Chapter One
Nash
Adrenaline coursed through Nash Barnes’ body as he pressed his back to the wall, assault rifle held against his chest. He was pumped for this operation. Any operation, in fact, that stopped him thinking abouther.
His fated mate.
The one who was married to another man.
He grimaced, and tried to push the thought—the horrific image—aside, with about as much success as he had every other waking moment since.
He was hoping that the rush he got from doing his job as an FBI SWAT team member would finally help to distract him. But even as he waited to enter the building and capture key players in Miami’s cocaine trade industry including the drug lord Juan Martinez, all he could think about washer. Aria Morgan—the most beautiful woman in the world.
And she belonged to someone else.
His bear rattled inside his chest, ready to abandon the mission and hunt down Aria’s husband. Nash didn’t get the sense the bear wanted a nice, friendly chat—and that made two of them.
Our mate, his bear all but bellowed in his head.Kill anyone who dares claim her.
Even though Nash’s every instinct was pulling him toward the bakery where she worked, he’d fought against it. He’d stayed away, and it had been the longest forty-eight hours of his life. Shit. How had it only been forty-eight hours? Every minute was torture. But he’d done it. He hadn’t even spoken to her.
Not since Cole, his friend and teammate, had forcefully dragged him away. Nash swallowed hard. Their friendship had almost ended that day. He’d been all set to fight his friend. He’d sworn and raged, and fought to get back inside to his mate, but Cole had made him see sense. He had made him walk away so that her scent didn’t make Nash do something he’d later regret, but putting distance between them hadn’t helped. Now that Nash knew what his mate smelled like, he wouldn’t forget it for as long as he lived. When Nash had calmed down, he’d done the honorable thing and walked away, but with each moment that passed, he regretted that decision more and more.
He wished he had at least spoken to Aria—gotten to know more about her. After all, he could live with the fact that she was married to someone elseifhe knew that she was happy and loved. He might even be okay with it.
His bear’s rumble called him on his bullshit.
Who was he trying to kid? He would never be okay with it, but he would just have to deal with the misery. All that mattered was his mate’s happiness.
“Ted,” Cole hissed. “Did you hear me?”
Nash’s SWAT team nickname jarred him from his morose thoughts, and he blinked over at his best friend.
“What?”
“I said we’removing!Come on,” Cole whispered. “We’re meeting Kit and Hawk around the back of the house. Ice and Flint are going in through the front door.”
How had Nash missed all that information being imparted? Had it happened here, or back at base? He’d been so distracted in the last two days that he wasn’t sure which way was up. He’d probably missed a ton of info, info he needed to do his job. He sent a reproachful thought in his bear’s direction. This wasn’t good. In his line of work, it was imperative to know every detail of a mission before hitting the streets. When you didn’t, that was when accidents happened. And when you were part of a SWAT team, an accident could mean someone getting injured at best, or killed at worst. Nash would hate to have something like that on his conscience. His teammates relied on him to have his head on straight.
Protect team. Then mate.
He took a deep breath then pulled his shoulders back. “Let’s do this.”
Cole side-eyed him for a long moment before giving a curt nod. He followed his friend around the back of the property, ducking low to pass beneath windows undetected as they went.
He was going to have to go and see her—talk to her. It was the only way he could set his mind at rest that she was being properly cared for. If he didn’t, his bear would force its way out and then go hunt for her himself. Nash could imagine the terror on people’s faces when they came face to face with a six-hundred-kilogram grizzly bear while walking the streets of South Beach.
He heaved a sigh. It was just his luck that his mate would turn out to be married. He’d always had bad luck, but this was on another level. He hadn’t told his family yet, but he could already envisage the disappointment on his mother’s face. His older brother Jake had been happily mated for years. His mate was a bear, so they’d both recognized what they were to one another straight away. Everything had been smooth sailing for them. Jake wouldn’t understand what Nash was going through. Nash doubted many shifters would. He had never heard of something like this happening before.
“Nash,” Cole hissed. “Did you hear what I said?”
Damn it. He hadn’t heard a thing.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t.”
Cole sighed then scrubbed a hand over his face. “Do you need to sit this one out?”
Nash shook his head. “No, I’m good. I’m not gonna lie though, I’ll be glad when this is over.”
