Epilogue

Val and Howard ordered margaritas at the Clawed and Dangerous Kitty Cat Club in Houston, where they were waiting on the rest of their USF team to show up for happy hour, when they saw Emmie dancing with a guy. The boss hadn’t yet given them another assignment because of the tough situation in Belize, despite the vacation having helped them all to heal and be ready for their next mission. They’d taken five more of Eric’s human dealers into custody and turned them over to the police and had permanently taken out one more of Eric’s jaguar henchman who’d thought he might still recover the money and drugs the agents had confiscated. With that many agents on the mission, the perp didn’t last long.

They were still chilling out upon their return to the States.

“Whoa, I sure hope she’s being more careful about who she’s seeing these days,” Val said about Emmie.

Emmie turned and saw them and waved, then leaned over and talked to the guy she was with. He glanced back at them and gave them a thumbs-up.

“Hell, he’s a Guardian. Good deal for her if things work out between them,” Howard said.

“Yeah, I’m glad she’s with one of the good guys this time.” Then Val spied Izzie at a table across the dance floor from theirs. “Ohmigod, what’s Izzie doing here? What if she shifts?” Then she frowned. “She’d better not be drinking while she’s pregnant.”

“It appears she’s not with anyone. What happened to her Guardian family?” Howard asked, getting ready to leave the table to investigate the situation.

“Wait! Look there! Look who’s coming out of the back where the restrooms are,” Val said, excited.

“Well, I’ll be damned. What’s Rowdy doing here?” Howard sounded as surprised as she felt.

“He sees us, and he’s bringing Izzie with him to join us.” She just couldn’t believe he was here. Or that Izzie appeared to be with him.

Izzie was all smiles when she and Rowdy joined them at their table. “We didn’t know you were here,” Rowdy said.

“We just arrived. We’re meeting up with Jillian and Vaughn and the rest of the team members that you haven’t met: Demetria and Everett. When did you get in?” Val wondered if he’d ever gone home to Montana.

“Last night,” Rowdy said. “I gave notice at work and put my house up for sale. I started training with the USF this morning, and I’m celebrating at the club where so many of our agents hang out.” Rowdy proudly showed off his agent-in-training badge.

Val and Howard smiled.

Howard’s cell jingled, and he pulled it out and frowned. “Hey, Martin… Yeah, we’re all at the club… What do you mean you’ve got a job lined up for us already?” He glanced in the direction of the front door. “Yes, sir, they’re all headed for our table.”

Val turned to see the other USF team members coming to join them.

“Yeah, just a minute.” Howard held up the phone, indicating he had an important call. “Since the whole gang’s here, I’ll give them the news. What’s the new mission?”

* * *

Val was ready to take on a new mission with them. And everyone else was too. She couldn’t imagine working with the Enforcer branch on her own any longer. She squeezed Howard’s hand. She loved him. Her parents had retired from the Enforcer branch, thankfully, deciding from now on, the younger cubs could help out their kind. Though she knew they were volunteering to do anything they could to assist the jaguar police force.

Howard would have liked another week alone with Val, just the two of them having fun, but he was ready to work the new case with her by his side. And when they had a break? He was making use of every second of it, loving his beautiful and clever mate. When they were in Belize, they’d found a place that had table tennis and she still hadn’t beaten him, but he loved that she kept trying. And she was the best of losers, tackling him in the bed at their cabin afterward to make love.

“Ready to pack it up?” Howard asked the gathered team members.

“After one more dance,” Val said.

All the team members took to the floor—the couples dancing together, while Rowdy was dancing with Izzie. He appeared to be having fun, even though he still couldn’t go with the team on a mission. But as soon as he was fully trained? He would be part of the team too.

“Love you,” Val said to Howard, dancing nice and slow and close.

“Love you and all your roguish tendencies back.”

Val smiled up at him. “You mean for giving you the slip at the hotel in San Antonio? Just a test to see if you could handle being my backup.”

“I passed with flying colors.” He placed his hands on her back and pressed her closer.

“I like how much you protect my front…too.”

He chuckled and kissed her thoroughly. One dance led to two, and then three, when they finally had to leave and pack for the trip out of there. “More of this later.”

“Yeah, but we’re not leaving without a quickie,” she said as they left the club.

“And that’s why we were meant to be together. We think so much alike.”

“It helps set the proper frame of mind for the next assignment.”

He smiled. “You give me superpowers.”

She laughed, and they waved at the others, who they’d be joining soon enough for another USF adventure.