Hot SEALs: Her Special Alpha (Kindle Worlds) (X-OPS 3.5) Read Free Page A

ever heard.
    Oh, you’re special all right, he mused to himself as she gracefully got to her feet and looked down the alley in the direction the heavily armed men had vanished. Very special .
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
    “Am I just being cynical, or does it seem like your future brother-in-law is going out of his way to downplay what happened?”
    Eden Bristow glanced at the man who’d saved her life twice in the span of five minutes. Travis Dalton was as perceptive as he was hunky and courageous. “You getting that too, huh? I can’t believe he told the cops those guys were only after their wallets.”
    Eden and Travis had introduced themselves after getting up and dusting off their clothes. It was actually a good thing they’d taken the time to do it then because by the time they got back to the Bluefin Bar and Grill, the restaurant where her sister was having her rehearsal dinner, the place was surrounded by cops. To say it had turned into a zoo was an understatement. It had taken Eden ten minutes just to get inside so she could retrieve her purse and Department of Homeland Security badge.
    She and Travis had finished giving their statements to the local cops and were now leaning against the hood of a police cruiser listening as Brandon Haywood, her future brother-in-law, and Tim Ainsley, his best man, give their statements to the cops—again. She didn’t blame the police for asking the men to go over their stories a second time. They were a little tough to buy.
    According to Brandon—whom Eden met for the first time two days ago when she came down from D.C. for the wedding—he and Tim had been approached by the five men while they were outside getting some air. The men had demanded their wallets and when they didn’t comply fast enough, they beat up Brandon and Tim.
    Eden didn’t know Brandon well enough to say for a fact that he was lying—and she knew Tim even less—but she agreed with Travis. Her sister’s future husband seemed to be working unusually hard to convince the cops that the mugging hadn’t been a big deal. He even said the gunfire had all been a big misunderstanding.
    “Does Virginia require any form of drug testing prior to marriage?” Travis snorted. “If not, maybe your sister should pay for one before it’s too late.”
    Eden couldn’t help but crack up a little at that. She hadn’t known Travis for very long, but she already liked him. Besides the snarky wit, sinful good looks, mesmerizing dark eyes, a body that wouldn’t quit, and the absolutely yummy scent coming off him, there was also his willingness to throw himself between her and a hail of bullets. She was a shifter, which meant she likely would have survived getting shot as long as she didn’t take a direct hit to the head or heart, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate a bit of chivalry now and then.
    But more impressive than any of that other stuff was knowing Travis had seen her shift—complete with claws and fangs—and hadn’t freaked. In fact, he’d acted like it wasn’t a big deal at all. That kind of reaction—or lack of one—was rare. Even the agents on the four-member personal security team she was part of back in Washington at the DCO—one a former U.S. Marshal from the WITSEC program, and the other two former Secret Service who used to protect the president—had freaked out the first time they’d seen her in action, and they’d known what to expect. It made her wonder if Travis had stumbled across a shifter before tonight. Then again, maybe he was just one of those guys who didn’t rattle easy. She knew for a fact that his heart rate hadn’t elevated very much, even when those guys were shooting at them.
    “So, you work for the Department of Homeland Security, huh?” he asked casually.
    Travis must have seen her flash her badge to the cops when she’d given her statement. “I’m just a paper pusher up in Washington, but yeah, I’m with the DHS.”
    She