Her Rogue Alpha (X-Ops Book 5) Read Free Page B

“You know, when John told me that Layla was going to train to be a field agent, I thought it was a mistake. Even if she is a shifter, she’s still a psychologist, one with nothing in her background to even suggest she’d have the skills to be an operative. But I was wrong. She’s learning faster than almost anyone I’ve ever seen. In fact, I heard John mention she’ll be going on a mission soon.”
    Jayson almost dropped the lower frame piece he was working on. Of all the things Dick could have said, that was the one thing Jayson least wanted to hear.
    “That’s good,” he mumbled.
    While he was thrilled for her, he couldn’t stop the nagging voice in the back of his head that kept reminding him that once Layla proved herself ready for full-time fieldwork, she’d be one step closer to the very worst part of this whole deal—getting a partner.
    No matter how proud of her he was, he was never going to be happy about her going into the field with someone other than him. It would almost certainly be a man because all the female shifters were paired up with guys who were ex-military or ex–law enforcement. Jayson tried not to be jealous and failed miserably—mostly because he knew how close DCO agents had to get to do their jobs. That’s how his former A-team commander-turned-DCO-agent Landon Donovan and his partner Ivy had ended up married, even though no one in the DCO “officially” knew it. Wolf shifter Clayne Buchanan and his fiancée Danica Beckett had gotten together as a result of some mission to hunt down a serial killer in California, while Declan and Kendra MacBride had fallen in love while on the run from crazed hybrids in the rainforest of Costa Rica. Heck, even Angelo Rios, another former Special Forces guy, and his quiet hybrid partner, Minka Pajari, had gotten seriously close during their first mission in Tajikistan.
    The thought that Layla would be out there spending a bunch of time with another man—laughing, bonding, and probably realizing she was wasting her life with him—just about tore out his guts.
    On the flip side, Jayson also worried that Layla would end up with an asshole partner who wouldn’t watch her back—like Powell or Moore. If she was paired with one of those idiots, he’d never be able to sleep again.
    “What kind of person do you think Layla would match up well with?” Dick asked, as if reading his thoughts. “As a partner in the field, I mean.”
    Jayson’s grip tightened on the slide as he tried to breathe through a pain in his chest that hurt more than any back spasm ever could. Asking him which man he thought would be a good partner for Layla was a question he couldn’t—wouldn’t—answer.
    If Dick noticed his reaction, he didn’t mention it. “Personally, I think the two of you would make a great team.”
    Another spike of pain stabbed him. He swallowed hard. “Yeah, well I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.”
    Dick glanced up from the spring he was meticulously cleaning. “But what if it could?”
    Jayson frowned. “What do you mean by that? You know how screwed up my back is.”
    Dick shrugged and went back to cleaning. “Some of our doctors have been working on a serum that might be able to repair the damage.”
    Jayson froze. His heart began thumping harder even as he told himself to be wary. “You mean a hybrid serum?”
    “Basically, yes. But it’s nothing like the stuff that was used on Tanner and Minka,” he added quickly. “While the basis for this new drug is the hybrid serum we’ve been studying, our doctors have refined it. They’ve eliminated the negative side effects, like the rage, and have optimized the serum so that the person who takes it gets the strength, speed, and healing abilities of a shifter without any of the more extreme physical attributes, such as claws and fangs.”
    Jayson stared at him, afraid to believe what he was hearing. If what Dick said was true, a serum like that could heal his injuries. “And