by Terry Spear
Everett rose from his chair and saw his new partner heading his way across the training hall. Howard was muscular, with black hair and blue eyes, a square jaw, and a brooding expression. The man’s chilly eyes caught Everett’s gaze and held, challenging him. Everett figured the guy had deep-seated issues about something, but he wasn’t going to let Howard’s attitude get in the way of the mission.
Tammy, an instructor and one of the graders for this mission, cast a dark look at Howard. He smirked at her, appearing just as ominous.
“Good luck, Everett,” Tammy said as she handed him the assignment. She gave Howard another scathing look, then stalked off to hand out more assignments.
“Your sister’s hot,” Howard said.
“She’s mated.” Everett opened the envelope containing their instructions.
“Doesn’t make her any less hot.”
Everett ignored Howard, realizing the guy was already itching to start a fight. He knew enough to drop the subject, even though he wanted to slug the Enforcer. He read the instructions to himself and knew why Tammy had given him this job. Brayden Covington, stepson of Lucian Covington, was a teen headed for trouble. They’d been called to step in before, but the director of the Guardian branch had agreed the stepdad could take his son back—with the provision that he took care of the boy like he was supposed to. But this was the third call, and at this point, Lucian didn’t have any recourse.
One of the agencies had to take the boy in. Usually the Guardian branch would, but even the JAGs had been known to take in wayward shifter teens and turn them into shifter agents with a real cause. He knew because his half sister, Maya, was married to one. And Wade Patterson’s brother, David, had been taken in at the same time.
Everett read the note out loud. “We have to take a teen, Brayden Covington, into custody and—”
“Like they need anyone from the Enforcer branch to deal with a teen issue?”
True, Howard probably wasn’t needed. But that was the point of the mission—to teach agents from the various branches different techniques in handling different kinds of cases.
“His stepdad, Lucian Covington, hasn’t been taking care of the boy. Financially, yes. But no discipline at all. Kind of hard to do when Lucian’s out drinking and gambling all night. So Brayden’s been running with a group of human teens who are juvenile delinquents. His biological dad died ten years ago. Brayden’s mom died the first of the year in a hit-and-run accident, so Brayden’s been on his own since then, and he’s not making the right choices.”
“Great.”
A man raised his voice several feet away, and Everett and Howard turned to see what the matter was. Everett didn’t recognize the redhead, but Demetria was facing him down, hands on her hips and frowning at the guy. No matter how many times he observed her, Everett still saw her as an incredibly sexy brunette, curvy, with killer moves and a quick temper, but with a loving heart for kids of all ages. She hadn’t dated since Matt died in the Costa Rican rain forest, and Everett didn’t think she’d ever get over Matt’s death.
With her long hair pulled back into a ponytail, she focused her dark-brown eyes on the man in front of her, her body posture balanced. She looked ready for action.
Everett wanted to help if she needed his assistance, but he knew that stance. She was a wild cat, ready to take down the big male who was giving her grief. All the agents were highly trained, so no advantage to Demetria there. And the redhead was ready for her reaction, so she couldn’t surprise him. Because of his size and weight, he most likely would have the upper hand. That meant Everett was tensing and getting ready to charge in and protect her—regardless of whether she needed him or wanted him to. Who would know until after the altercation ended? Everett didn’t want to see her hurt.
Hell, a dozen guys were probably just as ready to protect her, but he didn’t have eyes on anyone else—just Demetria and the redhead.
“Now, that’s a woman I’d love to team up with.” Howard folded his arms across his chest, looking on with admiration.
“Her bite is a lot worse than her growl.” Everett knew because he’d tried to break up a fight between her and her hotheaded cousin while the two women were wearing their jaguar coats—and Demetria had bitten him! On purpose too. Even though his kind healed faster than humans, he’d still had to get ten stitches.
Not that it kept him from being interested in her. Once he’d learned Matt was dating her, Everett had only wished he had a girl like her. No, not like her. Her.
No one was quite like her.
“Listen, Bruce, go find your teammate and play nice,” Demetria growled.
She was a contradiction in terms—a Guardian who was all business and strictly professional; yet around his sister, she was fun-loving and quirky.
Demetria also had a rough side that didn’t fit with her Guardian job—so many of them were pacifists, avoiding violence if they could. He’d heard Tammy talking to his brother-in-law about how she wished Demetria would find someone she really cared for like she had Matt. Tammy was always trying to set her friend up with JAG agents to date, but she’d never asked Everett. He suspected it didn’t seem right. Sure, Matt had been dead for more than a year, and sure, he’d had Everett promise to look after Demetria. And he had, but from afar. He had casually asked Tammy how her friend was doing, trying to give Demetria space but also keep his promise.
The redheaded man jabbed his finger at Demetria. “You’re the one—”
Everett lunged forward to take the man down. No one threatened her physically without paying the consequences. He bumped into Demetria while trying to get to Bruce, then grabbed Bruce’s arm and flipped him onto his back on the linoleum floor so swiftly that Bruce’s mouth hung agape, his eyes wide as he looked up at Everett. If he hadn’t used the element of surprise, he probably would have had a lot harder time tackling the big guy. But as angry as Everett was, he would’ve gotten the best of him eventually, guaranteed.
