Alpha Unit One, New York

by Chris T. Kat

  I meowed again, anxious about Julie’s condition. Sam padded toward me and swiped his rough tongue over my head. She’s strong. She’s in incredible pain, but I don’t think we’ve got to worry about any internal bleeding. Your soothing is helping her so she doesn’t have to be awake and endure all the pain until they get her out.

  What about the rest of Alpha Unit Two’s team?

  Sam sighed. I’ll go and look after them. Prospects are bleak that we’ll find the rest of them unharmed, though. You know that.

  Nate said two of them seemed to be safe. It’s only the other two we’ve got to worry about. The leader and second-in-command, Harlan and Sasha.

  As if on cue, Nate crouched next to us, which looked, er, weird, given his bulk. When had he grown a beard? When I worked with him, he’d always been clean-shaven, and the baby face didn’t fit with the rest of his body.

  I shook my head, embarrassed at my lack of concentration on the here and now. This only happened in cub form, but I couldn’t let anyone see how distracted I became in that form or else they’d kick me off the team.

  Nicky? Sam asked. Are you okay with that?

  Okay with what? Fuck, they’d held a whole conversation while I’d pondered Nate’s beard. Um, sure.

  Sam gave my head another swift lick, eliciting a growl. Not that it sounded in any way aggressive, but he had to learn that he couldn’t just tongue-bathe me whenever he felt like it.

  Sam turned away, Nate and Jake on his heels. From somewhere, Nate had obviously unearthed some of my tranquilizer darts. No rifle, though. What did he think he could do with the darts? Push them into Harlan, the jaguar shifter, with his hands?

  Wait, where were they going?

  I jumped to my feet and hurried after them. Sam! Wait! Where are you going?

  Sam stopped and looked back over his shoulder. His lion truly was majestic. We’re looking after the others. From what Nate said, Sasha might need medical attention since Harlan was chasing him when he last saw them. You didn’t listen when we talked, did you?

  I…. The lie lay on the tip of my tongue, but I bit it back. I was… I was occupied. I wanna go with you!

  Sam closed his eyes as if his patience was running very low. A soft mewl escaped my mouth. Nicky, I can’t protect you if there’s a feral jaguar shifter on the loose.

  But you can protect Nate and Jake?

  They’ve got weapons. And I’d rather be able to concentrate on Harlan and not have to think about your safety. Annie will make sure nothing happens to any of you in case Harlan somehow gets past us. Please, don’t fight me on this.

  If I shifted, I could go with you, right? Logically, I knew Sam’s reasoning was sound, but there was no reasoning with Tiny sometimes. Right now seemed to be one of those times.

  None of us is able to shift back due to the XP-27, Sam replied.

  But if I manage, I can go with you? I pressed.

  You…. Fine. If you can shift, you can come with us.

  I sat on my butt, willing my human side forward to be able to shift. Nothing happened. I tried again, but with the same result. After some more tries, I conceded defeat.

  Be safe, okay? I begged softly. When we’re done here, I want to go home and cuddle with you.

  Sam gave a long chuffing sound, and warmth filled me again. That connection sure came in handy sometimes. He turned around and walked deeper into the building, Nate and Jake trailing him.

  Annie ambled over and stood above me, sheltering me. When I glanced up at her, she cast an apprehensive look after Jake. I rose up on my hind paws and swatted her underneath her chin. She started as I fell back over.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Sam

  IT TOOK all my strength to leave Nicky behind, but we had to make sure Sasha and Harlan were okay. Or as okay as they could be. Neither of them was mated to anyone, which put them at high risk of going feral. Well, Harlan could go feral, and Sasha… I hoped he was still alive, given what Nate had told us.

  As we rounded a corner, I heard a startled grunt from Annie and a rather smug meow from Nicky. I glanced back, and my resolve to go after the other unit almost dissolved into nothingness. Nicky was prancing around Annie’s head, swatting at her whiskers, all the while dodging her tongue.

