Wolf Trouble Page 3

  Yeah, it said a lot, but Khaki wasn’t so sure what. People she knew, people whose opinions she’d always respected, told her she’d been an idiot to risk her life for that woman. But she was a cop. It was her job to risk her life for other people.

  She sipped her coffee. “Okay, but that doesn’t really answer my question. Why come all the way up here from Dallas? It can’t just be the fact that I risked my life that night to save someone else.”

  “But it wasn’t just that one night, was it?” His eyes locked with hers. “How many commendations have you received since then?”

  Khaki’s head rocked back. “How did you get a look at my files? They’re private.”

  “I’ve never seen your files,” Dixon said. “But I’ve seen your name mentioned in the Tacoma papers a lot in the past few months. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together and figure out that your actions would garner you some commendations. So, how many?”

  She stared down at her coffee. “Three.”

  She couldn’t tell him the reason she’d been given those commendations was because she’d become a pariah in her own department and that any request she put in for backup went unanswered—just like that night behind the Grace Park apartments. And if she couldn’t tell Dixon that, she definitely couldn’t tell him that with all the strange things that had been happening to her since that night, she preferred dealing with dangerous situations by herself anyway.

  Khaki picked up her mug and took a swallow of coffee, not because she needed the jolt of caffeine, but because she wasn’t quite sure what to say.

  She’d worked for the Lakefront PD for eight years and had always been considered a good cop with a good reputation and a lot of friends on the force. Then she’d started dating Jeremy—a well-liked cop from a family of cops who had made a name for themselves in the community. He had friends in high places, so he was on the short list for sergeant, then lieutenant. Everyone thought they made the perfect couple—until she decided to break it off with him.

  Everything had gone downhill fast from there. Jeremy had handled her rejection like the arrogant, conceited asshole he was—which meant poorly. When he couldn’t convince her to take him back, he stalked her and harassed her at work, telling outrageous lies about her to other cops, and screwing with her reports. Almost no one in the department believed anything she said about him, and those who did wouldn’t do anything about it. Jeremy was the big man on campus as far as everyone in Lakefront was concerned. No one in the city would look at him sideways.

  She’d found out later that was why her backup had been late that night three months ago. She’d been blackballed. Thanks to Jeremy, her fellow cops were never going to lift a finger to help her ever again.

  “Was that the night that everything changed for you?”

  Dixon’s question pulled her out of her reverie. “What?”

  “Is that when you gained your new abilities?”

  Khaki’s heart began to beat like crazy. She darted a look at the two cops on the other side of the diner to see if they’d heard what Dixon said, but neither man looked her way. “What new abilities?”

  Dixon’s mouth edged up. “Relax, Khaki. No one can hear us. There’s just you and me talking about what’s been happening to you over the past three months. Assuming that’s when it started.”

  Khaki’s first instinct was to immediately deny everything. Her second instinct was to get up and run out of the diner. But Dixon looked so calm and relaxed sitting across from her that it was hard not to trust him. The internal sensor she’d come to trust so much recently was telling her the SWAT commander wasn’t a threat. In fact, he might be the only person she could confide in.

  “How did you know?” she asked softly.

  “That the change was happening to you, or that it started three months ago?”

  “Both, I guess.”

  He smiled. “It’s not so hard to recognize the signs indicating a person has changed since I went through it myself.”

  Khaki stared at him. “You’re like me? You can…do things you shouldn’t be able to do?”

  “You mean, can I run way too fast? Can I hear and smell things I shouldn’t be able to? Am I stronger than I should be? The answer to all those questions is yes. And yes, I can heal from things a lot faster than I should, too, which is probably the first thing you learned after you were shot that night.”

  Khaki’s hand tightened around her coffee mug. She’d finally found someone who’d dealt with the same things she was dealing with now. Or, more accurately, he’d found her.

