Hot SEALs: Her Special Alpha (Kindle Worlds) (X-OPS 3.5)

by Paige Tyler

  Travis expected Ninja Girl to slam on the brakes, whirl around, and run screaming. He lifted his pistol and aimed it at Big Guy, ready to cover her escape, but she never even slowed down. Instead she let out a high-pitched growl of her own and went in swinging, spinning, and kicking.

  That was when Travis realized Big Guy wasn’t the only one with fangs and claws. Ninja Girl had a matching set, except hers were sharper, and more curved. And oh yeah, her eyes were glowing green instead of yellow.

  Well, shit.

  There were two people with fangs, claws, and glowing fucking eyes fighting like animals right in front of him, so slowing down would probably have been the intelligent thing to do. But there was a woman fighting a man who outweighed her by more than a hundred pounds. Ninja Girl might have more speed than a Ferrari, but Big Guy didn’t seem fazed by her speed, not even when her curved claws slashed right through his T-shirt to scratch his chest. He simply kept raking at her with his claws. Something told Travis that if Big Guy landed one of his blows, Ninja Girl wasn’t going to be able to shake it off quite as easily.

  Travis stopped and aimed his gun at Big Guy, but he and Ninja Girl were moving too fast to get a clear shot. He swore. The hell with it. Taking a deep breath, he ran toward them at a flat-out sprint.

  “Incoming!” he shouted.

  God, he hoped this didn’t end in disaster. Because if Ninja Girl didn’t move, he was going to end up hitting her. But thankfully, she spun to the side just in time for Travis to lower his shoulder and slam it into Big Guy’s chest. The move caught the freaky guy with the glowing yellow eyes completely by surprise and he flew backward, landing on his ass. Travis immediately jumped to his feet and leveled his gun at Big Guy’s head.

  Travis might have gloated a little if he hadn’t heard the distinctive metal-on-metal clack that was as familiar to him as a baby’s cry to its mother. That was the sound of the bolt closing on an M16 and loading a round into the chamber.

  Travis lifted his head just in time to see the two remaining bad guys standing ten feet away, matching assault rifles in their hands.

  Double shit.

  Travis spun around to get Ninja Girl to safety, but she was already running for cover of the nearest building. Two weapons on full automatic chewed up the ground around them as Travis wrapped his arms protectively around her and got them both out of the line of fire. They hit the ground hard, rolling once to reach safety. But even as they flattened themselves to the dirt, a hail of bullets smashed into the wall around them, and Travis yanked her closer to his chest.

  Fragments from the brick building beside them covered his back, and his ears were ringing by the time the shooting stopped. Travis had been shot at enough times in battle to know better than to poke his head out for a look-see, though. That would only get it shot off.

  Even after tires squealed on asphalt and he knew the bad guys had left, he stayed where he was, hugging Ninja Girl close to his body. Not because he thought they were in danger any longer, but because she felt exceedingly nice there. If she wasn’t going to complain, neither was he. Hell, he’d be fine with her staying there all night.

  After a few moments, she stirred on his chest, twisting around to look at him. Her fangs were still out and her eyes had that amazing green-thing going on, but a second later, both slowly disappeared. Bummer. He’d never seen a woman with fangs before, but he had to admit they looked good on her.

  Travis was still gazing into her now blue eyes—which were just as devastating even without the glow—when she arched a brow and gave him a questioning look.

  “So, do you tackle all the girls you meet, or am I special?” she asked in the sexiest voice he’d ever heard.

  Oh, you’re special all right, he mused to himself as she gracefully got to her feet and looked down the alley in the direction the heavily armed men had vanished. Very special.

  Chapter Two

  “Am I just being cynical, or does it seem like your future brother-in-law is going out of his way to downplay what happened?”

  Eden Bristow glanced at the man who’d saved her life twice in the span of five minutes. Travis Dalton was as perceptive as he was hunky and courageous. “You getting that too, huh? I can’t believe he told the cops those guys were only after their wallets.”

