What This Wolf Wants(2)

Joe laughed. “Nay, man. You know how it is. Kicking ass, taking down the bad guys and getting the girl. I love this job!”

Zan closed his eyes as he savored his coffee. Yeah. It was almost always the same for him as well. Though the girl part was a stretch. Just as he knew it was a stretch for both Joe and Scott. As the youngest in the team, it seemed they had a need to brag about their conquests. In time they’d learn. But for now, the comment brought a small smile to Zan’s lips.

He leaned back against the granite countertop. “What are you two up to now?”

“Evidently not a damn thing.” Scott grumbled. “Thomas took off with Cooper yesterday to Australia and Russell said Joe and I had to take a week off.”

Zan nodded in agreement. Depending on the job, the team might work as a whole unit, in pairs, or alone. As the newest recruits, Scott and Joe were only given the more dangerous duties when paired with a seasoned member, otherwise they worked as backup. If Russell wanted them to take time off it was because their leader sensed the younger shifters’ restlessness. If not monitored properly, their job could turn into an addiction, a dangerous edge Zan flirted with more often than not.

While Zan could still corral his beast when reporting to Russell, he had a feeling the older shifter wasn’t completely clueless, given his leader’s predilection to suggest rather than order time off, or space Zan’s assignments further apart. Though not a true Alpha of a Pack, Russell was a superior officer, and an order from such the human half of Zan would understand, but the beast would only snarl and snap in a fight for supremacy. Battling Russell for leadership was about the last thing Zan wanted to do. Not only did he respect the man, the shifter had a mate with a cub on the way.

Zan’s circumstances left him at a loss. Remaining with the status quo could lead to undesired results, but Zan had no idea what to do with himself if he took the other option and left the team. Living among the humans could become dicey. Zan might be one of the few shifters strong enough to control the beast during the full moon, but his animal needed to be involved in a Pack environment, otherwise the beast would either whither and die, or go psychotic, taking the man with him.

Of course, there was a third option. Joining another Pack. But where and which one? Maybe Zan should take some time off and do some reconnoitering on that end.

“What was it with that girl?” Joe’s frowning tone broke through Zan’s drifting thoughts. “I mean she’s cute and all, but not really my type.”

Meaning she wasn’t a triple D. “What girl?” Zan asked, not really interested but unwilling to go back into the dark areas of his mind.

“That’s because she was in heat and unclaimed you moron. It’s enough to make any shifter look twice.” Scott muttered, moving his thumb over the screen of his cell phone.

And take several photos, Zan thought as he assumed that’s what the two were doing. What idiot bastard would leave his mate unclaimed? Finding one’s mate was akin to hunting down a needle in a haystack. Once the mating heat occurred, only the most reprehensible of wolves would leave one’s mate available to other wolves for the taking.

Joe made a rumbling sound in his throat. “I remember that shifter next to her. He was the Alpha of the Pack, wasn’t he? Maybe she didn’t want to be claimed by him. Wouldn’t blame her. He practically skinned us alive with his eyes. Hey,” Joe paused, looked up at Zan and back down at the small device. “Can you make that section bigger?”

“Top of the line, my man. Of course I can.” Scott made some adjustments while Zan contemplated his next move. Hunt down Russell and ask for his next assignment, or start searching for a new home? “Whoa.”

Zan had turned his back to get a second cup of coffee when his spine tingled. He could practically feel two pairs of eyes boring holes into the back of his head through the sudden and thick silence. Facing the younger shifters, he lifted a brow in question as they alternately looked from him to Scott’s phone and back again. The blood in his veins chilled. “What?”

Joe was the first to break the silence. “Dude. I always thought you had some strange eyes, but this man’s got them.”

Zan’s eyes were an intense green. A clear emerald green that had no striations, no color fluctuations, and had memorized more than one individual with their unending depth.

Though far from the only person on the planet with such eyes, there was one particular individual Zan had spent years searching for, one he knew had the same eyes. A male.

His brother.

So fast the motion was a blur, Zan reached across the table and snatched the cell out of Scott’s hand. His heart pounded as he stared down at the color still-frame, eyes instinctively going to the male in the photo. Longish black hair was pulled back at the base of his neck, matching brows were drawn together in a scowl as the man glowered in the direction of the photographer. The unknown man had the same olive complexion Zan did, but the cheekbones were sharper, and the chin more chiseled.