Devlin paced outside of the Mayor’s office, looking at his watch more and more. He was torn between going home to Paige and making her father happy, and being able to hold his wife was going to win out in a few seconds. He just needed to give the man a few more moments before he left.

The door opened, and Devlin looked up to see Mayor Lundin smiling at him. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Devlin. Would you like to come inside?”

Devlin felt his knuckles flex. His tiger wanted to go and was threatening to exchange hands for paws and claws if it took much longer. They both wanted to feel the warmth of their mate beside them, under them, around-

The Mayor cleared his throat and brought Devlin back to the present.

Nodding, he stepped inside the office. The first scent he caught was Charlie. Officer Charlie Butler stood off to the side, his hands folded before him, his eyes filled with a satisfied warmth.

The young woman beside him was Kelly. He knew that she worked for Jameson and he’d heard Paige’s remarks about the conversation they’d had the other day. He didn’t like how she’d spoken to Paige, but his mate had convinced him that Kelly, while needing some conversational skills, was a good person who meant well. He’d give the woman the benefit of Paige’s heart. The last person he expected to see in the room was the Chief of Police, Allen Landau.

The Mayor gestured to the chair on the other side of his desk. “Go ahead son, have a seat.”

Devlin looked around the room a second time before he shook his head. “Not if I’m the only one.”

The Chief of Police cracked a smile. “I’d feel the same way if it was me.” He reached for another chair and pulled it over, holding it away from the hard edge of the desk. “Kelly?”

She moved away from the wall and sat in the chair offered by the Chief. “Thanks.”

Once she was seated, Devlin took a seat as the Chief parked himself on the corner of the desk.

The Mayor looked at the Chief and gestured for him to begin.

“Officer Kerr, I’m sure you’ve noticed some of the challenges that we’ve been having in the last couple of weeks, not just in the streets but also in our police force.”

Devlin nodded. The majority of the digs on him were understated and seemed to be targeted at making him feel ostracized. A more physical attack had taken place and that officer was still recuperating at home. While everyone who had seen the confrontation had agreed that Devlin’s reaction was instinct rather than a planned retaliation, some policemen still gave him a wide berth in the hallways. Some of them still ducked into rooms to avoid passing him in the hallway.

“I’m doing my best to keep the disruption to a dull roar, Chief.”

The older man chuckled and that was when Devlin realized what he’d said.

The Mayor didn’t laugh. His complexion was a shade whiter than usual.

“And that’s why we’re here today, Kerr.” The Chief reached over for an envelope and handed it to him. “You don’t have to look in the envelope until you’re home and have time to really look it over. We’re just here to give you a basic idea of what we’d like to do. After all, this is going to center on you.”

The Chief turned toward the Mayor and nodded with a smile.

“What we’d like to do is create a special division in the department.”

Maybe Kelly saw the concern pinching at his features, or she had some other insight.

“We’re not talking about a separate division to police shifters, although, you will likely be called upon to do just that from time to time.”

Charlie joined in. “It would be hard for me to go up against a shifter. I’m quite fond of going home at night.” He laughed, but there was more than enough truth in his words. A human policeman coming up against almost any species of shifter would have little chance of surviving the exchange.

“So, what would this entail? How do we even get something like this off the ground?”

The Chief of Police stood up again and stared Devlin straight in the eye. “It’s already cleared the City Council, when it comes up for a vote in two days, it will be approved. We just need you to agree to be a part of it. Everyone knows who you are, and you’d be the perfect person to spearhead this unit.”

He turned to look at the Mayor. “You know I’ll have to talk to Paige about this first.”

The older gentleman smiled at him. “I’m glad you think that way, son. Good to know that my girl is in good hands.” He held out his hand for Devlin to shake.

As he stepped back, Devlin felt the Chief’s hand land on his shoulder. “It was my son who came up with the idea first.”

Devlin looked at the Chief. “Your son?”

“He doesn’t always claim me as his dad, but Forrest, the wolf shifter you helped the other day, is my son. He gets his talent from his mother. He talked about how we needed officers who understand shifters to help police them. You’ll be called on to educate officers to make sure they understand what’s involved with having shape shifters in the open.”

The Mayor agreed. “We’re planning on calling the unit the S.C.P.S. – the Sylvan City Preternatural Squad. You’re going to feel like you’re under a microscope.”

Devlin shrugged. “We already were, but it was harder to hide who I was than deal with the results of unintentionally revealing my true nature.”

“There’s more information in the packet. If Paige has any questions, she can talk to me,” the Mayor smiled at him.

“We’ll see,” Devlin looked at the clock on the mantle, “but I need to head home to see her. I had to miss the ultrasound today and she’s got the image with her.”

The Mayor’s expression softened even more. “Then you better get home, son.”

“Now there’s an order I can follow without an argument.” Devlin picked up the envelope and headed toward the door.

* * *

It wasn’t just her emotions that were on a roller coaster these days. Paige flexed her feet at the stop light, lifting one and then the other so she could keep on the brake.

She’d just come from Dr. Shigezawa’s office and was excited to bring home the news to Devlin. He’d been unexpectedly held up at work. A six-car pile-up on the bridge off of Sylvan Island meant all hands on deck, so they’d gone ahead and done the ultrasound and the doctor had printed off a good image of the baby. She’d been unconsciously referring to the baby as she since the beginning, so it was going to be great fun to see Devlin’s reaction to the doctor’s evaluation of the images.

Turning onto the beltway, she paused for a moment to look into her rearview mirror and see the security van that was trailing her. She lifted her hand in a quick wave and saw the hesitant reply.

Chuckling to herself she waited for the light to change. She knew the security men were good at their jobs and the poor souls had to deal with her odd ways. She listened to them, followed their rules, because besides how thankful she was for them to keep her safe, she didn’t want them hurt either.