  Eden and Travis had introduced themselves after getting up and dusting off their clothes. It was actually a good thing they’d taken the time to do it then because by the time they got back to the Bluefin Bar and Grill, the restaurant where her sister was having her rehearsal dinner, the place was surrounded by cops. To say it had turned into a zoo was an understatement. It had taken Eden ten minutes just to get inside so she could retrieve her purse and Department of Homeland Security badge.

  She and Travis had finished giving their statements to the local cops and were now leaning against the hood of a police cruiser listening as Brandon Haywood, her future brother-in-law, and Tim Ainsley, his best man, give their statements to the cops—again. She didn’t blame the police for asking the men to go over their stories a second time. They were a little tough to buy.

  According to Brandon—whom Eden met for the first time two days ago when she came down from D.C. for the wedding—he and Tim had been approached by the five men while they were outside getting some air. The men had demanded their wallets and when they didn’t comply fast enough, they beat up Brandon and Tim.

  Eden didn’t know Brandon well enough to say for a fact that he was lying—and she knew Tim even less—but she agreed with Travis. Her sister’s future husband seemed to be working unusually hard to convince the cops that the mugging hadn’t been a big deal. He even said the gunfire had all been a big misunderstanding.

  “Does Virginia require any form of drug testing prior to marriage?” Travis snorted. “If not, maybe your sister should pay for one before it’s too late.”

  Eden couldn’t help but crack up a little at that. She hadn’t known Travis for very long, but she already liked him. Besides the snarky wit, sinful good looks, mesmerizing dark eyes, a body that wouldn’t quit, and the absolutely yummy scent coming off him, there was also his willingness to throw himself between her and a hail of bullets. She was a shifter, which meant she likely would have survived getting shot as long as she didn’t take a direct hit to the head or heart, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate a bit of chivalry now and then.

  But more impressive than any of that other stuff was knowing Travis had seen her shift—complete with claws and fangs—and hadn’t freaked. In fact, he’d acted like it wasn’t a big deal at all. That kind of reaction—or lack of one—was rare. Even the agents on the four-member personal security team she was part of back in Washington at the DCO—one a former U.S. Marshal from the WITSEC program, and the other two former Secret Service who used to protect the president—had freaked out the first time they’d seen her in action, and they’d known what to expect. It made her wonder if Travis had stumbled across a shifter before tonight. Then again, maybe he was just one of those guys who didn’t rattle easy. She knew for a fact that his heart rate hadn’t elevated very much, even when those guys were shooting at them.

  “So, you work for the Department of Homeland Security, huh?” he asked casually.

  Travis must have seen her flash her badge to the cops when she’d given her statement. “I’m just a paper pusher up in Washington, but yeah, I’m with the DHS.”

  She hated lying to Travis, especially since he’d saved her life, but it wasn’t like she could tell him that she was an agent with the Department of Covert Operations, an organization that didn’t officially exist. Nor could she tell him that this non-existent organization employed genetic mutations like her to conduct certain top secret missions that no one could ever know about. Not even her family knew what she really did for a living.

  Travis slanted her a look. “Paper pusher. Right.”

  Eden should have known he wouldn’t buy it, not after what he’d seen in the alley. She held her breath, waiti
ng for Travis to press her on the subject, but he didn’t.

  Over by the restaurant, Brandon finished up with the cops, then walked over to where her sister was standing. Emily threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly before stepping back so his mom could do the same. Brandon’s father, as well as her and Emily’s parents, were more reserved but no less concerned.

  “That your sister?” Travis asked.

  “Yes, that’s Emily,” Eden said. “And that’s my mom and dad standing on either side of her.”

  Travis nodded thoughtfully. “Your parents don’t seem to share your suspicions about Brandon.”

  “That’s because they didn’t see him get beat up,” she muttered. “Not that it would probably matter anyway. My dad thinks Brandon walks on water because he’s in the navy. Dad’s retired navy, and sometimes I think he secretly wishes both Emily and I had continued the family tradition and gone to Annapolis,” she added when Travis gave her a confused look. “I guess he figured he’d have to settle for one of us marrying into the navy.”

