Peyton and Zoey leaped from the greenery, fangs bared as they each faced off against a perp. Zoey was slightly smaller than the three male tiger Therians around her, but she was by no means the least fierce. In fact, Seb was glad he wasn't on the receiving end of her fury. Zoey could take down a Therian twice her size, no matter what form they were in, and she wouldn't even break a sweat.
Peyton eclipsed everyone, a gentle giant who stood at seven and a half feet tall and weighed three hundred and twenty pounds. He was the largest Felid Therian in Unit Alpha. Of course, right now, Peyton was anything but gentle. Not when defending his team.
"Get on the ground!" Dom demanded over the roars and hisses, his rifle aimed at one of the tiger Therians circling Peyton. The guy was hesitant to attack Peyton--so not a total idiot.
Realizing they were outmuscled, the three tiger Therian perps submitted, mewing and backing away to flop on the grass. Dom radioed for backup, and two BearCats pulled up onto the path to their right. Their back doors opened, and Human agents flooded out. Seb left them to round up their perps and get them into the cages. He turned to his Therian teammates.
"Collect your partners and get PSTC."
Lee trotted off, his mane swishing majestically, while Brianna bounced behind him, playfully swatting at his tail. Lee didn't pay her any mind. Zoey whizzed by them, and Lee grunted. He took off after Zoey, unwilling to be left in her dust, and Brianna was quick on their heels. Peyton, as usual, wasn't interested in his teammates' shenanigans. He released a huff and leisurely sauntered after them. Dom stayed behind, and Seb braced himself. He knew what was coming.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine," Seb assured him. "Just knocked the wind out of me."
Dom pressed his lips together in a thin line. He wasn't buying it, but Seb was in too much pain to care. With teeth gritted and jaw set, Seb headed in the direction his team had gone. Thankfully, Angel hadn't parked the BearCat very far. Instead of fighting the pain, Seb let it wash over him. He'd lived with physical discomfort and pain the majority of his life. It went with being a Pre-First Gen Therian. Granted, this was a hell of a lot worse than his usual bad days, but he wouldn't let his team know the extent of it. He straightened to his full height and squared his shoulders as he walked.
They all knew about the nerve and tissue damage to his leg. He was hardly the only Pre-First Gen at the THIRDS with health issues, but if his leg gave up the ghost, he'd be pulled off Defense, and he'd worked too damned hard to make Team Leader to give it up now.
"You okay, boss?" Cat asked, studying Seb as he approached.
Seb smiled and gave her shoulder a pat. "I'm good. Wasn't expecting to be used for a bowling pin."
"Must have learned it from Lee," Zoey said with a delicate snort. Having received PSTC and not eaten anything substantial yet, Zoey was in rare form, and as usual, Lee was the target.
Oh boy. Here we go.
"Fuck off," Lee grumbled before taking another swig of his Gatorade. "Not all lion Therians do that."
"What? Use their heads?" Zoey arched an eyebrow at Lee. "Ain't that the truth."
"Screw you, Z," Lee snarled.
Screw was what those two needed to do before they drove everyone nuts. The only ones who seemed oblivious to the attraction were Zoey and Lee. They were always giving each other a hard time. Seb hoped his team wasn't going the route of Destructive Delta. He loved Sloane like a brother, but if he had to deal with all the relationship drama Sloane did, he might start thinking about early retirement.
Zoey rolled her eyes. "In your dreams."
"All right, everyone in the truck," Seb grumbled. He needed to sit his ass down. Of course, he wouldn't be doing that until he reached his office, because once he sat down, getting up would require help, and weakness was something his team didn't need to see in him.
As soon as they reached HQ, his team escorted the perps into their holding cells, where they'd be ordered to shift back into Human form. They'd receive Postshift Trauma Care, then get processed. Seb dropped his equipment off at his locker in the armory before heading upstairs to his office, greeting fellow agents along the way.
Beside him, Dom was quiet. Not a good sign. As the youngest of four sons born to a Cuban mother and Italian father, Dom joked he only had three volume settings--"loud," "louder," and "make sure they heard you over in Jersey." When someone told him to bring it down, he just laughed in their face.
Finally they reached the office, and Seb gritted his teeth as he attempted to sit behind his desk. It required gripping the desk hard enough to turn his knuckles white and his good leg to ache in protest. Once his ass was in his chair, he felt marginally better.
"Let's see it."
"Dominic, we've discussed this," Seb replied gently, schooling his expression. "I like you, but I don't, like, like you."
Dom was not impressed, judging by his expression. "Don't be an ass. I know that's going to be a real stretch for you, but just give it a try. Now let me see." He reached for Seb's knee, and Seb smacked his hand away with a growl.
Next to Hudson, Seb trusted no one more than Dominic Palladino, and no one was a bigger pain in his ass. Dom was a mother hen. He fussed over the team, treated them like his baby birds, even Peyton who could easily crush Dom's skull with his bare hands. At some point, the team had lost the will to fight him on his mothering and accepted him as their surrogate father, some more begrudgingly than others.
"I said I'm fine. Stop fussing. What're you, my husband?"
Dom let out a snort. "Fuck no. I wouldn't marry you if you were the last dick left on the planet. I'd end up smothering you in your sleep."
"Like you haven't tried that already," Seb said with a grunt, amused when Dom threw up his arms, cursing in Spanish, then Italian--meaning Seb was really trying his patience. Seb tried not to look so happy about it.