An Alpha's Lightning (Water Bear Shifters 2) (3 page)

Ace was good-looking, and he knew it. He had never had a woman turn down the chance to date him. Sure, there was always a first time for everything, but he had been having such a good time with Jade that he had expected her to jump at the chance to continue to explore the possibilities between them.

Ace stared at the door of the rescue center that had just closed behind Jade, and then crossed his arms. He wasn’t sure what Jade’s reasoning was for so quickly brushing him off, but, in his mind, Jade had just issued a challenge to him: convince her that he was worth a second glance.

Ace turned confidently on his heel and strode back to his vehicle with his head held high.

“Challenge accepted,” he said, then fired up the engine for the drive home.

Jade stood on the second floor of the rescue center and watched as Ace drove his truck out of the parking lot. She stared out the window until he disappeared from view, and then turned and leaned her back against the wall. She slid down into a sitting position, and put her head in her hands.

Of course, the first guy in years to actually make her heart beat a little bit faster just so happened to have a dangerous job. And Jade had sworn that she would not date someone who was at high risk for being killed in the line of duty. Not after Mike.

Jade abruptly lifted her head and stood up. She had to get out of here. She’d done enough for today, anyway. She’d done enough for the whole week, really. Yesterday had been exhausting, and Jade suddenly felt like she needed to lie down. She took the stairs down to the first floor two at a time, then went to the equipment room and took off her overalls. She grabbed her hooded sweatshirt from the coat rack and fished her keys out of the pocket, then headed for the front door.

“Bye, Mary,” Jade said to the sweet old lady who ran the front desk. “I’m going home for the day. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye, dear,” Mary said. “Have a good afternoon.”

Jade jumped into her tiny truck and started the ten minute drive back to her apartment. Thankfully, the traffic was sparse, and Jade hit every light green. She made it home in record time, and bounded up the stairs to her third floor apartment.

The place was small, but homey. Jade had lived here for the last three years, and, although she kept telling herself she was going to upgrade to something better, she kept renewing her lease here when it ended. She could afford something bigger, but she figured she didn’t really need the space. And moving seemed like so much effort. So much change. Jade was comfortable enough here, and she didn’t think it was likely that she’d be sharing this space with anyone else any time soon.

Jade sighed as she opened her fridge and grabbed a diet coke. She popped the tab open, and took a long, thirsty sip. Ace’s face flashed across her mind, and she did her best to push the image away.

He was a helicopter pilot on a Coast Guard search and rescue crew. His job had high risk written all over it, and Jade refused to go there. She refused to spend her days and nights sick with worry that something tragic might happen. She’d had enough of that to last her a lifetime.

Jade stepped out on the tiny balcony connected to her living room, and watched the cars driving by on the road adjacent to the apartment complex. Life had become a bit lonely, true. But things were calm. Settled. Peaceful. The last thing Jade wanted to do was rock the boat. Jade took another long sip of her diet coke, and then walked back inside, leaving the balcony door open to let in the cool breeze. She leaned back on her couch and stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes, trying and failing again to get the image of Ace out of her mind.

No one could objectively deny that he was gorgeous. His dark brown hair and dark brown eyes matched each other perfectly, and offset the deep, olive tone of his skin. His hair was cropped short in a military style, but this morning he’d had a healthy amount of stubble on his chin. Jade guessed that he probably hadn’t shaved since he hadn’t been on duty today. He stood well over six feet tall, and his biceps looked like they were as big as her thighs. He was a beast of a man, and Jade had worked hard all morning to keep herself from swooning over his tough guy look.

She had figured she just had to keep her cool until she was done giving him a tour, and then he would leave and she would probably never see him again. He wouldn’t have any reason to come back to the rescue center, since she’d told him that she didn’t anticipate ever having more information about the whale they had rescued. As she bid him farewell by the front entrance, she had silently congratulated herself on making it through the tour without saying something stupid. But just as she thought she was done with him, he had asked her to dinner. Jade had been flattered, and surprised. She didn’t consider herself bad-looking, necessarily. But she wasn’t a runway model, that’s for sure. And Ace seemed like the kind of guy who could have his pick of runway models, if he wanted to.