  It would take time to adjust to seeing him as this tiny, innocent creature in his cub form while he was a fully grown, responsible adult when he was in his human form. Still, he’d shown we could rely on him in stressful situations, and I’d do whatever was necessary to keep him on the force. I’d probably have to fight against myself many times to not trap him somewhere, just to keep him safe, but I’d manage.

  When I turned back, Jake grinned at me. “Don’t worry. Annie will keep his mind off you until they can get us out. No reason for you to worry about him.” A heartbeat later he added, “You know, I never pegged you as a cradle robber.”

  Nate guffawed while I growled at Jake. Impertinent brat. Annie really should do something about his behavior. But no, she always let him get away with everything.

  “You’ve got steam coming out of your ears,” Jake commented, still grinning.

  I was about to give him a swat—and not a gentle one—when I realized how tightly he clutched his gun, the way his eyes flickered all over the place, and how frantically his heartbeat galloped. He was scared.

  Instead of swatting him, I rubbed against his legs, chuffing. He grabbed a fistful of my mane and bent down to hide his face in it. “Sorry,” he choked out. “I guess I’ve grown more dependent on having Annie by my side than I realized.”

  I allowed him to cling for a moment before I nudged him carefully. He straightened up with a sigh and avoided eye contact with Nate.

  In silence, we walked deeper into the building. The smell of blood became stronger the longer we kept up our walk. A low hiss to our right stopped us dead in our tracks.

  “Laura! Ash!” Nate exclaimed.

  Ash, the human, was leaning with his back against a wall. A large bruise had formed on his left side, visible through his badly shredded clothes. He cradled his right arm protectively against his belly. His dark hair was matted with blood, and his blue eyes held a look of terror that can’t be faked. Scratches covered the rest of his body, and he was trembling slightly.

  His left hand rested on the head of the cougar shifter sitting next to him. Presumably Laura, his mate. She flattened her ears and rose to her paws when she saw me approach. She stepped in front of Ash, her muscles coiled to protect what was hers.

  I tried talking to her through the telepathic link all big cats shared, but the XP-27 made that impossible. Growling in irritation at the lack of ways to communicate with her, I took a step backward. She kept her green gaze on me but relaxed her stance slightly.

  Nate slowly crept closer to Ash, wary of Laura. “Hey, man, how are you holding up? Help is on the way, but they’ve got to clear the way to get in.”

  Ash frowned at him, then said, “Laura keeps me awake. She thinks I might have a concussion. Nate, you can’t go in deeper. Harlan… Harlan isn’t himself.”

  Nate pressed his lips into a thin line. “Where’s Sasha?”

  “I don’t know. Laura hurt Harlan when he went after me again, but he only stopped when Sasha lured him away. Damn, Nate, I don’t think Sasha made it.” I heard the uptick in Ash’s voice a bare second before Laura did. Although he choked back a sob, he looked ready to keel over.

  Laura turned around to face him, then cautiously nestled their faces together. Ash closed his eyes and allowed his mate to lick his face.

  Jake caught my eye. He crouched next to me and whispered, “He’s in shock. We need to find this Harlan guy and get everyone the hell out of here. Fuck, what a total clusterfuck!”

  I agreed wholeheartedly. Nate exchanged a couple more words with Ash before we left the two of them. Laura would guard Ash with her life, but I still hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

  We were checking a couple of rooms on our way deeper into the building when
I became aware of the sounds of two more heartbeats close-by. One thundered way too fast while the other was only slightly elevated. Sasha and Harlan.

  I gave a low growl of warning. Immediately, Nate and Jake stepped behind me, scanning our surroundings. Following my ears and nose, I found the room that held Sasha and Harlan.

  A big spotted jaguar sat in front of what seemed to be a giant fridge. He was scrabbling with his paws, trying to open the fridge. Thank God he was incapable of changing into his human form or he’d just have opened the door, shifted back, and killed Sasha. Because he damn well looked totally crazy, his eyes gleaming eerily in the dim interior light.

  “Shit! What now?” Jake asked.

  Harlan whirled around, his ears pinned to his head. No sound left his muzzle, and there didn’t seem to be any recognition in his gaze.

  “Now we get him close enough so I can tranq him,” Nate squeezed out.

