a Breed, to control her. You’ll only make her hate you.”
“So I should allow her to continue to risk herself as though her life doesn’t matter?” Lawe was furious, his icy blue eyes were snapping with anger as his expression tightened to a furious hardness, the impression of feline savagery intensifying.
“That, or learn how to fight beside her,” she suggested with an inner pain so agonizing every Breed in the room felt it. Especially Jonas. He could feel it lashing at him, burning straight to his soul and searing him with his mate’s tormented fears for her sister. “Because if you become the reason why I no longer see my sister, or my daughter grows up without her aunt, then I promise you, I will do everything in my power to make damn sure you pay for it.”
Lawe growled, a low, deep rumble of such intense male confusion that if it weren’t for Rachel’s pain, the other Breeds in the room would have been more than amused at the sound.
“Rule!” Lawe snapped out his brother’s name. “You’re with me.”
“Am I? I don’t know if I want to go with you, Lawe,” Rule stated from across the room. At the look of fury his brother directed his way, he sighed with weariness rather than his normal mockery. “Fine, but I think it would be in my best interests to stay here. This mating stuff is becoming contagious and I’d just as soon remain uninfected if it’s all the same to you. Unlike you, I’m still avoiding the issue and doing my damnedest to remain free.”
Lawe turned, and though Jonas couldn’t see his expression any longer, he watched Rule sigh in resignation as a grimace tightened his face. “Fine. Fine,” he groused. “But if I end up infected, I’m gonna kick your fucking ass and will do everything I can, every time I can, to make sure you’re cock blocked.”
Lawe swung back to Jonas. “I’ll contact you when I’ve found her.”
Pure Breed arrogance and a touch of male superiority filled his gaze and his voice. Jonas could have warned him then and there he was headed for trouble. But hell, he knew the other Breed wouldn’t listen.
Some things, a Breed just had to learn for himself. And the lessons Diane was getting ready to teach Lawe were those he would never forget.
As painful as those lessons might be, as certain Lawe was he had no need of them and would never bow to them, Jonas knew it would be an adventure Lawe would never want to miss.
After all, Diane was his mate. A perfect match, heart and soul, to the man he was. Could he have expected his mate to have been less of a warrior than he?
“Yeah, you do that,” Jonas said with a snort as Lawe and his brother headed for the doors.
Lawe jerked one of the wide panels open, stalked through it and didn’t look back. Rule followed more slowly and as he reached the door turned back to Rachel. “I’m certain you arranged this somehow,” he stated knowingly, his gaze narrowing on her as Jonas caught a hint of some unknown emotion, a scent he didn’t recognize. “I don’t think it was very sporting of you, Rachel. I have problems of my own you know. I didn’t need to borrow his.”
As the door closed behind him, Jonas turned back to his mate and arched his brow at her in question as she leaned against the table and smiled complacently.
The anger was gone. She was still hurting, but Diane was her sister, a sister who constantly placed herself in danger for some reason, in battles that weren’t hers, for men, women, children and creatures that would never offer the first word of thanks.
He was aware of the alphas behind him muttering, whispering and preparing to leave.
“What have you done?” he finally asked his mate, his voice low as he stared down at her in contemplation.
Rachel smiled sweetly, innocently. “Let’s just say I’ve hedged my own bets where my sister is concerned. Let’s just hope Lawe is smart enough to cash in the marker I just gave him, and he learns how to be my sister’s partner rather than her jailer.”
Ah, his little mate was far wilier than he gave her credit for, it seemed. And God knew, he gave her plenty of credit for that wily side of her nature.
“Playing games, sweetheart?” he asked in amusement, amazed as always that this perfect woman was his. That she loved him. That she was the woman God had created just for him, when his creators had told him that such a superior being would never claim him and would definitely never send such a ray of sunshine into his existence.
“And here you thought you were the master manipulator.” She gave a low, light laugh as he lowered his head to rub his cheek against hers. “Darling, you may know your Breeds, but I know my sister,” she whispered at his ear. “She’ll have him bagged and tagged before they ever return to D.C. or Sanctuary. He’ll be mated more firmly than any Breed you’ll ever meet and loving every minute of it.”
With that, she turned her head and pressed her lips to his cheek, bestowing a kiss of such warmth that each Breed in the room was suddenly longing for his own mate.
