Free Alpha Pack 7 - Chase the Darkness by J.D. Tyler

brought their menus and took their drink orders. He ordered a beer, while she asked for a glass of red wine. That decided, she focused on her man.
    “So, I half expected you to drive up to my house on your Harley, plop me on the back, whisk me into the sunset, and enjoy burgers and beers on a patio somewhere.”
    “Oh, we’ll do that. Don’t you worry. Probably more often than not, because I don’t eat like this every night, I’m sorry to say.”
    “That sure clashes with the image of the Mercedes. That’s a ‘steak every night’ kind of car if I ever saw one.”
    “Isn’t it? I don’t live very high on the hog, though. I just love the car. Bought it with my settlement money from the Navy.”
    “You were in the Navy?”
    “I was a SEAL,” he confirmed. Looking around, he lowered his voice and met her gaze again. “Like a lot of my team was, before we were turned.”
    That part was a shock. Quickly, she, too, made sure nobody was in their vicinity to overhear. “You’re not a born wolf?” she whispered.
    “Nope. There are only two-natural born ones at the compound—Nick Westfall, my commander, and his daughter, Selene.”
    “I’ve met Selene, when she first came to town.” Time for a confession. “She wasn’t a happy camper back then, and she realized what I am. I didn’t want anyone to know, and she knew that, too. She put some pressure on me to tell her what I’d heard about your team. So I told her what I knew, which wasn’t much.”
    Micah’s eyes widened, and he whistled softly. “Wow. What did you learn about us?”
    “I have great hearing, and you know why. I’d picked up pieces of your conversations at the Grizzly and put them together enough to find out that you guys weren’t running any kind of regular research facility, and your team is black ops of some sort. And that you’re wolves, and Kalen is a panther.”
    “Thanks for telling me.”
    “Your commander won’t be happy when he finds out.”
    Micah laughed, and the reason soon became clear. “He might know already. He’s not just a born wolf. He’s a rare white breed, and a PreCog.”
    She gaped at him. “You’re kidding.”
    “No. His white coat signifies his status among his kind as a Seer. So, basically, he knows stuff. Sometimes stuff we don’t
want
him to know.”
    That made her laugh. The waiter brought their drinks and took their order. Jacee went for a filet mignon and Micah asked for a big ribeye, both with salads and baked potatoes. Her stomach rumbled just thinking about the meal, but the real feast was right in front of her eyes.
    Micah told her some about growing up, and she was surprised to find out that he was actually two years younger than his sister, Rowan. Jacee had trouble thinking of him as the “little” brother when the fine specimen of a man with her was anything but small. As he related tales of him and Rowan getting into trouble in the barrio as teens, she enjoyed observing his expression and his mannerisms when he spoke. He was so animated and funny.
    “Rowan was always much more of a hellion than me,” he asserted smugly. “It’s a wonder she turned out to be a cop. Mama was sure she’d end up in juvie, especially after she stole twenty packages of hot dogs from the grocery store.”
    “But you were the perfect child?”
    “Of course!”
    “I’ll bet. What the heck did she do with that many packages of hot dogs?”
    “Did you know you can draw on a hot dog with a Sharpie?”
    “Um, no,” she said with a giggle.
    “Well, you can. Rowan had me help her draw googly faces on all the wieners, and then we stuck them in all the neighbors’ mailboxes and on their front porches.”
    “Oh, my God! Didn’t you get in trouble, too?”
    “Sure, I did. But I didn’t know she’d stolen them, even though Mama smacked me in the head and yelled at me to use my brain, and where the hell did I
think
she’d gotten two hundred wieners?”
    Jacee snickered. The image was pretty humorous.