Hot SEALs: Her Special Alpha (Kindle Worlds) (X-OPS 3.5)

Her Special Alpha

An X-OPS Novella

By Paige Tyler

Cover Design by Kim Killion

Dedication

With special thanks to my extremely patient and understanding husband, without whose help and support I couldn’t have pursued my dream job of becoming a writer. You’re my sounding board, my idea man, my critique partner, and the absolute best research assistant any girl could ask for!

Thank you.

For the first time in her life, she's getting a chance to know what it’s like to be with the man who totally accepts her for who she is…

Former Army Special Forces soldier Travis Dalton is considering taking a job at a friend’s private security company when he steps into the middle of what looks like a mugging. But then things get really bizarre when a beautiful woman shows up with fangs flashing and claws on the tips of her fingers. Suddenly Travis finds himself thrust into the mysterious world of the Department of Covert Operations, a super-secret division of Homeland Security, a world where sometimes bad guys do more than shoot you—sometimes they tear you to shreds.

Eden Bristow is in Virginia Beach for her sister’s wedding. A feline shifter and covert agent with the DCO, she can’t help noticing how good Travis is at guarding her back—and turning her on. She hasn’t had a lot of luck with guys, not once they get a look at her fangs and claws. But Travis doesn’t seem to have a problem with her shifter attributes, and Eden is ready to make up for lost time.

But one little thing is getting in the way of their romance—a gang of bad guys, and the wolf shifter leading them, who seem determined to kill her future brother-in-law and ruin her sister’s upcoming wedding. Will Eden need to call in for DCO backup, or will she find all the help she needs much closer at hand—like in her bed?

Chapter One

Travis Dalton swigged his coffee as he glanced across the table at Jon Rudnick, his friend and possible future employer. It looked like the former SEAL had made the right call to get out of the navy when he did. Civilian life seemed to suit him. Jon still looked the same as he had the last time Travis had seen him at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, but now there was an air of relaxed calm about the special operation commando. Like he was comfortable with the decision he’d made to leave the military, and was now moving forward with his life.

Travis only hoped his decision to change careers worked out as well for him. He supposed a lot of that would depend on how this particular job interview went. On that joint special operation mission in Djibouti, Jon had mentioned he was opening up a private security business called Guardian Angel Protection Services—GAPS, for short—with some of the other guys from SEAL Team Six, and told Travis to look him up in Virginia Beach if he decided to get out of the army and was looking for work. Well, he was out now, and he was looking for work.

“So, what made you decide to get out of Special Forces anyway?” Jon asked, glancing at the roller skaters and bikers zipping past them on the nearby Virginia Beach Boardwalk. Evening was coming on and the sun was well on its way down, but the boardwalk was still packed with people.

“I loved the job, and the guys I worked with were amazing,” Travis admitted. “But it’s not the kind of thing you can do forever. You know that. I woke up one morning and looked in the mirror and realized I couldn’t see myself staying until twenty. I’m not saying it wasn’t hard as hell leaving when the time came to actually walk away. The guys on the team are like my brothers.”

Jon nodded. “I hear ya. Leaving the team was one of the hardest thing I’ve ever done, too. The only difference is that I still get to work with a lot of the guys at GAPS.”

Which brought them back to the reason they were here. A job.

“Fill me in on that,” Travis said. “What kind of missions have you guys handled recently?”

Jon sipped his coffee. “Well, we’ve already worked private security at the wedding of a governor’s daughter, and consulted on the security plan for a major shipping line.” He gave Travis an apologetic smile. “I know it doesn’t sound like much, but keep in mind that we’re just getting off the ground.”

Travis hoped his concern didn’t show on his face. He’d just gotten out of the army because he knew it was time to grow up and get a real job before he was too old to start a new career. While GAPS might sound good, it was also a start-up, which made it risky.

Jon leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Besides the fact that you can handle yourself in a fight and stay cool when the shit hits the fan, you’ve also got some serious computer skills. I remember what you were able to do with those computers at Camp Lemonier. We could use a hacker like you on the team.”

That would definitely make the deal sweeter. He’d always liked white-hat work. It didn’t hurt that Jon was offering him a share of the company. But while the opportunity to invest in the business and work with experienced former military guys who’d watch his back—not to mention have the chance to use his computer skills—was enticing as hell, there were some drawbacks, too. GAPS was so small right now that any little setback could put them out of business. In addition to that, there might not be any regular paychecks for a while. He wouldn’t even have an address to put on his business card because GAPS didn’t have an office yet.

