The Agent Gets Her Wolves [The Shifters of Catamount, Texas 3] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting) Read online

  The Shifters of Catamount, Texas 3

  The Agent Gets Her Wolves

  Stephanie Cooper, an agent for Homeland Security, has a big goal for a little rabbit-shifter when she opens a field office in Catamount. She’s determined to bring down Esteban Santos, the snake-shifter responsible for dozens of murders. She needs the best staff, so she sets her sights on Jake Westin, ex-secret service and now manager of Clandestine. What she doesn’t count on is being saddled with Dylan Winston, an extracted CIA agent with ties to her past.

  The wolf-shifters settle into a rocky truce, but as they vie for Stephanie’s attention, an assassin stalks Catamount, seeking the wolf-shifter who escaped from a vicious drug lord. As Stephanie, Jake, and Dylan follow a trail of bodies, they discover the female assassin may have connections to Santos, and she won’t stop until she finds the target, Dylan. The swan-shifter’s met her match in Stephanie because no one interferes with what Stephanie wants, and she wants a happily ever after with her wolves.

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Shape-shifter, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 65,996 words

  THE AGENT GETS HER WOLVES

  The Shifters of Catamount, Texas 3

  Josie Hunter

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  THE AGENT GETS HER WOLVES

  Copyright © 2014 by Josie Hunter

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-543-9

  First E-book Publication: April 2014

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of The Agent Gets Her Wolves by Josie Hunter from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

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  This is Josie Hunter’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Hunter’s right to earn a living from her work.

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  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  About the Author

  THE AGENT GETS HER WOLVES

  The Shifters of Catamount, Texas 3

  JOSIE HUNTER

  Copyright © 2014

  Chapter 1

  Catamount, Texas

  Early October

  Stephanie Cooper tossed her cell phone on the desk with a huff. Lips pursed, she spun in her chair and crossed her legs, her foot bouncing with her frustration. This was not how she’d wanted to start her day.

  “He turned me down. Flat-out turned me down.”

  Talon continued studying the document spread across his desk. She tossed a paper clip at him. It hit him on the side of his head.

  “Barry, did you hear me?”

  “Uh-huh.” He ran a hand over the top of his bald head then glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “I didn’t expect him to be onboard.”

  “He has to be. He’s my first choice,” Stephanie grumbled.

  “I thought I was your first choice. I mean you did call me and sweet-talk me out of retirement and all.”

  “Hiding in the Appalachians is your idea of retirement?”

  “Semantics, Steph.” He shook his head. “The fact is I was content. Was being the operative word here, in case you didn’t notice. You’ve blown that all to hell.”

  “Stop being a drama queen. Nothing is blown to hell...yet. It wouldn’t matter anyway because you’re doing your civic duty. I needed you.”

  “For my intel.”

  “Yes, but I wanted you for lots of reasons. You know that. Plus, I’m pretty sure I’ve saved your sorry ass.”

  “As if,” Talon muttered. “Everyone thought I was dead until you dragged me back to this fucking town. Who the hell knows who might be stalking me now? Esteban Santos could show up here any day.”

  “You’re safe here, Barry. That’s a promise.”

  “I’m sure if you say so, it must be true,” he murmured.

  “Stop being such a Gloomy Gus,” she said with a laugh. “Come on. Smile. You know I brought you into the fold for your cheery disposition.”

  “Of course you did,” he muttered.

  Sometimes she could mollify him. Sometimes she couldn’t. Today was one of her unlucky days because he started in on the same old topic they’d been on for weeks. She ignored him because she’d heard it all. Sure, he was right. She’d been hounding him for weeks for information, but so far, he hadn’t broken. She’d tear him down eventually, and he’d spill everything he knew about Esteban Santos. Why? Because she said so, and what Stephanie Cooper wanted, Stephanie Cooper got. That was her primary directive in life, and she didn’t allow people to stand in her way. Ever.

  She wasn’t usually a patient person, but in this case, she knew he’d spill eventually, so she’d wait. She wouldn’t, howeve
r, wait for another operative to join their team. She wanted Jake Westin to change his mind. He had to change it, and he had to change it now.

  “He has to be onboard.”

