Angel's Touch [PUP Squad Alpha 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Abby Blake Page A

machine. “Call me.”

Chapter One
     
    “Thanks, Jed,” Jennifer said with a bright smile as she stepped from the bounce tunnel and onto the dirt road. Her mates, Thomas and Adam, were close behind her.
    “Anytime, sweet thing,” Jed said, managing to piss off both werewolves by laughing at their growls of annoyance. Between Hannah’s oversensitive bears and Jennifer’s growly wolves it was likely he’d be torn to pieces by sharp teeth in the very near future. Maybe he should tone down the teasing just a bit.
    “Will you stay for the ceremony?” Jennifer asked, either missing or ignoring the tension coming off the two men holding her.
    “Sure,” he said, completely disregarding his own advice of a moment ago. He tried to convince himself he was staying because Jennifer wanted him there, but a small part of him acknowledged the inherent mischief in doing the exact opposite of what her mates wanted.
    He was still laughing to himself when his mission partner landed not far from where they were standing. The ex-Navy SEAL marched over to stand in front of him. “Sit-rep,” he demanded.
    Jed rolled his eyes, making certain the man saw his exaggerated movement. “Relax, Devlin,” he said, smirking when the guy showed no sign of following his order. “This is a celebration. Chill for a while.”
    “We need to find Li—” the guy began, but Jed cut him off.
    “Lilly has been evading us for weeks. A few hours off to celebrate a friend’s acceptance into her husbands’ wolf pack shouldn’t be too hard to find.”
    Devlin glanced around the area as if he wasn’t quite convinced. “I’ll just do a quick security sweep of the area,” he said as he lifted back into the air. Jed wanted to roll his eyes again at the man’s dedication to his job, but grudgingly admired the man’s ability to fly. His wingspan was rather impressive, but it was the fact that to humans, and even to some paranormals, the guy appeared to be just a majestic eagle flying overhead that was truly intimidating.
     
    * * * *
     
    Devlin soared lazily, circling the area several times but finding little of interest. The werewolves’ community was quite impressive and blended well into the natural landscape, but none of it offered the distraction he was looking for.
    The fact that Lilly Wicks was still MIA annoyed the hell out of him. As a Navy SEAL he’d never failed to complete a mission. His service record had been exemplary, but when the replacements to his original teammates started retiring, he’d known it was time to move on. It didn’t matter how perfect his record had been. Sooner or later someone was going to notice he wasn’t aging.
    He’d considered joining the PUP squads but had, rather ironically as it turned out, chosen to go into the private sector because he’d grown tired of being given orders by people who’d never fought on the front lines. Considering how much he missed the structure of military life, it seemed like a poor decision in hindsight.
    Reluctantly he circled the area once more and then lowered himself to the ground at the far edge of the yard where the celebrations were being held. He got there just in time to see Jennifer fall asleep in her mates’ arms. They held her close as they spoke to friends and family, but just like she’d been warned, it seemed Jennifer was going to miss her own party.
    “Find anything interesting?” Benjamin asked as he handed Devlin a cup of something that smelled like fruit punch.
    “Nothing to report,” he said, biting back the “Sir” at the last moment. Benjamin smiled as if he heard the word anyway.
    “It’s a hard habit to break,” he said, “but you’ll get used to civilian life eventually.”
    “How long did it take you?” Devlin asked curiously. It was obvious that Benjamin had been a soldier at one time in his life, but he’d been the commanding officer of PUP Squad Alpha for over five decades now. Despite their military-type training and mission