Free hidden talents by Emma Holly

suggestions.”
    Rick pulled a face to say he didn"t have any.
    “Come on,” Nate broke in impatiently. “Am I the only one who thinks Ari here would make ideal bait?”
    Adam"s canines slid down as his lip curled back, a snarl rising in his throat before he could stop it. Nate had not just suggested that.
    “Whoa,” Nate said, hands lifted, palms exposed. “Just consider it before you go ballistic. Blackwater wants her on his leash again. If we let him find her, he"ll think it was his idea to yank her back to heel. It"ll never occur to him she"s a plant.”
    “She"s a civilian,” Adam growled. “A human. We aren"t throwing her to that bastard like she"s a fucking steak.”
    “If you"d stop thinking with your dick for two seconds -”
    As alpha, Adam had more speed than any of his pack. He had Nate and his stupid egg chair flat on their backs before the lower ranked wolf could defend himself. Adam dearly wanted to tear him apart, but settled for yanking him up and slamming him into the raw brick wall between his front windows.
    “Shit,” Nate gasped once enough of his breath came back.
    He was no weakling and didn"t immediately submit. Right that second, this wasn"t the smart option.
    “Bare your neck,” Adam barked, shaking him so hard his head snapped back.
    His eyes were hot and glowing, his voice supernaturally low and thick.
    “Sheesh,” Nate muttered, but he lifted his chin out of the way for him.
    Claiming his due, Adam pressed his extended canines around the other man"s wildly racing pulse. Werewolves healed wounds fast. He wouldn"t kill Nate if he bit down and tore, but it might be a near thing. His more primitive side really wanted to test that.
    “I"m sorry,” Nate said, his hands coming to Adam"s ribs to rub them
    soothingly. “I didn"t realize how serious you"d gotten about her.”
    He meant it. He wasn"t just offering empty submission. Adam shoved his
    inner wolf back into its cage and stepped back. He hadn"t realized how serious he"d gotten either. He couldn"t apologize, but he did nod to Nate in acceptance.
    Both of them were shaking just a little as Nate rubbed his reddened neck. They hadn"t come this close to a knock-down drag-out since the pack had been formed.
    Once a cop passed his courses at the Academy, leadership was decided by combat in wolf form. Back then, Nate had thought he"d be squad alpha. When he also hadn"t won the fight for beta, the loss had been hard on him. He was as strong as Rick or Adam, and certainly as smart. For whatever reason, his genes didn"t send the same signals. Rick and Adam"s wolves had been able to control his.
    “You two done?” Tony asked from the living room. “Not that watching you two go at it wasn"t ree-diculously hot.”
    Nate snorted and they returned to their chairs, Tony having set Nate"s fallen egg upright. As Adam hitched up his cargo pants and sat, Ari followed his movements with rounded eyes. The part of him that was trying to watch its back with her wished he didn"t feel so satisfied that her pulse was thudding.

    “Here"s the thing,” Nate ventured cautiously. “We need to get close to
    Blackwater"s operation somehow.”
    The back of Adam"s neck started prickling again. Before he could speak, Rick did.
    “We can"t use Ari,” he said, the first time he"d used her name that Adam could recall. “We don"t know what the Eunuch is doing to the Talents who disappear. Even if we wired her some way he wouldn"t spot, we couldn"t move in fast enough if she was in trouble.”
    Tony cleared his throat with a humorous flourish, and Adam felt a gratitude for his presence that was becoming familiar. Ever since he"d given up on proving how tough he was, Tony had turned peacemaker. Werewolf aggression being what it was, they could always use more of those.
    “I have an idea,” the squad"s youngest member said. “One our fearless leader might actually go for. We ask the gargoyles to do an enhancement spell on Adam.
    He"s already got a gift. If he