  When she’d been hit in the shoulder with a cluster of shotgun pellets and a 9 mm, not to mention another round in the thigh that night at Grace Park, the doctors had patched her up and put her on two weeks of bed rest, saying she was dealing with the wounds incredibly well. Only they didn’t know how well. In the middle of the night two days later, she’d gotten up to hobble to the bathroom and discovered she wasn’t hobbling anymore. Panicking, she’d torn the bandage from her leg to see that the wound was completely healed. The shoulder wound, which had been much worse, was nearly healed as well.

  She’d never gone back to the hospital for her final checkup, worried the doctors would realize she was some kind of freak. When they’d called to check on her, she told them she’d already been cleared by another doctor on staff. They’d assumed the paperwork had been lost and let it go.

  Since that night, she’d been wounded twice more, once with a knife and once with a small automatic. The wounds had healed so quickly she hadn’t even bothered to tell anyone about them.

  “Do you know why this happened to me…to us?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I do.” His mouth twitched. “But it might be a little hard for you to believe it.”

  Khaki let out a short laugh. “Hard to believe? Sergeant Dixon, last week, a drugged-out factory worker stopped beating his kid just long enough to shove a seven-inch-long hunting knife through my stomach. I pulled it out and threw him through a wall, then carried the little boy down three flights of stairs so we could wait for child services out on the curb. There’s nothing that I wouldn’t believe at this point.”

  He nodded. “That’s good to hear because that makes it a lot easier to say this next part.”

  She leaned forward, eager to hear what he had to say.

  He sipped his coffee, then set down the mug. “You’re a werewolf, Officer Blake, just like I am. I run an entire SWAT team full of people just like us down in Dallas. And I want you on the team too.”

  Okay, maybe there were some things she wasn’t quite ready to believe yet.

  “We’re what?”

  Khaki didn’t realize she’d said it so loud until the two other cops in the diner looked her way. She lowered her voice.

  “Want to run that by me again? Because I could have sworn you said we’re werewolves.”

  “That is what I said.” Dixon sighed. “Look, I know it sounds crazy, but from what I’ve been able to figure out, there’s a gene in some of us that gets tripped when we experience a traumatic, life-threatening situation—like what happened to you at that apartment complex.”

  She shook her head. “It doesn’t just sound crazy. It is crazy. There has to be some other explanation. We can’t be werewolves. If we were, we’d only be able to do the things we do when the moon is full.”

  Dixon laughed. “That’s only in the movies. Which is a good thing since the incidents my team and I go out on don’t follow the lunar cycle. And before you ask, no, silver won’t kill us. But a regular bullet will if it hits something vital, like the heart.”

  Khaki ran her thumb over the diner’s logo on the mug, trying to wrap her head around what Dixon had told her. It still sounded crazy. But it would explain why she was suddenly superhuman. And as insane as his claim was, she needed something to help her make sense of things right now.

  “And you said the entire SWAT team is made up of…werewolves?” she asked.

  He nodded. “All sixteen of us.
”

  “Sixteen,” she echoed. “Wow. It sounds like you’ve already got a full unit. Why recruit me?”

  “Human resources said we need to add a woman to the team to fill our diversity quota,” he said, then quickly added, “but that’s not the only reason. I was going to offer you the job regardless. HR’s demand just moved up the timetable. You’re a good cop, one I’d be honored to have in the Pack.”

  “Pack?”

  His mouth curved up in a smile. “As in wolf pack.”

  Right.

  Dixon regarded her in silence. “I know this is a lot to take in, and I don’t expect you to give me an answer now.” He dug his wallet out of the pocket of his jeans and took out a business card, handing it to her. “At least think about it.”

  Khaki glanced down at the card, then looked at him. “What about HR? Aren’t they going to expect you to hire someone pretty quick?”

  “Don’t worry about them. Take whatever time you need.”