  Travis considered that for a moment. “Navy to the core, huh?”

  She sighed. “That’s my dad.”

  “What about your mom?” Travis asked. “What does she think of Brandon?”

  Eden shrugged. “I think Mom is a little worried about Emily marrying a man who’s going to be gone on float more than he’s home, but she just wants Emily to be happy. That’s the most important thing. And the possibility of grandkids in the near future, of course. She’s itching to get her hands on some grandkids ASAP.”

  Travis chuckled. “Sounds like my mother. She’s on me all the time to settle down, get married, and have a few kids—not necessarily in that order. What about you? Your mother pressuring you to have children?”

  Eden smiled. She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with a guy she’d just met, but Travis was so easy to talk to. “She tries. But I have to let you in on a little secret—the idea of having children scares the life out of me. I can barely take care of myself, much less a kid. The thought of being completely responsible for another little human being makes me want to run away as fast as I can.”

  His mouth quirked. “I’m guessing that would be pretty damn fast. No lie—I’ve never seen a woman run so fast in bare feet and a dress.”

  She flashed him a smile. “You should get a look at how fast I am out of it.”

  His chocolate brown eyes darkened to a sexy smolder. “Now that’s something I’d like to see.”

  “What, me running without a dress on?” She wasn’t sure why he’d be impressed by that. Maybe he had a thing for Olympic sprinters. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

  That sensuous mouth of his twitched again. “I don’t know. The idea of seeing you without anything on—running or otherwise—seems like a big deal to me.”

  Eden thought she might have blushed at that, but she wasn’t sure. She’d meant running in a T-shirt and shorts instead of a dress. He, on the other hand, clearly meant seeing her run around completely naked. She didn’t hold it against him. She’d walked right into that one.

  “Travis Dalton, are you flirting with me?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “Unless you considered that last comment rude, sexist, or inappropriate, in which case, I’m not flirting at all.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you before in my life.”

  A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, drawing her attention there and making her wonder what it would be like to kiss him.

  “Funny you should mention that, since I’m absolutely, positively, get-there-overnight sure that I’ve never met anyone like you in my life before, either,” he said. “Speaking of which, any chance you might explain some of the things I saw out there tonight?”

  Well, there it was. She’d been wondering when he was going to ask. He might not have headed for the hills after seeing her inner animal come out, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t curious. The question was, did she follow the DCO rules and deny all, or did she go with her instincts and trust a guy she’d known for less than an hour?

  Eden knew the answer to that without even having to think about it.

  “I can.” She glanced at the cops, then her parents. “But I’d rather not get into it here.”

  He nodded. “Okay. How about over dinner tomorrow night then?”

  Eden smiled. She hadn’t gone out with a guy this attractive in a long time, if ever. Working in the DCO sort of put a damper on your social life. “Dinner sounds great.”

  * * * * *

  Eden waved to Travis as he drove out of the hotel parking lot. After finishing up with the police, Travis had followed her back there, not only so he’d know where to pick her up for dinner the next night, but to make sure she made it safely. Was that seriously sweet or what?

  She was still smiling as she stepped off the elevator and walked down the hall to her room. Her mother had pulled her aside before she left the restaurant to remind her that she was more than welcome to stay in her old room at their house. Eden couldn’t tell her mom that the reason she kept turning down the offer was because she didn’t want to put up with the constant nagging about why she couldn’t get a job at one of the local navy bases instead of up in D.C., why she hardly ever came to visit even though Washington was only about three and a half hours away, and why she didn’t have a steady boyfriend. Instead, she’d convinced her mom that she snored and didn’t want to keep everyone up all night. As lies went, it was pretty pathetic, but her mother seemed to buy it. Or at least nodded and went along with it.

