Alpha Agent (eBook)

Double Life - Urban Fantasy Shifter Romance

Alpha Scott (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
318 Seiten
Publishdrive (Verlag)
978-0-00-095816-7 (ISBN)

Infos

Lyra Thorne, Alpha of the formidable Thorne Pack and a respected Division Chief in the FBI's New Chicago supernatural branch, is watching her life spiral into chaos. Her once-harmonious polyamorous relationships are fraying-especially with her husband, Dane Morrison, whose well-meaning but overbearing nature has driven them to the brink. A disastrous 'guys' night' and Lyra's sleep-talking confession that her feelings for Brennan are fading force the whole group into therapy with the unorthodox Julian Wyck.

As if personal turmoil weren't enough, Lyra is thrust into a political firestorm. Leaked photos from an old 'Siren's Whisper' photoshoot-and the First Lady's very public disdain for supernaturals-spark threats and blackmail. When a contract is placed on Lyra and her adopted son, Christopher, she suspects the First Lady's hand-and that suspicion quickly becomes dangerously public.

Meanwhile, the fragile peace between humans and supernaturals hangs by a thread. Lyra must navigate treacherous pack politics, hostile takeovers, and shaky alliances while fending off attacks from rival factions. The arrival of Tiago, a powerful vampire dispatched by the Crimson Council to oversee her coven, ratchets up the tension and raises fears of espionage within her own ranks.

Facing betrayals, power struggles, and mounting violence, Lyra has to lean on her inner strength-and the loyalty of her chosen family-to survive. But with enemies in every shadow and her personal life on the verge of collapse, can she shield those she loves before time runs out? The fate of both human and supernatural worlds rests on her shoulders, and every choice she makes will shape not only her future but the destiny of everyone around her.

Textauszug

CHAPTER 1

Agent Kira Finch was easy to kidnap. Obtaining permission to do so, however, wasn't. It had been a nightmare, and Gavin had explicitly stated that my career might end up in front of an ethics committee if things went sideways. I was certain I was right about her, so I was willing to take the risk.

My biggest issue with this aspect of undercover training was that, even in media portrayals, it usually came at the very end. After weeks or months of preparation, a trainee would be kidnapped as the final test. Stupid. Even after experiencing it myself, I still thought it was stupid. Why? Because panic overrides training. It becomes instinct. Most don't have it, but some do. Those few are the ones who survive undercover work. So, why waste time and resources only to discover someone lacks that crucial instinct? Of course, training is never truly wasted. Even if they washed out of undercover work, they could still utilize their skills elsewhere. Yes, of course. But I was too busy for that. I wanted to be sure she wouldn't fail before I invested in her.

And there was the matter of my own kidnapping. I'd deduced it was a test after ten minutes. Had I learned anything? Absolutely. When I was kidnapped for real undercover, I sent my training officer a fruit basket. Those skills were vital to my survival. I’d figured it out, though. After all the evaluations, I doubted I was the only one. I hoped the people we entrusted with these critical cases were intelligent enough. Finch had failed because she hadn't been observant. In a city like New Chicago, I'd have to drill situational awareness into the newer agents. A woman, especially, should never be so engrossed in her phone at night. She needed to be more aware.

But she fought. Hard. We winced and even laughed at a few of her moves as we watched.

One of Nolan’s vampires helped transport her back to the warehouse we were using. We cleaned up any mess, and he didn't mind us borrowing the space, as long as it didn't trace back to him. Business and all that. He was an amusing individual.

The stage was set. There were others involved, some not particularly fond of me, but they knew that playing along would smooth their own promotion paths. One was playing dead, lying in a pool of fake blood, having ingested a potion that rendered him unconscious and immobile for two hours. Dramatic, but he figured it would get him off my bad side. It would. We both knew he deserved to be there, but I’d overlook it. He'd paid his dues.

Agent Emil Corbin, though he didn’t know it, was also being tested. In a different way. He wanted a promotion, and I needed to observe how he reacted to his people in dire situations. This scenario would leave Finch emotionally scarred. As a SAiC, he had to be able to make those tough calls. Right now, he was roughed up and tied to a chair. Even with the healing aids I’d gotten from Maia, he’d be sore for a while. I was fairly certain his nose would never be the same after one of Nolan’s guys landed a particularly brutal hit. The vampire would later apologize profusely, owing Corbin a very nice dinner. He hadn't controlled his strength. It happened. I’d reprimand him later.

“You can take all of us, but we still won’t have the fucking answers,” Agent Neal Roach snarled. “New Amsterdam handles all of that. We have no idea how to bypass the new security protocols!”

Roach (his real last name) was new, filling a senior position after a transfer. He’d been recommended by Agent Freddy Carson when I'd requested Agent Carson’s assistance. Carson had vouched for Roach, claiming an aptitude for undercover work. Roach had specifically chosen New Chicago to work with and learn from me, despite knowing things were volatile here. He wanted a chance to prove himself.

