Alpha Unit One, New York

by Chris T. Kat

  “Not a word,” he hissed.

  I stepped up to him, shielding his body with mine. He didn’t smell as if he’d just shot his load, and though that could be due to his shifter status, I had an inkling what the real reason was. Making sure no one saw, I slipped a hand underneath the jacket. Nicky squeaked in surprise.

  “Sam!”

  “Stay still,” I ordered.

  He obeyed instantly. He smelled lightly of embarrassment, but even that wasn’t strong. Anybody with a shifter nose would recognize that he’d recently mated, and that he was not human, but altogether his scent remained very weak. As I thought about this, I rubbed my hand over his crotch, finding his jeans completely dry. I unzipped the jacket, and Nicky whined.

  “You’re good to go. No need to change clothes.”

  “What?” He snapped his gaze toward his crotch. “But… how’s that possible? I swear that I… I….”

  “I think you had a dry orgasm,” I assured him.

  Nicky blinked at me, confusion showing in the way he bit his bottom lip. “What the hell’s a dry orgasm?”

  I raised an eyebrow at him. “You haven’t heard about it? Or ever had one before?”

  “No!” His dimples deepened because he worried his bottom lip aggressively. “Is it dangerous?”

  I smiled at him, though I had to battle not to laugh out loud at the stricken expression on his face. “No, it’s not dangerous. You just ran out of seminal fluids, which doesn’t surprise me since you came quite a few times in the last few hours. Next one will be normal, okay?”

  Nicky dropped his gaze and exhaled sharply. A flush crept up his neck. Carefully, I lifted his chin with a finger. There was so much embarrassment in those beautiful blue eyes. I bent down to press a quick kiss on his lips. “Nothing to be ashamed of, okay? When I had my first one, I ran straight to a doctor, assuming I was sick and had to be hospitalized immediately.”

  I blushed, though it was only a memory now. A rather distinct memory I could live without, but it was what it was.

  “Oh fuck, that must’ve been humiliating.” Nicky groaned in sympathy.

  “You have no idea.” I winked at him, then took his hand.

  Nicky followed my lead—he had no other choice or else he’d have lost his left arm—but he tried to pull back. “What are you doing? We can’t go in there holding hands like… like a couple, or whatever.”

  I stopped in my tracks. Nicky smacked right into me.

  “Ow.” He rubbed his nose and stared at me in bewilderment. “What?”

  “You’re my mate. Would you rather hold someone else’s hand?”

  “No, of course not but… but this is work!”

  “So?” I asked as I started moving again. “We don’t have a no-fraternization rule, you know that. It might not be encouraged, but no one will dare say a thing since we’re mates and were just mated hours ago. I don’t plan on hiding that fact. Besides, if I bring you in and show that you’re still capable of doing your work, it might stop others from demanding your resignation.”

  Damn, if I kept going like this, he’d believe he could still go out on the streets instead of sitting behind a desk. My stomach churned at the thought of Nicky in danger. I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat. Not now. Right now I had a job to do. We’d figure out the details later.

  Nicky gave me such a brilliant smile I almost stumbled over my own feet. God, he looked so happy and… proud. I couldn’t allow him to go out on the streets, could I? How was I going to get out of this situation?

  Clara gave us a short nod, then said telepathically, About time.

  I started at her voice and her attitude. I didn’t ask how she knew, because she always knew everything. She was a snowy owl and extremely vigilant. Even Jesse respected her, and that said a lot. Dammit! Hopefully the doctors could help him.

  “Where are they?” I asked, certain Clara knew what I referred to.

  “Interrogation Room Three. Miller, Williams, and one of the Hayeses are waiting on you,” Clara replied.

  Good. Roland, Julie, and either Annie or Jake were here. Though it was most likely Annie. Jake had probably stayed with Connor and Jesse at the hospital. “Which of the Hayeses is here?”

  “Anne.” Clara always called her by her birth name, whereas we all called her Annie.

  Clara’s sharp gaze riveted on Nicky, who froze. “Baby shifter, huh? What kind?”

