by Terry Spear
Holly had been checking Sally’s X-rays when Aidan called, Sally watching over her shoulder, and the results looked good. When the windows at the front of the clinic shattered, her heart leapt in her throat. She jumped up from her chair and ran to the doorway, intending to protect Ronald and Clifford in the room they were staying in to recover. Sally was fast on her heels. Two of Rafe’s men rushed to block them, and she knew this could be bad. One of the men had gas masks and handed them to the women.
“Do you know how to use them?”
“Yeah, thanks. What about Ronald and Clifford?”
“We’ve taken care of them. Others are protecting them. They have gas masks too.”
The men made sure the women seated the gas masks properly and put on their own. “Get behind the desk and stay there. They’re trying to smoke us out.”
Gunfire sounded. “They’re using suppressors,” one of the men said.
The two men stayed in the room and gunfire was returned, louder, not suppressed. Holly hugged Sally. She wanted to turn into a wolf and help, but she’d be no match against guns, and she couldn’t wear a gas mask as a wolf. The room had no windows, and she didn’t like that they had no way to escape if their protectors were killed. On the other hand, those making the assault wouldn’t be able to come in any other way but that one doorway.
She told Aidan, “We’re under assault. I’m wearing a gas mask. Weapons are being fired.”
“I’m on my way.”
Feeling panicked that he could be in the line of fire, she didn’t want to hear that. “No, just stay there. Rafe’s men will take care of these guys.”
“I’m on my way,” Aidan repeated. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes tops.”
Which meant he’d already headed there, probably after the windows shattered, and he’d heard them.
“Don’t get yourself killed!”
“I have no intention of it, but what kind of a mate would I be if I didn’t come to rescue you?”
She knew no amount of arguing with him would keep him away. “Don’t get shot. I don’t have any more beds at the clinic.”
“I just need your bed. Stay on the line, honey. I’ll be there soon.”
She was praying Rafe’s men would take out their attackers, and by the time Aidan got there, he would only have to join her and give her a hug.
“When I said I was looking for a Christmas that was wildly exciting…”
One of Rafe’s men near where she was hunkered down snickered.
“I deliver, right?” Aidan asked.
Holly laughed. She loved him with all her heart.
It didn’t take long, and Aidan told her, “We’re here.”
“Be careful.”
“No more weapon fire.”
“Clinic is all clear,” one of Rafe’s men said.
“All clear outside,” another said.
“Coming in,” Aidan told her. “We’re good. And I didn’t even have to rescue you.”
She was out of the room in a flash, heading for the recovery room. “Checking on Clifford and Ronald.”
Sally was with her, and Rafe’s men had opened the windows and had cleared the air, the cold wind whipping through the room. Both Holly and Sally pulled off their gas masks, then Holly removed the masks from her patients. Sally quickly shut the windows before the men caught pneumonia, and she and Holly covered them with more blankets.
Aidan rushed into the room, and Holly threw herself into his arms and kissed him long and hard. When she finally let him up for air, he smiled at her. “Hot damn, Doc, now that’s what I call mate material.”
She laughed, then she frowned. “What’s the status of the rest of Oats’s men?”
“Dead. Ronald’s man, Barry, who had secretly visited the Nevada pack, confirmed they were all dead. He told us the Nevada pack has some older men, a couple of families. As long as they don’t want to cause any trouble for anyone else, we’ll check their blood and give them the news about their men. Everyone who needs looking after is coming to the clinic for us to check them out. The guys are blowing the rest of the smoke out of the clinic. We’ll have our work cut out for us. For what it’s worth, Jared thanked us for coming to their aid.”
“He’d better,” Sally said, “or he and his brother can be replaced.”
Aidan frowned down at Holly. “We need to compare notes and see if you know about any other wolf packs I don’t know about.”
“I only know that one of our men had joined them years ago. I thought they were one of the packs you’d tested. Then there’s the Montana pack that Everett and his people joined, and that there was a newly turned Arctic wolf pack living in Minnesota who used to live in the Seattle area.”
“And here I wanted to learn about other packs.” Aidan kissed her again.
* * *
Three days after Holly and Aidan were assured that Clifford and Ronald were on the mend, and everyone else who had been injured had been taken care of, they returned to the chalet to spend the rest of the holidays with their new pack. From their own point of view, everyone who had been at the fight had to repeat what had happened to the gathered families. Teams of Rafe’s men stayed behind to protect Ronald’s pack in case they had any further trouble. And Nick and his mate had their own bodyguard force watching over them now.
Though it was hard not to worry about what would happen with the cure, for now, Holly and Aidan were in the business of fun-filled activities, including swimming alone in the pool in their new swimsuits, returning to their room in a rush to make love—the complication of swimming alone in the swimming pool together—and everything else they enjoyed doing during the Christmas holidays with friends and family.
Most of all, they loved that they had found each other and had mated, making this truly the best Christmas ever, with many more to come.
Epilogue
Six months later, Aidan and Holly rechecked Mike’s blood and found what they’d wanted to learn. Holly’s blood cells, and maybe a few of Jared’s, had changed Mike’s. His cells weren’t aging as fast as they would have without the transfusion. It could still take some time to learn if this was temporary or if his blood would be changed permanently.
