Alpha Unit One, New York

by Chris T. Kat

  Table of Contents

  Blurb

  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 Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Epilogue

  More from Chris T. Kat

  About the Author

  By Chris T. Kat

  Visit Dreamspinner Press

  Copyright

  Alpha Unit One, New York

  By Chris T. Kat

  The cat’s out of the bag….

  In a world that accepts shifters as normal and thinks nothing of human/shifter couples, baby shifters and small shifters are treated as subpar. They are not allowed into the more dangerous professions, and their mates have legal control over what they can and cannot do.

  Nicholas Reed is about to challenge the established rules. At twenty-eight, Nick has just been accepted into New York’s Alpha Unit One—an elite law enforcement team, composed equally of humans and shifters, that specializes in drug crimes. It is Nick’s dream job. But if they find out what he’s hiding, his career could be destroyed.

  Enter a huge complication in the form of Sam Black, an older lion shifter who is the leader of the unit… and Nick’s mate. Nick wants Sam, and he wants to keep his job, but he can’t have them both. He also can’t choose between them.

  Chapter One

  Nicholas

  DEEP BREATHS. Just keep breathing in and out, in and out. Nothing to worry about. Nope, absolutely nothing. Except… well, except pretty much everything.

  As I strode up the stairs of one of New York City’s Alpha Unit precinct buildings to start my first day as a detective in one of the city’s top-notch Alpha Units, doubts crowded my mind.

  Why the fuck was I freaking out now? This was what I’d always dreamed about—to be part of an Alpha Unit, especially one so well-known and highly regarded. This particular unit consisted of equal parts humans and shifters, and it had one of the highest rates of solved crimes ever.

  I showed my identification to the woman manning the front desk. She had to be in her seventies, judging from her wrinkles and her snow-white hair. Was she even allowed to work anymore at her age? Why the hell would they put such an old woman up here as the face of the department?

  Sharp blue eyes considered my ID, then me. “Nicholas Reed. Hmm, you’re the new guy for Black’s unit. Human, right?”

  Human. Yes, right. Totally human. I forced a smile onto my face, hoping it didn’t look strained. “Yup, that’s me.”

  She handed me my card, along with a heavy envelope. “See to it you get all your paperwork filled in by tomorrow. And don’t be so nervous. Black and his goons might look like they’re going to eat you or beat you, depending on their mood, but rest assured they’re actually nice people.”

  The smile slipped from my face. Nervous? I wasn’t nervous. Or at least no one was supposed to recognize that little tidbit of information because that could lead to unwanted attention, which could lead to me getting in trouble. Totally not acceptable.

  “I’m not nervous.”

  The badge she wore identified the woman as Clara Jones. Clara shook her head. “There’s one thing you should know about this station—and Black’s unit—up front. We don’t take bullshit, and we hate liars.”

  Ugh. Great. Although I wasn’t a liar per se. I just liked to keep some things private. See, that sounded way better.

  Clara Jones was still staring at me as I crumpled the envelope in my sweaty hands. I gave her a sheepish grin, making sure to widen my eyes and show off my dimples. If I had one thing going for me, it was the cuteness factor. When I covertly sniffed the air and detected curiosity, combined with a strong whiff of caring, instead of the slight hostility I’d noticed before, I knew my ploy had worked.

  “I guess I am a little bit nervous. But you know, it’s totally uncool to admit that, and we humans thrive on being the coolest shit on earth.”

  A small line formed between her eyebrows, but she smiled at me, so I probably hadn’t overstressed the fact of my humanity. My inner voice chided me for lying to her since I was a lot of things—human not being one of them—but I knocked that damn voice unconscious before it could ruin everything for me.

  “You’ll get along well with Hayes, then. He’s very taken with himself.”

  Yuck. A conceited human on my new team. Maybe I hadn’t really thought everything through.

  A large man jostled me as he passed, and my nostrils flared. Male, healthy, around forty years of age, lion shifter—the information flitted through me in a rush. A lion shifter. Of course. There’d be a lot of big cats here. Somehow the big cats gravitated to security work even more than dogs and wolves did. Those types could be way more dangerous to me than anyone else.

  Crap. I had to pull myself together, or else people would notice the slight nonhuman scent of distress coming from me. I usually didn’t have much of a scent at all because I made sure to use a rather noticeable cologne. Humans tended to use such things to mask their own scent, and so far, the practice had always worked.

  A cleared throat derailed me from my train of thought. Clara Jones tilted her head to the side. For the blink of a moment, she seemed taken aback, but then she straightened and pointed. “Go down the hall, turn right at the end, then go in the third door on your left.”

  I nodded. Holding my head high, I followed her instructions, catching a glimpse of my reflection in one of the glass doors along my way. My dark blue eyes seemed to have become the most prominent feature on my face. Those eyes screamed—even at nonshifters—that I was more than a little nervous.