But no matter how flattered she felt by his attention, she couldn’t date him. She had made her decision. Jade put her feet up on her coffee table and used the remote to flick on the television. The local news was playing, covering a story about a shootout between some gang members and a group of police officers. All of the police officers had survived, thankfully, and one of the gang members was in critical condition at a local hospital. The other gang members were in custody.

Jade flicked the TV off and squeezed her eyes shut. Why was everything today reminding her of what she had lost? She reached to open the storage drawer on the coffee table, and pulled out a small box of photos. Tears filled her eyes as she viewed the first one. Mike, standing at the top of Razor Point Trail in the Torrey Pines State Reserve. He was flexing his muscles, and had a grin that stretched a mile wide. The next picture was Mike in formal wear, with Jade on his arm, at a charity event for the rescue center. Again, he was flashing the camera his signature grin. Jade continued flipping through the photos, laughing through the tears at the many shots of Mike goofing off. At the bottom of the box were a few newspaper clippings. The first one announced the engagement of Mike and Jade, with a planned wedding date of July fifteenth. The next article clipping, dated June fifteenth, had a blurry picture of crime scene tape in front of a convenience store, with a headline that read “San Diego Police Officer Loses His Life in Armed Robbery Response.”

Jade didn’t read through the article. She didn’t need to. She knew all the awful details of that day by heart, including details the article didn’t mention. Details like the fact that Mike had surprised her at work that morning with a latte before heading off to work himself. Details like the fact that Mike had made reservations for them at their favorite Italian restaurant to celebrate the one month countdown to their wedding date. Details like the fact that no one had managed to contact her before she showed up at the restaurant to meet Mike. She had waited there alone, knowing as the minutes continued to pass that something had gone horribly wrong. Mike was never late. Never.

She had left that restaurant in tears when she got the call, and she hadn’t been the same person since. She had rushed to the hospital, but he was already gone. She never even had the chance to say goodbye. The last she had seen of him alive was him walking away after handing her the latte, winking and saying there would be more surprises that evening. Jade would never know what those surprises were supposed to have been.

She had gone into survival mode, functioning on autopilot while arrangements were made for his funeral. Wedding plans had to be canceled: photographers and caterers called, guests notified. Thankfully, Jade’s mother had stepped in and handled most of the details. A mama never stopped doing everything in her power to make her baby’s life easier, no matter how old that baby was. Jade wasn’t sure that she would have made it through those difficult months without her mother holding her up, steady as a rock.

Jade had eventually moved out of the condo she and Mike had shared. She had sold the place, put the money in savings, and moved into this tiny apartment. She had been so scared, and so unsure of the future. She had hoarded every penny as though she was on the brink of bankruptcy and starvation, even though her job easily covered the rent for the new place. Life had seemed so volatile and uncertain, though. She couldn’t be too careful.

That awful day was now more than three and a half years in the past. It had taken over two years for Jade to feel like the constant cloud of grief hanging over her had disappeared. These days, Jade was able to enjoy life again. Even though the idea of going a full day without thinking about Mike had seemed impossible at the beginning, Jade caught herself sometimes going for stretches of several days in a row without even thinking about him in passing. Even though she knew Mike would be happy to see her moving on and moving forward with life, Jade couldn’t keep herself from feeling a little bit guilty when she realized that he was becoming less and less a part of her life. She almost never shed tears over him anymore. It wasn’t that she didn’t still miss him. It’s just that time had healed the rawness of the wound.

But today, Ace’s innocent offer to take her on a date had brought a fresh surge of emotions rushing to the surface. Several men had asked her out in the years since she lost Mike, but Jade hadn’t had any interest. None of them could come even close to matching what she’d had with Ace. Ace was the first man to set her heart racing again. It was easy to see that Ace was a man’s man—strong, and full of life. He was exactly the kind of guy that Jade was looking for. Except for the fact that he had a dangerous job.

Jade had promised herself she would never again let herself love someone who might easily die from the dangers of his job.