“So, how ‘bout it?” Jon asked.

“It sounds great,” Travis said, “But I’d like to take some time and think about the offer if that’s okay?”

Jon’s blue eyes clouded with disappointment, but he nodded. “Sure. You staying in Virginia Beach until you decide?”

“Hell, yeah.” Travis chuckled. “I haven’t taken a real vacation in eight years. Might as well hang out at the beach and relax.”

Jon grinned. “No better place. If you have any questions or want to meet the other guys, call me. I’m serious about wanting you on the team.”

After Jon left, Travis sat there drinking coffee for a long time, listening to the waves lap against the beach. As he watched the people stroll along the boardwalk, he wondered if GAPS was right for him. Thirty minutes later, he still didn’t have an answer. Tossing his empty cup in the trash, he melded into the crowd of vacationers on the boardwalk and started walking. The combination of the evening breeze coming off the ocean and the sound of the gentle surf on the beach made it the perfect place to think. He had a lot on his mind—and it wasn’t just Jon’s job offer.

He must have questioned his decision to get out of the army at least ten times a day since he’d signed his out-processing paperwork at Ft. Carson three weeks ago. It wasn’t the lack of a paycheck. He’d spent so much time deployed over the past several years that he had more than enough money saved up to last him a good long while. No, the thing that had him freaking out was the fact that he had no idea what he was going to do when he woke up in the morning. Not just tomorrow morning, either, but the one after that, and the one after that.

The army had been more than a paycheck. It had given him a purpose. His greatest worry wasn’t whether he could find a job that would pay the bills, but whether he could find one that could duplicate that same sense of purpose and give him a reason to get out of bed and go balls to the wall every day.

He was mulling over whether the job Jon was offering him at GAPS would fit that bill when he abruptly realized he wasn’t on the boardwalk. Hell, he wasn’t even sure he was in Virginia Beach anymore. How far had he walked?

Then he heard the muted sound of the ocean somewhere behind him. He turned and looked toward the beach to see the glow of bright lights a couple blocks black.

Shit
. He’d been so deep in thought he wandered completely off the main strip and ended up halfway along the backside of nowhere. All around him were dark alleys, trash-filled Dumpsters, and back doors to whatever businesses they led. He was damn lucky he hadn’t walked his ass right into a mugging—or worse.

He was just heading back to the boardwalk when a muted thud off to the left caught his attention. A moment later, he heard a choking cough. He’d been in enough barroom brawls to recognize that combination—someone had just gut punched someone else.

He didn’t stop to think before he ran toward the scuffle. Because that’s what soldiers did. They figured out where trouble was brewing and headed there.

Travis hadn’t gotten more than twenty feet down the poorly lit alley when he heard the sound of raised voices followed by another thud, then a grunt of pain. He quickly darted around a Dumpster and found not one, but two poor saps dressed in suits getting their asses kicked by five big guys in jeans and T-shirts. Two of the bad guys were holding up Suit Number One so the third could punch him again. Suit Number Two was on his knees while the fourth bad guy—this one a hell of a lot bigger than the others—leaned over and said something to him in a low whisper. Travis wasn’t sure what Big Guy was saying, but whatever it was, it must have freaked out Suit Number Two because he frantically shook his head and mumbled something Travis couldn’t hear. Big Guy swore and grabbed Suit Number Two by the lapels, hauling him to his feet.

Travis muttered a curse. This might have started as a simple mugging, but now it had all the makings of a situation that was going to end up with Suits One and Two in the hospital—or the morgue.

He stepped out from the darkness into the dim light filtering through the back door of the closest business—a seafood restaurant named the Bluefin Bar and Grill.

“You assholes ever think of picking on someone your own size?” he demanded.

Hoping the five bad guys would run off was asking too much, especially since there were way more of them than there were of him. But he hadn’t expected four of them to pull guns on him. And from the casual, fluid way they reached behind their backs and came out with the pistols, they clearly did it frequently. The fact that two of the guys never dropped Suit Number One as they did was just part of the impressive display.

