Any other time, Max would have been stoked to hear that. In his opinion, there wasn’t anything sexier than a woman who loved pizza. But right then, all he could think about was how his body was reacting to Lana’s nearness. Not only was his pulse racing, but his claws and fangs were dangerously close to coming out. He only hoped his eyes weren’t turning gold.
On the upside, at least he now knew for sure she was a werewolf. He could smell it in her pheromones. That was probably why they hit it off so well. Well, there was another reason, but he wasn’t about to go there—even if a little wolf voice in the back of his head whispered maybe he should.
Lana was telling him about an awesome pizza place that wasn’t too far away, wondering if he’d be interested in checking it out, but instead of answering her, he went in a completely different direction.
“It’s so cool finding another of our kind here,” he said. “I totally didn’t expect it.”
She didn’t seem to mind that he’d changed the subject, but she looked a bit confused. “Another of our kind? Are you a pescatarian, too?”
Max chuckled. That body and those looks combined with a wicked sense of humor? It was like she was made for him. A werewolf who didn’t eat meat? Now that was epically funny.
Unless it was true, in which case it was a little strange.
Before he could say anything, Lana leaned over to look at something behind him, her lips curving into a smile. Max turned to see who she was looking at and was a little surprised to find Deputy Chief Hal Mason. The deputy chief was in charge of the police department’s specialized Tactical Division, which included the mounted police, canine unit, helicopter support, EOD, and SWAT. As a high-ranking officer in the department, Mason had to attend every award ceremony, but this time he’d been recognized for his commitment to developing his entire division, especially SWAT.
“Hey, Dad.” Lana stepped around Max to give Mason a hug. “I was looking for you and Mom earlier, but you were deep in conversation with some people and I didn’t want to interrupt.”
Max picked his jaw up from the floor and shoved it back into place. Lana was Mason’s daughter? How the hell was that even possible? They didn’t look anything alike. Maybe she was adopted.
Mason pulled away to regard her fondly. “You didn’t have to come to this thing. I know how much this kind of stuff bores you.”
Lana made a face. “Of course I did. It’s not every day my dad gets a big, prestigious award.” She grinned. “You looked quite dashing up there, by the way.”
“Thank you.” Mason smiled…for all of two seconds. Then his face took on its signature serious expression that seemed to be glued there permanently. “Since you’re here, there’s someone I want you to meet.”
Giving Max the stink eye, Mason gently took his daughter’s arm, clearly intending to lead her away. But apparently Lana wasn’t the kind of woman who liked to be led around by anyone. She firmly disengaged her arm from her father’s grip, arching a brow that would have done the commander of the SWAT team proud.
“Dad, I’m talking to Max,” she said. “Maybe I could meet your friend later?”
Mason scowled at his daughter like she was one of his junior officers. “I know you were talking to him. That’s why I came over. Officer Lowry has to go back to work immediately, if not sooner. He’s on the SWAT team and he’s always quite busy.”
Lana gave Max a shrug and a smile. “Later perhaps?”
“Officer Lowry will be busy later, too,” Mason said. “In fact, he’s going to be busy every day for the next month or so.”
Damn, Max thought as the deputy chief led Lana away. Mason didn’t want him anywhere near his daughter—that much was obvious. Cockblocked by the deputy chief of the Dallas PD. Could it get any worse? As Max watched Mason introduce his beautiful daughter to some good-looking lawyer type in an expensive suit with metrosexual hair and Italian leather shoes that probably cost as much as the payments on Max’s new Camaro, he decided it could indeed get worse. Max felt the hackles on the back of his neck rise as the pretty boy reached out and put a possessive hand on Lana’s arm.
“Watch where you’re putting your hands, jackass, or you’ll draw back a nub,” Max growled under his breath.
Shit.
Max closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was harder to get a handle on his inner wolf this time, mostly because he was so pissed at Mason for interrupting his conversion with Lana. The fact that her scent lingered in the air didn’t help. It made it difficult to think about anything but her curves, smile, and creamy skin. Not the kind of thoughts he wanted to have in his head when he was attempting to find his calm place.
He had no idea how long it took him to tame his wolf half, but by the time he opened his eyes, Lana was nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately, neither was pretty boy. Why the hell would someone like Lana run off with a guy like that? Besides the nice hair, fancy suit, and expensive shoes, not to mention the money.
Max considered looking for her, but then realized he probably didn’t want to find her, not if it turned out she was hanging on pretty boy’s arm. Cursing, he headed across the room to rejoin his teammates.
Brooks, Diego, Zane, and Gage were standing around the same small cocktail table, a sheet of paper in front of them with a shopping list for what look like a serious cookout on it. Max glanced at his watch. By the time they got out of here, bought all the food on that list, and grilled the stuff, it’d be eight o’clock. Not that it mattered. Steak tasted good no matter what time of night it was, especially when followed by a game of volleyball.
Gage looked up from the list, his dark eyes curious. “Brooks said you were off looking for some scent that caught your attention. Any luck?”
Max glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot—no one with normal human ears at least. “Yeah. It was a female werewolf.”
The other guys stopped debating whether to get hot dogs or not and stared at him.
“Seriously?” Brooks did a double take. “You sure she’s another werewolf? I didn’t smell her.”
Max shrugged, refusing to ponder why he seemed to be the only one who recognized Lana for what she was. “I’m sure. Or pretty sure. She smells a little like a beta, but totally different than a beta at the same time. She’s like no werewolf I’ve ever smelled before.” He looked at Gage. “There’s not some other kind of werewolf out there you haven’t told us about, is there? One that doesn’t fall into the three categories we already know about.”