“Hell, that’s good news,” Mike said as Ted stood in the lab watching. “Can I give some of mine to Ted?”
“No. I think it’s best if we use someone’s that has always had the good blood,” Aidan said.
“Let’s check yours, Aidan,” Holly said, elated. “If Jared and you fighting and exchanging small amounts of blood made a difference, we need to know.”
“I was thinking the same thing. It would save your people from having to donate massive amounts of blood.”
Holly took a blood sample from Aidan and looked at it under the microscope. “Holy cow. It worked!”
Aidan looked over her shoulder. “Then the wolves who transferred small amounts of blood in Ronald’s pack should have changed theirs too, though I don’t want wolves cutting themselves to transfer blood to the rest of them. We need to do this in a healthier way.”
“One pint should be enough for a whole lot of wolves. I’ll call Sally and tell her to take blood samples from everyone who was bitten or exchanged blood in some other way six months ago and send it to us so we can compare.”
“Don’t you think that could cause your people to begin wide transference of blood on their own?” Aidan asked.
“Uh, yeah. Can we use one of the jets?”
“Yeah. I’d say we should give Ronald a call, but let’s just arrive unannounced and get this done right.”
Mike motioned to Ted. “But Ted first, right?”
Holly and Aidan smiled. “Yeah, him first,” Aidan said.
“I’ll call Jade and tell her we have the cure, at least temporarily, if not permanently.”
“Okay, sounds good. We’ll need to fix them up next and
then work from pack to pack. Ready for some pack hopping?”
“For this, yes! You’re a genius, Aidan.”
“We did it together. Sally and Anita helped too. And your pack. Ronald and Jared’s father was the key. Who would have ever thought the most disagreeable pack—”
Holly raised her brows.
“—um, pack leaders could change the wolves back to the way they were.”
“Sounds like a reason for a celebration. And we have one other.”
“Oh?”
“Our first baby…or two…will be here in the winter.”
Aidan’s smile couldn’t have been any bigger than it was now. He lifted her in his arms and twirled her around. “Hallelujah!”
“I love you, Aidan.”
“I can’t be any happier for us. I love you and the little ones right back.”
Ted and Mike folded their arms, both frowning. “Do we get hazard pay?” Mike asked.
Aidan and Holly laughed. “You will make great uncles,” Holly said.
“It’s about time,” Aidan said. “Just think of all the wild adventures you’ll have, and with your improved blood, that will be for a very long time.”
“See what our matchmaking got us into?” Ted asked Mike.
“Yep. We’ll have to learn how to make baby food next.”
For more Terry Spear check out
the Heart of the Shifter series
You Had Me at Jaguar
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Read on for a look at book 1 in Terry Spear’s new Heart of the Shifter series
You Had Me at Jaguar
Coming soon from Sourcebooks Casablanca
Drinking a beer at the San Antonio Clawed and Dangerous Kitty Cat Club, Howard Armstrong looked more relaxed than Valerie Chambers had ever seen him. Though she’d only seen him during vigorous training exercises. Howard was all hard muscle, nothing soft about him. He made her think of long, hot nights and impossible, sexy dreams.
Why was he here? She should have known she’d run into him again—they were working for the same jaguar police force.
She had been astonished to learn he had left the Enforcer branch to work with the JAG’s new United Shifter Force (USF) unit. And a little disappointed. She’d thought she might see him again on the training course. She’d wondered if he’d gotten as much ribbing about her taking him down as she had.
“He let you so he could get up close and personal,” some of the women she worked with had cracked. “Good move to take him down as if we were in the field and not in training,” one of the guys had told her, impressed with her wiliness. “He must be getting soft,” another male Enforcer had joked.
The Enforcer branch was a specialized jaguar policing force that eliminated jaguar shifters who were guilty of committing violent crimes against humans and shifters alike. The agents of the USF worked as a combined force of wolves and jaguars. Like many of the Enforcers, Howard was a loner. She couldn’t understand why he had changed jobs to be a team player with a mix of shifter types.
Howard still worked out of the Houston office, as far as she knew. She’d wondered if he was working on a case in San Antonio. When she’d spied his vehicle here for so many days with no sign of him, she’d asked both her boss and Howard’s if he was on a mission. They’d both denied it. She didn’t think the USF agents went solo on missions. Was he really just on vacation?
Sipping a margarita at a table across the club, Val watched Howard snack on chips. Then a brunette joined him at his table—pretty, petite, wearing a short red dress and low red heels. Was the woman with him a jaguar or a wolf? Maybe a date?
When she’d seen Howard’s black pickup truck with the distinct jaguar in a jungle painted on both sides, and smelled his scent around the vehicle, she figured he still owned it. Even so, she ran his license plate to make sure someone else hadn’t bought it. She suspected Howard was after someone. But this was the first time she’d actually seen him or the woman, which meant he had to be undercover.