  She studied his business card again. She’d been a little disappointed when he told her he was offering her the job because human resources thought it would be good PR to have a woman on the team. But she believed him when he said he’d already planned to recruit her regardless. Ultimately, she didn’t care what had brought the commander of the supposedly all-werewolf SWAT team to her figurative front door. Dixon was here and he was giving her the perfect opportunity to get away from her ex-boyfriend and a job where no one liked her or had her back. As far as she was concerned, it was a dream come true. She might not believe she was a werewolf, or that he and his SWAT team were either, but they were freaks like her, and that was good enough.

  “I’ll take it,” she said.

  Dixon paused, his mug of coffee halfway to his mouth. “Are you sure? I don’t mind if you want to take a few days to think about it.”

  She nodded. “I’m sure.”

  “Okay.” He took another swallow of coffee. “In the interest of full disclosure, I should let you know that you’re going to have to earn the respect of the Pack before they fully accept you, and that might not be easy. The guys are all alpha werewolves who have never seen, much less worked with, a female werewolf before. There’s no handbook on this. We’re going to have to figure it out as we go. If they treat you like every other newbie on the team, they’ll probably be tough on you until you prove yourself.”

  “I can handle tough,” she said and meant it.

  If there was anything these past few months had taught her, it was that she was stronger than she’d ever given herself credit for.

  * * *

  Even though Dixon told her she didn’t have to report for duty right away, she told him she’d be able to start work in a few days. Now that she’d made the decision to quit her job, there wasn’t any reason to hang around Lakefront. Her parents and sisters still lived in Chicago, so she had no family in the area. And thanks to the debacle with Jeremy, she didn’t have any friends here anymore either. As far as her apartment went, the lease was coming due, so all she’d lose was her deposit. The place had come furnished and whatever didn’t fit in her two big suitcases, she’d mail to the SWAT compound down in Dallas.

  Maybe the fact that she had so little attachment to this place explained why it felt so right to accept Dixon’s job offer.

  Now the only thing to do was make it official. By that, she meant telling her boss at the Lakefront Police Department she was quitting. In one way or another, she’d worked for Sergeant Aaron Silver the whole eight years she’d been on the force, and other than the fact that he seemed oblivious to what had gone on between her and Jeremy, she’d always liked him. She almost felt bad telling him she was leaving, but even he knew it was time for her to have a fresh start somewhere else.

  She was just thinking she might be lucky enough to get out of there before Jeremy showed up when he stormed into the bull pen. Crap.

  Khaki pretended not to see him as she put the last few knickknacks from her locker in the box she was packing, but she saw him coming toward her out of the corner of her eye.

  “What the hell is going on?” he demanded. “Carpenter called on the radio and said you’re quitting to take a job at the Dallas PD. Is that true?”

  She carefully tucked her favorite coffee mug into the box before meeting his gaze. Anger flashed in his gray eyes. How had she ever mistaken this arrogant jerk for a nice guy when he was demeaning to the other cops, abusive to suspects, disrespectful to his superiors behind their backs, and most telling of all, controlling when it came to her?

  “I’m packing up my locker,” she pointed out. “What do you think?”

  He clenched his jaw so hard she thought he might break something. “So you’re leaving me, just like that?”

  “I left you a long time ago, Jeremy.” Months ago, actually. But clearly it hadn’t sunk into that thick skull of his. “Today, I’m leaving Lakefront.”

  “To go to Dallas with that cop you had coffee with the other day,” he sneered. “Are you screwing him now?”

  Khaki wanted to smack him so badly that her hands hurt. She balled them into fists. “I’m not even going to answer that.”

  Giving him a cold look, she picked up the box of knickknacks and brushed past him. Jeremy grabbed her by the arm and spun her around.

  “Don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you,” he ground out.

  Khaki’s blood pounded in her ears. Jeremy was in a room full of cops, but he didn’t seem to give a damn about manhandling her—not that any of them were likely to do anything about it. Well, she wasn’t afraid of him like they were. Jeremy had never been dumb enough to put his hands on her before, and he was never going to do it again. She’d make sure of that.