  Nicky cast me a nervous look and only replied after I gave him a nod of approval. “Snow leopard.”

  “Very small, I’d reckon.” Clara nodded as if she’d made her point, then addressed me. “You keeping him on, or should I hand him the resignation papers?”

  Nicky clenched my hand.

  “I’m keeping him on,” I said. The more often I said it, the less irritated I got. Even my lion only sighed in defeat.

  Nicky’s scent rose into my nose, all sweetness and gratitude.

  “That’s going to be interesting, then. Good thing I haven’t retired yet. I wouldn’t want to miss that.” Clara grinned, startling us both.

  Nicky gave her a small smile, which grew cautious when she hoisted herself up from her chair. She left her reception area and hugged him. Nicky awkwardly reciprocated the embrace since Clara was far smaller than him. When she let go of him, she leveled a stern gaze at him. “I’ll change your status on your papers. That way, no one can accuse you of falsifying your records.”

  “You’d do that?” Nicky’s mouth fell open.

  “Well, you just forgot to tick that box, didn’t you? No harm done.” Clara hustled back to her desk. To me, she said, “You’re going to write permission for him to work as a cop?”

  My stomach heaved, but I gave her a curt nod. She assessed me before she switched over to our telepathic connection. Wait a second. I’ll set the document up. Don’t want you to change your mind at the last minute and have a lovers’ spat.

  We already had that, I confessed.

  Not keen on your mate working as a cop? she asked.

  What do you think?

  I think you must be very brave and very much in love to let him be who he wants to be. I’m proud of you, Sam Black.

  I choked down the lump in my throat. I’d never be able to keep him behind a desk. Nicky kept giving us bewildered looks until Clara hammered out the document, which took her all of three minutes. I signed it, ignoring the fact that the date wasn’t today’s.

  Nicky flashed me another brilliant smile, and his eyes sparkled. God help me, I’d become a total sucker for those eyes. If I didn’t find a way to chain him to a desk, I’d seriously have to allow him to go out on the streets. Anyone daring to hurt him would have to pray they never crossed paths with me.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Nick

  I COULDN’T believe what was happening. Sam, with Clara’s help, made sure the official documents showed that I’d started my job without holding back crucial information about myself. How was that supposed to work out? What about all the other places I’d been before? We couldn’t falsify all their records too.

  “Sam!” I tugged at his hand when he towed me to the interrogation section. “No one will believe the records haven’t been changed recently. I didn’t exactly come forward with that information at my former jobs. Someone will accuse me of…of—”

  Sam’s distress rose sharply into my nose, and almost caused me to sneeze. Soothing pheromones surged up within in me, and seconds later we were both doused in them. Sam blinked at me. “Wow, you’re good at that! But tone it down a little, okay? Or else I’ll be so languid I’ll fall asleep.”

  “Sorry,” I mumbled.

  “Don’t worry too much about the other jobs and records. I think we can play it that you withheld that information but came clean here right from the beginning.”

  “But I didn’t, and people know that. No one knew about my status.”

  “We’ll say that the team knew but wanted to keep it under wraps as long as possible to give others time to see
you’re capable of doing your job. Like a safety measure, you know.” Sam purposefully strode ahead of me. I had to speed up to keep pace. People were starting to give us interested looks.

  Fuck it all! Did he really think that would work? He was willing to take a big risk. He was assuming the team would be willing as well, but would they be able to do that? I had my doubts, especially about Connor. If my status came out, wouldn’t he worry about me spilling the beans about him? It would be much harder for him to stay a cop since he was taking drugs, and I was pretty sure he hadn’t declared that fact anywhere. Then there was Jesse. I really didn’t see him allowing Connor to keep his occupation.

  “Stop fretting, Nicky. It might be a bit of a mess for a while, but we’ll figure things out,” Sam assured me as we reached the hall leading to Interrogation Room Three.

  “What’s going to be a mess?” Annie asked as she stepped toward us. Her eyes widened, and the green gleamed almost eerily. “Unbelievable.”

  “What’s unbelievable?” Julie glanced from Annie to me and Sam.

