Page 4 of Escalating Alpha

“And there’s no takebacks or graceful way to change your mind and the position wasn’t right for you. So people quit and we lose good people. Or they become useless like some we pushed out the door just doing their time on the government’s dime until retirement. I can’t even hate them for that, but it fucks the rest of us. I didn’t want that to be your story.”

He bobbed his head but pulled away and went over to Brian. He gave me a wink that he had it and I focused back on Cindy.

“What else?” I asked Cindy.

She swallowed loudly. “Even if they killed us, it would get them caught, so you could figure out what was really going on and at least they didn’t take anyone else. It kept us four as the only casualties.”

“Good. You need to understand that could absolutely be your future.” I gave her a sad smile when she blinked back tears. “I went into undercover knowing it would probably be how I die. You need to accept that and—”

“Chief Thomas,” the guy from IA snapped.

But I kept talking. “Understand that could absolutely be how you die. You also have to sacrifice. I barely dated until I was outed. You can’t bring kids into this life. Not while undercover.”I let out a slow breath. “And you will absolutely be sexually assaulted, possibly raped.”

“Chief Thomas!” he yelled.

“I’ve never met a female agent or undercover op who hasn’t gone through it,” I told her gently. “It’s the first thing bad men use against women.”

“Any good news?” she chuckled darkly.

“Yeah, I’m fucking rich, and I use that to save my people even over what the FBI can do,” I told her honestly. “I’m the adopted daughter of the queen of the wolves and leader of Greece. I’ve got connections and friends all over the fucking place. And I will useallof it if you are ever in trouble. I will do everything in my power to keep you from being one of those bad endings.”

“I want to punch you again,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, I bet you do, but you only get one,” I chuckled.

“Are you quite done?” the guy from IA about seethed. “That wasn’t what you were supposed to say to her as was our agreement.”

I glanced at him over my shoulder. “I promised Iwouldsay it and I will. I didn’t say I would immediately say it to her. I get your side of this, but you haven’t been onthisside of things. I’m trying to keep her alive and give a real view of what she’s signing up for. This isn’t fun for me. I’m not a sadist. Please remember we’re on the same team.”

He snorted but then chilled when everyone else FBI gave him a glance that he was the problem.

The vamps had already been doing that.

I focused back on Cindy and cleared my throat. “I apologize for putting you in this situation without your consent. As your boss, it is my responsibility to always put your safety and well-being first—”

“I wasn’t in danger,” she muttered, glancing behind me.

“And in this instance, I have failed and acknowledge my failure,” I continued. “As is your right and in line with FBI regulations, you can file a complaint—”

“I’m good, Chief,” she said firmly. “If nothing else, it taught me not to be an idiot and be more aware of my surroundings. I didn’t remotely give them enough to chew on and—”

“Yeah, you did,” one of the vampires from off to the side drawled. “You broke my fucking nose, and I’m two hundred years old, so that’s not easy. Plus, not to get overly personal here, but I expect to pee blood for today. Awesome.”

Oh fuck, it was hard not to laugh, but… He wasn’t wrong.

She met his gaze with a smirk. “I could do better.”

His lips twitched. “I bet you could, and you’re going to have to train harder to go undercover. If she does, I hope you give her a pass to the supes-only gym, Chief. We can work with her on a lot.”

Yeah, they could. I nodded that I heard him.

“I forgot where I was at,” I admitted. “You can throw the book at me without any repercussions.” I shrugged. “I took this further than you agreed to since you didn’t sign up yet and were still deciding. I get that. Report me if you want and I won’t hold it against you. I’ll sign a transfer and give you a glowing review. No bad blood here.”

She studied me a moment. “You could report me for the punch.”

“What punch?” I asked innocently.

She chuckled and held out her hand. “I’m in. I think I needed to see I could handle something bigger, and—I needed to see to make the decision.”

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