Undercover Lovers [Urban Affairs 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) Read Online Free Page B

A shifter could sniff out a snitch easily. Subterfuge was hard enough when spying on humans. With the wolves it was near impossible—unless the spy was also a wolf who knew how to blend in. Working security had taught Slade how to hide in plain sight. Were operatives were few and far between. The Feds were picky, and Slade actually felt flattered to be chosen. Still he almost turned it down.
    He should have. More and more he thought he’d made a mistake joining up, but they had promised him the world—big salary plus unlimited expense account and most important, the security of knowing he’d never be prosecuted by the human government. But the biggie was a benefit the Feds weren’t even aware of. Slade wanted to believe he’d be helping his own people. That he could do more for the Weres working inside the Federal government than outside.
    He put everything into his work. No hobbies. No family. No men. Just his career. But so far he hadn’t done shit to help anyone but himself.
    At first he’d been given short-term cases involving shifters, vamps, and cats as well as wolves like himself. But his investigations had been minor white collar stuff on the West Coast. Then he was handed something totally different. The New York Police Department, in collaboration with allied agencies, and the Feds had been investigating Dogtown and alleged terrorist, Jaxon Castle, for over two years. The Feds wanted Castle badly, but they couldn’t get anything concrete. It was then Slade realized they’d been grooming him for this assignment. He didn’t like it. This one didn’t pass the smell test. And he liked it even less when he had to relocate.
    New York was like a foreign country to him. He needed to get the lay of the land, so for two weeks prior to moving into Dogtown he’d passed as human and moved from hotel to hotel, sightseeing and getting a feel for the surroundings. What he discovered, he didn’t like. The different neighborhoods all had one thing in common. The residents didn’t like shifters. Weres and humans had never gotten along, but on the West Coast they were treated better. Here, bigotry and discrimination were tolerated, even encouraged. He’d seen enough to last a lifetime.
    When he arrived in Dogtown yesterday, posing as a shifter with legal problems who had to leave the West Coast in a hurry, he still felt out of his comfort zone. He’d gone straight to The Kennel Club and asked for a job. Expecting Jaxon to be suspicious and hesitant, Slade had been pleasantly surprised at how quickly he’d been hired. By a lucky coincidence Jaxon’s dancer had not shown up, and Jaxon gave him a chance to show his stuff. He’d expected to be bartending but instead he ended up stripping. It wasn’t the job Slade would have chosen, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. And it would make it a whole lot easier to get close to Jaxon. The shifter was practically creaming his pants when Slade shed his. Of course Slade was pretty aroused himself, not a good idea when the target of his desire was the target of a federal probe.
    He really needed to keep his mind on the prize. The carrot dangling in front of his nose was a promotion. He’d be a big shot in the DSA and have the opportunity to select his own operatives. The Feds wanted him to recruit other wolf-shifters, and he was on board with that. The more of his people on the inside, the better it would be for all shifters.
    He had the full cooperation of the city, and it was his job to find proof for the Feds or …and that or weighed heavy on his mind. His immediate superior had insinuated that if he didn’t find anything concrete he was to manufacture it. It’s for the good of the country. That’s what they told him. Only he wasn’t so sure. In his line of business, it wasn’t smart to trust anyone, even your own bosses.
    Supposedly, Castle was organizing a terrorist group to overthrow the local government. One human operative had spent the better part of a year