Hell & High Water (THIRDS 1)

Ash let out a frustrated grunt. “That’s not the point.”

“What is the point?” Tony finally looked up at Ash, one eyebrow raised. “Do you not trust in your team’s abilities, Agent Keeler?”

“You know that’s not it,” Ash emphasized quietly. “Remember the last time we went in there?”

“I do. That’s why he has to go in again. He needs to learn from his mistakes.”

Ash looked like he wanted to argue, but instead, turned and shoved past Dex to get to the back of the truck. Dex would have flipped him off if he weren’t so concerned about what he’d heard. He made sure his brother was busy at the end of the truck before approaching his dad.

“What happened the last time they went in?”

“You shouldn’t eavesdrop,” his dad grumbled.

“You’ve been telling me that since I was a kid. I think we both know that lesson never took. What happened to Cael the last time they went in?” he asked again, doing his best to keep a level head and not think about his family keeping secrets from him. Tony hesitated before finally giving in.

“It’s not easy for him being on a team of big cats. He has this stupid notion he has to prove himself every time they go feral. His psych evals last quarter after the incident revealed how he sees himself in regard to the rest of his Felid teammates. How he’s inadequate for being the smallest, his inability to roar, the fact he runs fast but in short bursts, his hunting by vision rather than scent, and his trouble with adapting to new environments.” Tony put his tablet away, his eyes filled with concern. “The last case that brought us out here, Cael got in over his head. He didn’t think he needed to wait for backup and found himself up against a jaguar Therian coalition. Came out of it pretty banged up.”

Dex frowned, trying to recall when that was. He surely would remember losing his shit. When Tony looked away, Dex’s jaw dropped. “You told me he was undercover!” Dex recalled what Pearce said to him about the THIRDS not wanting to admit their agents were vulnerable. Dex hadn’t wanted to believe it, but now he knew the truth. What else had Pearce been telling the truth about?

“Keep your voice down,” Tony ordered. “You think I wanted to keep it from you? He made me promise not to tell you.”

“Why would you agree to such a stupid request?”

“Because you would have expected me to do the same,” Tony replied quietly. “Look, I know how protective you boys are of each other, but you need to get your heads out of your asses. You should have outgrown this phase by now.”

Dex folded his arms over his chest stubbornly. “You know I’m never going to stop looking out for him.”

“And he’s never going to stop looking up to you. That doesn’t mean you can’t turn to each other for help. It’s not weakness. I wish you would both get that into your thick skulls before you give me any more gray hair.”

As much as he hated to admit it, his dad was right. “How’d he get out of it?”

“Ash. He got in there and beat the tar out of them. He’s a Grade A son of a bitch, but he cares about Cael. Looks after him.”

“Damn. I really want to hate him.”

Tony gave Dex a pat on the back. “The feeling’s probably mutual.”

Dex let out a noncommittal grunt. At least now, he understood why Ash was putting up with him. If it weren’t for Cael, the bastard would probably be making his life miserable. Not that he wasn’t making a good go of it.

The sound of the heavy screen hitting the floor at the back of the truck interrupted his thoughts, and he saw Rosa standing to one side, PSTC kit strapped next to her backpack as she neatly put away Cael’s gear and hung up his uniform. His brother was up first.

All these years later, and Dex still cringed when he heard his brother’s painful cry as his mass shifted. Proteins, fats, and cells rearranged to bring out his Therian form. When they were kids, Dex had asked Cael what it was like to be a Therian, and he’d never forgotten his little brother’s answer or his sadness when he’d given it.

“It’s like half of me is missing, but it’s not, it’s inside me. But no matter what form I’m in, I’ll never be able to get the two halves together. I’ll never be whole, like you. Dad says my Therian form is my soul, so I’m as whole as a Human, but it doesn’t feel that way.”

It had taken Cael a lot to come to terms with being a Therian, and despite knowing he was adopted, he admitted he never wondered what it could have been like with his biological parents. As far as Cael was concerned, Dex and Tony were his real family, especially knowing the hardship Tony had endured by adopting him. Like Dex, Cael had lost his family to the riots. The apartment building his parents lived in had been primarily Therian. A group of evil bastards set it on fire in the middle of the night, not caring that it was filled with families and small children. Cael had been six months old and the only survivor.

Tony had been on the scene, a detective with the HPF at the time, and he’d been the one to find Cael. His dad always told Cael how the moment he held him in his arms, he knew he wouldn’t be able to let go. It was during a time when interspecies adoption hadn’t existed, and Tony faced a world of anger and prejudice from both sides. But their dad was a hard-ass and a good man. He fought for Cael, sacrificing his job at the HPF when he was subtly warned that having a Therian son would be damaging to his career. Flipping them off, Tony completed the adoption process, pretty much making it up as he went along, and Cael Maddock joined their family. Tony lost his job, but his resolve and heart gained him a position at the newly opened THIRDS.

Dex took a seat on the bench, Sloane’s PSTC kit on the floor by his feet. The screen lifted and Cael shuddered from nose to spotty tail, his ears twitching, and his mouth opening wide in a yawn to reveal sharp fangs. He stretched his long legs one at a time, wobbling momentarily until he got his bearings. Then he trotted over to Dex and put his head on his lap while Ash stepped into the large square, the screen coming down once again.

“Hey, little brother.” Dex scratched Cael behind the ears and smiled when Cael closed his eyes and purred. A low growl came from behind the screen, soon followed by a roar that shook the whole damn truck.

“Fuck.” Dex swallowed hard when the screen went up. And here he thought Ash couldn’t get any scarier. How wrong he was. Ash sneezed and shook his massive head, his dark lion’s mane swishing with the movement. He lifted his head and looked at Dex, releasing a huff.

“Well look at you,” Dex gasped, a hand going to his chest. “So majestic.”

Ash let out an angry hiss, his bared fangs bigger and sharper than Cael’s. He crept closer, a low rumbling growl coming from him. Dex told himself he wasn’t intimidated. It was still Ash in there. It was no surprise he was as big a dick in his Therian form as he was in his Human form. A fierce roar had Dex scrambling up onto the bench, his heart pounding against his chest, and his tranq gun at the ready. Ash rushed forward, and Dex aimed his rifle.