  Once inside her room, Eden dug her phone out of her purse, and scrolled through her contacts until she came to Kendra Carlsen’s—or rather Kendra MacBride’s now that she was married—cell number. There was a time when Eden would have tried the DCO’s resident behavioral scientist-slash-training officer’s desk phone first, but since she and bear shifter Declan MacBride had gotten married a little while ago, the department’s do-it-all specialist didn’t work a lot of overtime anymore. Not that Eden blamed her. If she had a big, tall, muscular teddy bear like Declan to come home to, Eden would never work late again. The guy was a straight-up stud muffin.

  Kendra picked up on the third ring. “Hey, Eden! I thought you were still on vacation.”

  “I am.” Eden walked over to look out the window at the beach below. Thanks to her excellent night vision, she could see as well as if it were daytime. “I ran into a little trouble and need you to check something out for me.”

  “Trouble? Crap! What happened? Are you okay?” Kendra asked.

  “I’m fine.” She told Kendra about the fight behind the restaurant, the four armed men with automatic weapons, and the wolf shifter with them.

  “You went up against guys with guns and a rogue shifter on your own?” Kendra demanded. “Are you crazy?”

  “It wasn’t like I had much choice.” Eden left the window and crossed the room to sit on the bed. “Besides, I wasn’t exactly on my own. I got help from a former Army Special Forces guy named Travis Dalton. He covered my ass.”

  “Really?” Kendra had gone from concerned to curious. “You just happened to stumble over a guy with Special Forces training in the middle of a firefight in Virginia Beach?”

  “Yeah. And I’m lucky I did. I would have been in trouble without him.”

  Understatement there. As a shifter, she was able to take a lot of punishment, but she wasn’t invincible. A lucky shot while she’d been fighting that wolf shifter and she’d be dead right now.

  “Can you get an ID on the two guys Virginia Beach PD arrested?” Eden asked Kendra. “The cops weren’t willing to tell me anything even after I flashed my badge, so you’ll probably have to hack into their departmental database to get the info. And while you’re sniffing around, maybe you can check out Brandon and Tim, too. Travis and I think they might be more involved than they want everyone to think. Maybe they’re hiding something that’ll explain why th
e heck those guys used them as punching bags. Oh, and by the way, can you not mention this to John?”

  John Loughlin was the director of the DCO. He was a great guy and an even better boss, but she didn’t want him sending down the cavalry to back her up when this whole thing might be nothing more than a mugging.

  “Yeah sure, I can do all that,” Kendra said. “But did I hear you say that you and Travis think Brandon and Tim might be involved? This Travis guy is still helping you out?”

  Eden mentally cringed at that. She really needed to watch what she said around Kendra. The woman was sharp as a tack. “Yeah. He recognized as fast as I did that Brandon and Tim were acting strangely. We’re having dinner tomorrow night to discuss the possibility.”

  That and other stuff.

  “I see,” Kendra said. “Travis Dalton sounds very interesting. You don’t want me mentioning him to John, either?”

  “No!” Eden said a lot more quickly and loudly than necessary. “I mean, no. There’s no need for John to even know about him.” She cringed. “I hate to ask, but do you think you can do a background check on Travis Dalton, too? Just in case.”

  Eden didn’t want to think the entire situation in the alley could have been arranged purely so she would run into Travis, but she was only too aware of the freaky rumors that had been flying around the DCO lately. Some mad-scientist types had been trying to create man-made shifters and ended up making vicious, uncontrollable hybrids instead. Nobody knew who was behind the hybrid program, but some of her colleagues were starting to wonder if they could even trust the people in power at the DCO. Worse, there were rumors that some of those powerful people wanted shifters completely eradicated. Crap like that made Eden paranoid enough to know she had to be careful, no matter how much her instincts told her that Travis could be trusted.

  Kendra promised she’d get the information to Eden, then told her to be careful.

  Eden hung up, then tossed the phone on the bed with a yawn. Between the wedding rehearsal and dinner, then the insanity in the ally, she was more than ready to call it a day. Taking off her dress, she hung it in the closet, then put on a tank top and shorts. She was just about to brush her teeth when her cell phone rang.