  After I pushed through the door and took the next corridor, I ran a hand through my light blond hair. Should I have cut it shorter? Some of the guys I’ve worked with had been real assholes about guys like me who like to wear their hair in a fashionable style instead of a buzz cut. Or maybe they disliked me for being gay. How did they find out about that, though? I certainly didn’t flaunt my sexuality.

  Annoyed at my jumbled thoughts and ramblings, I tried to push everything aside and knocked at the door. A deep rumble called out, “Come in!”

  For a second, my bravado faltered. What if they found out who I really was? All my hard work would be for nothing, then. No matter how good I was at my job, they’d kick me out before I could utter a single word. Guys like me weren’t supposed to become cops.

  I pushed the door handle and walked inside, catching glimpses of a handful of people—mostly large people. That’s how it always was. Everyone had to be taller, bigger, meaner than me. It was like a law or something.

  Oh boy, and there I went again with the rambling.

  Seven pairs of eyes stared at me, waiting, assessing. After clearing my throat, I gave a
small wave with the hand that still clutched the envelope.

  “Hi,” I said. My voice came out soft and tentative. Screw that!

  Putting more strength into my tone, I tried again. “I’m Nicholas Reed, your new colleague. I’m looking for Sam Black.”

  A guy with short black hair, tinged with a few silver strands at his temples, unfolded from a chair. My nose informed me this was the guy who’d jostled me only a minute or so earlier.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck! My boss was a lion shifter.

  Okay, I could still do this. No stepping back, even though my inner voice screamed at me to leg it. How could I be so stupid as to want to associate with one of his kind?

  Black strode toward me—or maybe I should say he swaggered—oozing self-confidence and… intoxicating pheromones. He smiled as he stretched out his hand. For a second, I got lost in his hazel eyes. All my defenses lowered at once. I wanted to rub my cheek against his in the worst way while my inner voice shrieked, filled with too many emotions for me to accurately compute.

  I blinked, which effectively cleared my head. Bastard!

  I knew what he was doing. He was checking to see if I’d fall for his pheromones and react so he could determine whether I was a shifter instead of a human. I ignored his hand, still held out there waiting for the obligatory shake, and sneered. “What? No conviction in the system?”

  He dropped his hand and scowled. “Last guy who reeked of cologne as much as you do was no human. He fooled everyone, and he put the team in jeopardy.”

  “So the guy was a shifter. What’s your problem with that?”

  “Guy was a goddamn sheep, that’s my problem. First sign of trouble, he ran.” My new boss frowned suddenly. “How’d you pick up on what I was doing?”

  Shit. That tiny inner voice yelled something unintelligible at me, but I’ve had years of practice ignoring it. “You sniffed the air, and let me tell you, it wasn’t subtle.”

  A lanky man on my right threw a ballpoint pen onto his desk, laughing. “He’s got you there, Sam. Regarding your question about the shifter—that’s just how we roll here, kid. We don’t work with sheep or small shifters. They’re not dependable.”

  “Then it’s your lucky day, since I’m simply human,” I stated, wishing I’d stop sweating so much.

  Black circled me before his meaty hand landed on my neck. I stood stock-still as he swept my hair aside and whispered, “Then you won’t have a problem with me taking a whiff, right? You know, just to make sure you’re not another one of those lying idiots who could cost my team their lives.”

  “Does that mean you’ve had trouble with imposters regularly?” I asked, curious even as a shiver crept down my spine. A huge beast sniffing at me tended to put the fear of God into me.

  “Everyone wants to get on this team, but only a few are a good fit,” Black purred. “You’re sweating. Are you scared of what I’m going to find out, and what I’m going to do with you then?”

  I had a pretty good idea what he’d do with me if he found out. “You’re sniffing at my neck, dude. Either you want to fuck me or bite me. Neither option sounds incredibly appealing.”

  The lanky guy snorted, and his green eyes lit up. “I like you already, kid.”

  “I’m not sure if I like you, Gramps,” I retorted, once again wishing my mouth wouldn’t operate quite so independently all the time.

  Lanky guy froze while a woman who looked like the poster girl for a tribe of Amazons guffawed. His lower lip twitched upward even as he flipped the woman off. He got up and crowded into my space right next to Black.

  “Uh, you guys don’t do well with boundaries, huh?” I muttered.

  I cringed when Black inhaled deeply. He cocked his head to the side, a puzzled expression on his face. I held my breath. When he gave an almost imperceptible nod, the lanky guy poked a finger into my chest.

  “Welcome to the team. I’m Jesse.”

  Black remained glued to my back even as I said, “Thanks. Are you human or a shifter?”

  Not waiting for an answer, I whirled around, threw the envelope on Jesse’s desk, then slapped my hands against Black’s chest to push him away. His pecs felt like granite. My attempt at moving him garnered me a haughty grin.

  “Fuck off, man,” I snapped.

  He regarded me with a lifted eyebrow. “Do you always talk to your team leader that way?”

  “Only if he keeps trying to intimidate me. Usually team leaders act more mature than you.”