  “I can’t believe you want to go through with this insane idea,” Jake replied. “That’s never going to work.”

  “You can shoot him somewhere nonvital; maybe that’ll make things easier.”

  I roared at Nate. Harlan was unpredictable as he was now. We didn’t need to add injured to that.

  Jake hefted his gun and aimed, but he didn’t pull the trigger. Nate walked closer to Harlan, and I followed at a distance so I could stop Harlan from fleeing. Harlan’s gaze swept through the room. Suddenly his gaze dropped back to the fridge, and he went back to attacking it again.

  Nate stilled in his forward momentum, obviously as taken aback as I was. A second later, we continued our approach.

  Harlan tried opening the fridge through the use of his large teeth. Totally not going to work, but if it kept him occupied, I was all for it.

  Nate held two tranq darts in his hand. With the grace of a snake, he shot forward as soon as he was in range and sank them deep into Harlan’s body. Harlan roared, whirled around, and pinned Nate underneath him.

  During the time it took for me to leap toward him, he had Nate’s left arm in his muzzle and was shaking him like a rag doll. Nate screamed and kicked at Harlan, but he wouldn’t let go. Jake cursed somewhere in the background that he couldn’t get a clear shot as I dug my teeth deep into Harlan’s neck.

  He stiffened in my hold, but at least he let go of Nate’s arm. I pulled Harlan away from Nate’s body and thwarted any attempt by him to pull away from me. We rolled around, and he hissed and yowled, but I was bigger and used my size to my advantage. It also helped that the tranq darts worked quickly, as Harlan’s movements soon turned sluggish.

  When I was sure he was out, I released Harlan’s neck. Hopefully the doctors could bring him out of his feral state. We’d always gotten along well, and I’d hate to lose such a good cop.

  By the time my fight with Harlan was over, Jake had stripped out of his shirt and used it as a bandage for Nate’s arm. Nate was sweating profusely, but he forced a grim smile. “Get Sasha out of there.”

  Jake swiped his bloodied hands on his jeans before he opened the oversized fridge door. Sasha tumbled out, retching violently. I took several steps backward at the stench he emitted. He must’ve been vomiting all over the place for some time. His light brown hair stuck to his head, and he clutched his stomach.

  “Shit!” Jake exclaimed.

  Sasha wiped his mouth, then glanced over at Harlan’s prone form. He flinched when he caught sight of me. Dark, red-rimmed eyes regarded me with fear.

  “That’s Sam Black, and you don’t have to worry. He’s mated, so the XP-27 has little effect on him.”

  “Can we get out here? Please?” Sasha croaked.

  He looked very young and very scared, something I’d never associated with him before. I’d always viewed him as this annoying busybody who was too curious for his own good.

  His eyes widened when he watched Jake help heave Nate to his feet. “Oh my God! Nate!”

  “I’ll be all right, squirt,” Nate wheezed out.

  Sasha snorted and hauled himself up. “What is it with you and stupid nicknames? You do know that I’ve got a real name you could use, right?”

  “Where’s the fun in that?”

  I let out an aggravated huff. Two more people who liked to bicker. The others ignored me and trudged toward the entrance of the building. We stepped past Laura and Ash, who both heaved a sigh of relief at seeing Sasha alive. After a quick update, we walked on.

  As I rounded the last corner, a small white fur ball crashed right into me, sharp claws digging into my body to scale me. Nicky! I’m not a climbing tree!

  I missed you!

  Nicky finally sat between my shoulder blades, radiating contentment, and I couldn’t stay annoyed at him.

  “Oh no!” Sasha exclaimed. His eyes rolled back into his head, and a moment later he’d shifted from human to meerkat.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Nicky

  THERE WAS a meerkat sitting right in front of Sam! A baby meerkat. Someone to play with.

  I jumped down from Sam’s back, almost miscalculating my landing. I somersaulted before I stopped in front of the meerkat shifter, who looked at me from terrified black eyes. I meowed at him, telling him he didn’t have to be afraid of me, even though I was much bigger than him.

  Huh. I was so much bigger than him. Cool!

  As I lifted my forepaw, the meerkat chittered at me. A blink later, it had vanished somewhere in the debris. Where did it go?

