by Jade Alters
Gunner laughed, and then Kane and Ryker did too.
"What?" said Jeanine, whipping around to face them.
"Gentleman," said Ryker. "Our mate is jealous."
"I am not!"
I wrapped my arms around her. "Go ahead, darling," I said after breathing in her scent. "Be as jealous as you want. We can take it. We're SEALs, and we are up for any challenge, obtain any mission objective."
"Any?" she said.
"Yes," said Ryker. "Including getting our mate home."
Jeanine pulled away. "Now wait a minute. You make it sound like you have plans for me. I have a job. And a life."
"Yes," said Ryker. "We have a lot of talking to do."
Jeanine
One year later
"Okay," I said staring at my iPad, "the last client paid us, and the new client put down a good deposit, so we're in good shape."
We're in the Caribbean again, even though I vowed never to come back. But we're in the U.S. Virgin Islands, miles from the island that brought us together. Not that I minded Dominica, I'm sitting on a lounge chair at a gorgeous luxury resort. Hurricane Maria left its mark throughout the island, and the rebuilding lent to upgrading systems. The hotel chain who hired Shadow Security sent us here to install a new security system, and we traveled here just as we did for the past year, to take up temporary residence until our next job.
The past year saw lots of changes. The first few months were stressful as my guys, as I call them now, disengaged from military service. The higher ups didn't like it, and the service may recall them to active duty, but officially Team Shadow now was Shadow Security Service.
Gunner pulled the iPad from my hands.
"You are looking stressed," he said. "I don't like that. And the guys won't like that."
"What am I supposed to do? How can I work from here?"
"And why can't you? We have an international phone plan. Why can't you make sales calls poolside?"
That was another change. Following Team Shadow's rescue, the Navy insisted I signed a ton of legal agreements with words like "non-disclosure," and "Miss Lee will not divulge," sprinkled through it. The biggest story in my life was a national security secret. My boss was furious with the cover story Special Ops gave me and fired me for misappropriating company funds for my "vacation." And since the world of newspapers was a surprisingly small one, getting a job in my former field was, as the guys say, a no-go. Fortunately, I found I had a talent for sales.
"Jeanine?" said Gunner.
"Because it's too romantic and my thoughts wander. When are you guys going to finish the work? You promised me a vacation. Some alone time? You've all been so busy."
Gunner took both of my hand and kissed them.
"We're almost done. Just another day or two."
"A day or two!"
"You tell us all the time that establishing a new business is hard work. Do some shopping.
"Why?"
"Buy a new dress."
"No. I don't need a new dress."
"Are you sure?" He smiled.
"Gunner, what are you going on about?"
"Nothing," he said.
"You're hiding something."
"Nope," he said. But he smiled, which tipped me off. Gunner's face hides little.
Gunner's phone chimed, and he looked at it.
"That's great," he murmured.
"What?"
"The Dominica justice system has spoken. They sentenced Dr. Melkot to thirty years for kidnapping."
"Wow."
"The maximum term is seven years per count, and since we found four other women besides Surma, that added up. I'm glad they aren't letting him serve his sentence concurrently."
"They let him skate on five years," I said sourly. "After what he put Surma through, he deserves every year."
"He's not a young man. He'll be seventy before he gets out."
I huffed, but he was right, but I didn't have to like it.
Another text commanded Gunner's attention, and he nodded.
"Let's go," he said.
"Where?"
"You'll see."
"Is this a surprise?"
"Yes."
"I knew it. You guys have been sneaking around for days looking all suspicious."
"We do not sneak," said Gunner. "We deploy."
"And what did you 'deploy' this time?"
Gunner smiled and put my iPad in my straw bag and held out his hand.
"You'll see."
"You won't tell me, will you?"
"Nope."
I huffed, but I wasn't angry with him. I didn't know what to expect, but the guys' surprises were always fun.
But I didn't expect this.
We drove out to shore, which was a beautiful ride, and I enjoyed the sun and the wind through my hair. This was a beautiful place, almost paradise. But then Gunner pulled into a driveway and stopped at the side of the house. From here, I saw the ocean, and the crystal blue waters placidly washing on the shore. The house stood two stories high, as many island homes do, with a wraparound veranda. It looked boxy from this perspective, but then Caribbean homes had more on the inside than the outside.
"Why are we here, Gunner?"
"It's kinda of a party."
"What do you mean? Gunner!" I said with exasperation.
"Now keep an open mind. It's unfortunate, but Hurricane Maria opened the real estate market. And we had to do some work on it, but—"
"Gunner?"
I got out of car, and Ryker walked from inside the house onto the veranda.
"Hi, doll. Come on up."
"What did you guys do?"
"Let me show you."
I walked up the steps to the veranda with Gunner behind me.
Ryker smiled and put his arm around my waist and shepherded me into the house. There Kane and Damon stood in the kitchen. Champagne flutes lined up on the granite counter that separated the kitchen from the large living area. Champagne chilled in an ice bucket.
