Page 4 of Covert Affections (Shadow Agents/PSI-Ops #5)

Chapter Four

Jesse

“Uh, should I come back later?” asked Benat Vergara as he stepped out of a side office and into the men’s path in the hallway. His dark hair was clipped close in a high-and-tight style and his uniform was pressed to perfection. He had a can of soda in his hand and a shit-ass-grin on his face.

The room he’d exited housed surveillance equipment.

At any given time, there were at least two men stationed in the area, yet the room looked empty behind him.

The whole of the facility and the grounds it sat upon were covered in cameras and monitored twenty-four hours a day.

Nothing happened that The Corporation wasn’t keenly aware of.

“You two want some time alone together?” he asked, his smirk widening.

Benat was Samuel’s right-hand man and best friend. He was loyal to Samuel to a fault. One was rarely far from the other. Jesse liked to think of Benat as Samuel’s emotional support dickhead.

Nick lifted his chin marginally. “We’re good.”

“You sure? Sounded like you two were talking about fucking. Am I to assume each other?” asked Benat snidely before sipping his soda.

“You’re a comedian now? When did you get a sense of humor? Was it before or after you pulled your head out of Samuel’s ass?” Jesse growled, his inner beast wanting to surface and challenge the fellow shifter.

“Bring it, buddy,” taunted Benat right before he belched loudly.

Nick twisted, placed a hand on Jesse’s shoulder, shook his head, and maintained a firm grip on him. “No. It’s not worth the fallout.”

“Could be totally worth it,” snarled Jesse, wanting to go at Benat, the agitation caused by the serum growing exponentially in Benat’s presence.

Part of Jesse wondered if he was allergic to the serum and Benat and Samuel.

Was that a thing? Could you be allergic to a person?

If he could, it would for sure be one of those two.

“Is there a problem here?” asked Samuel, approaching from the direction of the labs as if he’d been magically summoned.

“I don’t know,” said Benat, eyeing Jesse. “ Is there a problem?”

Other than you’re both massive dickfaces?

Jesse’s jawline tightened as Samuel grew closer. Each encounter Jesse had with the alpha male shifter brought him closer and closer to the edge of losing control. The effects of the serum didn’t help matters.

“No. There is no problem,” added Nick. He was good about trying to keep the peace.

“The fuck there isn’t,” growled Jesse.

Nick cleared his throat loudly. “Uh, ignore him. There is no issue. We’re good.”

Benat snorted, looking like he might say something else to provoke Jesse.

Samuel stiffened. “ Today is not the day, Benat. Pick a different one to settle things.”

There was something in the man’s voice that caught Jesse’s attention. What was Samuel talking about? What was happening today? It wasn’t as if Samuel backed down from confrontation normally. No. The man welcomed it with open arms. What made today so special?

Benat moved his head back and forth, cracking his neck, his eyes darting toward Jesse, agitation showing.

The sight of the other shifter struggling to maintain control left a wicked smile curving on Jesse’s face.

Benat growled.

Samuel lifted his head more, letting alpha radiate from him. It pulsed over all the men who were present feeling much like a wave crashing against the shore. “Benat.”

Benat stepped back, nodding as he did. He lifted his hands in a “surrender” gesture.

Jesse grinned, loving seeing the other male submit. “You sit when he orders it too? How trained are you?”

Benat snarled and made a move to come at Jesse, squeezing the soda can as he did, sending sticky-sweet liquid flying all over Jesse and the floor.

“Asshole!” Jesse spat, now covered in soda.

Samuel inserted himself between the men. Samuel nodded his head in the other direction, and Benat reluctantly retreated. “I need to speak with you, Benat. In private.”

“Sure thing, boss ,” replied Benat, but his expression told Jesse the fight was far from over.

Good.

Jesse’s cat side clawed at him from within, spoiling for a fight, wanting to challenge Samuel and Benat. It didn’t need a reason why. It simply wanted all involved to know it was the dominant of the group, not Samuel.

Sniffing the air, Samuel’s attention snapped to Jesse, as if he could scent the pending challenge. “Something you want to say to me, Culbertson?”

Oh, there was a whole hell of a lot that Jesse wanted to say. Lucky enough for Jesse, words wouldn’t even be required. Most of what he had to say could be said with fists. He clenched them at his sides as he glared at the man.

