Protector Panther (Protection, Inc 3)

He struggled to sit up, but even with Catalina’s help, he was hampered by a rat’s nest of medical tubes and wires. They were everywhere, attached to his chest, his elbows, his wrists, even the tips of his fingers. While he was still trying to disentangle himself, Hal hit a button, raising the head of the bed until Shane was sitting up. Then Hal went to let the team in.

They piled in, along with Ellie and Ethan. Catalina looked at the team members curiously as they all came in. Hal was the only one she’d had an actual conversation with, though she’d briefly met Nick and Destiny. When the other three had shown up, Catalina had been so busy giving Shane oxygen and monitoring his breathing that she’d barely even glanced at them.

She checked Shane to make sure he really was all right with having everyone there. But once he’d gotten past his first reluctance, he seemed pleased to see them. She was glad to see that they didn’t crowd him, which she was sure he wouldn’t like, but instead stepped up one at a time.

A blonde woman came forward first. Her platinum hair was braided and pinned to her head like a crown, and she made black fatigues look elegant. “Good to see you breathing. I thought I was about to lose my best sparring partner.”

Shane shook his head, a half-smile hovering over his lips. Catalina could see that he and the blonde woman had the same easy camaraderie that he’d had with Justin. “I wouldn’t do that to you, Fiona. Someone’s got to keep you on your toes.”

Fiona’s sharp gaze raked over Catalina. Her eyes were green as emeralds, beautiful but cold. “Where were you when Shane was taking a bullet to the chest?”

It sounded like an accusation. Like she’d failed to protect him. Catalina wanted to defend herself, but there was truth in what Fiona had suggested. Meeting the woman’s gaze squarely, Catalina said, “I’d run ahead of him. I was excited and I wasn’t paying attention. He was hit protecting me.”

“Cut her some slack, Fiona,” Shane said. “It was her first time in combat. Don’t tell me your first time was perfect.”

To Catalina’s surprise, the poised woman flushed pink. “You know it wasn’t.” Then, turning to Catalina, she said in a more friendly tone, “You’re honest. That’s good. Maybe Shane will take some lessons from you.”

“You should talk,” Shane replied. But he sounded more amused than annoyed.

Catalina could see that Ellie was trying to signal to her from across the room. But Catalina didn’t want to leave Shane’s side if his teammates were all going to call him out for the secrets he’d kept from them.

Ethan stood beside Ellie, making their similarities more visible than ever. Though he was muscular where she was curvy, they had the same dark blonde hair, the same blue-green eyes, and the same snub nose. Catalina could even see some of the same freckles on Ethan’s arms as he folded them across his chest, though most were obscured by his tattoos. He shot a glance at Catalina, then at Shane, and Catalina could see that he was trying to figure out whether he should defend one of them or both of them, or if interfering would make it worse. He glanced at Ellie, who shook her head and jerked her open hand at him, gesturing, stay out of it.

Sure enough, a handsome Latino man walked up, settled down on the edge of Shane’s bed as if he was relaxing on his own sofa at home, and said, “So you’re a PJ, huh? Well... That’s not bad if you can’t get through BUD/S. Seriously, it’s a great second choice.”

This time Shane did look irritated. “I never wanted to be a Navy SEAL, Rafa. I wanted to be the person who bails out the SEALs when they get in over their heads. And BUD/S is tough but it only lasts six months. The Pipeline takes two years.”

Rafa promptly replied, “That’s because you’re slow learners.”

Catalina wanted to take Shane’s side, but she couldn’t help laughing at that. She regretted it immediately when Rafa turned to her.

“So, Catalina the cat lady. How many do you have?” Rafa’s tone suggested that she was some elderly virgin who had scratching posts instead of furniture.

Doing her absolute best to keep a straight face, Catalina said, “Nineteen. Well— could be more now. Fluffy was pregnant when I left.”

For a fraction of a second, she saw that Rafa believed her. Then he burst out laughing. “Well-played.”

As the next team member approached, Catalina resigned herself to running the gauntlet of the entire Protection, Inc. team. But one glance at Shane showed that he wasn’

t resigned. His expression hardened as a young man with golden hair and chiseled features stepped up.

By process of elimination, that had to be Lucas. Lucas, the dragon shifter. Catalina stared at him. Like the rest of the team, Lucas wore simple black fatigues, but unlike the rest, his appeared to be tailored. His eyes, which she’d first thought were light brown, looked almost gold. And was that really a gold chain wrapped around his throat? Who wore jewelry into combat?

Lucas stared at Shane, then shook his head as if nothing he could say could possibly express how disappointed he was. Then he turned to Catalina. She braced herself for some cutting or snobbish remark— the guy was obviously wealthy and could probably spot her dirt-poor origins from a mile away— but instead, he said, “It’s unfortunate that Shane can’t test you himself. It’s very revealing of character. But since he’s too weak and helpless right now...”

Lucas paused deliberately, letting that jab sink in. Shane looked like he wanted to kill him. But before he could say anything, Lucas went on, “My people have our own ways of doing such things.”

The golden shade of his eyes deepened and brightened, turning almost metallic. His sharp features shifted subtly, becoming less aristocratic and more strange. Almost... inhuman. He opened his mouth and let out a terrifying, reptilian hiss.

The sound went straight to some primitive part of Catalina’s brain. She could almost see the shadow of vast wings, hear the roar of devouring flames. Instinctively, Catalina threw herself between Shane and the dragon.

Shane shoved himself forward, dislodging several wires. His heart monitor, which no longer registered a heartbeat, blared an alarm.

The glow in Lucas’s eyes faded, and his features relaxed. He once again looked like an aristocrat masquerading as a bodyguard, not a monster posing as a man. Feeling foolish, Catalina stepped aside and turned off the alarm.

In the silence that fell, Shane turned slowly to lock gazes with his teammates, fixing them one by one with his predator stare. “That is enough! Catalina’s my mate. I love her, and I trust her with my life. Anyone who has a problem with her had better go through me first.”

“It’s fine, Shane,” Catalina assured him. “I think they were just trying to look out for you.”