"Welcome to your new home," said Damon.
"Now," said Kane, "before you say no, we got it at a great price because of the hurricane. It needed a new roof, but we took care of that right away."
"And repaired the water damage," said Gunner.
"We replaced nearly every wall," said Ryker.
"There are five bedrooms upstairs," said Gunner, "and a small apartment downstairs we can rent as a vacation rental."
"Or not," said Ryker. "We can use it as an office."
"Or not," said Gunner. "And three bathrooms upstairs and it should be large enough."
"Well, yes," I said. "It is. But five bedrooms?"
"In case," said Ryker nuzzling my neck, "we want to expand our little family."
I swallowed hard. "Expand?"
"Sure. We're not going anywhere," said Damon. "And the idea of little SEALs running around has a certain appeal."
"And this way, three of us can do jobs and rotate who stays with you," said Kane.
"That is when you want to stay home," said Kane.
Home.
Why didn't it hit me before this? Was it our nomadic lifestyle? The going from one job to another without a break? I looked at Damon, Gunner, and Kane, all with a hope twinkling in their eyes. But it hit me.
These men were my family—forever.
"Dammit," I said. "You should have talked to me about this."
"I told you," said Gunner to Ryker.
"Then we'll just have to persuade her," said Ryker. He nibbled on my neck. I can see where this is heading, right to the bedroom. While I'm not opposed, I want to make one thing clear.
"No," I said.
"What, we can't persuade you?" said Kane.
"No. You don't need to persuade me. Wherever you guys are is my home. So let's open that champagne."
A Note from Jade
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Mated to the Pride
Blake
Our pride’s workout routine was always punishing, but never more so than the few weeks before a big mission. Now that there were only ten days before we left for our latest engagement, I was holding nothing back. As alpha commander, senior both in our pride and our military actions, it was my responsibility to keep these men alive.
Of course, I did that in many different ways — but keeping them in peak physical condition definitely wouldn’t hurt.
I paced my breathing as I continued on the rowing machine, pushing hard to meet the same high bar I’d set for the others. Sure, we stuck to traditional pride hierarchy like any other group of shifters, but our work bound us together. I was their leader, but also their equal. I never asked them to do anything I wouldn’t do myself.
“You okay there, chief?”
I paused to look across at the speaker. If I wasn’t pushing my body so hard, Hale’s grin would be as infectious as always. Of the entire pride, it was Hale that had the most feline energy in this form. His dark, narrow eyes were intense and focused, playful as he was. Outsiders tended to find him intimidating and were surprised to learn that nobody in our group agreed — especially since Hale was also my second-in-command.
I shot him a look back. “I’m fine.”
“I don’t know. You got some heavy breathing going on over there.”
I shook my head. I was too focused to smile, but Hale knew me well enough to read it in my eyes. “Focus on yourself, smart-ass. You sure you haven’t turned down the resistance?”
“I just want everyone to know,” said Hale, turning around to face Stone and Preston, “that our fearless leader is accusing me of slacking off.”
“Uh-huh,” said Preston. He wasn’t much of a talker, but he didn’t have to be. The smirk he shot back at Hale did all the talking for him. Strangers tended to be confused by that. They hadn’t learned to pick up on his signals like we had and saw him as a mystery man. An enigma. The piercings in his upper ear and eyebrow likely helped that along — as well as his sleek wave of dark hair, dashed with a fleck of premature silver. Preston was only 28, and looked it. The little gray looked curious, and often had people joking that we put him through too much stress.
“If only he could accuse you of shutting up,” said Stone.
“Wow,” Hale shot back. “I resent that.”
Like Hale, Stone was never too tired to smile, and had a playful look even now as he pushed hard through the rowing motions. These youngest two members of our pride, Stone at 26 and Hale at 27, were always batting friendly insults back and forth between one another. At 30, I wasn’t much older, but I still didn’t know where they got their energy from.
Maybe my mind was just occupied with more serious things.
“How much time left?” Stone asked.
“One more minute,” I said. “Then we run.”
“Thank fuck.” Stone pressed on, lifting a hand to push back the bleach-blond sweep of his hair. Needless to say, that bleach-blond was the subject of a lot of Hale’s teasing, but nobody could deny that it suited him. As alpha of the pride, I kind of had to appreciate that at least one of us was sporting something like a mane in human form.
It wasn’t exactly the most practical haircut for paramilitary operations, but Stone was our medic. I figured I could cut him a little slack.
When the timer finally hit zero, the room gave a collective exhale. All the tension in our muscles faded away to sweat and heat, and there was a fizz of relief in the air as we headed outside.
“Good work today,” I said, pausing to pat Preston’s shoulder as he passed, and closing the door behind us. “I didn’t hear too many complaints. Everybody had good form. Shaping up pretty well for next week.”
“If we’re not exhausted,” said Hale, rolling his shoulders back. “Shit. I wish my lion wasn’t so ready to go right now. I want to fall down face-first into a snack.”
