Tooth and Nail (A Shifter's Claim #3) - L.B. Gilbert Page 0,1

last deployment with Connell Maitland’s Ranger unit, shortly before the group had been disbanded.

The entire squad had taken honorable discharges within months of each other. Jack couldn’t understand why the hell such a crack team—and they were seriously the best he’d ever worked with—would take themselves out of the game in their prime. Despite the fact he called most of them friends, they had been tight-lipped about their post-army life plans.

Not quite done having his fun, Jack had continued as a black-ops specialist. When he finally called it quits a few years ago, he’d been inundated with offers from the private sector. But he turned them all down. After a decade of taking orders, he’d chafed at the idea of doing it again.

At loose ends, Jack tried his hand at various jobs where he could apply the skills he’d learned at Uncle Sam’s knee. His favorite had been skip tracing, but he eventually settled into what he affectionally termed ‘professional problem solver,’ which meant he did a bit of everything. He’d been a bodyguard, a security consultant, an extraction specialist, dabbled in corporate espionage, etc.… The fun was endless, and he got to work for himself.

He snapped back into the present when a leather boot crunched the dry pine needles about a foot in front of his face. Jack held his breath, hoping he was adequately concealed by the shrubbery and the carefully selected camo pattern of his clothing.

A strong and slim arm grabbed him by the collar, then hauled him out of the bushes. On his knees, Jack blinked in the cold sunlight, his eyes devouring the woman he’d been fantasizing about on and off for the last four years.

“Well, hello, Miss Daisy,” he drawled, hoping she wasn’t about to bash him over the head with a rock or the nearest fallen tree branch.

Mara Maitland towered over him, her leaf-green eyes glaring down at him.

He sat up, taking advantage of the movement to check her out. She was, as always, flawless. Peaches-and-cream skin with red lips was combined with a wealth of dark mahogany that set off those amazing eyes.

Above the hiking boots, she wore skin-tight black leggings. Those were paired with a turtleneck sweater made from one of those impossibly soft-looking wool blends that made it look as if she’d dressed in candy floss. However, judging from her expression, there was little chance he was going to get to touch it to confirm.

He didn’t hear the other person behind him until the air whistled, presumably from their fist flying through the air toward the back of his head. His last impression before the world went dark was Mara shaking her head.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Derrick hissed, standing over the unconscious human he used to believe his friend.

“I don’t know, but you better call Kiera,” Mara replied, naming the pack medic. “We need to make sure you didn’t fracture his skull.”

“He’s fine,” Derrick snapped. “I pulled it. Besides, I know for a fact the fucker has a pretty hard head.”

Mara raised an eyebrow. As the pack’s third, Derrick didn’t usually show any mercy. Like all the other pack soldiers, he was ruthless when it came to protecting their territory.

“This idiot saved my life once.” Derrick glowered down at the unconscious man. “But if he thinks that entitles him—”

He broke off, his jaw tight. “If Jack Buchanan is here, it means someone paid him to be. The fact he took the fucking job is a betrayal on a level I can’t even address. Connell is going to be pissed.”

Mara crossed her arms over her chest, nudging the muscled body with her foot. “I don’t think that’s it.”

She didn’t pretend to know Jack Buchanan the way Derrick did, but she was her father’s daughter. That meant Mara was more than a soldier. She could read people, and she’d been around Jack Buchanan long enough to get a feel for him. He was annoying as hell, but he wouldn’t betray them.

Connell and Derrick had trusted Jack to have their backs on the battlefield, and he, in turn, had trusted them. Instinct told her the man wouldn’t have breached the trust. Jack was more like them than his own species. Loyalty was in his blood.

Lamentably, he also possessed a wolf cub’s natural curiosity.

“No,” she said, rubbing her face. “If I’m right, this has to do with more recent events.”

Confusion flicked across Derrick’s face. “Are you talking about the Reliance job?”

She nodded, barely resisting the urge to say, ‘I told you