The light changed and after a quick check, she drove through the intersection and into the part of the road where the trees grew thick and blocked a great deal of light from the road. There were only a few more lights before they were home and the road looked nearly empty. The pile-up must have bottled necked the traffic near the main thoroughfare.

Humming to the song on the radio she let her mind mull over the unsettling events of the last few days. Devlin returned home late from work and the explanation he gave felt odd, stilted.

The lack of an answer had her feeling off during dinner and it seemed to upset her appetite. Still, when it came time to clear the table, Devlin had taken care of it all, washing the dishes while she settled into a bath.

By the time the water was tepid, she started to stand, her hand gripping the side of the tub, she managed to get her legs under her, but before she could stand she felt a strong hand take her elbow. Another hand on her hip.

Before she could figure out what he was doing, Devlin lifted her into his arms and set her down on the mat before him, and took a towel from the shelf.

The memory of what Devlin had done with that towel had her holding tight to the wheel. Her mate certainly knew how to take her mind off her troubles.

Thinking on it again reminded her that she hadn’t gotten to the heart of Devlin’s mood the other night. As soon as he returned home she was going to get to the bottom of-

A loud, sickening crash reached her ears, making her flinch and hunch over to protect her belly. Time seemed to stop and long, heart-stopping moments passed by with deep echoing pulses in her ears. She felt no pain, but the car slowed to a stop, bumping against a side railing.

She was dazed, but worried about the car following behind her. Paige started to turn but the door beside her was yanked open. Reeling back from the sudden movement and flood of light, Paige pulled away from the door.

But there was no way to avoid the hands that reached in and pulled her from the car.

For a moment she hoped that the men holding her were only there to help, but when she turned her head and saw the security vehicle crushed and smoking she cried out.

A hand closed over her mouth as she struggled against their hands.

When they didn’t let go and she felt lightheaded from the way his thumb covered over her nose she bit into the hand holding her quiet. She was released for a moment as she tried to shout out a warning to the guards but two dull pulses of sound made the two men slump over in their seats.

She sagged in the arms holding her, sorrow weighing her down and robbing her knees of any control. “Why?”

One of the men moved to slap her, but another one stopped him cold. “You mark her up and it’s just going to make him mad.”

Paige turned to the man who spoke. He seemed to be the one the others listened to. “Who? Who would be mad?”

The man in the suit gave her a look that made her skin go cold. “Why, your husband, of course.”

* * *

Almost to the front door, the Chief jogged up beside him. “Devlin!”

Devlin wanted to leave, but this was the Chief. “Yes, sir?”

“I’d like to invite you and your wife to the house for dinner with my family. We’ll be spending quite a bit of time together getting the squad up and running. It would be a good idea to know each other better. You talk to Paige and let me know which evening works best for you.” The Chief held out his hand and Devlin saw the business card. He took it and noticed a number penned in beneath the printed office phone. “That’s my personal phone number.”

Everything felt a little off-kilter to Devlin. He’d spent all of his life hiding what he was from others and now, he shook his head, now he had a mate, a cub on the way, friends like himself, and an invitation to the home of the Chief of Police. He was looking for the Mad Hatter to pop up around the corner. “Thank you, Sir. I’ll call you after I speak to Paige.”

Devlin’s phone rang, and looking down at the screen he saw Paige’s face smiling back at him. “One moment, Chief.” He answered the call and put the phone to his ear. “Hey, babe-”

“That’s so sweet,” the voice on the other end was male and smug, two things that got his Tiger up on his feet and pissed off, “but we don’t know each other well enough for pet names.”

“Where’s my wife?”

“Oh, she’s here,” the voice taunted him, “and if it hadn’t been for us, she’d be all alone. Those security guards her father hired? Well, they’re off duty, permanently.”

Fear and rage rang in Devlin’s ears. He was struggling to listen to the voice on the other end of the phone. It was slightly distorted, but there was something familiar about it. Something that made his gut twist tightly in his middle.

“Give her to me.”

“That’s not how this works, Officer Kerr.”

“That’s exactly how this works!” He turned and caught the Chief’s eyes and fear and rage warred in his gaze. The Chief took out his phone, ready to help. “You give me back my mate and you’ll live.”

“You don’t seem to understand the situation, Officer Kerr. You could have been one of us, and now we’re going to play hardball. You come to work for us and we let your woman live.”

Devlin seethed into the phone.

“But,” he heard the edge of laughter in the man’s tone, “if you choose to ignore the generous offer, that’s fine. We’ll wait just enough for your wife to come to term and we’ll have a shifter of our very own to mold into the role we’d planned for you. A precious waste of time, but we’ve waited generations for proof that your kind exist. We’ll just have to wait and see how quickly we can turn the child into a weapon that would make its father proud.”

His mind awash with conflicting emotions, Devlin’s free hand was balled up into a fist, his claws drawing blood from his palm.

“You take me!” Devlin’s voice was a roar. “You take me, and you let Paige go right this minute!”

“If you think we’ll let her go on faith, you don’t know us at all, Officer Kerr.” The way he said the words, it was a cold insult and challenge. “Go home,” the voice barked at him, “go to your dock. Get in your boat and head North. We’ll intercept you and make the trade.”

“I need to talk to Paige!”

The call ended, leaving Devlin gasping for breath.

“Shit.”

The Chief was still at his side. “Tell me. What’s the plan?”

“The plan?” Devlin spat out the words, “I get my mate back and feed the leftovers to the vultures.” Dialing up the other shifters he knew in the city, Devlin managed to explain the situation in as few words as possible. He was going to need help. Lots of it.