by Paige Tyler
“I’m just glad that none of our own got hurt,” Chief Curtis continued before Gage could say anything. “You back that many desperate criminals armed with automatic weapons into a corner, and you usually end up with a bloodbath on your hands.”
“That’s just a testament to the quality people that Sergeant Dixon has brought onto his team over the years, and his commitment to demanding, rigorous training,” Mason said sharply.
Had Xander imagined it, or had Mason just snapped at his own boss? If he didn’t know better, he’d think Curtis was about to reprimand Gage and the team for something. If that was the case, Mason wasn’t on board with it—whatever it was.
Curtis frowned but didn’t respond. Instead, he exchanged looks with James. The lawyer offered Mason a smile that just oozed bullshit. “I think everyone would agree with you, Deputy Chief. But I’m sure even Sergeant Dixon would admit we can make the SWAT team even better.”
Better? Their team was already the best in the state of Texas, if not the whole United States.
Xander slid his boss a sidelong glance to see Gage taking part in a staring contest with Curtis.
“Sir, maybe you should just tell me what this meeting is about,” Gage said.
The chief nodded, then looked at the woman from human resources. “Janet?”
The HR manager’s eyes widened. Did she think they were going to bite her?
“Of course, Chief.” She swallowed nervously, smoothing back her graying hair as she turned to address Gage. “Sergeant Dixon, I’m sure you’re aware of the police department’s goals with regard to diversity. We pride ourselves on having a department that’s as broad and varied as the population we serve.”
Xander frowned. Where was she going with this?
“What Janet is trying to say is that several members of the police union, as well as those from local civil rights groups, have raised concerns over the fact that there aren’t any women on the SWAT team,” James said. “You may not realize this, but your unit has developed a reputation as being something of a boy’s club. Since I’m sure that was never your intent, I’ve approached the chief with a plan to rectify that and improve the department’s image.”
Xander felt like he’d been punched. This was what he and the rest of the Pack had dreaded for years—that a regular, average human cop would get assigned to the team. If that cop were a guy, it would be bad enough. But if that cop was a woman? It would be a catastrophe. Having Mac around the compound those first few days had thrown the whole team into a tailspin. He couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be with a female cop, a person trained to be suspicious and notice things that others dismissed. He and the other werewolves in the Pack would never be able to use their supernatural abilities. They’d have to go back to acting like regular cops again. Everything Gage and the rest of them had worked so hard to build would be gone. And at some point, it would end up getting someone killed.
“Is this some kind of a joke?” Xander demanded. He knew he should probably keep his mouth shut, but he’d never been very good at that. “You come in here and blow sunshine up our asses about how impressed you are with our performance, then tell us you want to add someone to the team for no other reason than you think it will improve our image?”
James lifted a brow. “Are you implying that women aren’t good enough to be in SWAT?”
Xander bit back a growl. This jerk had reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out the male chauvinist card rather than admit the truth.
“Don’t even go there. You don’t know a damn thing about me,” Xander said. “As far as I’m concerned, if someone is qualified for SWAT, they’re qualified—male or female. But if we were talking about qualified candidates, we wouldn’t be doing it in a conference room, and we sure as hell wouldn’t need a lawyer in the room with us.”
On the other side of the table, Curtis and Mason refused to look Xander in the eye. That was when it all clicked into place, and the sinking feeling he’d been getting in his stomach got worse.
“That’s what this is about, isn’t it?” Xander demanded. “You want to put someone on the team, but bypass all the normal qualification requirements, don’t you?”
Xander didn’t even realize his claws were out until Gage put a hand on his arm. Shit. Thank God his hands were under the table, where no one else could see them.
“That’s enough, Xander.” Gage’s voice pulled him back from the edge as only an alpha werewolf’s could. Xander retracted his claws and took a deep breath, clenching his hands into fists in his lap, so he wouldn’t be tempted to reach across the table and choke the crap out of the idiot across from him.
“Mr. James, there’s a reason SWAT has a demanding selection process,” Gage said. “It ensures the police officers we bring in can do the job that’s required. Anything less puts everyone else on the team at risk and, ultimately, the people we’re supposed to serve.”
The lawyer nodded. “I’m aware that it’s a difficult job, Sergeant, but I’m sure there are a few positions on the team that can allow someone with less experience to contribute?”
Beside James, Hayes nodded in agreement. Xander ground his teeth to keep from saying something he shouldn’t. Clueless bureaucrats.
Gage, on the other hand, didn’t look as if he was going to be nearly as successful at keeping his anger in check. In fact, his face darkened so much that Xander thought his boss might actually launch himself across the table at the talking ass with feet who was trying to screw up the perfect team he’d built. Xander wasn’t so sure he’d try and stop Gage if he did. Hell, he might just help.
Gage swung his gaze at Mason. “When I took over the team almost nine years ago, you assured me I’d be able to handpick the personnel. Has that changed?”
The deputy chief’s mouth tightened into a thin line. “Dammit, Gage. This isn’t my doing. The city is worried we’re exposing the department to a discrimination lawsuit. My hands are tied here.”