  Talon sat back in his chair, the rocking motion stretching his big body straight, his long legs crossed at the ankles. He folded his hands behind his head. He looked really uncomfortable in his three-piece suit. He’d complained, of course, but her agency, her rules. “So just because you wish it, it happens?”

  She pressed her lips together. “When you say it like that, it makes me sound a bit self-absorbed.”

  “Just a bit?” He gave her his crooked smile. Though they’d been working together for only three weeks to set up the office, he could read her almost better than anyone. Odd, considering they’d been on opposite sides of the fence until recently. “Aren’t you self-absorbed?” he asked with a smirk.

  “No, of course not. I consider it determined and focused. When I have a goal, I obtain it.”

  “And you don’t mind running roughshod over anyone who stands in your way,” he said. “Wouldn’t that classify as self-absorbed?”

  “Maybe,” she said reluctantly. Then she huffed. “No, this is most definitely not me being self-absorbed. This is business. I want Jake Westin on this team.”

  Talon sat up quickly, the back of the seat smacking against him. “Westin has his own job. Just because Tyler Lucas recommended him doesn’t mean Westin is interested in going back on the company payroll.”

  “Damn it, he has to accept. He’d be a complete asset. You know that. I know that. His experience in secret service makes him invaluable. Short of hijacking some of the Tomcats—”

  “Maybe you could requisition your sister. I’m sure the Lucases could spare her to help you out.” He pressed his lips together to smother a laugh.

  “Oh, very funny. The last person I want on this team is Claire, and you know that.”

  “Ah, you’re such a bad little sis. I’ll bet Claire’s dying to be on this team.”

  “Not likely. Claire is already moaning that I’m in the same state, let alone in Catamount. If Claire were the last person on earth, I—”

  Talon broke out laughing. “Some day you’re going to tell me the story behind all this animosity.”

  “It’s enough that you know we don’t get along.”

  “But you’re both so adorable,” Talon said. When Stephanie rose from her chair, he pushed back in his chair with another laugh, holding up his hands. “Okay, okay, I’ll concede for now. But you will tell me eventually.”

  “I’ll share my secrets if you share yours,” she said sweetly.

  “Yeah, so, what were you saying about Jake Westin?”

  At least she’d gotten him off the subject of Claire. Thinking about her older sister gave her a massive headache. “Westin is our best bet in this town.”

  “Uh-huh,” Talon said with a nod, “and I’m sure he’s just chomping at the bit to help run a real estate agency.”

  Stephanie took off her glasses, rubbed her eyes, and then she gave him a pointed stare. It was far easier to stare at him when his image was blurry. He could disarm her anger so easily with just a look. “It’s a pretend real estate agency, Barry.”

  Talon gestured toward the booklet on his desk. “If it’s so pretend, why the fuck do I have to get a real estate license?”

  Stephanie folded her arms. “To put on the wall, dummy. You know we have to look legit. Tyler said—”

  “Ohhh, Tyler said. Well, that makes all the difference in the world.” He pushed the booklet across the desk, and a pile of papers fell to the floor and scattered across the tile. He gestured toward his face. “It’s not like anyone’s going to list or buy a house from a guy with a mug like this. Face it, Steph. I’m ugly as sin, and we both know it. Can’t we just find another pretend job for me?”

  She hated when he talked about how he looked. No, he wasn’t pretty to look at, and he’d done some terrible things during his involvement with the Santos family, but she truly liked him. He’d come to be very special to her since their encounter in New Orleans back in July.

  “I’ll give it some thought,” she said lightly, “if you help me get Jake Westin into the fold.”

  “Short of threatening him…not that a wolf-shifter cares much about threats from an eagle-shifter…how do you expect me to do that? Have you seen that guy? Westin might possibly be the biggest son of a bitch in Catamount.”

  “You’re a big guy, too, Barry.” She slipped her glasses back on and winked. “You could take him.”

  “Sure, right. More like he’d flatten me with the first punch and toss the second in just as reminder of the first. But there might be another option.”