Travis threw himself behind the nearest Dumpster to avoid getting his ass shot off just as bullets zipped past him. He hit the ground and rolled until he got to the wall, then quickly scrabbled around in the dark for something he could use as a weapon. Boots stomped toward the Dumpster. He had two seconds, tops.

His right hand found something hard on the ground and he snatched it up without thinking. He glanced down to see a broken dinner plate. It wasn’t much, but it was heavy and it was sharp.

He spun around, staying low as he hugged the corner of the metal Dumpster and waited for whichever bad guy it was to come closer. The moment boots left the paved road and crunched on gravel, he was up and swinging his makeshift weapon.

Bad Guy Number One clearly hadn’t expected Travis to be armed. His eyes went wide as Travis scraped the ragged edge of the plate along his bicep, slicing deep enough to hit bone. The guy stumbled backward with a strangled grunt, tangling with Bad Guy Number Two before that one could get a shot off at Travis. Thanking heaven for small favors, Travis dropped the plate and charged both of them.

Travis had to give Bad Guy Number One credit. Despite the laceration to the arm—which Travis knew from experience could be excruciating—the guy backpedaled, trying to get his weapon pointed at Travis. But it was too late for that. Travis closed with him and slammed the heel of his hand into Bad Guy Number One’s nose. The man went down with a cry of pain, cradling his broken face like a baby.

Travis quickly sidestepped him to get to Bad Guy Number Two, but the lowlifes who’d been holding Suit Number One dropped him and were heading his way, guns pointed in his direction.

Shit
.

Suits One and Two might not be the only ones ending up in the morgue tonight.

Travis was just about to dive for cover behind the Dumpster again when the back door of the restaurant burst open and a dark-haired woman in a blue dress ran out so fast it looked like she’d been shot out of a cannon.

What the hell?

Travis moved to grab her, but he wasn’t fast enough. He watched in amazement as she jumped up and kicked one of the men who’d been about to waste him, the heel of her bare foot striking the would-be shooter in the temple. The guy didn’t even have time to grunt. He just went down—hard.

The woman touched down on the pavement light as a feather, her bare feet barely making a sound. And damn, she was beautiful—both in the classical sense and in the chicks-who-can-fight-are-hot kind of way. That was probably a wildly inappropriate thought to be having at the moment, but Travis refused to be held responsible for what his inner id had to say on the subject.

For a few long heartbeats, everyone froze. Then the woman spun around to face Big Guy and growled. Seriously. She frigging growled!

And that was kind of hot, too.

Big Guy must have disagreed because he charged her. Ninja Girl met him halfway, launching herself in a spinning back kick that probably shouldn’t have been possible in the knee length dress she wore. Crap, she was lightning fast. And as aggressive a fighter as any special ops warrior he’d ever worked with. But Big Guy was just as fast, which was crazy considering he had to be at least two-hundred-and-forty pounds. And yet, he easily sidestepped her kick.

Travis was about to give her some help when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. While the bad guy Ninja Girl had kicked in the face seemed to be out cold, and the one Travis had put down with a broken nose was still on the pavement, the same couldn’t be said of the other two. They’d moved down the alley a few feet, their weapons trained on the woman. While she was locked in hand-to-hand with Big Guy, his friends were going to put a bullet in her head.

Travis didn’t even try to warn her. Instead, he took two running steps and tackled Ninja Girl from behind just as the men opened fire. Half a dozen rounds bounced off the back of the restaurant as he took the long-haired spitfire to the ground. He’d used his body weight to spin them as they fell so that he landed on his back with her on his chest. He cradled her body against his and rolled them a few more times as another set of bullets thudded into the pavement around them. They slid to a stop just as the shooting ceased, and Travis heard the sound of pounding feet as the three bad guys hauled ass down the alley.

Ninja Girl uncoiled herself from his chest with more grace than he’d ever possessed in his life, and was over checking on Suits One and Two before Travis could even get to his feet. Figuring she had that covered, Travis hesitated only long enough to reach down and pick up the handgun that belonged to Bad Guy Number One, then he raced down the alley after the three shitheads who were trying to get away. They had a hell of a head start on him, so he doubted he could catch them, but maybe he could get a look at their vehicle or license plate number.

He checked the gun as he ran, dropping the magazine into the palm of his other hand to make sure it was full. He’d be screwed if he caught up with the bad guys only to find out the weapon was empty. Not only would that be embarrassing, but painful, too. Luckily, it was loaded.