Nick pushed Jesse back, doing his best to steer Jesse in the opposite direction of Samuel. “We just got our injections. Jesse is having an adverse reaction to them—again. That stuff is getting him hyped and is messing with him. That’s all. This will pass.”

While Jesse understood Nick was trying to defuse the situation and assist him, Jesse’s cougar side didn’t take it that way.

The shifter side saw Nick’s actions as asserting dominance over it, and it wanted to lash out at his friend.

Jesse only barely managed to keep the cat in line.

It was one thing to attack Samuel or his emotional-support bestie, it was an entirely other matter to go at Nick.

“That so?” asked Samuel, stepping closer to Jesse, remaining calm on the surface when Jesse knew for a fact the alpha male was seething. That anger simmered below the surface, waiting for the perfect release.

Nick boldly grabbed Jesse’s arm and hiked up his sleeve, drawing attention to the huge, irritated hive at the injection site. “It’s the truth. It’s like catnip or something to the guy. Look.”

The last fucking thing Jesse wanted was to show weakness in front of the other alpha. He was already covered in soda. He didn’t need to add being a total pussy to the mix. He snarled at Nick, jerking his sleeve down, pissed his friend had outed him.

Samuel stared at Jesse’s now-covered arm, and something flashed fleetingly through the man’s eyes. Was it concern? Samuel eased back, some of the anger leaking out of him like air being let out of a balloon. “Any other issues happening with the injections?”

Jesse’s jaw clenched, and he squeezed his hands into tighter fists.

His right hand had soda all over it, and some dripped from his arm onto the floor.

His guess, more fucking soda. Sharp claws emerged from Jesse’s fingertips, digging into the palms of his hands and drawing blood.

Within seconds, the blood was dripping onto the floor, mixing with the soda.

It would be so easy to go at Samuel, to give into the beast and its rage. So easy to say fuck it and take his chances with the alpha. The growl suddenly emanating from Jesse let everyone around him know exactly what he was entertaining doing.

“Damn,” whispered Nick, trying to grab Jesse and drag him away from Samuel. “Safe to say he’s having one or two more issues with the crap.”

Benat charged in fast, ready to assist his friend.

Samuel lifted a hand, halting everyone’s movement. “Step back. Give Culbertson space. Let’s see how this plays out.”

“You sure?” asked Nick, his brows raising. “He ain’t exactly coming off as stable at the moment.”

Samuel’s lips drew into a thin line. “I’m sure.”

They obeyed.

Benat made a snide comment under his breath about Jesse having control issues.

Jesse growled, and his gums began to burn with a pending shift. The cat side of him hungered for a kill. Benat would do well to fill that void. In the end it was his blood that would coat the floors and walls.

Samuel stepped before him, planting himself in Jesse’s path and line of fire.

“Move,” warned Jesse, knowing he was on the verge of proving Benat right—that he did have issues with control. He’d outright challenge the alpha soon enough if things continued.

“ Nah . I think I’ll stay right here,” Samuel said nonchalantly, no shake to his voice. No sign he was worried about the attack that was sure to come.

That only served to infuriate Jesse’s beast side more. He snarled.

Samuel’s eyes flashed with measured annoyance, and his jaw set. “That will be enough of that.”

“Fuck you,” Jesse ground out between clenched teeth.

“Jesse,” whispered Nick uneasily.

Jesse growled more.

“You really do not want to do this,” warned Samuel.

It was all Jesse wanted to do.

“Is there a problem here?” asked Peters, stepping into the hallway, holding a weapon that he had trained on Jesse.

Peters was a kiss-ass, always shoving his nose up the ass of the higher-ups attempting to get ahead.

His arrival meant someone had been monitoring the cameras in the hall and deemed the situation worthy of an armed guard.

Peters was a fucking were-coyote and part of a group of them who operated separately from the rest of the supernatural staff.

It was downright insulting to send him to break up a possible catfight.

The were-coyote guards were recent additions, part of The Corporation's endless security protocols. Jesse didn't know why they kept the different supernatural security teams separated, but he'd seen enough "training accidents" between the groups to guess it wasn't a good idea to mix them.

Jesse bumped into them often enough at the facility to know he didn’t like any of them.

This particular one normally ran around with one named Efren.

They were both assholes. Their shared looks and aggressive posturing told Jesse it was only a matter of time before they squared off against one of the supernatural security team members and ended up dead.

Peters was already off to a great start.

