In the Company of Wolves (SWAT, #3)(12)

Cooper snorted. “How can you know that?”

Becker knew his friend was just trying to get him to see reason, which normally would have been a good approach. But as far as this woman was concerned, reason didn’t enter into the picture. For the first time in his life, he was making decisions based purely on instinct and emotion. He was usually linear and calculating. This should have been freaking him out, but the funny part was that it felt right.

He ran a hand through his short, dark blond hair and sighed. “I can’t tell you how I know…I just do. She’s different. You have to believe me when I say that. And whatever you do, you can’t tell Gage or anybody else about her.”

Cooper pulled a tall metal stool out from behind the counter and sat down. Tuffie left her place by the door and moved closer, as if she really wanted to hear the next part of their conversation.

“Becker, you’re asking me to lie to Gage and the rest of the team about something that could get a lot of people killed, so no bullshitting. You need to be completely honest with me on this.” Cooper pinned him with a hard look. “Are you doing this because you think a woman you’ve known all of sixty seconds could be The One for you?”

Ever since Gage had met Mac, the rest of the SWAT team had been seeing The One in every woman who gave them a casual glance. After Xander met Khaki, it had only gotten worse. It was the number one topic of conversation whenever they had some downtime. Hell, even when they were on incidents. Becker was just as guilty as the other guys when it came to wondering if there was someone special out there for him.

Right now, though, his first impulse was to say Hell no! He’d exchanged half a dozen words with her in all of thirty seconds. It’s not like he was in love with her or anything like that. He was asking Cooper to lie for him because he thought she was innocent and because…well, she seemed nice.

Shit, that was lame.

The longer he stood there trying to come up with an answer, the longer Cooper’s theory had to sink in. Was his friend right? Was the reason he’d reacted so strongly to this beautiful werewolf because they were somehow linked together like Gage and Mac, and Xander and Khaki?

That was crazy. The odds were incredibly stacked against a werewolf ever meeting his one-in-a-billion soul mate. There was no way Becker could have met his in the midst of an armed robbery. That kind of crap didn’t happen in the real world.

But it had happened for Gage and Xander. So maybe it had happened for him too.

He pushed at a piece of dirt on the floor with the toe of his boot before finally shrugging. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

Cooper folded his arms, his dark eyes regarding Becker thoughtfully. “Are you sure you’re not just projecting? That you want this woman to be The One so badly you’re willing to overlook anything that doesn’t fit?”

“What the hell does that mean?” Becker demanded. He pushed away from the counter. “Since when did you turn into Dr. Phil?”

Cooper held up his hands. “I’m just saying. I know you’ve been looking around the next corner for that one-in-a-billion babe for you ever since Gage met Mac. I get it.”

Becker didn’t say anything. Cooper was right. He hadn’t had a serious relationship since he’d gone through his change, and if there was a perfect woman out there for him, he wouldn’t turn a blind eye to her—or turn her in to his fellow cops.

“So what if I am eager to find The One for me?” he asked. “What kind of dumbass werewolf wants to live his life alone?”

Cooper seemed to think about that. “I get what you’re saying. But given that you really, really want this woman to be The One, are you sure you aren’t just seeing what you want to see?”

“No. I’m telling you, there’s something about her.” Becker eyed his friend. “So…are you going to say anything to Gage?”

Cooper looked to Tuffie for help, but the dog’s expression remained happily neutral, as if to say Cooper was on his own with this one.

Cooper muttered something under his breath. “Why am I the one who has to keep everybody’s secrets when they’re doing something stupid?”

Becker chuckled, remembering how Cooper had kept Xander and Khaki’s relationship secret from everybody on the team for a while. “Because you’re so good at it.”

Cooper shook his head. “Okay, so we don’t tell Gage and the rest of the Pack. What do we do then?”

Becker frowned. “Hold on. There is no we. I’ve already gotten you in deep enough by asking you to lie for me.”

“If this all goes south, it’s not like Gage and Xander will go easier on me because all I did was lie to them,” Cooper pointed out. “It’s in my best interest to make sure this all works out right. If it doesn’t, we’ll probably both end up getting punched through a brick wall. So, how can I help?”

Dammit, Cooper could be stubborn. Becker should have told his friend that he didn’t want him involved, but the truth was, he could use the help. And as Cooper pointed out, Gage would be pissed anyway. Then again, Gage was always pissed about something.

“The first thing we need to do is get out of here so I can do some digging,” he told Cooper. “Think you can come up with an excuse without making anyone suspicious?”

Cooper thought about it for a moment, then grinned. “Yeah. We tell Gage the truth.”