Page 4 of Mated to Team Shadow

He nodded grimly, and we moved forward with uneven steps. The ship listed to the side, toward the water and not the dock, hampering our progress. Gunner had placed the charges to do this because we didn't want to damage the dock.

We crawled through the skewed hallway to the ladder that would bring us to the lowest deck where Morgan stored the yacht's powerboat. It was our getaway plan because we didn't want to put our feet on foreign soil. Without passports and involved in a dubious operation, we couldn't count on recovery. This was a strictly "will disavow any knowledge" mission, meaning that until we got into international waters, we were on our own.

Damon, beside me, growled. His frustration rolled over him because he knew what I would say.

"No. Not here," I said.

"Why the fuck not?"

I jerked my head toward the woman Gunner slung over his shoulder.

"Not in front of the normals."

"Damn, Gunner."

We made to the ladder, and show-off Damon jumped to the lower deck. He held open his hands.

"Toss her here, Gunner."

"Toss?" she squeaked.

"Sure enough, but I get her back."

Gunner pulled her off his shoulder and dropped her feet first as she screamed. But Damon scooped her up and thrust her into my arms. One by one our boots thudded on the metal deck, and Kane and Damon raced to push the boat into the water. Fortunately, our forced rearrangement of the yacht's hull brought the water level to the power boat's keel. However, we'd have to hurry, or we couldn't clear the rapidly sinking opening at the stern to make our getaway. And the sharp and acrid smell of diesel told me one or more fuel tanks had ruptured, which made it more imperative that we get out of Dodge.

Gunner dropped the woman in the boat, and I stayed behind to shove the craft and ensure it cleared the sinking yacht. Damon started the engine. The glub sound of the engine almost reassured me that we'd get away clean. But the yacht listed again, and only inches remained to push the boat through the opening.

"Go!" I yelled as I ran along the side pushing determined to make the boat squeeze through at an angle. Damon steered the sleek speedboat forward and put it in gear.

"Go!" I yelled again, and his expression hardened because he knew he'd be leaving me behind. We worked on the buddy system to cover each other's backs. Damon was my go-to, but I made an executive decision for their safety over mine. Damon grimaced disliking my decision, but he accelerated and piloted the boat to clear water.

The yacht groaned and listed submerging the opening in seconds while the shell of the ceiling hovered inches above my head. Gear lining the walls of the boat bay floated in the rapidly narrowing gap. The lights flickered and snuffed casting me in darkness. I needed out before I became a casualty. I knew better than to panic, but adrenaline pumped through me.

I jumped into the water, and the ocean surrounded me with its liquid Caribbean warmth saturating my clothes and sunk me. With hours of training and experience this was not a new feeling, but with the ship submerging fast, my heart pounded thinking this vessel could be my coffin. I swam toward where I believed the opening should be, but it was not there. Diesel in the water clouded my vision, and my hands couldn't find the egress to the open water.

From training, I could hold my breath for three minutes, but that wouldn't be enough time to locate the opening and then reach the surface.

Either I took extreme measures, or I was toast. And it would be an irony and a shame that a Navy SEAL drowned. Not that it hadn't happened before, but I was adamant it would not be me. I'd be damned if I let Davy Jones' locker take me.

Rising into the air pocket, I took a lungful of air and started the change. The burn began along my spine and spread to my legs, rearranging them from arms and legs into the limbs of a four-legged beast. My face elongated and my eyes and ears moved to different places. I sensed an opening underwater, as my jaguar ears caught sounds that my human ears could not, and my eyes saw flashes of movement obscured to me when human. I sucked in a deep breath and dove, letting the rumbles, pops, and pings of the powerboat lead me to open water. As a human, I could not do this. As my animal self, it was easier than eating a candy bar.

From the swim and change in the proportion of my waist, I lost my slacks, but I had no place for my tail in human clothes anyway. Freed, I paddled through the water. Fortunately, the tide pulled out to sea, so I nearly glided through the water.

The rumble of the power boat's engine grew louder, so I knew Damon had stopped her and waited for me to show. I poked my head up and roared to let my team know I was nearby, then I dove and shifted to my human form. It was easier doing this in water as the sea held me in its warm embrace while my bones realigned. Once limbs had become arms and legs, and my fur receded, I broke the surface of the water and waved.

My men appeared relieved, but they should know I always survived.

I swam to the boat and Kane reached his arm toward the water to help me up into the boat. The woman's eyes grew wide at my half-naked state and Gunner threw a towel at me which I wrapped around my waist.

"My eyes," he whined with one of his stupid jokes.

Then Kane and Damon smiled, but it was more from relief that we'd all gotten out alive.

"Boss," said Damon as he peered over his shoulder. "We have incoming."

I swiveled my head to see a St. Lucia Coast Guard cutter heading our way. But it was an aging vessel and wouldn't match the power of this demon of the seas.

We'd chosen St. Lucia for this reason, and also politically they didn't mind assassinating known criminals. They'd pulled off their own campaigns to make the island more attractive to tourists. When Damon told me this, I nearly woofed my beer. St. Lucia? An eye-catching little island nation whose police commanded the naval forces? It was an extreme solution for a tiny country. Still, we did not want to be caught by them or to have to explain why United States' SEALS were in their sovereign waters.

---