  Jesse’s groan was echoed by some of the other people in the room. Not for the first time today, I wondered if I had a death wish. I was pretty sure I liked my life and wanted to keep living for some decades to come, but this whole situation had me on edge. Too many imponderables for my taste. I’d always had trouble when my surroundings, which included people, weren’t stable. In that area, I certainly acted like everyone else who was similar to me—though I hated to fall into that stereotype. Couldn’t prove every prejudice was wrong, could I?

  “You’ve got some balls, Nicholas Reed, I’ll give you that.” Black stared at me for a long time before he lunged at me and crushed me to his chest. Heat, lust, and contentment surged through me at the sudden contact. Black’s deep rumble went straight to my heart—and groin. “You’ll fit in nicely here.”

  After releasing me, he bent slightly, and I braced myself for the cheek-to-cheek rub all cats liked. It was a tad archaic for him to put his scent all over me to show I belonged to his team, but whatever. I didn’t mind all that much. Indeed, that little voice inside me purred and soaked up the attention.

  Chapter Two

  Sam

  THERE WAS something odd about the new guy, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was that set me off. After I’d doused him in my scent, which he braved without batting an eyelash, he seemed almost stupefied for a second.

  “It’s Nick, not Nicholas, okay?” His voice came out soft, as soft as it had been when he’d first entered the room, without a trace of the sass we’d witnessed a moment earlier.

  I wasn’t sure which I liked more. The sass was nice, if he could keep it up, because a pushover wouldn’t survive more than a couple of days on the team. But the soft voice did something to me, something I didn’t think I had in me anymore. I wanted to shift, lay him between my forepaws, and cuddle him. I shook off the disconcerting thought in order to introduce him to the rest of the team.

  “You’ve already met Jesse. He’s a jaguar shifter.”

  Nick’s expression showed wariness coupled with determination. I had to give him credit for that. Even though human and shifter societies had merged long ago, humans still showed a hell of a lot of respect toward the big cat shifters. A jaguar shifter like Jesse was bound to trigger some anxiety.

  “Guess you’ll want to rub all over me too, huh?” Nick sighed.

  The sudden image of Jesse completely rubbing himself along Nick’s body pushed a growl up my throat. I managed to swallow the sound before it could get out. Jesse winked at Nick. “I’m all for the full-body rub, but I’m not much into an audience for that, so I’ll settle for the cheek rub.”

  Nick laughed out loud, a sound that pleased me to no end. What the hell’s wrong with me?

  I watched them brush up against each other, and I had to wonder why Nick seemed to like that contact so much. Most humans thought our way of greeting weird and barely tolerated it, while Nick appeared to enjoy it. Well, maybe he was one of those humans who secretly wanted to be a shifter. Although I hoped he didn’t belong to that group, since they tended to get annoying fast.

  Jesse took Nick’s left arm and pulled him toward Annie. Nick started to drag his feet as soon as he realized where Jesse was taking him. I didn’t blame him. Annie stood taller than him by several inches, and her gaze tracked his every movement. She threw her long braid back over her shoulder, the light catching in the red-and-blonde strands.

  “Uh, ah, y-you… you’re another b-big cat, aren’t you?” Nick stuttered as he tried to loosen Jesse’s grip.<
br />
  Jesse, the evil asshole, grinned more broadly. Usually I didn’t mind that kind of posturing when we got a new team member. After all, if he chickened out when he met Annie, how could we trust him not to do the same when confronted by a tiger shifter who actually wanted to harm him or someone else on the team?

  And yet, uneasiness crept into my belly. I shifted from foot to foot. Christ, what was wrong with me that my first instinct was to pull Nick back into my arms, tuck his head under my chin, and soothe him?

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and released a sharp breath. Nick jerked at my admittedly not-so-quiet explosion of air, looking at me with way-too-large baby-blue eyes. He hurried to turn his gaze back to Annie while an epiphany hit me. Baby blues. Yes, that was it. Obviously his eyes reminded me of a baby, which in turn brought out my protectiveness.

  Sure, there were rumors that claimed shifters acted like their animal doppelgangers, but none of the lion shifters I knew would ever harm an infant, whether it was shifter or human. Still, there were those shifters who were different—the age of their inner beast didn’t fit their human persona. Whenever they shifted, they did so into the baby form of their animal.

  My attention switched back to Annie and Nick. Jesse was standing right next to them, grinning like a maniac. Nick’s lower lip trembled, and he fisted his hands tightly when Annie bent down to sniff behind his ear.

  “You really don’t like people sniffing at your neck, do you, sweetheart?” Annie’s smooth voice filled the otherwise silent room.

  From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Jake crossing his arms over his chest, his brown eyes narrowing to slits. Well, this could get out of hand quickly.

  While Jake was a human and usually laid-back—when he wasn’t playing conceited macho man, which he did regularly for no apparent reason—he didn’t take kindly to Annie showing interest in another male. I knew my decision to allow both of them to stay on the team after they had become an item might bite me in the ass, but somehow I’d assumed I should be more worried about Annie.