Bruce glanced around at the audience they had. A few men snickered.
He didn’t seem embarrassed or angry. He only raised his brows at Everett a little as if surprised he would intervene, and then he held his hand out to show there were no hard feelings.
Demetria’s mouth hung open too. Everett was still breathing hard, still angry at the guy.
He hesitated, knowing Demetria was probably totally pissed off at him. Bruce’s smile broadened, his eyes darkening. Everett wondered if the man meant to get him back, but they had to learn to trust each other, which was the whole point of the new training in teamwork protocol. He offered his hand to the redhead, and the guy pulled himself up and turned to Demetria.
“Way to go, Bruce,” one of the Enforcers said, making Everett assume that Bruce was an Enforcer too. “I can’t believe you let a Golden Claw take you down when you just wanted a little action with the Guardian.”
Howard laughed. “You’ll never be able to live that down, Bruce.”
“I may be with the Guardians, but I’m no softie, Bruce. Stay out of my space,” Demetria said. But she turned her scowl on Everett, telling him in no uncertain terms that he had blown it where she was concerned.
Everett would react the same way again in a heartbeat. That’s what teaming up with different agents was all about, as far as he was concerned. Teamwork. Even if he wasn’t officially on her team.
Bruce ignored Everett as if he hadn’t just thrown him. He smiled at Demetria. “Want to make it two out of three? Only this time it will be just between you and me?”
“Give it up, Bruce,” Everett said, not caring if she needed his interference again. When it came to Demetria, he just couldn’t let it go.
She narrowed her eyes at Everett, then turned and stalked off, heading for Tammy, who gave her an envelope.
“Hey, man, so what’s the deal with you and the Guardian?” Howard asked Everett, grinning.
&n
bsp; Everett might have lost points with Demetria, but apparently he’d made them big time with Howard. Not what he had expected. “She’s my sister’s best friend, and I promised Matt before he died that I’d look out for her.”
“Is that what they call it now? So where are we going?” Howard asked.
“The briefing note says Brayden normally hangs around Ruby’s Burgers this time of day.”
“Okay, let’s go get this over with.”
They headed outside, deciding to take Everett’s Land Rover Discovery, the steel-gray color sparkling in the Texas sun. Nearly a week before Christmas, the air was cold and crisp.
“How are they going to grade us?” Howard asked.
“If we bring in the boy without having to kill anyone and keep him safe in the meantime, we should be good.” Everett smiled a little.
Howard laughed. “I didn’t know anyone in the JAG had a dark sense of humor.”
“With the kind of work we do, sometimes it’s necessary just to get through the mission. In any event, we have to evaluate each other on strengths and weaknesses.”
Howard slipped into the passenger seat. “I can tell you what your weakness is already. That hot little number who was about to take Bruce to the floor before you took over and pissed her off.”
Everett hadn’t thought his feelings for Demetria were so noticeable. He figured he’d explained his reaction well enough, though he suspected Howard was just spouting off. “I thought she was your weakness.”
“Me? Nah. I like the kind of women who want me in their space.”
“You seem to know this Bruce guy. He’s an Enforcer? What was all that about with Demetria?”
“Not certain, though I’ve heard rumors. He’s got a huge hard-on for her. He learned she was single, not dating anyone, and he’s tried other approaches to get her attention, but she’s turned him down cold. Anyway, I heard he hoped to catch up to her at the gathering this morning and try again. I didn’t have any idea what he planned to do.”
Everett couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t surprised other men were attracted to Demetria, but pulling a stunt like that in the training room in front of all the other agents was sheer stupidity. If that was the case, Everett was even happier that he’d taken care of Bruce.
“He couldn’t get her attention any other way. That’s like getting to first base. Only you sort of screwed up the mission. He’s an Enforcer. What can I say?”
Glad he didn’t have that kind of Enforcer mentality, Everett shook his head.
“So what if this kid doesn’t want to come with us?” Howard asked.
Everett glanced at Howard to see if he was being serious, surprised he’d ask. He figured that as an Enforcer, Howard’s way of doing business would be to knock the teen out and haul him back to headquarters. Maybe Everett had him figured all wrong.
Howard shrugged. “I don’t usually deal with mixed-up teens. I go after the real scum and take them down. Jaguar shifters, of course. Humans, I turn over to the police. So taking care of teens who aren’t in any real trouble is new to me.”
Everett explained how most JAG agents would handle it. “We talk to Brayden. If he doesn’t willingly come with us, we arrest him. He doesn’t have a choice in this. He’s going to get himself into serious trouble if he doesn’t have someone from our jaguar kind looking out for him. We’ll secure a foster home for him with shifters who work with at-risk kids.”
“All right. Sounds good to me. What about the kids he’s hanging with? Or his old man?”
“They could be trouble.”
Because they couldn’t just arrest the kids since they were human. Brayden’s stepdad? He was a jaguar shifter. He was fair game.