James leaned forward, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. “Gentlemen, please, let’s not be dramatic here. There’s no reason this has to come down to a discrimination case or a lawsuit. I already have a list of suitable candidates. All you have to do is pick the best of the best.”
James took a piece of paper from his briefcase and slid it across the conference table. Gage scanned the list, then passed it to Xander without a word.
Xander didn’t know everyone on the list, but the names he recognized scared the hell out of him. Instead of cops from narcotics, homicide, or any other division that dealt with high-stress life-and-death situations on a daily basis, they were from internal affairs, the training academy, and community outreach. Xander didn’t hate cops who did those jobs—they were important and needed doing—but that kind of work simply didn’t prepare you for the SWAT team.
It didn’t make sense. If the department seriously wanted to put a woman on the team, there were a lot of them out there with better résumés. Xander knew that for a fact because he’d worked with many of them.
What was this dumbass lawyer trying to do, destroy the SWAT team from the inside out?
Xander was ready to tell all of them where they could stick their stupid list, but Gage beat him to it.
“There’s no one on here who’s even remotely qualified to work on my team.”
“Your team?” James snorted. “Forgive me, but I was under the impression that the SWAT team worked for the city of Dallas and that it answered to Deputy Chief Mason, who answers to Chief Curtis. They’ll decide who’s qualified to work on the team.”
This time it was James who initiated the staring contest, and Xander knew that the only reason Gage looked away first was so he could glare at the deputy chief. “You’ll have my resignation before the end of the day.”
“Gage—” Mason started, but James cut him off.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Sergeant,” James said. “I’m sure Senior Corporal Riggs will do an outstanding job in your place.”
Xander would have laughed if he wasn’t so damn pissed. “Thanks, but no thanks. And before you ask why not, it’s because I’ll be turning in my resignation along with Sergeant Dixon. I’m pretty sure the rest of the team will do the same.”
Xander liked Dallas and his job, but protecting the Pack was the only thing that mattered to him. And he knew every other member of the Pack felt the same way.
“All fourteen of them?” James countered.
“All fourteen of them,” Xander confirmed. “But look on the bright side. Then you’ll be able to fill your new SWAT team with as many people as you want.”
“Gage, let’s talk about this,” Mason said.
“Let them go,” James said. “They’re bluffing. There’s no way the entire team will quit just because their commander wants to take his ball and go home.”
Mason shot James an irritated look. “Do me a favor and shut the hell up. You couldn’t even comprehend why cops get out of bed in the morning, much less how they decide who they’re willing to work—and die—for.” Mason turned to Curtis. “I told you this would happen. If there’s one thing the incident with Hardy should have taught us, it’s that every one of those men on the SWAT team live and breathe for Sergeant Dixon. If he leaves, I have absolutely no doubt they’d all leave with him. And trust me, another city like Houston, Austin, or San Antonio will scoop them up in ten seconds flat.”
Xander had always liked Mason—well, as much as he could like a man who was closer to being a politician than a cop. While Mason might back Gage, Xander doubted Curtis would do the same. The chief’s job was purely political.
Curtis worked his jaw as he looked from Gage to Mason and back again. “Gage, we’re in an impossible position here. Your team is the best in the country, but the city is going to get its way on this whether you and your men like it or not. And I’m with Deputy Chief Mason when I say we don’t want that to be at your expense. We need to put a woman on your team. How do we make that happen?”
Gage leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “You let me pick the woman from a list of candidates I put together.”
Xander stared at his boss. Gage had to be shitting him. But his commander looked completely serious.
James opened his mouth to say something, but Chief Curtis silenced him with a glare.
“You have a deal, Sergeant,” he said to Gage.
Xander didn’t know whether to be relieved or not. He and the other guys in SWAT might not have to walk away from their jobs, but he didn’t see how they could stay focused if they added a woman to the team.
* * *
“You’re not serious about putting a woman on the team, are you?” he asked Gage as they walked out of headquarters. “You just needed time to figure out a way to get around this, right?”
Gage gave him a sidelong glance. “The chief was pretty damn clear. He wants a woman on the SWAT team, so I’m putting a woman on it. I’ve been thinking of doing it for a while anyway.”
That was news to Xander. He stopped, sure he hadn’t heard right. When Gage kept walking toward the team SUV, he jogged to catch up.
“Putting a woman on the team would be a nightmare. You know that,” he said as he started the engine and put the SUV in gear. “We’re werewolves. How the hell do you think we’re going to be able to hide that from her and do our job at the same time? And don’t even get me started on the whole pheromone thing.”
They might be men first and wolves second, but if there was one thing that could bring the whole Pack to its knees, it was the scent of a woman.
“We won’t have to hide what we are if the female cop I bring in is a werewolf,” Gage said.
Wait. What?
Xander had been hit over the head before, shot a few times, even blown up once, but none of those things had ever knocked him for a loop like that announcement.
He glanced at Gage as he turned onto the street and headed toward the SWAT compound. “Female werewolves exist?”
Gage chuckled. “What, did you think all werewolves were men?”
“Well…yeah.”
