Page 42 of Mated to Team Shadow

"I talked to Dr. Melkot at the facility."

That asshole. Melkot was up our butts every minute of the day while we were there. He oversaw the poking, prodding, and testing of our abilities. I had a big hate-on for that guy and was ecstatic to get out of his range of fire when we went to our first advanced skill training class.

"Humans don't mate for life either," I said.

"Some primates do. And others form strong social bonds."

"Like humans."

"Yes. What we see is Jeanine not so much our mate as belonging with us?"

"Man," said Kane. "That's too deep for me."

"But it makes sense," I said. "I mean, how she was on Morgan's yacht, that was fearless."

"Yeah," Kane said. "She handled herself well on the yacht. On the raft though…"

"Cut the woman a break," snarled Damon. "She hasn't had our training and was in a raft with four men after a difficult day. I say she performed aces."

"What?" said Kane. "You want to make her a member of the team?"

"You aren't getting it, Kane," said Damon. "She is a member. Period."

"It's not the same," said Kane. "There are no female SEALs."

"Hence the reason we need to retire," I said.

"Fuck," said Kane. His voice communicated his thorough unhappiness with the idea. I couldn't say I blamed him.

Inwardly I seconded his assessment. I'd considered retirement and tossed it around more often the past couple months, but I couldn't fathom leaving these guys behind. It felt unnatural, like I was leaving my family. I tried to tell myself that every birdie leaves the nest, but I couldn't bring myself to fly the coop. Nope, I was in it for the long haul with these guys.

And now Jeanine was in the mix.

"We have a lot to straighten out," I said.

"No sh—" Damon skidded to a stop and threw the arm signal telling us to do the same. On the alert, we halted and strained our ears.

There it was. Men shouting a quarter mile, and two minutes ahead.

"!Las manos en la cabeza. Ponte en el suelo¡"

Hell, someone was in trouble.

"No!" shrieked Jeanine.

Double hell. I growled, and so did Kane, but Damon steadfastly signaled that we hold position. My cat clawed at my skin, eager to get to and help Jeanine, but I had to keep my head as much as the beast in me resisted. I clamped down, sucking in a deep breath and focused on what I needed to do.

Damon gave Kane a signal to spread out to the right, and me left, and he moved forward cautiously taking point.

Jeanine screamed again, and we crept through the understory of the rainforest. Insects buzzed around us, but the birds and other animals were quiet and lying low, waiting for the danger to pass.

We got close enough to see Ryker sprawled on the ground and blood dripping down his face. Jeanine knelt next to him and glared at the men pointing rifles at her.

"You bastard," she spat. "You didn't need to do that. He surrendered."

"Si," snarled one man. "For now. This is one that worked with Señor Morgan on the boat and blew it up. Señor Morgan will be very glad to see him."

With one guy covering an unconscious Ryker and a kneeling Jeanine, Jerk Face kicked Ryker. Jeanine threw herself in front of the kick and received the vicious blow. She uttered a pained sound and clenched her gut.

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