack finding their soul mates brought a smile to Alyssa’s lips. Around the compound, every other werewolf within hearing distance—which was all of them—was smiling, too.
Zane stood up. “Who’s up for another round of burgers and dogs?”
Alyssa shook her head with a laugh, still wondering where he put all that food.
They continued to hang out, laughing, talking, and telling stories long after midnight. It was almost 2:00 a.m. when Zane finally leaned in and put his mouth close to her ear. “You ready to get out of here, or do you need to grab some burgers for the road first?”
She chuckled. “I think I’m good. And yeah, I’m ready to go home.”
Waving at the few people left at the cookout, including Rachel, they rounded up Tuffie, then headed for the parking lot. When they reached Zane’s pride and joy, a sleek, black BMW he was thrilled to admit he’d gotten for a great price at an impound auction, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out her cell phone, then poked a few buttons and handed it to Zane.
“What’s this?” he asked curiously.
“It’s a phone obviously.” She grinned. “London is six hours ahead of us, so it’s eight o’clock there. Exactly when I said you’d be calling.”
His eyes widened, but even though they could both hear the phone ringing, he didn’t put it to his ear.
“I dialed your mother,” Alyssa nudged. “She’s expecting your call.”
He stared at her, something close to panic on his face. Crap. She hoped he wouldn’t hang up. From where she was sitting beside them, Tuffie looked just as concerned.
She reached out and wrapped her hand around his, gently guiding the phone to his ear. “I’m helping you reconnect with your family, starting with your mom.” When he still looked hesitant, she added, “Remember the way you described it to me as the law of inertia? Well, consider me the outside force that’s operating on the thing at rest and making it get its rear in gear. You moved on with me. It’s time you did the same with your family.”
Zane’s eyes misted with what she was sure were tears, but before she could be sure, he leaned down to kiss her. Then he pulled away, jerking the phone closer to his ear.
“Mum, yeah. It’s me…Zane. Yeah, it has been a long time. It’s good to hear your voice, too.”
Alyssa started to step away and give him some privacy, but he caught her hand, mouthing the word stay and pulling her close as he chuckled at something his mother said.
“Yeah, Mum. Alyssa’s actually the one who convinced me to call you.” Zane’s
eyes held hers. “And yeah, she is special.”
Alyssa smiled, her heart melting as she leaned in closer to him.
Order Paige Tyler’s next book
in the SWAT series
Wolf Rebel
On sale November 2019!
Acknowledgments
I hope you had as much fun reading Zane and Alyssa’s story as I had writing it! Zane and Alyssa’s book changed a lot over time. When hubby and I came up with the idea, Alyssa was originally going to be a personal trainer who helped Zane with his injured arm, but she wanted a more active role. Which is why she became a kick-butt FBI agent. Then vampires showed up! Totally didn’t see that coming! And a special shout-out to our real-life friend, Alyssa, for inspiring the heroine!
This whole series wouldn’t be possible without some very incredible people. In addition to another big thank-you to my hubby for all his help with the action scenes and military and tactical jargon, thanks to my fantastic agent, Courtney Miller-Callihan; my editor and go-to-person at Sourcebooks, Cat Clyne (who loves this series as much as I do and is always a phone call, text, or email away whenever I need something); and all the other amazing people at Sourcebooks, including my fantastic publicist and the crazy-talented art department. The covers they make for me are seriously droolworthy!
Because I could never leave out my readers, a huge thank-you to everyone who reads my books and Snoopy Danced right along with me with every new release. That includes the fantastic people on my amazing Review Team, as well my assistant, Janet. You rock!
I also want to give a big thank-you to the men, women, and working dogs who protect and serve in police departments everywhere, as well as their families.
And a very special shout-out to my favorite restaurant, P.F. Chang’s, where hubby and I bat story lines back and forth and come up with all of our best ideas, as well as a thank-you to our fantastic waiter-turned-manager, Andrew, who makes sure our order is ready the moment we walk in the door!