The jungle music made Val involuntarily tap her boot on the tile floor, and she had the greatest urge to get up and dance. The smell of sweet mixed drinks, beer, humans, jaguars, and a few wolves drifted to her. Palm trees in pots, vines stretching to the ceiling, and a skylight way above simulated a jungle scene like most jaguars loved. The summer sun was still high enough to spread sunlight through the windows and down through the living foliage. Since she couldn’t get away to the jungle very often, she enjoyed going to one of these places to immerse herself in the jungle feel from time to time, more so when she wasn’t on a mission. Here, it was air-conditioned, a light mist spraying the plants, water droplets collecting on the leaves. Dancers wearing leopard-print fabric were on elevated stages and the dance floor, and bright lights flashed across them, making it appear otherworldly.
She again glanced at the tables that were cast more in the dark, just in case Benny Canton had already arrived and she’d missed seeing him when she had walked through the place earlier searching for him. This was the kind of job she loved: eliminating rogue jaguars, the murdering kind. She hadn’t heard of a case like this in a good long while—a jaguar who’d murdered his wife, just because she threatened to leave him. That was one of the differences between the wolf shifters and jaguars: the wolves mated for life; jaguars could divorce.
She’d considered that he might have gone across the border, because the shifters often did to play in the jungle as wild jaguars. And for a rogue, he would have extra incentive to leave the country.
She watched the door open—two single males arrived, neither of them her perp. Benny was known to frequent this club ever since he left his job as a construction worker after the murder. He had no family, and she hadn’t found any other place he could have holed up. So she’d staked the place out for the past three days, watching for him or some of his friends, who proved to be just as elusive as he was. She’d had no luck.
But it was the only lead she had.
* * *
Taking another swig of his beer while the jungle beat raised the roof of the club, Howard tried his darnedest not to look in Valerie Chamber’s direction. He would never reveal that he’d been attracted to her from the first time he’d seen her in advanced training as an Enforcer. He still couldn’t believe his boss had asked him and gray wolf Jillian Greystoke to watch her back, surreptitiously. He’d much rather be up front about what he was doing when helping other agents.
As soon as he’d seen the striking redhead again, he was reminded of how she’d pinned him during training. She’d cast him the wickedest smile. With his back on the floor, her on top of him, he couldn’t help smiling back at her. Of course, after her unorthodox move, the testers had made a new rule: no one was to move before the bell rang or they were afraid they’d have chaos. When they’d mentioned the new rules, Howard had glanced in Val’s direction, and she’d given him a similar cat-who-ate-the-mouse look. He’d only smiled, thinking they might have a chance at dating.
The three branches—the Enforcers, JAG, and Guardians—all had a common mission: deal with jaguar shifters who posed a threat to humans and shifters alike. Though each handled different situations: Guardians provided more aid to injured jaguars; JAG went after the rogues, or humans who were dealing in jaguars, but the result depended on the situation—incarceration or death for the rogues. The Enforcers were sent to terminate murdering jaguars. Period. They didn’t consider jail time for the offender. Howard and Jillian were with a special section of the JAG, the USF, taking care of both jaguars and wolves creating trouble or in trouble. They were the only two agents who had a break in cases. Since Howard was a former Enforcer, his boss felt he would be right for the job. The branches would work together when necessary, but usually, all agents involved would be well aware of the situation.
Jillian got another text, the fourth one in half an hour. She texted back.
/> Howard didn’t have to guess who it was from. Jillian was mated to Vaughn, a gray SEAL wolf who was busy tracking down a murderous wolf, along with the two other jaguar team members of the USF. “Vaughn should have taken you with him.”
“This guy that Val is trying to neutralize is supposed to be a lot less violent than the one our team is trying to track down. At least as far as the general population is concerned. Benny’s wife was a different story.”
“I still wish Martin had allowed us to tell Val we are here watching her back.”
“The boss said she doesn’t like working with anyone else. Since many Enforcers work alone, she’d think her boss felt she couldn’t handle the case on her own. How well do you know her?” Jillian asked.
“I’ve been in training with her before. Never worked with her though. She’s got some kick-ass moves, and I have to say she’s extremely quick-witted.”
Jillian smiled at him. “Did she ever get the best of you?”
He gave her a dark smile back. “Not that I’d ever admit to.” He ordered another beer. “You know, her mother, Gladys, was the first female Enforcer we had in the branch, and she and her mate, Jasper, are still on the force.”
“Wow. They don’t want to leave all the excitement behind?”
“That’s about it. They’re both good people, wanting to right the wrong and deal with the bad guys. And Gladys wanted to prove to her dad, who was an Enforcer before that, that she could do as good a job as any man. She and her mate have one of the highest success rates for eliminating rogue jaguars. They make a great team. But there’s got to be a time Enforcers need to retire, when they might not be as quick to react or strong as they had once been. Their boss just doesn’t want to force retirement on them. Not while they’ve been so successful, despite being in their golden years.”
“I think it’s great. Better to die doing what you love than live to an old age, wishing you were still fighting the good fight.”
He smiled at Jillian. “Easy for you to say. Your kind lives much longer lives than we do. What a deal.”