Wolf Rising (SWAT: Special Wolf Alpha Team #8) Read online

  Selena wanted to ask for more details, but that could wait until later. Right now, she was more interested in the werewolf who’d tried to kill Jayden.

  “So, getting attacked by the omega was what turned you, the same way Pablo’s attack changed me?”

  Jayden nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t find out the guy had been a werewolf until Gage told me. I never made the connection between the blue eyes and the fact that he was an omega until your eyes turned blue, and Carter told me what it all meant. I guess Gage didn’t think it was something I needed to know.”

  She sighed. “No wonder you looked so freaked out when I attacked you. Seeing my eyes change must have made you relive the trauma that happened all those years ago.”

  “A little,” he admitted.

  “Is that what you’re worried is going to happen to me?” she asked. “That I’ll go crazy and attack someone like that omega did?”

  Jayden wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. “I’ll never let that happen to you. That omega was a complete loner who totally separated himself from all human contact. You’ll never have to know what it’s like to be alone, because I’ll always be there for you. If you get worried and think we need to get away from people, say the word, and I’ll drop everything and run off to the middle of Siberia with you, okay?”

  Selena closed her eyes and snuggled against him, smiling despite how horrible that story had been. “Thanks for offering to run off to Siberia with me. It really means a lot. But if it’s all the same, I’d rather stay here. I hate the cold weather.”

  He chuckled, his arms tightening around her. “Deal.”

  They stayed like that for a long time until something occurred to her. She pushed away to look at him. “What happened to the girl you saved? Did she make it?”

  “Yeah.” He grinned. “She made a total recovery and went on to play for the U.S. volleyball team at the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016. She even got a therapy dog to help her with the bad memories. Named him Brooks.”

  Selena laughed. “I love it.”

  Jayden pulled her in for another kiss, this one as tender as the ones that had come before it. She moaned and ran her hands down the T-shirt he wore, exploring the muscles hidden underneath. She’d been wrong earlier. She didn’t want to make out like this all night.

  She dragged her mouth from his with a groan. “What do you think about moving this into the bedroom?”

  He didn’t answer, but instead, he picked her up and carried her over to his bed, where he gently set her down before slowly taking off her clothes. Then he gazed down at her naked body, his eyes molten gold.

  “If we’re going to make love, we’re going to do it my way,” he said huskily. “Slow, gentle, and without any biting, clawing, or growling. You think you can deal with that?”

  Selena nodded, unable to do more than that as he yanked his T-shirt over his head, then shoved down his jeans and underwear. The sight of him made her body tingle all over—her fingertips especially.

  “I’m not sure I can keep my claws from coming out,” she said breathlessly. “They’re close already.”

  “That’s not a problem.” Nudging her a little farther back into the middle of the bed, he climbed between her spread legs. “Just keep your hands down by your sides, and I’ll make sure they behave themselves.”

  Selena didn’t have a clue what he meant by that until he settled between her thighs, then slowly and teasingly ran his tongue up and down her pussy. She gasped, her claws extending. Not wanting him to stop but terrified she’d hurt him, she opened her mouth to tell him, but before she could get the words out, Jayden wrapped his long fingers around her wrists, pinning them to the bed and keeping her from shredding anything.

  That turned out to be an excellent plan, as his teasing tongue quickly began to drive her wild. The worst part was that he refused to lock his mouth on her clit. If he had, she would have exploded in seconds. Instead, he seemed more interested in getting her hot—and wet.

  When her orgasm was so close, she began to growl with need, he moved up her body with that sexy gold smolder in his eyes. Taking a condom out of the bedside table, he rolled it on without ever breaking eye contact, then grabbed her wrists again, pinning them to the mattress over her head this time.

  She growled when he lodged the thick head of his cock in her opening and pushed the first few inches inside. He kept his eyes on hers, making soft shushing sounds.

  “Relax,” he murmured. “We’re going to do this slow and gentle, okay? It’s all about control, not rushing to the finish line.”