Jade wiped the tears from her eyes and replaced the lid on the photo box. She chugged down the rest of her diet coke, then stood to head to her bedroom and change into workout clothes. She needed to do something to get her mind off of Ace. The man was off limits. And she’d told him she wasn’t interested, anyway. Odds were good she’d never see him again.

A few minutes later, Jade was lacing up her running shoes. She headed out into the crisp February afternoon to get some exercise and get her blood flowing—and to get Ace Grimes out of her head.

The wind whipped violently across the Pacific Ocean, as Ace did his best to hold the helicopter steady. Ben, serving as copilot, glanced tensely over at Ace.

“It’s getting pretty dicey out here,” Ben said into the microphone of his headset.

Ace nodded, but didn’t flinch for a moment. “I know. But there’s still a survivor stranded down there. Brett’s almost got him back to the rescue basket. Just relax. We’ve dealt with winds just as bad as this before. I know we can handle it.”

Ace kept his eyes on the bird’s instruments. He didn’t honestly know whether they could handle the winds. With a storm this violent, he was chancing it. But he knew Brett, and he knew Brett wouldn’t get back in the helicopter while there was still a survivor needing to be rescued. And Ace sure as hell wasn’t leaving without Brett. Even though he and Brett frequently butted heads over things, they were like brothers. Ace would die himself before he left his fellow alpha panda behind.

Ace had become somewhat desensitized to death, anyway. He had seen so much of it already in his lifetime. He had lost his entire clan in the Great Epidemic years before, which had wiped out all but four of the panda shifters. Ace, Ben, Lance, and Brett had managed to survive, since their alpha gene made them exceptionally resilient to disease. But surviving had been something of a consolation prize, leaving them lonely and mourning. Each of them had been the only panda shifter from their clan to make it.

The helicopter lurched sideways, and Ace once again did his best to steady it.

“Lance, how’s Brett looking?” Ace asked into his headset. Lance served as the crew’s flight technician, which made him responsible for lowering Brett in and out of the water, and for assisting with pulling up survivors in the rescue basket.

“He just got the survivor into the basket. Five minutes or less and we’ll be ready to get out of here.”

“Make it three minutes,” Ace replied. “We’re playing Russian roulette with our lives right now by being out here.”

“Roger that,” Lance said.

Ben glanced over at Ace again and rolled his eyes. “You said just two minutes ago that we could handle it.”

Ace laughed, despite the tense situation. “You should know by now that I’m full of shit.”

Ben rolled his eyes again, but couldn’t stop himself from cracking a smile. The helicopter lurched again, and Ace sighed.

“Hurry up, Brett,” Ace whispered under his breath. Then, to his surprise, Jade’s face flashed across his mind. Shit, was he getting sentimental about this girl already? She had refused a date with him, and yet his mind still went straight to her when he found himself in a life or death situation. Ace furrowed his brow. He knew his bear wanted her. But he hadn’t realized until just that moment how strong the desire had become. Was it possible that Jade was his fated lifemate?

The helicopter lurched again, and started to spin. Ace would have to digest these thoughts later. If he didn’t get this bird out of here soon, he and the crew would all be dead, and it would be a moot point who his lifemate was.

“Lance?” Ace asked. “Where’s our boy? We have to get out of here, now.”

“I’m dropping the hoist cable now,” Lance said.

“As soon as he’s clipped in, let me know,” Ace said. “We don’t have the time to wait for him to be pulled up.”

“Really?” Lance asked, sounding taken aback.

“Yes, really! Your three minutes are up. We gotta go.”

“Alright,” Lance said. A few moments later, he spoke again. “He’s clipped. Let’s go!”

Ben shook his head. “Brett’s about to have some fun,” he said.

Ace shrugged. “Better a wild ride home than a dead ride home. Let’s go.”

He turned the helicopter back in the direction of the air station. Below them, Brett swung wildly as the hoist cable that connected him to the aircraft was tossed around by the wind and the motion of the helicopter. Lance was trying to pull him in as they sped away, but the task was unusually difficult given the excessive movement. Ace and Ben concentrated on flying the helicopter while Lance did his best to pull Brett up. After a few tense minutes, Lance’s triumphant voice came through their headsets loud and clear.

“I got him!” he said. “Brett is safely on board.”

