Claiming Her Beasts (Claiming Her Beasts #1) - Dia Cole Page 0,2

the biggest cartel in the northern hemisphere would have more interesting things to discuss. “Not once has he mentioned the scientist.”

Jen cursed. “We’re running out of time. The Colonel is about to pull the plug on this operation.”

My breathing went shallow. I knew what that meant. Humanity was running out of time. My dancer was running out of time.

“So, stop dicking around and find out where he is keeping the scientist.”

“By any means necessary?” Excitement thrummed through me as I waited for Jen to respond. If she let me loose, I’d have the information in less than five minutes. Of course, Javier and his crew wouldn’t survive the interrogation, but that was no great loss.

“You know our orders. Do not approach the target or his enforcers,” she said, sounding as tired of this shit as I was.

Which fuck nut desk jockey made that rule? How was I supposed to get critical intel from the leader of a rogue shifter faction without cracking a few skulls?

“Just get the intel and be back at base by zero four hundred hours.”

“Why?” The strip club didn’t close until four.

“Because I said so.” The frost in Jen’s voice made it clear she didn’t owe me an explanation.

“Ten-four.” I tried for a more agreeable tone. It was never a good idea to piss off the person who could unleash gut-wrenching pain with the click of a button.

There was a long pause, as if she was debating telling me something. “The Colonel ordered Dominic’s release,” she finally said in an unnaturally quiet voice.

Air rushed from my lungs. “What the fuck? He was in for life.” My previous handler deserved to die a miserable death in prison for what he’d done. A blowtorch of fury blew through me. My hands shook as the pain-filled screams of my brothers echoed in my mind. “Dom can’t be released.”

“The Colonel wants all hands on deck,” she said, trying to sound calm. Through our bond, I could feel how rattled she was. For some asinine reason, she loved Dom. Not that the ice-cold bastard was capable of returning the sentiment.

I took a deep steadying breath, trying to keep from exploding. It’s a good thing Dom’s out. He’ll be a lot easier to kill.

“The Colonel wants to pair you two again,” Jen added.

“N-no fucking way,” I sputtered. I couldn’t end Dom’s life if they bound me to him.

“So, you’d prefer to stay with me then?”

I grunted, knowing full well the Colonel could give two shits about my preference. My fate was his to fuck with.

“Then I won’t let them re-pair you,” she said with so much conviction, the tension left my body. Jen had pull with the Colonel and although she and I had only been linked a short time, she was a soldier of her word. Unlike Dom…

Betrayer. Liar. Killer.

“I’ll get the location of the scientist,” I promised. I had to at least do that much for her considering I was going to murder her husband the first chance I got.

“Good. Don’t blow your cover and remember the rules. Don’t touch any humans.”

As she severed our connection, it occurred to me the rules didn’t apply to my dancer.

Because Lee’s not entirely human, is she?

As I considered the potential loophole, the jackass at the table in front of me held up several crumpled bills.

My dancer prowled across the stage toward him. Her hips swayed seductively back and forth, and her jeweled navel ring caught the light and shimmered.

A whine caught in the back of my throat. I liked shiny things. A lot…

Fuck. I had to think of a way to complete the mission and get up close and personal with her… at least long enough to explore this hold she had over me.

Is she the one female that can tame my beast, or will it destroy her like all the others?

2

Lee

Dance music shook the stage as I spun around the pole in my G-string. A few rogue feathers from the wings strapped to my back floated gently to the body glitter-encrusted floor. Following them down, I crawled on my hands and knees over to the middle-aged man waving dollar bills in the air.

The rumpled off-the-rack tweed vest he wore told me he was likely one of the professors from the Southern Arizona University campus down the street.

Disappointing. He wouldn’t have deep pockets like some of my big tippers. But beggars couldn’t be choosers. Especially tonight.

Other than the professor, there were only a handful of other patrons in the strip club—Sly, a regular who