  Hello to you too, Sam replied.

  Hey, Sam, are you okay? I’m so glad you’re back.

  Sam snorted. Yes, I can see that.

  I tilted my head to the side. Whatever did that mean? Shrugging it off as inconsequential, I asked him again, Where’s the meerkat?

  I don’t know. You chased him off. By the way, that’s Sasha.

  Sasha? Like second-in-command of Alpha Unit Two’s Sasha? How come they’re allowed to have a baby shifter on the team and no one knows about it?

  Sam lay down next to me, putting a paw on my tail when I obviously went too far for his liking. I hissed at him and scrabbled at his damn giant paw trapping me.

  Let go! I wailed.

  Sam winced and his eyes narrowed. Would you calm down?

  You’re not letting go! I wailed again.

  You do know that your behavior isn’t conducive to convincing me to have you on the team, right?

  Sam’s words worked like a bucket filled with ice water. I froze, realizing how much I must’ve sounded like a disgruntled toddler. Can you let go, please? I asked softly.

  Sam lifted his paw, and I hurried toward him, nestling into his mane and purring.

  I’m sorry for… for my childish behavior, I ventured after a while of Sam sniffing me. It’s just… when I stay in cub form for a while, it’s hard to keep up with adult thoughts and responsibilities. But since I usually won’t be in that form at work, that isn’t going to be a problem.

  It’s okay, Nicky. I think I finally get that you’re competent, but that you act… different when you’re in cub form.

  What happened to the others on the team?

  Sam nudged our noses together very carefully, then told me to listen to Jake, who was telling everything that had happened.

  Nate busied himself wandering around, calling out for Sasha. The rescue team who’d come for us was almost ready to get us out. They’d sent a doctor and two medics in through the hole they’d dug so far so they could tend to Julie. She’d fallen into a restless sleep during my ministrations, but woke up with a shrill scream when they touched her.

  Next to her, Roland snapped to alertness in an instant, but he didn’t interfere with their work. How could he be so cool in every situation?

  While the rescue team widened the opening, making sure it wouldn’t collapse right away, Jake informed Henderson Senior that they should send in another medical team because of Ash’s injuries. I shivered at the thought of what that whole team had gone through. How must it feel to have your own leader go feral?
>
  I pressed closer to Sam, whimpering slightly. I’m so glad you didn’t go feral.

  Me too, baby. Me too.

  Affection surged through our bond, leaving me purring as loudly as I could.

  Two more teams of medics swarmed inside and vanished deeper into the building. One team was supposed to take care of Laura and Ash, and the other one would take care of Harlan.

  Do you think their team will survive this? I asked.

  Sam sighed heavily. I don’t know. I hope they will. They were one of the best units, especially regarding shifter trafficking, but there’s been a lot of trust destroyed in such a short amount of time.

  I was so afraid of mating you, I said, but now I’m doubly glad we mated because you’re still you and nothing happened to you.

  Sam swiped his rough tongue over my head, and his hazel eyes held so much love that I felt like spontaneously combusting out of sheer happiness. Which I probably shouldn’t feel given what had happened around us, but I couldn’t help it. Sam was here, alive and well, and I was stupidly happy.

  “Dammit, Sasha, get over here,” Nate muttered from somewhere close to us. “I swear I won’t hurt you.”

  My ears twitched as I caught the sound of bitty paws digging deeper into the debris. I uncurled myself from my position in Sam’s mane. I know where Sasha is. I’m going to help Nate find him.

  I don’t think he wants to be found, and I don’t think anyone knows what he is. Come to think of it, he was puking badly when we found him, so I’m guessing he’s taking drugs to suppress his shifter side.

  I leaned my decidedly smaller head against Sam’s, rubbing absentmindedly against him. If anyone finds out, they’ll kick him off the team because of the no-drugs-allowed regulation.

  Yes.

  I’m still going to help Nate.

  Be careful.

  Yes, Mom, I quipped. I tumbled backward with a squeak when Sam lunged for me. Shrieking, I squirmed under his head. Stop, Sam! I’ll be good.