  “Since he smells like you, and you’re still bringing him in to work, I guess the secret’s out?” Annie flipped her long braid back over her shoulder.

  Sam sighed. He pulled me into his body and squeezed me around the waist. “May I introduce to you Nicholas Reed, my mate and snow leopard baby shifter.”

  Julie gaped at me. Annie’s face split into a grin. “Ah, that’s why I had the sudden urge for cubs earlier today. I can’t believe Jake has been right.”

  “Huh?” I asked, and even Sam echoed my sentiment.

  “Jake told me right away he didn’t believe for one second you were human. He even said very early on he thought you were a baby shifter. Guess I’ll have some apologizing to do later. Bummer.”

  She didn’t look bummed. Not at all. Rather as if she was looking forward to whatever she intended to do to apologize.

  “Why didn’t he say anything to me?” Sam asked.

  Annie shrugged. “We were too busy fighting about who was right. Me stating you were mates and him stating Nick’s a baby shifter. Obviously we’re a fantastic team, since we’re both right.”

  “That’s all you have to say? That your… your argument was more important than telling anybody else?” I asked, stunned.

  “Our arguments are epic and very time-consuming.” Annie kept grinning as she walked over to me to rub her cheek against mine.

  This time I didn’t have to pretend to be weirded out by her behavior. Instead I leaned into the touch and allowed a small purr to rumble through my chest.

  “Such a sweetheart. We need to spend some time in our other forms.”

  “What for?” I asked. Annie wouldn’t hurt me—I was sure about that—but fuck, she was huge in her tiger form. Tiny wouldn’t be happy about that.

  “Practice.” Annie winked, then jerked her head toward the shadows in the corner. “Roland, don’t just stand there. Since you’re showing no signs of surprise, you obviously knew about his status.”

  Roland stepped out of the shadows and nodded. Sam inhaled sharply. His voice dripped acid. “So I was the only one not knowing or suspecting?”

  “You did suspect, Sam. Don’t sell yourself short. I could see it sometimes when you stopped what you were doing. I don’t think Nicky could hide his scent completely all the time. At least not around you.” Roland clapped us both on the shoulders, his gaze scrutinizing us.

  “When did you know for sure?” Sam asked.

  I cringed and tried to loosen his hold on me. Roland gave me a sympathetic look before he answered, “First day.”

  Sam growled. “And you didn’t think I needed to know?”

  “No.”

  Sam seemed to be at a loss for words. Just like everyone else. After a while he gritted out, “Why not?”

  “You’d have kicked him off the team, and Nicky wanted to be on it. He has to decide what he wants to do, not anyone else. I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to see anything but his status as a baby shifter.” He paused and gave Sam another once-over. “I’m glad I was wrong about you.”

  Sam’s arm around my waist clenched and unclenched several times, digging his fingers deeper and deeper into me. Either he was mad at Roland for not telling him, or he didn’t agree with Roland’s statement.

  But I was here, and he would keep his promise. I couldn’t believe I’d get everything I ever wanted. A loving mate and the opportunity to do the job I loved. Jubilantly, I whirled around to plaster myself firmly against Sam’s firm body and gave him a hard kiss.

  “He gave me written permission to work as a cop,” I informed the others, my voice coming out as cheerful as I’d ever heard it. Softly, I added for Sam’s benefit, “Thank you so much.”

  Sam moaned, and his scent carried too many emotions for me to distinguish between them. “There’s just something we need to talk about regarding the job,” he said.

  I frowned at him. That didn’t sound good. The serene atmosphere around us grew somber immediately. I stared up at Sam, my arms still clamped around his neck. My stomach jolted uncomfortably. What did he mean? He wouldn’t go back on his promise! He couldn’t!

  I opened my mouth, but Julie beat me to it. She drew me away from Sam, who allowed it. When I glanced back at him, his shoulders were slumped, but he straightened and sent me a small smile when he caught me looking at him.

  “That’s all great, but we have a job to do. We’ll talk about everything else later. By the way, how are we going to play this? Were we all privy to the information of him being a baby shifter or not?” Julie asked.

