Outfitted in black cargo pants, shit-kicker boots, and a black T-shirt, Valerie Chambers was ready to take on physical training with the rest of the Enforcers. Their job was taking down the worst rogue shifters, and sometimes the humans who were killing jaguars or shifters in the wild, so they had to be fit.
Valerie always thought of the training as a challenge, but also viewed it with a fair amount of dread, knowing that if she failed an activity, she’d have to repeat it several times. Which meant she was wired as she went through the various stages of the multiday training.
She was going through her paces: rappelling off the seventy-five-foot tower, making her way across a rope to reach the other side of the “ravine,” and low-crawling under wire. It was all strenuous work, meant to keep the agents in shape and test their skills, to help them learn their weaknesses and strengths and work on them. A couple of the guys were giving her a hard time, in a joking way, about moving too slowly under the wire. But she moved at her own pace. If she got hung up under there, she’d have to do it again, ten more times. The low-wire crawl was what she hated most of the individual training components. No matter how hard she pushed herself, she could never beat the clock.
She noticed a group of male jaguars fighting each other in a different area, trying to pin their opponents down without really hurting each other. She’d have to do that in the training tomorrow.
Next, she had to do hand-to-hand combat with different opponents. She was petite, like many of the female Enforcers. But even the taller ladies had the same problem. They didn’t have the muscle strength to handle the male jaguars. Instead, they had to use deception, feints, distractions, any tricks they could to incapacitate their opponent. In the field, it would be different. The shifter would often be unprepared for the female Enforcers’ combat maneuvers, so the agent could take them down that way. In training, the Enforcer males were prepared to take the women down. No male shifter wanted to be the butt of jokes if he failed to do so.
After having successfully thrown a woman, Val moved on to her next opponent. Howard Armstrong was rough edges and hard angles, and had stern blue eyes and a growly voice. Muscular build, black hair, and a brooding expression defined him. Yet even before they tangled, he gave her a small smile, the corner of his mouth turning up just a hair, his eyes sparkling. She didn’t know if he was so cocky because he thought she would be easily defeated, or because he appreciated having a woman to tackle this time.
She’d seen him tackle three men to the mat individually before she was paired with him, so she knew he wasn’t going to be a pushover. She was trying to think positively and not let feelings of defeat sabotage her efforts.
At least twenty other agents were paired up all over this part of the Warehouse, men versus men, men versus women, women versus women, standing on gray gym mats, ready for the signal to begin.
Val really, really tried to relax. She was already sweating from some of the other training she’d done, and so was he. Sweat dribbled off his brow, his biceps gleaming. He was beautiful in a dark, predatory way. The thing she noticed most was that he stood perfectly relaxed, as if he had nothing to worry about.
Despite trying, she couldn’t shake off the stress she was feeling. Her muscles were taut with tension.
His smile grew, as if he knew she was afraid of how this was going down.
She lunged for him. She didn’t remember hearing the bell ding. Maybe it had. Maybe it hadn’t and she’d made it up in her mind because she was so wired. It was too late now to stop her action. And it worked! He wasn’t ready for her, and with one quick sweep of her leg, her hands grabbing his strong wrists, she managed to unbalance him enough to slam her body against his and take him down. Pinning him down with her body wasn’t part of the program, but they were always taught to improvise when necessary.
He was actually grinning at her! Maybe because she was grinning back at him, delighted she had bested him, feeling the tension leave her all at once. Not bothering to extricate himself from underneath her, he didn’t seem to mind where she was resting against him.
Then a chorus of woots and hollers filled the Warehouse. No one else had tackled their opponents in the hand-to-hand combat arena yet. They were all standing where they had been when she’d taken Howard down. Well, except that they had turned and were all watching her and Howard.
“That’s how it’s done,” one of the testers said, smiling.
Val quickly moved off Howard, but before she could get to her feet, he did and offered his hand in friendship. She couldn’t believe he wasn’t angry with her. She took his hand and pulled herself up.
Then the bell rang. Now the bell rang? And the others quickly tried to take their opponents down, with thuds on the mats following.
“You’re quick,” Howard said. “No one has ever taken me down. Ever.”
She smiled and patted his steel-hard abs. “There’s always a first time for everything.” And then she hurried off to navigate one of the water-hazard trials, though after getting the best of Howard, she was going to have a hard time keeping her mind off just how sexy he was.
* * *
Watching Val head to her next training, Howard chuckled, thinking how much he’d like to date the spirited woman. She was trying to tuck her red hair back into its bun, while loose, silky strands curled down her back.
He liked a woman who could throw him off-balance, give him a challenge, and do the unexpected. Val taking him down before the bell rang had shocked him, which was the only way she could get the best of him. Though he had to admit to himself, once she’d made her maneuver, he hadn’t tried very hard to take charge of the situation. He had wanted to see just where she would take it.
Her landing on top of him was definitely unexpected. All he could think of were the straggles of red hair framing her face and her beautiful green eyes, mixed with aqua and a hint of amber, staring down at him in disbelief.
He always felt he didn’t need the extra training and would rather be taking care of the bad guys. But today, one smart female Enforcer agent had made the whole week of exercises worth it.
* * *
The next day, Howard had training mixed with other branches: Enforcer, Guardian, and JAG. It was something they’d never done before, and he really hadn’t wanted to do it. They needed it as a way to improve communication and work ethics between the branches though.
He’d started out as an Enforcer. Then before he knew it, he was working with a Guardian and a JAG on a case. Not long after that, he became a member of a team on the United Shifter Force. His only regret had been that he would most likely never see Val again, in Enforcer training or otherwise.
Until he’d been assigned his current mission. He suspected she wouldn’t like it one little bit when she learned he was assigned to watch her back.