  Selena wanted to ask him whose control they were talking about, because it seemed like he was doing a good job of keeping all the control for himself. But she wasn’t going to complain. What he was doing felt too damn good.

  Jayden moved slowly the whole time, occasionally dipping his head down to kiss her neck. He kept her wrists trapped gently against the bed, careful to stay out of reach of her fangs too. Good idea, she guessed, since they were definitely out at the moment.

  She begged him to go faster and thrust harder, but he maintained that same slow, perfect pace, his groin pressing against her clit and making her wild with need every time he went deep.

  The orgasm she ended up having was like nothing she’d ever experienced. It was like a slow-motion tidal wave that didn’t crash over her but instead washed along her body until she thought she was drowning in it.

  Her climax seemed to last forever. She screamed and moaned softly. She squealed a bit and growled a lot too. But she never broke eye contact with him the entire time. Not even when she felt him come, too, and thought she might just pass out from the pleasure of the moment.

  The experience was completely unique, but oh so worth it, especially when he rested his forehead on hers and smiled at her after they’d both come back down to earth.

  “There are those beautiful blue eyes I was looking for,” he said softly as he continued pumping gently into her and rocking her to sleep.

  Chapter 18

  “Trust me, it won’t be like this for long,” Carter said as the gentle evening breeze swirled in through one of the immense tent’s open door flaps, sending a hundred overwhelming scents Selena’s way. “After a while, you’ll be able to ignore the scents you aren’t interested in and focus on the one or two you care about.”

  Selena groaned as the combined aromas from the caterer’s chafing dishes lined up along the far wall nearly made her gag. It wasn’t because the food was gross. On the contrary, it was delicious. Altogether, however, the aromas were a little much to take.

  “Is it that obvious?” she asked.

  Carter looked like he was fighting to keep from laughing. “Between the watering eyes and the way you keep trying to breathe through your mouth, yeah, it’s obvious. It would be worse if you were a newly turned alpha or beta. Their sense of smell is probably twice as good as ours. If you weren’t an omega, you’d be outside hyperventilating by now.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief for small miracles and took a shallow breath through her mouth until the person who’d been holding open the door of the huge tent moved away, cutting off the breeze and finally slowing the avalanche of scents. It was cool that Max and Lana had rented what could only be described as a circus tent for their reception. Even cooler was the fact that they’d had it put up right in the middle of the SWAT compound. But after a night of dancing and partying, the place had gotten a little warm, even though it was a chilly December evening. That had made the already strong scents even more powerful.

  Selena glanced around the tent, easily finding Jayden in the crowd. He wore a dark suit that had been perfectly tailored for his broad shoulders and powerful arms. If she thought he’d looked good in jeans and a button-down, it was nothing compared to how much she swooned when he’d picked her up at her place in that suit. After dancing with her most of the reception, he still looked cool and relaxed. And smelled even better. His was one scent she’d never get tired of.

 
He was currently chatting with some of his SWAT teammates as he got her a fresh drink from the bar. True to his word, he’d stuck close to her side throughout the wedding and the reception. He’d taken her around and introduced her to his packmates, the significant others in their lives, and an incredible array of betas and omegas who lived in the area. Sort of like an extended pack. The Pack mascot, Tuffie, and a cat named Kat had been in the tent earlier but had gone into the admin building a little while ago. Everyone was warm and welcoming and made her feel like she belonged.

  But while she was comfortable with his friends, she was sure Jayden wouldn’t have slipped away for more drinks if she hadn’t felt comfortable with Carter. There was no doubt in her mind he was a person she could trust.

  “How long did it take for you to get control of your nose?” she asked, turning back to him.

  “Not long,” he said. “About a year and a half.”

  Selena did a double take. “What?”

  He chuckled, his blue eyes twinkling. “Just kidding. Truthfully, it did take a while for me to get the hang of it, but that was because I didn’t have anyone to help me, and I was doing it all wrong. Fortunately, you won’t have to learn it the hard way like I did, because you’ll have a lot of people in your corner.”

