Chapter 1
"SPREAD OUT, and watch your backs."
Seb motioned for his partner, Dom, to follow him as the rest of Theta Destructive split off into pairs, with Peyton, Brianna, Lee, and Zoey in their Therian forms. They spread out through the trees, and Seb was grateful for the sunny day despite the biting chill in the air. In a couple of days, March would give way to April, which accounted for the temperature rising from polar ice caps to just above meat locker. In Seb's opinion, spring couldn't come quickly enough. Winter wreaked havoc on his joints, especially his bad knee.
"What did you get your boy for his birthday?" Dom asked from behind his raised tranq rifle as he scanned the woods around them.
"I still have two weeks." Seb held his rifle at the ready as they approached the pagoda where the four tiger Therians had last been spotted. "Sort of. I'll find something this weekend."
They were getting closer. Seb could feel it. They needed to round up these assholes before anyone else got hurt, especially since the perps were running out of places to hide. THIRDS agents managed to shrink the original perimeter around Prospect Park down to the boathouse, the pagoda, and Binnen Bridge. Cornering Felid Therians never went well.
"You're the only guy I know who buys presents for his ex," Dom said, stopping in his tracks. "Did you hear that?"
Seb didn't tear his gaze away from the path ahead as he tipped his head toward a tree to his left. "Squirrel."
Dom nodded, then moved forward, muttering something about furry pains in the ass.
Theta Destructive along with several other teams had been called after a shooting outside an auto club on Empire Boulevard led to one death, two injured, and four tiger Therians leading THIRDS agents on a chase through Prospect Park. Human agents cleared the park while Therian agents in their Therian forms sniffed out the perps, formed a perimeter, and hastily began to close in to reduce the square footage. Everyone knew parks provided the best cover to hide in. Unfortunately, parks were filled with citizens, tourists, pets, and wildlife. It was a security nightmare.
"Dex buys presents for his ex," Seb pointed out, smiling at Dom's snort.
"Are you seriously using Dexter J. Daley as an example of rational behavior?"
"Right." Seb chuckled. "What was I thinking. Anyway, you know Hudson is more than an ex-boyfriend." Dom knew a hell of a lot more than that. He was one of two people Seb had bared his soul to in his lifetime. Hudson was the first, and as of three months ago, Dom became the second.
"Cutting it kind of close, aren't you? What did you get him last year?"
Seb peered into a thick brush of shrubbery, but nothing stirred. He needed to be careful, making sure to sniff out their fellow agents so he didn't accidently shoot a tranq into one. Of course, that would only happen if the Therian attacked, pretty much assuring him it wasn't one of their own.
"I got him this really nice, soft, blue robe that matched a pair of TARDIS boxer shorts he loves, and some fuzzy slippers."
Dom snickered. "The doc is such a nerd."
Seb couldn't help his dopey grin. "Yeah."
"Did he like it?"
"Are you kidding? He practically lives in it. He's a wolf Therian, remember? They love fluffy, cozy stuff." Unlike Seb, Hudson's favorite seasons were fall and winter. During the cold weather, Hudson wasn't content to simply sit or lie on the couch under a blanket. Nope. He'd draw his legs onto the couch and wrap up like he was cocooning himself, with only his face exposed, and even then he'd pull the blanket over his nose so it wouldn't get cold. Hudson hated having a cold nose. Fuzzy blankets brought out his Therian side like nothing else. It was the most adorable thing Seb had ever seen. Movie nights always included a host of snacks and a nest of blankets.
The air changed, and Seb stilled. Dom followed his lead, coming to a halt beside him. Seb tapped his nose and motioned ahead to the woods behind the pagoda. He was picking up two very distinct tiger Therian scents--neither THIRDS agents. Dom motioned to the right, and Seb gave him a curt nod. Seb would take the left.
Silently he stalked through the trees, listening for sounds not meant to be there. Wind rustled the leaves, water trickled somewhere in the distance, and birds chirped. A squirrel bounded from one tree to another. Seb's pulse picked up, and his muscles tensed as he hunted. The scent drew closer, and he followed it to a thick patch of shrubs. Finger on the trigger, Seb approached as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He spun on his heel, and a near three-hundred-pound tiger Therian barreled into his knee head-on.
Motherfucker!
Pain exploded through Seb's body as he slammed onto the ground, his helmet cracking against a cluster of rocks, momentarily stunning him. The blow to his head was nothing compared to the electrifying burst of sheer agony shooting through his leg. He blinked away the tears and sucked in a sharp breath. His lungs burned from the gulps of air he rapidly dragged in. He couldn't black out. Not now. A feral growl got him moving, and his adrenaline spiked. If he stayed on the ground, he was dead. The tiger Therian shook himself before charging again, and Seb was still down.
Three tranq darts to the neck and a punch across the muzzle, and the tiger Therian was out. Good thing, considering Seb was still seeing stars. His muscles rippled with spasms, and he gritted his teeth. He felt as though his ligaments and tendons were being torn from his bone. As though someone had taken a hammer to his kneecap. He cursed his genetics for the thousandth time--not that it helped.
Seb was always careful in the field, as careful as someone in his position could be, and although he'd suffered plenty of injuries, it was the first time some asshole had head-butted his knee. If Seb had been a Human, something would have shattered. Instead, it only felt as if it had. The pain was blinding, and he was faintly aware of Dom hauling ass in his direction. Damn it, what now?
"Seb!"
A roar had him rolling onto his side, plowing through the pain and pushing up onto his good leg, putting all his weight on it. He needed a second to get his bearings, but the tiger Therian speeding toward him wasn't going to give him that chance. Two darts stuck out of its neck, but adrenaline was helping it push through, and with Dom being chased by a third tiger Therian, Seb was left to deal with this bastard. One wrong move, and it was over.
Seb readied his rifle, cursing under his breath when the last tiger Therian showed up, barely missing Dom as it leaped from the shrubbery.
"Fucking fuck!" Dom pulled a move worthy of any NFL running back, turning sharply and throwing his gloved hand to the ground to keep from keeling over face-first. He regained his balance and took off toward Seb just as a round of hair-raising roars resounded through the trees. Seb grinned.
Lee was the first through the trees, his mane providing protection when one of the perps tried to snap at his neck and got nothing but a mouthful of fuzzy mane. A second bite was thwarted by Brianna, her slender cougar Therian frame landing on the larger tiger Therian, claws outstretched. The perp's pained roar shook the trees around them.