Her Wild Hero

“Then you’re going on your own,” Landon said.

Tate frowned, wondering if Landon was bluffing. Angelo could have told the man he wasn’t. Landon never had a problem standing his ground. Angelo had learned that the first day of basic training. Tate must have figured that out, too, because he turned to Ivy.

“This is your best friend we’re talking about, and mine. Are you honestly telling me you’re okay with putting their lives in Tanner’s hands?” Tate asked.

Ivy nodded. “I am. Landon is right, Tate. We need Tanner. I wouldn’t have agreed to bring him if he wasn’t ready.”

Tate looked at Gavin and Brent. Both men shrugged.

“Fine, we’ll do it your way,” Tate told Landon. “But if things go south, it’s on you, and I’ll be coming for payback.” He turned and strode off toward the big tent they were using as a makeshift headquarters, but stopped and glared at Landon again. “Keeping Tanner under control is your problem. Don’t expect any help when he loses it. And if he takes off, you’re going after him this time.”

With that, he ducked inside, Gavin and Brent on his heels.

“Don’t pay any attention to Tate,” Ivy told Landon. “He’s just worried.”

“Not to mention pissed that Tanner ran his whole team ragged for weeks before they brought him in,” Clayne added.

Landon didn’t say anything. If Angelo knew his friend, Landon had already dismissed what Tate’d said. His mind was focused on the next problem.

“So, why don’t they want to work with you?”

Angelo turned to see Carter regarding Tanner, his dark eyes wary. Angelo didn’t blame him. With the long, blond hair and beard, the hybrid looked a little like the wild animal he sometimes turned into.

“I have anger management issues,” Tanner said. “I tend to go nuts and kill people at the slightest provocation.”

If Tanner expected the comment to scare off the two Special Forces guys, it didn’t work.

“Must be a bitch getting through a holiday with your in-laws,” Carter said. “Ever consider meditation?”

Tanner stared at the sergeant for what seemed like forever before he finally cracked a smile. It was small, but it was there.

“My doctor has me doing it now and then.”

“Yeah?” Carter said. “Is it working?”

“Not so much.”

“Then maybe you should think about getting a new doctor,” Butler suggested.

The telltale red glow that came with a shift flashed in Tanner’s eyes. Angelo tensed. Had Carter and Butler seen it, too? Maybe he could say it was the reflection of the setting sun in the hybrid’s eyes. Right. That excuse would only last until Tanner fully flipped the switch and went nuts. What the hell had set him off anyway?

Angelo looked around for a little help, but Ivy and Landon were nowhere to be seen. Clayne was leaning against a nearby tree watching the scene unfold like it was a damn movie. And Derek was standing there with a pissed-off expression on his face, no doubt wondering why the hell everyone was screwing around with these stupid-ass macho games when Kendra was out there in the jungle with numerous monsters chasing her.

Shit.

Angelo took a step toward the hybrid. “Tanner, before you lose your temper and kill Lieutenant Butler, I think you should consider how disappointed Zarina would be.”

According to Landon, Zarina had a magical ability to calm the DCO’s one and only hybrid. Hopefully invoking her name would snap Tanner out of the rage that was starting to build.

It worked like a freaking charm. Tanner blinked several times, took a deep breath, then nodded. The red slowly receded from the hybrid’s eyes. But not before the two soldiers saw it.

“What the hell…?” Carter muttered.

Angelo stifled a groan. Why couldn’t Landon have made things easy on everyone and filled Carter and Butler in on what a hybrid was?

“Okay,” he said. “Time for a security briefing. Landon told you this mission would involve some strange shit, right?” Both men nodded. “Good, because the strange shit just started. Consider anything you see and hear over the next few days to be top secret. It goes to the grave with you. Hooah?”

“Hooah,” Butler and Carter said in unison. No shock there—Special Forces guys saw so much classified crap, they flushed it without too much thought.