  She considered that. “Were you on your own a long time?”

  Selena could only imagine how horrible coming to grips with being a werewolf would be if Jayden hadn’t been there for her.

  Carter shrugged. “About two years. It seemed longer at the time though. Gage saved my ass when he finally found me.”

  She was considering if it would be okay to ask Carter what that time on his own had been like when Jayden came back with their drinks.

  “Carter isn’t scaring you with all his horror stories about being an omega, is he?” he asked, setting her strawberry daiquiri on the table in front of her, then trailing a hand teasingly over the part of her back left exposed by the dress she wore as he took a seat beside her.

  Selena’s pulse skipped a beat at his touch. “No. We were talking about an omega’s sense of smell and how certain scents seem to be so overwhelming right now.” She leaned in close to give Jayden a light kiss. “Not your scent of course. I could never get tired of smelling your hot, hunky body.”

  Carter groaned. “Okay, I really didn’t need to hear that. I’m going to check with Max and Lana and see how much longer they want to hang around.”

  “Hold on,” Jayden said as Carter got to his feet. “Who’s pulling security at the hotel with you?”

  Selena lifted a brow. “Hotel security? Are you working another job?”

  Carter shook his head. “No, nothing like that. Lana and Max didn’t think it was a good idea to go on a honeymoon with the hunters out there, but they still wanted to do something special on their wedding night, so we all chipped in to get them a honeymoon suite at the Ritz-Carlton for the weekend. Trevor, Hale, and I are going to keep an eye on them.”

  “The place has good security,” Jayden added. “But Gage wants some of the Pack there just in case.”

  She and Jayden had spent some time talking about the hunters today, so she could understand why Gage would be worried, even though it was difficult to believe they’d attack somebody in the middle of a fancy hotel. Still, the fact that the team had done something like that for Max and Lana was really sweet.

  “Honeymoon suite at the Ritz, huh?” she mused. “Pretty romantic.”

  “It was all Brooks’s idea,” Carter said. “We were going to buy them a Kitchen-Aid, but he insisted we do something more personal.” He gave Jayden a nod. “Later.”

  Selena smile at Jayden as Carter walked away. “How’d you come up with the idea for the honeymoon suite?”

  “It wasn’t a big deal.” He shrugged almost sheepishly. “I thought they’d like to do something official to start off their marriage. Make it seem more real, you know.”

  Selena practically melted right there in her chair. What the hell had she ever done to deserve a fantastic guy like Jayden? He was so far beyond perfect, it was all she could do to not tell him she loved him.

  Her breath caught as she realized what she’d just admitted…even if only to herself. She loved him? That was crazy. They’d just met. You couldn’t fall in love with a man you’d only met five days ago. It was impossible.

  Or was it?

  While she’d never been in love before, she was definitely feeling something amazing, something that made her heart beat fast all the time. And as for what was impossible, it was difficult to ignore the fact that until a few days ago, she’d thought being a werewolf was impossible, too.

  Selena gazed at Jayden, wondering if he could possibly feel the same way about her. She opened her mouth to tell him that she was falling for him—that maybe she’d already fallen—but movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She found herself looking that way, not knowing why but following her instincts.

  At first, she didn’t see anything unusual. Max and Lana were making the rounds, talking and laughing with their friends as guests slowly streamed out of the tent into the night, heading for the cars parked all over the place outside the perimeter fence.

  Then a gray-haired man stopped in front of the newlyweds to wish them well. Lana’s face paled, her body going rigid, and Selena heard the woman’s heart suddenly begin beating like crazy. Whoever the guy was, Lana clearly didn’t like him.

  Jayden had introduced Selena to a lot of people today, but the gray-haired man hadn’t been one of them. She supposed he could be a cop, but with that fancy suit, he looked more like a politician.

