Khaki ignored the hail of bullets. She lashed out with a well-placed kick to knock one suspect to the ground, then grabbed the other one and threw him half a dozen feet into a brick wall. Xander could hear her rumbling growl all the way from here. He only prayed she didn’t lose control and pick now as the time to finally shift completely.
But the moment the suspects were out of play, she reached down, scooped up the two little kids in her arms, and started running, herding a group of other children and women in front of her as she went.
Xander couldn’t help but admire Khaki’s actions under pressure even as he shouted at the few agents still popping off rounds to cease fire. The level of chaos only increased with the lull in shooting, as the civilians who’d been hugging the pavement and were pressed up against cars left their hiding places and ran in different directions.
The next thing Xander knew, the two suspects had jumped in their SUV and crashed through the police barricade at the end of the block. The heavy-armored vehicle smashed the two cruisers aside like they were toys. The few lucky shots that hit the SUV as it sped away didn’t do much more than knock divots in the damn thing.
Xander rounded the row of shot-up cars along the sidewalk, heading for Khaki just as Thompson strode up to her from the other direction with fire in his eyes.
“You had them and you let them get away,” the fed shouted. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
An animalistic rage like he’d never felt before crawled up Xander’s back and he let out a low growl. He wasn’t the only one. Hale’s fangs had elongated ever so slightly and his fingers flexed around his M4. Trevor, Becker, and Cooper came running at full speed from the same direction Thompson had approached, looking equally pissed. And Max? The team’s youngest werewolf looked like he was ready to shift and rip Thompson to shreds.
Xander was going to have a full-scale werewolf riot on his hands at any second.
Khaki rose to her feet from where she’d been kneeling beside a little girl and rounded on the FBI agent with her own brand of fire in her eyes. She advanced on him with so much fury that Thompson took a step back.
“What’s wrong with me? What the hell’s wrong with you?” Khaki demanded. “There were a hundred civilians on this street and you decided it was a good idea to pin the suspects in here and start shooting?”
She jabbed a finger at the row of cars parked on the street. “There were kids hiding behind those cars you just shot the crap out of. Why did I let the suspects get away? To save those kids—from you.”
Thompson opened his mouth to say something, but Khaki cut him off. “Save it! You screwed up here—not us.”
Brushing past him, she walked over to the kids she’d just rescued and knelt down beside the little girl again to gently brush her blond hair out of her tear-streaked face.
“Damn straight,” Max said softly. “Dropped his ass like a dirty toilet seat. That’s what I’m talking about.”
The other guys in his squad let out low chuckles. Xander could understand why. Khaki had just put Thompson in his place like a seasoned pro. They hadn’t caught the bad guys, but she’d saved lives. That was a win in his book.
But while he was proud of Khaki, he was damn pissed she’d thrown herself into the middle of that firefight.
Xander swore under his breath. Talk about a double standard.
If Khaki had been one of the guys on the team, Xander would have expected whoever it was to jump in and save those kids. So why hadn’t he demanded the same of Khaki? Because he’d been scared as hell she would get hurt.
Xander turned to see Alex jogging down the street. He must have used the stairs instead of rappelling like Khaki. Despite admitting his judgment was seriously impaired when it came to Khaki, that didn’t stop him from snarling at Alex.
“Why the hell didn’t you stop Khaki from coming down that rope?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Alex snorted. “Khaki has a mind of her own. Maybe you’ve been too focused on the details to see the big picture, but she’s as alpha as any of us. If she thinks something needs to be done, she’s going to do it. I couldn’t have stopped her—not without knocking her out cold. I doubt you could have stopped her either. She’s getting her feet under her damn fast. In a few more weeks, she’ll be ready to stand toe-to-toe with Gage.”
Xander stared at Alex, dumbfounded. He knew Khaki got along well with the guys, but he’d thought that was simply because she was…well…a woman. If Alex was right, she’d vaulted to the top of the Pack’s testosterone-laden pecking order in less than a week without ever having to snarl, punch, or body slam anybody. That didn’t happen in the Pack.
“Seriously?” he asked.
“Yeah.” Alex grinned. “You better watch out, or she’ll take over your squad before you know it.”
* * *
It was after six by the time they got back to the compound. Xander had hoped to knock out his required paperwork and go home, but Deputy Chief Mason had called Gage and said he wanted a full report before the end of shift. That dashed any possibility of getting out of there early. So while the rest of his squad was upstairs laughing, joking, and getting cleaned up, Xander was stuck at his desk writing out a detailed report on absolutely everything that had happened that day.
Nobody was blaming Xander and his squad for the way things had gone down. In fact, due to the magic of YouTube, their SWAT team, especially Khaki, had come out smelling like roses. But a bank had been robbed, the suspects had gotten away, and more than one lawyer was already in front of the cameras talking about suing the city. The chief and deputy chief wanted details, and they wanted them now.
Gage had called Xander into his office the moment they’d walked in. Not to talk about the possible lawsuits, but about what Khaki had done. Xander had admitted he was pissed she’d disobeyed his orders, but more than impressed by her willingness to put saving a life ahead of anything else.
Gage grinned. “Yeah, I saw the videos. Pretty impressive stuff. Look, I know there’s been friction between the two of you, and I’ve heard what some of the guys have been saying, but keep riding her hard. It’s paying off.”
Thankfully Gage let Xander go to finish his report. Considering the image his commander’s order had left seared into his mind, that had probably been a good thing.
