Within seconds, a reply appeared.
Ma’am, yes, ma’am.
A sigh of relief escaped her lips.She hadn’t realized how worried she’d been about the cadets, as she’d allowed the condo investigation to take up all of her attention.Stan glanced her way.She looked up from her phone and patted his thigh.
“I’ve gotten a hold of Echo.She’s responded to my text, thank goodness.”
“Good, it sounds like they are safe.”
“Well, we won’t know that until I see them all for myself, but seeing her response makes me feel better.”
Stan placed a hand over hers on his thigh and brought her hand to his lips.After he kissed each knuckle, he placed her hand back on his thigh, this time higher.
“I’m glad you are feeling better.”
“Yeah.”Kalliopi nodded as she took in a breath and let it out before continuing.“You seem to keep me calm.”She gave his thigh a squeeze before returning her gaze to her phone.“Shit, and I don’t mean The Talks!”
Stan visibly stiffened.“What’s wrong?”
“Echo did a preliminary headcount, and Fedor, one of the male cadets, is missing!”
Stan placed his palm over Kalliopi’s again.“We are unsure if he’s officially missing yet.He may not have received the text from Echo.Or he could be in the showers.We will find him, Kallie.I promise you that.”
“And what if Zagan took him?I can’t have this happen, not again!”
Stan visibly stiffened again.“If this is about what happened when SHIT went down?—”
Kalliopi silenced him with a raised palm.Tears began to well in her eyes, but she’d be damned if she let the floodgates open.Not today!They were facing an enemy, and she refused to let Zagan get the best of her.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve been around the takedown of a cell.I wasn’t a MILF back then.I lost my sister, Karyme, when the lab was infiltrated.They saved me but didn’t get to her in time.Her death made me want to become a MILF to put a stop to these pop-up labs.”
“I didn’t realize you were with your sister.I read the report before SHIT.”
Kalliopi’s eyes widened.“They promised me that only people with high clearance would read that.No one is supposed to be briefed about my secret!And the reason is that I was the first successful science project from Greece.No one under me knows that I’m a stork and Eurasian wolf shifter.It’s why they haven’t promoted me to a higher rank.The more prominent my rank, the more visible I am.”
“Kallie, they granted the clearance because of how delicate SHIT was this year and because of the cadet program.I’m glad you’ve told me now, yourself, but it doesn’t change anything, except…” Stan’s voice broke, and he swallowed hard.
Kalliopi didn’t need Stan to elaborate any further.It was written all over his face.He didn’t want her anywhere near the mission.He may have been right about that, but becoming a MILF had been personal for her.And now Stan planned to sideline her to keep her safe.The thing was she was a soldier who had seen more than her fair share of battles.Battles she couldn’t tell him about because all of them were top secret.
“You don’t have the power or position to kick me off this case,” she declared.“What’s more, it’s my privilege to decide that, if I choose, I’ll be the one to lead us all there.In fact, I can dictate that it’s too dangerous for the others—Harriet, Carol, Treasure, evenyou—and lead a raid on wherever Zagan is set up now.”
“Kallie, I want you involved with the plan to take down Zagan’s cell here, but I’m not sure if I can have you infiltrating the building alone.It was difficult the first time, years ago, when Carol and Harriet scaled the building and entered through the air ducts because their shifted forms were small enough to do so.The rest of the building was air-tight.I can’t imagine it will be any easier this time around.”
“Hey, I’ve been trained by the best.Despite my rank, I’m an excellent soldier.In fact, in some circles, my call sign is TNA: Trustworthy Neutralising Adversary.I promise I’ll be fine.”
Stan raked a hand through his hair and let out a guttural growl.He took several deep breaths but said no more.
“Stan?”
He continued to take deeper breaths.
“Okay, this is now bordering on ridiculous!”Kalliopi refused to hold herself back any longer.She had no patience for men telling her what to do after they had slept together.She’d promised herself she wouldn’t let herself fall into this problem again, not after what Jace did to her.“I let you control me in the bedroom last night—key word there islet!I’m not a woman who will easily be confined to a role you see fit, Dutetre.So, in case you don’t get what I’m trying to say… I’m an alpha female, and I do not need your permission to do my job!”
A growl formed within her belly, and she wanted to let her wolf out, but now wasn’t the time.She had to get Stan to see things her way, if not in their relationship at least in the field.Yeah, she was fucked up, all right.Her stork-wolf made her something more abominable than any other experiment.She could shift as a crossbreed stork-wolf, where her wolf’s ears protruded out the side of her bird head.The rest of her was all stork.She also had the ability to turn into a regular stork or a Eurasian wolf.The bastard who did this to her planned on using her as a top-secret soldier himself.Thankfully, FUC agents got to her, and she was now fighting on the right side.She couldn’t imagine how things would have turned out if she had become like Ash.
But she’d never wanted anyone to know her secret.She kept it hidden away from the other MILFs.They knew she was a stork shifter, and that was it.If she needed to use her wolf form, she would, but she excelled in stealth and made sure no one ever saw her.
When Stan still refused to say anything, Kalliopi continued.“Stan, I’m serious!I don’t need protection because I’m very capable of going into battle!”Her voice was harsher than she wanted it to be, but she refused to back down.It was one thing to be a Dom in the bedroom, but she wasn’t having him become dominant over her life.Not again.Never again.