  He was looking at her funny, his gray eyes serious, and Stephanie had no idea what was going through his mind. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought he was checking her out, but this was Barry Hatfield, the evil eagle-shifter turned government agent. He had no interest in her or any other woman she knew of, or man for that matter. He seemed like a pure, unadulterated loner, flying solo through life. His gaze drifted over her face and down the front of her white button-down blouse.

  “What?” She toyed with the top closed button of her shirt, wondering if she should button the one above it. She straightened in her chair and tightened her stomach muscles, wondering why on earth she’d do that. They were as tight as they could get, and Barry was the last guy who’d care what she looked like.

  “So innocent, Agent Cooper,” he said with a laugh. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

  “You know you are,” she snapped. “You’re doing it on purpose. What’s going through that big bald head of yours?”

  He leaned back in his chair again and let his gaze drift from her crisp black pants down to her black high-heeled boots. She was always striving to look taller. Being five two seemed like a real handicap at times.

  “The outfit isn’t doing much for your feminine wiles, but that could be easily fixed. We need to work on that anyway. You’re looking more and more like Dana Scully every day.”

  “Dana Scully happens to be my personal hero,” Stephanie said, lifting her chin.

  He shook his head sadly. “She’s not real, sweetheart.”

  “I know that, but I grew up watching The X-Files. It’s why I wanted to be an agent. I like these clothes. I feel professional in this suit.”

  “You look like a professional hit man, emphasis on man, not a professional real estate agent. You need to go out and buy some frilly girly things, something that will make you more approachable, something to make you look more womanly. Something bright and colorful.”

  “I’m not a parrot-shifter, Barry.”

  “No, but you look about as approachable as a porcupine.”

  “Thanks so much,” Stephanie muttered. “What does my outfit have to do with anything?”

  “Steph, Steph, what am I going to do with you? Do you ever look in the mirror?”

  “Of course I look in the mirror. What’s—”

  “And what do you see?” He tilted his head and studied her.

  “Me,” she said. “Just me. I see my confidence, my dedication, my abilities to do this job, my common sense, my kick-ass skills. All dressed in a very professional package. What else should I see?”

  “What about the cute little blonde with the hot bod?”

  “Huh?” Why on earth was he talking about her body? It’s the last thing she wanted to talk about. “Jeez, Barry, please don’t go there. The whole point of being who I am now is to avoid thinking about the reality of the before. I know how people think of rabbit-shifters. We are, and I quote, ‘adorably petite,’ ‘impossibly cute,’ ‘a joy to be around’ and ‘simply huggable.’ I’ve heard just about everything in my life, and I have worked very hard to overcome that image. The last thing I want to do is let that girl back out.”

  “If you let her out, you could go down to Clandestine and work your womanly charms on Westin.”

  H
er jaw dropped. “Are you suggesting I use sex appeal to get him?”

  “If the panties fit.”

  “That’s not quite the right phrasing required here, Barry,” she said as she narrowed her eyes at him.

  He rolled his eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t go to Cheerleader U.”

  “I went to Boston University, dumbass.” She peered at him. “You’re being serious, aren’t you?”

  “As a heart attack,” Talon said.

  “I couldn’t,” she said.

  He nodded. “You could. Even I find that wholesome little bunny-shifter image impossibly cute, a joy to be—”

  “Shut up, Barry.” She tossed a stapler toward him.

  He ducked easily, and the stapler sailed across the room to hit the wall with a thud, leaving a dent in the plaster. He laughed. “Now that, my little bunny, was not very adorable behavior. And Rusty’s going to be pissed. He’ll have to patch that hole.”

  She opened her bottom drawer and pulled out her purse. She slung the strap over her shoulder, grabbed her black jacket and phone, and headed for the door.

  “It’s too hot for a jacket,” he said, tugging at the collar of his shirt.

  “It’s part of my image.” She reached for the handle of the door.

  “Oh, yeah. The uptight tightass.”

  “Very funny.”

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Talon asked.

  She whirled around. “What?”

  He gestured to the paperwork he’d knocked to the floor. “We’re supposed to be studying for our real estate exam.”

  “Fuck that,” Stephanie said. “We’re government agents. I can’t pretend to do this any more than you can. I don’t think either of us has a prayer of passing that test anyway. I’ll think of something.”