“You always do,” Stone teased. “C’mon. Let’s get this over with.”
As he reached the edge of the gravel path outside our home, he shifted in the blink of an eye. Where there had once been lithe limbs and tan skin, Stone was now all sand-colored fur — the well-shaped, muscular form of a lion’s body, paws pounding against the floor hard enough to leave imprints in the crumbly earth.
The rest of us followed close behind, keeping pace with our medic. Even your average human could probably spot the difference between us, but it was even easier for our pride. Stone’s blond hair seemed to be reflected in the lightness of his mane, and how it so closely mirrored the rest of his fur. Flecks of gray were peppered through Preston’s dark, near-black mane. Hale stood taller than the rest of us, and with a reddish sheen to him that was absent from his human form. As for me, I was a muddy gray with a mane that lightened at the edges, with muscular limbs that marked me out as leader.
Of course, human eyes wouldn’t catch all these details at first glance. For one thing, we were moving quick enough to be easily missed, dust whipping up around us in a storm. After working our human bodies so hard today, this felt like a treat. Like the best kind of cool-down stretch. We wouldn’t feel like ourselves if we had no time to do this. Our human forms were fine, but there was something pure and right about this form that we needed every once in a while. However the others experienced it, I could feel the earth pulsing through my paws, connected to me in a way that my other shape wasn’t.
We could communicate differently in this form, too. We didn’t need to speak to fall into formation, forming a chain that worked perfectly as we made our way through the undergrowth and the tightly-packed forest. We each took turns in the lead, fast and furious as we coursed over gulches and dips in the ground. It was seamless. Nobody had to snarl or roar to advertise their position; we were just aware of each other, as easily as we were aware of ourselves. We barely had to think about it.
This innate sense of flow and cooperation was why we worked so well together as a military unit. Maybe our commanding officer didn’t really understand what bonded us so closely. Our shifter status was highly classified information. Still, it was obvious to everyone who came into contact with us how useful our unspoken communication could be in any intense and difficult situation.
This was why we were trusted with such important missions. This was why we were being sent away in ten days. No amount of physical aptitude or training could compare to the kind of team that we had — and our physical skills were top-notch in any case.
It was a tough life. We worked hard, and had little time to ourselves, but the pride kept each other sane and happy. There’d be time for fun and settling down later in our lives.
Probably.
By the time our lion muscles were as exhausted as our human ones, the sun was just about to come down. I took the lead again as we headed back home, feeling the earth cool underneath our paws, and only shifted back again as we reached the yard.
I opened the door, glancing over my shoulder at the sound of Hale’s yawn. He had already shifted back, stretching his arms with a slight grimace. “Man. Hard work today. I needed that run.”
“I think we all did,” I agreed, holding the door open so that each one of them could pass — first Hale, already yawning again, and then Preston and Stone behind him. “But we’ll be grateful for being in the best possible shape when we’re out there in Sigma territory.”
“Damn right.”
We flopped into the long angular couch, big enough to hold us all with a little extra space… in human form, at least. Even draped over these soft cushions, ready to be lazy for the rest of the day now, I could see the strength in my pride’s arms, and I knew we were ready. I had faith that not only were we likely to succeed in this mis
sion, but we’d do it fast too — and safely.
Still, there was one thing left to discuss before we started our final preparations.
“Guys,” I said, glancing over my shoulder. “This place is a dump.”
I was only barely exaggerating. As we’d been training so hard, the kitchen had been used to prepare several meals that hadn’t quite been cleared away yet, and there were piles of clothes dropped all over the floor from where tired lions had abandoned their human things and never come back for them. Our enhanced shifter senses weren’t much of a good thing when you could smell dust in the air, and see crumbs that needed lifting from the carpet all the way across the other side of the room.
This… would not work for our mission.
“We’ve got time yet to clear it up,” said Stone, smoothing the suede of the couch arm all in the same direction. “Really shouldn’t take that long.”
“Uh-huh,” I said. “But we can’t have the cabin like this in Sigma.”
Preston wrinkled his nose. “Huh. Yeah.”
“It’s a distraction,” I said. “And clearly we’ve been focusing pretty hard on other things the past week or so. The workload isn’t going to be lighter once we’re actually out there. Maybe we need to work something out.”
“What, like a rota?”
“Hale,” said Stone, eyes bright, “we all know you’d never stick to a rota.”
“Actually,” I pressed on, before Hale could bite back, “I was thinking more like external help. Somebody we’d bring along specifically to take care of the cabin for us.”
“A shifter?” said Preston.
I shrugged, considering it. “I don’t know. It could be hard to find somebody in time now. It’s so last-minute. I think we’re going to have to put an ad out in the paper and hope for the best. Maybe go through an agency if we absolutely have to, but… I’d prefer somebody we can approve of ourselves.”
“That would be my concern,” said Hale, wearing his serious hat for once. “We need somebody trustworthy, and also who understands that the place we’re going is not exactly safe. That they need to take any instructions we give them seriously.”