“Yes!”Ben shouted, followed quickly by a loud “Damn it!” as the helicopter lurched again.

“Woo!” Ace shouted. “Nothing like a near death experience to make you feel alive.”

“You’re crazy,” Brett said through the headset he had just put on.

“Guilty as charged,” Ace said with a grin. “Guilty as charged. Now let’s get this bird home.”

* * *

An hour later, Ace was sitting in the dining area of the air station, wolfing down a plate of food. He’d been so busy that he hadn’t had time to eat all day, and it was nearly eleven p.m. A loud bang on the table drew his attention, and he looked up to see a tray of food that Brett had just slammed down in feigned anger.

“Thanks for almost killing me, jerk,” Brett said. “Although I must say, riding around on a wildly swinging hoist cable beats the heck out of any amusement park ride I’ve ever been on.

Ace grinned. “I think you meant to say ‘thank you so much for saving my life, Ace.’”

Brett chuckled and sat down. “In all seriousness, nice work. That was probably our most intense rescue yet.”

Lance and Ben approached the table, also carrying plates of food, and sat down with the other two.

“Hey now,” Lance said. “Ace may have been the one to make sure the helicopter didn’t crash, but don’t forget about the guy who pulled you back up into a moving helicopter in the middle of the storm.”

“Well, there would have been no helicopter to pull him into if not for my expert flying,” Ace said.

“Sure, it was all you,” Ben said, crossing his arms. “Your copilot was no help at all.”

Brett laughed. “Okay, okay, you guys. Thank you to everyone for saving my ass out there. But don’t forget that I’m the one who has to go into the freezing cold water on our rescue missions while you sit up there in that cushy helicopter.”

“Freezing cold water?” Ace asked, punching Brett in the arm. “Come on, man, this isn’t Alaska. It’s San Diego. Don’t act like you’re going for a swim with the penguins or something.”

The group laughed, but Lance’s face turned serious. “Speaking of Alaska…I have some interesting news. Do you guys remember that black bear shifter I met when I went to Northern California on vacation a few months ago?”

“Ian? The alpha that heads up a clan of smokejumpers?” Ace asked.

“Yeah, Ian. That’s the one. Well, his clan had a polar bear shifter join their clan last year. She’s from Alaska, and she moved away because she got caught on the bad side of some clan wars up there or something. Anyway, she went back to Alaska to visit for a few months, and met up with a friend from her old clan. The friend told her that rumors have been flying in Alaska that there’s a group of scientists up there hiding out and testing out viruses specifically aimed at bear shifters.”

Ace felt his blood go cold. “Do you think it’s the same guys behind the Great Epidemic that killed all the panda shifters?”

Lance shrugged. “No way to know for sure. But Ian said the bear shifters up in Alaska have been trying to track them down and have had a hard time of it. Whoever these scientists are, they’re going to great lengths to protect themselves.”

Ben slammed his fist into the table. “I’ll be damned if I let those bastards get away with murdering more shifters.”

“I agree,” Brett said. “But what can we do to stop them? San Diego is a long ways away from Alaska.”

“I think we need to develop a working relationship with the clan in Alaska that’s been watching the situation. They have boots on the ground up there, so to speak. If we can be in contact with them on a regular basis, they can feed us information on what’s going on,” Lance said.

“That makes sense,” Brett said. “But how are we going to develop a working relationship with them?”

“We should send someone up there to talk to them. I think having one of us go in person shows how serious we are about wanting to keep an eye on things,” Lance said.

“I agree,” Ben said. “Lance, can you get in touch with Ian and see if he can connect you with the clan up there?”

“Sure thing,” Lance said. “I’ll talk to him and get back to you guys as soon as I can.”

Ace had just finished shoveling the last bite of food from his tray into his mouth, when the alarm went off. The crew was being called out on another rescue. Not surprising, since nights plagued by big storms always meant multiple rescue attempts.

“Let’s go boys,” Ace said. “Time for some more fun.”

Ace glanced at the clock on the wall, which read eleven forty-five p.m. One more day of work, and then he had two days off. And he was already making plans for how he would use those days to convince Jade to spend some time with him.