Samuel’s gaze flickered to Benat and Nick. No words needed to be spoken. The men, while normally always at odds, had no issue coming together to stand against the humans in solidarity. They trained together often, making it easy to read facial tells.

Benat and Nick moved rapidly, artfully disarming Peters, who looked less than pleased by the action.

There was nothing like the addition of an even bigger asshole to make everyone get along.

“Fucking assholes,” Peters said, mostly under his breath, not that it much mattered. Everyone present had supernatural hearing.

“If you value your life, find somewhere else to be,” Benat warned before shrugging. “Or stick around and find out what happens next. Really, I’m fine either way. Weird, I’m hoping you stay? Culbertson is man -struating and needs an outlet. Your face will do nicely.”

Jesse nearly laughed.

“Work for you?” asked Benat of Jesse.

Jesse nodded. “Totally.”

Peters shot Benat a heated expression before moving to retrieve the weapon Nick had seized from him.

“Nah, I’ve been wanting one of these,” said Nick, holding the weapon out of Peters’ reach. “Move along now and get your own.”

“That is mine,” argued Peters, making Benat and Nick laugh like that was the funniest thing they’d heard lately.

“Cute that you think so,” stated Benat with a grin.

Nick flashed an even wider smile. He lifted the weapon higher, taunting the man. “I’m going to name this one after you.” He reached out with his free hand and flicked the stitched name patch on the guard’s uniform shirt. “Pecker, oh wait, Peters.”

Benat grinned wider. “You were right the first time. Pecker.”

“Find somewhere else to be,” said Samuel, calmly observing Peters.

With a scowl, the guard did as he’d been instructed, hurrying off without his weapon.

Samuel waited until the guard had cleared the area before he began to circle Jesse in the large hallway. “Are you better?”

He had been right until Samuel exuded dominance again. Jesse’s shifter side ignited, leaving him lunging at the other man without warning.

Nick and Benat wisely stayed out of it, watching as Jesse slammed into Samuel.

The other shifter used Jesse’s body weight to send Jesse crashing to the floor with a resounding thud that boomed through the hall. It was humiliating and it fucking hurt more than it should have.

Samuel stared down at him. “Had enough, cub ?”

“Fuck you,” snapped Jesse, springing up and charging the man again. This time, he got a good hit on Samuel. It left Jesse grinning, feeling overly cocky, before attempting another.

Samuel caught Jesse’s arm, the same one injected with the serum, and applied pressure. Since Jesse’s arm was already sore, pain rushed through him, taking him to his knees and subduing the beast side of himself instantaneously.

Samuel didn’t release his arm. Instead, he leaned, putting his face near the side of Jesse’s head, applying even more pressure to Jesse’s arm.

“If you learned to control your rage, brother , you’d be a hell of a soldier.

Until then, you’re a waste of fucking space, Culbertson.

Head to the showers, take a cold one, and then report for duty. You smell like a soft drink.”

“He’s on vacation for a week as of end of shift tonight,” said Nick.

Benat tapped his wristwatch. “Boss.”

Samuel’s jaw clenched, and he nodded. He stayed close to Jesse.

“Shower. Then get the fuck out of here and clear your head. That’s an order.

” With that, Samuel pushed away from Jesse and headed down the hall to the section of the facility that housed several laboratories, as well as the restricted access area.

Benat followed quickly behind him.

Nick hurried to Jesse’s side, helping him off the floor. “You all right?”

“I hate him,” Jesse replied, standing fully.

“No, really? I thought he was totally on your Christmas card list,” added Nick with a grin that helped to chase away some of Jesse’s anger.

“You’re an asshole,” said Jesse.

Nick flashed a wider smile. “I know. Come on. I’ll keep you company while you shower. He’s right, you know. You smell like syrup or something. Soda smells like shit.”

Jesse froze and raised a sandy blond brow. “Uh? You just offered to shower with me.”

Nick grunted. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“How does one mean it when it comes to keeping me company when I shower?” questioned Jesse before smirking. “Listen, you’re not a bad-looking guy, but you’re not my type.”

With a groan, Nick shook his head and patted his newly gained weapon. “Oh, I know. I’ve seen your type of woman. It’s the no-commitment types with tits galore.”

“You judging my type?” questioned Jesse.

“Hell no. I have the same type.”

Jesse snorted. “All right then. I’m gonna hit the shower, and then I’m outta here.”

Nick beamed. “Enjoy your time off.”