Which was rather stupid now that he thought about it. But he’d never heard of a female werewolf, much less seen one.
“They exist,” Gage said. “And I know where to find one I think will be perfect for the team.”
“Where?”
Gage pulled out his cell. “Washington State.”
“How the hell—?”
But his boss was already on the phone, making reservations for a flight to Seattle. Xander didn’t really have to ask. He knew Gage had set up Google alerts for anything related to cops, firefighters, EMTs, and people in the military who seemed to do amazing things after experiencing a traumatic event. It was how Gage had found most of the guys on the team, including Xander. His boss had gotten really good at spotting werewolves trying to hide who they were.
But a female werewolf? It was going to take a while to get his head around that. What would she look like? Would she be big and muscular like all the guys on the team? Would she be overly aggressive and prone to fighting—again like the guys in the unit?
Worse, would she get facial hair when she partially shifted? He shuddered. Damn, that wasn’t a pretty image.
The bigger question was how the team was going to react when they heard Gage was bringing her in to SWAT. A female werewolf would satisfy Chief Curtis’s demand, but it had the potential to create even bigger problems.
And as hard as he tried, Xander couldn’t quell the feeling of dread from building in the pit of his stomach as he pulled into the parking lot of the SWAT compound.
* * *
The scent hit Khaki the moment she climbed out of her patrol cruiser. She didn’t have a clue what it was, but it seemed both familiar and unique at the same time. Lately her nose had been doing that, picking up a scent so strongly she had no choice but to pay attention to it until she figured out what it was. She’d tried ignoring the urge when it first happened, thinking it would go away. But it never did, not until she’d identified and filed the knowledge away for safekeeping in a head that was becoming scary good at remembering smells. She was like a walking card catalog, but instead of being stuffed full of the Dewey decimal system, it was filled with scent samples. If it wasn’t for the fact that this new talent scared the hell out of her, she would have been amazed by it. But of all the smells she’d cataloged, none came close to this one. Instinct told her she should recognize it, but the source of the scent was just out of reach. Maybe that was why it intrigued her so much.
She was still trying to figure out what it was when a man stepped into her path. At first she thought it was her ex-boyfriend and current pain in the ass, Jeremy Engler. But the tall, muscular man standing in front of her definitely wasn’t Jeremy. Her ex was pretty big, but this guy looked like he could smash Jeremy flat as a beer can with one punch. That should have made her cautious, but she’d long since stopped being wary of people and things—just one more thing about her that had changed since the night she’d been shot three months ago. Plus, they were standing outside the Lakefront Police Station. If this guy was up to no good, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to do it here.
“Officer Blake?” The man held up a badge. “I’m Sergeant Gage Dixon from the Dallas PD SWAT team. I’d like to talk to you for a few minutes, if I may?”
Khaki stared at him, so caught up in his unique scent she almost didn’t see the hand he extended for her to shake. Telling her nose to quit it, she reached out and took his hand.
“Sergeant,” she said. “You’re from Dallas, you said? What brings you all the way to the Pacific Northwest?”
“That’s what I’d like to talk to you about. Do you have time to get a cup of coffee?”
It was late and all she wanted to do was go home and fall into bed, just so she could get up and start her personal groundhog day routine all over again. Working third shift sucked, but if a sergeant from the Dallas PD SWAT team had hung around until she got off duty, whatever he
wanted to talk about must be important.
She smiled. “It’s been a long night, but I guess I can spare a few minutes.”
The twenty-four-hour diner next to the police station was empty except for two fellow police officers there to grab breakfast before starting their shift. They gave her a nod, eyeing Gage Dixon curiously as she led him to a booth on the far side of the old-fashioned diner.
“So, what can I do for you, Sergeant Dixon?” Khaki asked after the waitress took their orders.
Considering they were in a diner full of food, including a pair of apple pies fresh out of the oven that were sitting on the counter a few feet away, his scent shouldn’t have been so distracting, but it was making it hard for Khaki to concentrate.
Dixon rested his forearms on the table and clasped his hands. “I know you’re tired, Officer Blake, so I won’t make this complicated. I’m here to offer you a job.”
Khaki blinked. “In Dallas?”
“In Dallas,” he said. “On my SWAT team.”
A tremor of excitement rippled through Khaki. She’d been looking for a way out of the Lakefront PD for months and Sergeant Dixon was handing her the perfect opportunity. Then again, maybe she was dreaming. Why would a SWAT commander offer someone with no tactical training a job on his team?
Khaki waited until the waitress dropped off their coffee before asking Dixon that same question.
Dixon glanced at her as he added sweetener to his coffee. “Because you have other skills that outweigh your lack of experience and training.”
Khaki considered that as she added sweetener and milk to her own coffee. Now she was even more curious. Obviously, Dixon knew something about her that she didn’t.
“What kind of skills?” she asked.
Dixon lifted his dark eyes to hers. “For one thing, you keep your head and do your job when things go south. I’ve read about what you did during that firefight behind the Grace Park apartment complex. There are a lot of cops who would have abandoned that woman to save their own asses, but you stayed and you got her out alive. That says a lot about the kind of person you are.”