  “We all knew,” Sam said. “Just wanted to keep it under wraps so no one would get bent out of shape because we allowed a baby shifter on the team.”

  “Next thing we know, they’ll allow other shifters on alpha teams as well. Wouldn’t it be awesome for Jesse to be confronted with a rat as a partner?” Annie threw into the conversation.

  We all burst into laughter, probably imagining Jesse ranting about it. After a while, I took stock of the team around me. I almost choked on my words but got them out anyway. “Are you okay with this? It could mean disciplinary actions, or… or worse.”

  Annie turned serious again. “We’re New York’s top Alpha Unit, and we’ve busted I don’t know how many drug labs, which in turn saved thousands of lives. They’d be dumb to throw us out.”

  “Other units would take us with the greatest pleasure. You wouldn’t believe how frequently Sam has to fend off transfer requests from other units. They always want one of us,” Roland said.

  “We’re in, Nicky,” Julie said.

  “And just to be sure, I’ll call Jake so he knows. If Connor and Jesse are responsive, he can let them know as well.”

  I swallowed heavily. Poor Connor and Jesse. Would Jesse get out of this without lasting damage?

  “Now that we’re all one big happy family, how about we start interrogating the sick fuck who pumped our office full of XP-27,” Sam snarled.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Sam

  YESTERDAY WOULD go into my personal history as the most special day ever. Today would be the most exhausting. Even though Nicky and I had created our bond by our mating, I still wanted him again. I’ve heard of other matings going on for several days because of insatiable lust or because the bond needed to be strengthened more. I wasn’t insane with lust, and I was pretty sure our bond was already strong enough, but I still wanted him—all the time.

  I went inside the interrogation room, followed by Nicky, Julie, and Roland. Roland, of course, blended into the shadows of the room right away. Nicky sneezed, and I wrinkled my nose at the stench. A rat shifter. Hadn’t we just talked about that? How very fitting.

  Julie handed me the folder, then positioned herself next to the door where Nicky had remained standing. The rat shifter, Oliver Narolds, age thirty-three, glanced at me from beady eyes partially hidden behind long, greasy strands of hair. My disgust increased significantly.

  I
lowered myself into the chair opposite Narolds, only the wooden table separating us. Narolds was chained to his chair, but he was shivering so much the chains rattled. Puddles of vomit next to him on the floor fouled the air.

  “Is he in need of a doctor?” I asked no one in particular.

  “No,” Roland replied. “He’s coming off a drug that hides his shifter scent. He’s part of an experimental program, but he forgot to take his next pill on time. I called someone at the institute, and they confirmed that it’s uncomfortable but doesn’t necessitate a check-up. He’ll stop puking once his body adjusts.”

  “So, Mr. Narolds, would you like to explain why we found you on the security tape every morning at four thirty for the last few weeks pumping XP-27 into our office?”

  Narolds laughed derisively, or at least he aimed for that. The sound came out as rather pitiful because his teeth clacked together. “Would the great team leader of New York’s best Alpha Unit like to explain how I got away with it for the last few weeks?”

  “I have no idea. Why don’t you tell me,” I suggested. How had he done it?

  “You’re like all the others!” Narolds screeched at me. “Think you’re the Almighty and everyone else is below you!”

  Oh God, another nutcase. Well, fantastic! Here I could’ve been at home, fucking my new mate senseless or simply holding him close, and what did I have to do instead? Listen to a loose cannon. Why did some people believe we thought of ourselves as omnipotent?

  “Okay,” I sighed. “I’m sure you’ve got a reason why you believe that, so enlighten me.”

  “I belong to the EFSS!” Narolds yelled. “We’re everywhere! Why do you think the security tapes weren’t flagged?”

  The abbreviation EFSS meant zilch to me, but if Narolds’s words were true, someone on the inside had helped him. We’d have to investigate that.

  Telepathically, I asked Roland and Nicky, Ever heard of that organization?

  They both denied it, but echoing my own thoughts, Nicky urged me, You’ve got to get him to talk. If he got to our unit, they must have a mole here at the station.