Something about him felt off. His record was clean, and I had nothing concrete, only instinct. Even though I appreciated him jumping into a scenario that would leave him battered and bruised, something was wrong. I needed to figure out what it was before I worked closely with him beyond a supervisory role.

The vampire who'd removed Finch’s hood held her down in a chair near Corbin. She swallowed hard, taking in the scene, the supposedly dead agent – someone she’d trained with at Quantico. Yes, that was deliberate.

A backhand from the vampire landed on Roach. “You’re lying. We know it. We want our access restored, asshole. We know not everything goes through New Amsterdam.”

“Maybe that used to be true, but they had a New Amsterdam crew install everything,” Roach insisted. “I don’t know. We’re… look, you’re not going to get answers by questioning the bottom of the totem pole.”

“This is about access to the FBI building?” Finch looked around at everyone. “So your brilliant plan is to just snatch a bunch of agents with zero seniority or pull?”

She was punched in the gut, Corbin getting a slap across the face when he reacted.

“He’s a good guy. Doesn’t like seeing a woman hit,” Brennan murmured to me. “The one time you came back with a split lip and a shiner, I nearly lost it. Even before I actually had feelings for you.”

“I know,” I whispered, eyes glued to the monitors. “But you still sent me back in. Corbin needs to understand that it will happen and he can't stop it. You patched me up, told me good work, and reassured me I wasn’t as alone out there as I felt. That's what made you a good boss. He needs to learn that too.”

“This is different than the usual script,” Jerome Curtis, one of the Quantico trainers, pointed out for the fifteenth time.

“Yes. And, again, that’s to prevent her from figuring it out like I did,” I replied.

The interrogation continued for another fifteen minutes. They asked about everything from access codes and parking garage protocols to challenge phrases agents might use if they forgot their IDs. They even tried the old one, a relic from a previous system I’d abolished. There were no fucking code words to bypass security. Remember your badge and ID, or go home, get it, and tell your boss you were an idiot. And hopefully, it was the only time you’d ever forget.

“Our employer wants this information!” one of the vampires roared in Corbin’s face.

Corbin laughed, a harsh, angry sound. He was likely realizing he wasn’t handling this as well as he’d hoped. “Yeah? And I want my gun right fucking now. You’re screwed. You killed one FBI agent and kidnapped four more. What do you think is going to happen?”

“You’ll kill us even if we did know—which we don’t. Even with four dead agents, they’ll just change everything. You made an enemy of our boss, and you’re going to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder because you killed one of us. It’s all for nothing, and you don’t realize—” He was cut off by a blow from the vampire, who then drew his weapon.

“Wait, wait!” Finch yelled. “I have something better, but we don’t really know what you’re looking for. Something your boss can sell or use. You want to sell information, right? I know where a lot of money is that anyone would want. You can disappear. Leave the country before anyone even knows we're gone.”

“Thatta girl,” I breathed, relieved she was using her head. Buy time. Divide them. Anything.

The vampire turned, gun now pointed at Finch. “You talk, or this bullet is for you. I’m done with this shit. Apparently, killing one of you wasn’t enough.” He stepped closer, grinning at her and Corbin’s obvious distress. “Or, maybe I just take what I want? They seem pretty attached to their female agents. What if they saw more of you?”

“That wasn’t the plan,” the DC’s IA guy hissed.

I moved to block him from storming into the room. “Yeah, well, your plan is too by the book and unhelpful. I was nearly raped while undercover. I've been sexually assaulted. Groped more times than I can count. She needs to understand that it will happen. It does. It’s happened to every female UC agent I know.”

Corbin’s voice was raw with fury. He was done playing. “If you touch her, I’ll fucking kill you.”

It killed me to put him through this, but he had to know. He had to understand. It would make him better in the long run. I still hated it, though. I wished for a world where no one had to go through this – where none of this was necessary.

But the real world wasn’t like that. The real world was messy and dark. The real world had monsters. And we were the ones who signed up to stop them.

“I know where Lyraphine Thorne really stays,” Finch blurted out. “She doesn’t live at that Packhouse apartment downtown anymore. Too worried about someone raiding it. The Master of the City gave her a mansion. Her son is there all the time with—”

“Stop talking, Kira!” Brennan roared. “What are you doing?”

He was punched by someone else.

“Where? Tell me the location.” The first vampire demanded.

“You’ll kill us if I tell you,” Kira (Finch) countered.

He studied her. “No, I won’t, and his death wasn’t what we wanted. He resisted us and had an extra rifle, but this was meant to be a snatch and gather information. If we have her son, Thorne can get us what we truly need.” He lifted the gun to Nolan’s forehead. “Tell me, and we’ll leave you here to be found. Or I shoot him.”

She gave him the address of the mansion Nolan and his crew had rigged as the ultimate breach team training facility, a gift from Apollos to me. In other words, it was a gigantic fucking trap.

I...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 26.6.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• ISBN-10: 0-00-095816-6 / 0000958166
• ISBN-13: 978-0-00-095816-7 / 9780000958167