Page 8 of Grumpy Special Ops Bear: Ep. 1
Did she even know what she was doing? No—did she recognize who the hell these people actually were?
“Beta to Alpha,” Cutter drawled.
“Alpha. Go,” I snarled, growing angrier by the damn second.
“Do my eyes deceive me, or is that an unknown with our group?”
“It is.” I stayed where I was, lying flat on the ground, watching the woman get up and disappear into her tent.
Then I eyed the primary target, calmly sitting there on a log, watching the woman’s tent hungrily. This human female was of no concern to me. Protecting humans from harm was the responsibility of the Protectors—hybrids whose job it was to hunt and kill feral and outlaw shifters that either killed a human or were a threat to human society. I was only focused on my target.
Damn. Should we move in while she’s out of the way?
No.
The noise would draw her out, and I wasn’t about to have innocent blood on my hands. If she got in the way when we made our move, there was no guarantee she wouldn’t get taken out with the rest of them.
I growled. “We can’t move in until we know who she is. Tell Grant to take some pics, and then we’ll set up camp for the night.”
“Got it.”
Chapter 8
Trinity
A few more days had gone by,and Josh had opened up a bit more about his life. He and I had a lot more in common than I’d originally thought. We were both castaways who had grown up with no family.
I had to admit I wasn’t used to being around people who actually talked to me. Josh and his team had been attempting to get to know who I was instead of just treating me as their guide.
As we continued on our trek through the wilderness, Josh had been walking with me each day. In fact, he’d been bonding more with me than with the rest of the group. And he seemed less like another rich asshole who was trying to hit on me.
We stopped by a stream for a break as week one was slowly coming to a close.
Perplexingly, I found myself drawn to Josh.
His muscles tensed as he crouched down to refill his water bottle, and I felt my chest tighten. Something about him was both intriguing and frightening.
“I can feel you staring at me from over here,” he joked without turning my way.
I cleared my throat, mentally kicking myself. “Sorry. I was just thinking about something.”
“Oh yeah? And what’s that?” He stood and headed toward me. He took a swig of water, and it ran down his stubbled chin.
I watched him until I realized I was doing it again, and I shook my head. “Nothing. Just wondering if your group would like to try their hand at hunting some small game for dinner?”
“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a few pointers from you.” He wiped the water from his chin with his sleeve and winked.
“I doubt they’ll need any such help from me.”
He shrugged his muscular shoulders. “Never know. We’ve never met anyone like you before.” He reached his hand up and tucked the hair that had fallen from my bun back behind my ear. “Your skin is even more beautiful in this light.”
“Thanks,” I croaked.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I took a step back. “Let’s get moving!” I yelled to the team. “We’ll hunt for game as we head to the next site. We’ll be at that one for a few nights,” I announced. Then I turned and continued forward, knowing they’d catch up quickly enough.
Chapter 9