  One minute he was gripping her arm, and the next her box of stuff was on the floor and she had Jeremy facedown beside it, one hand on the back of his neck and the other twisting his arm behind his back. She shouldn’t even have been able to physically overpower him like this considering he had at least a hundred pounds on her, but her newfound strength made it easy.

  She squeezed with both hands, knowing she could crush him like a bug if she wanted to. And God, a big part of her wanted to. She’d enjoyed working in Lakefront before becoming involved with the jackass. She’d been a good cop, with a good reputation and a lot of friends on the force. Now, her reputation in this town was crap because of him.

  Jeremy tried to push himself up and twist out of her grip, but she only squeezed harder, shoving his face into the floor and cranking down harder on his wrist until she could hear the sounds of bones about to snap. He let out a pitiful yelp of pain. It would be so easy to teach this stupid jerk a lesson.

  Sensing someone beside her, she glanced up, barely repressing a growl. Aaron stood there, a mix of shock and horror on his lined and weathered face. Khaki slowly looked around the station and saw every officer looking at her the same way. They actually seemed scared of her.

  She turned back to Aaron. He shook his head slowly, his eyes full of understanding and what looked like pity behind his wire-rimmed glasses.

  Khaki felt her anger slowly disappear, replaced with revulsion. She hated it when she lost control like this—another side effect of that night three months ago. She let Jeremy go and stood. Jeremy was smart enough not to get up right away. If he came at her again, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to stop herself from doing some real damage.

  Bending down, she collected the few possessions that represented her only remaining ties to this place and put them in the box. Her favorite coffee mug was in pieces—just like her life here. Taking a deep breath, she walked out of the station without looking back. Her mother had always told her she should never burn any bridges. Well, this bridge was totally toasted.

  Next stop, Dallas.

  Chapter 2

  Xander had to pick his jaw up off the floor of the training room when Gage introduced the newest member of the SWAT team. He didn’t know what to expect, but it sure as hell wasn’t Officer K
haki Blake. Tall with an athletic build and just enough curves to fill out the SWAT T-shirt, she had the biggest brown eyes and softest-looking lips he’d ever seen. She had her dark hair back in a bun, so he couldn’t tell how long it was, but he’d bet money it fell past her shoulders. She smelled way too good to be believed, too—like a slice of frosted spice cake in a uniform.

  Shit. He was practically panting. If he didn’t get a grip soon, he was going to start drooling.

  He gave the other guys a covert glance to see how they were dealing with her scent and was stunned to see that none of them reacted at all. Why not? His nose wasn’t that much better than theirs. He knew for a fact that several of the other guys—Cooper Landry and Jayden Brooks specifically—could smell a hell of a lot better than he could.

  Maybe everyone was so mesmerized by finally getting to see a female version of their kind that the rest of their senses had stopped working.

  Gage had left it up to Xander to fill the guys in on what had gone down at the meeting with Deputy Chief Mason while he’d headed home to get ready for his trip to Washington State. While the guys had been pissed that the top brass was playing politics with the team, they’d been intrigued at the idea of adding a female werewolf to the Pack.

  They’d bombarded him with dozens of questions, none of which he could answer. Was she as fast and strong as they were? Did her abilities manifest themselves in completely different ways? Would she be as aggressive as they were and able to handle herself in a fight? Were there more like her out there¸ or was she the only one?

  Not all the questions were so general. Brooks wondered what she would look like, Max Lowry wanted to know if she would smell like them, and Eric Becker… Well, Becker just wanted to know if she liked to wear yoga pants. God, that kid had an obsession with those things.

  Xander had told them what he knew—that no one except Gage knew a damn thing about female werewolves. And Xander wasn’t so sure how much their commander knew either.

  While Xander was lost in thought, Gage turned the floor over to Khaki, who was currently explaining how much she appreciated the opportunity to be in SWAT.