  Halfway across the tent, Lana was shaking the man’s hand. Knowing it was probably a horrible thing to do, Selena turned her head a little, straining to hear what they were saying. She’d been able to eavesdrop easily in the club after Scott had OD’d, but unlike her nose, which seemed to work all the time whether she wanted it to or not, her ears were a little tougher to control.

  She was able to pick up enough to hear the man congratulating Max and Lana and wishing them well as they started their life together. While it seemed sweet, Lana looked like she’d swallowed a lemon.

  Selena turned to Jayden, expecting to see him staring at Max and Lana as hard as she had, but instead, he was focused on the entrance of the tent and the two werewolves who’d just walked in. Becker and the woman with him weren’t exactly dressed for a wedding. In fact, the jeans and T-shirts they wore looked like they’d slept in them. Becker and the blond woman, on the other hand, looked like they hadn’t slept in days.

  “Why wasn’t Becker at the wedding?” Selena asked.

  “He and his mate, Jayna, have been digging into the prison break nonstop since Wednesday, trying to see if someone in the Dallas PD might have been involved. Come on.”

  Taking her hand, Jayden led her across the tent to intercept Becker and Jayna. They caught up with them in the far corner where Gage, his human wife, Mac, Zane, and Lana’s parents were all talking.

  “It’s Curtis,” Becker said to Gage.

  Selena didn’t know who Curtis was or why he was important, but everyone else did if the stunned disbelief on their faces was any indication.

  “Are you sure?” Gage demanded, his dark eyes intent on Becker. “I mean, positively-absolutely-you-can’t-be-wrong-about-this sure?”

  Becker nodded. “It’s him. Remember those suspects I was looking into who work at the prison? It took some time, but I narrowed it down to three guards and one IT specialist. The three guards were on duty the morning of the escape and were assigned to the security checkpoints Oliver and the other inmates went through. More incriminating than that, though, was that someone with serious computer skills had gone out of their way to make it look like those three guards were working somewhere else in the prison that day. He changed duty rosters, altered the entries in the security system that records when and where guards swipe their ID cards, even snipped out small sections of various security camera
footage to make sure you couldn’t see the inmates on any videos they shouldn’t have been on. It was actually some high-quality work. It took over a day for me to figure out what was missing, but once I realized I was dealing with a top-of-the-line hacker, it led me straight to the computer geek in IT.”

  “Becker,” Gage growled, making Selena jump. “Stop all this damn techie talk, and get to the point. You found the four people responsible for the prison break—great. What the hell does any of this have to do with Curtis?”

  Becker made a face at being interrupted. “Jayna and I have been going nonstop for the past eighty hours straight, living on nothing but Doritos and Mountain Dew, probably breaking hundreds of state and federal laws, and you want me to skip the best parts and get to the point?”

  Gage glowered at him. “Yes.”

  Crap. Jayden’s boss definitely had an intimidating voice when he wanted to.

  “Who’s Curtis?” Selena whispered close to Jayden’s ear, interested in knowing but not wanting to interrupt the others.

  “Randy Curtis,” he whispered back, not taking his eyes off Becker and Jayna. “Chief of police.”

  Selena’s eyes widened. Sweet cheese and crackers. The chief of police was involved with the hunters? And he’d broken them out of prison? How was that even possible?

  “Fine,” Becker grumbled. “It turns out that all four of these guys used to work for the North Central Division Investigative Team about ten years ago. That’s quite the coincidence, but not nearly as interesting as who their lieutenant was.”

  “Curtis,” Gage said.

  “Yup,” Becker said. “Real long story short, most of the team was dirty, skimming stolen property from residential and business burglaries. Nobody ratted on Curtis, so he came out looking clean and ended up getting a promotion out of it. In return, he got the guys hired on at Coffield. They’ve been loyal to him ever since.”

  “Do you have anything solid pinning Curtis to the prison break?” Gage asked. “Beyond the fact that these dirty prison employees used to work for him a decade ago?”