* * *
Demetria couldn’t believe Enforcer Bruce Meyers wanted her to throw him in a mock confrontation in front of all the other people at the JAG training hall. He had assured her that it was part of a test to see how everyone else would react. She’d been getting ready to take him down when Everett Anderson intervened.
She wished Everett hadn’t seen her in the confrontation. She regretted biting him a couple of years ago when he tried to break up a fight between her and her rotten cousin, especially when she learned how many stitches he’d needed. But his sister had warned her never to tell him she was sorry for what she had done, that he’d worn that bite as a badge of honor until it healed and faded away. Demetria couldn’t believe it.
He was still devastatingly handsome, his dark frown and tense posture indicating he had been poised to lunge at Bruce if necessary. He must have thought she was a wild, cantankerous she-cat.
But then Bruce had poked at her, and his aggressive action had spurred Everett on. When he’d bumped into her to get to Bruce, he’d brushed his delicious jaguar and hotly aggravated male scent on her, and she’d enjoyed it as if he’d rubbed her with his body in courtship. Maybe this was supposed to have been part of the training plan.
Knowing her history with Everett, she didn’t think so. She’d been so ready to prove she could handle Bruce, but Everett’s reaction had startled her. That rarely happened to her. She was quick and usually focused when anyone threatened her.
Was Everett’s reaction to Bruce’s posturing just because he was keeping his promise to Matt to protect her?
She growled a little. Tammy had told her that Everett had promised Matt he’d keep an eye on her, and she didn’t want Everett feeling like he had to keep that promise. Demetria could protect herself.
Even so, when Everett had finished tossing Bruce to the floor, she had met Everett’s gaze. A queer little flutter had ruffled through her belly. She swore Everett was looking at her with interest, and not just regret that their mutual friend had died.
Then she saw the man Everett was teamed up with. Howard Sternum was casting her a sardonic smile. He had earned the reputation of being the hardest man to deal with on a mixed team. He really needed this training, but she wouldn’t have wished him on anyone.
She went up to the board and saw the name of the Enforcer she was to work with. But his name had been crossed out, and no one else had been added to take his place. She read the instructions Tammy had given her. “No,” she said in a frustrated way. She didn’t need a teammate for this, but she was totally irked that Brayden Covington needed their intervention again. He was most likely at Ruby’s Burgers, and she had to pick him up before he got himself into trouble.
Demetria had hoped Brayden’s stepdad would step up to be the father the boy needed. She hated that Brayden would not be able to stay with family and in his own home, but if his stepdad wasn’t going to watch over him like a good jaguar dad should, foster care was for the best.
She was used to dealing with teens who weren’t getting along at home. She’d been glad when her dad left for good so she wasn’t put in a similar circumstance when she was a kid, though his leaving had been hard financially on her and her mother. Unfortunately, she had her dad’s short fuse, and if someone was hurting a kid, she’d be right there to protect the child and take the adult down. That made her somewhat of an anomaly within her branch. Other Guardians would just talk their way out of the confrontation with a difficult parent or guardian. She didn’t have any qualms about getting physical to get her point across.
She jumped into her Jeep Renegade and headed downtown, ready to handle the case, though she wondered how she was going to be graded if she didn’t have a teammate from another branch. She sighed. She was ready for a break for the holidays—doing some shopping for her mom for Christmas, taking in the lights at night, and enjoying Christmas carols at one of the local theaters. Maybe even watching some Christmas stories on TV.
That’s what she was thinking of when she pulled into the Ruby’s Burgers parking lot and saw Everett and Howard getting out of Everett’s vehicle. She frowned. Had they been given the same assignment? Another test to see how they handled a situati
on like this where they didn’t know she was going to be on their team? Or maybe she was supposed to manage this on her own before they had a chance.
Everett’s eyes widened a bit. He appeared totally surprised. She hoped she hid her surprise better.
After Everett had given her the awful news that Matt had died in the jungle, she’d learned from his sister how he’d risked his life and Lacy’s to bring Matt’s body home. She’d been so broken up at the time that she hadn’t ever thanked Everett properly. He had seemed just as upset and uncomfortable about bringing her the news. Matt and Everett had been like brothers, and Matt’s death had been just as hard on him. So Demetria and Everett had continued to avoid each other, though she’d run into him a number of times when he’d gone home to see his family and she was visiting Tammy there.
She took a deep breath and stalked toward Brayden, ready to take care of this business on her own like a Guardian normally would.
Chapter 2
Demetria’s dark-brown eyes stared right back at Everett, ready to challenge him. Or maybe she was angry that he had taken Bruce down instead of letting her have the honors.
Why had she been given the same assignment, but hadn’t been assigned to their team? Knowing Martin, it was his way of throwing a wrench into the works by creating more of a challenge and forcing the agents to deal with it to prove they could handle another branch’s unforeseen involvement.
“Hell,” Howard said. “What’s she doing here? Did you know she broke an Enforcer’s nose on her last mission? That’s probably why she’s here without a partner.”
Everett hadn’t heard that story. But that was the point of this training, to team up with someone from another branch and learn how to get along. “How did it happen?”
“She’s quick and accurate.”
Everett got that. He frowned at Howard. “Why did it happen?”