It wasn’t a longing born of lust but a longing born of the gentleness and the sudden softening they glimpsed in the Breed they had once sworn had been created with a machine for a soul. A true, flesh-based robot.
As she stepped back moments later, her gaze was filled with warmth as she glanced out at the other men. A small grin tilted her lips.
“Where has she gone, sweetheart? Holding that information back isn’t something you can do. And it’s not debatable.”
They had an understanding and he gave her the phrase that indicated it wasn’t a situation where she could deny him the information he needed.
“And you’ll tell him, of course.” She grimaced as she sighed heavily. “She’s going to take him home, Jonas. Diane’s heading to Window Rock. Right in the heart of his family, I believe.”
Yes, it was.
The past, the present and the future were coming together and Jonas knew the pain of it would affect Lawe even more than Rachel could guess.
“Pride Leader Lyons?” Her tone was formally polite, causing Callan’s brows to arch before his gaze narrowed.
Lifting a hand, he rose to his feet and indicated that his second-in-command, Kane Tyler, should follow him, then he moved to Rachel. Not that it would keep the others from hearing them speak, but her tone had warned him that facing the room with what she had to say could be uncomfortable for her.
“Rachel?” He stopped in front of them as Jonas watched his mate warily, suddenly certain she was prepared now to take his advice and to speak with Callan concerning their daughter.
Rachel lifted her chin and stared directly back at him. “I would prefer you speak to your son before I do.” She kept her tone incredibly soft. So soft, that perhaps the others couldn’t hear her after all. “The next time he frightens my child and shows the others his refusal to accept her by growling and snapping at her, I will take the matter up with his mother. At his age, he may prefer that any discussion of the problem come from you first.”
Callan’s brows lowered. “How long has this been going on?” he asked, careful to keep his tone below the anger level.
“As long as my daughter has been in Sanctuary,” she informed him. “His refusal to accept her is affecting the other children, I believe.” She quickly blinked her tears back. “This is the reason I no longer come to the main house when invited and no longer join activities with the other wives. I can’t leave my daughter alone with them, Callan. Especially if David’s in the house.”
Callan was eerily silent. A muscle ticked at the side of his jaw, and for a moment, Jonas considered pulling his mate back from his alpha. Until Callan sliced a look of disapproval at him, as though sensing Jonas’s thoughts.
“Forgive me for not seeing a problem existed, Rachel,” Callan said softly. “And I do appreciate you bringing this to me, though Merinus will be contacting you soon, I’m certain. We’ll discuss the matter with David before the three of us meet with you and your mate, if that’s acceptable?”
Jonas felt Rachel’s hand brush his. Twining his fingers with her delicate ones, he gave her the support she s
uddenly seemed to need as she realized the alpha of the Prides was perhaps much more understanding than she had believed.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I’m certain we can be available whenever you need us.”
Callan glanced at Jonas once more. “Your mate is too good for you,” he stated with an amused twitch to his lips. “And far more intuitive. You should have come to me sooner, Jonas.”
“Don’t blame him.” Rachel shook her head. “He’s stayed quiet at my request, Callan. I wanted to wait. I didn’t want to cause strain at a time when I know other matters are far more important. But, Diane isn’t near so patient I’m afraid. She made me do it.”
Amusement at the almost childish proclamation drew a chuckle from Callan.
“I’ll thank her personally when next I see her,” he promised. “And thank you again.”
Rather than kissing her cheek, shaking her hand, or any other form of touching that could have caused her discomfort, Callan instead lowered his head to hers and rubbed against it briefly.
The acceptance, respect and affection inherent in the gesture wasn’t missed by Jonas or any other occupant in the room. From that day on, Rachel would always be considered a member of Callan’s personal Pride, and his inner circle of family.
“Gentlemen.” She nodded to the others gracefully as Callan stepped back. “I’ll let you return to your meeting now. And if I were all of you, I would prepare for the fallout when they return.”
She didn’t explain the fallout, but she didn’t need to. If they returned with the former Brandenmore victims, then it would be self-explanatory.
Without another word she walked gracefully from the room, nodding to the Breed guard who opened the doors and then closed them behind her.
Jonas turned back to the alphas who had deliberately found something else to watch.
All but Leo, the man biology named his father. Amber eyes watched him thoughtfully, his lips quirked with a hint of knowing amusement.
He’d watched each moment of the exchange and, Jonas suspected, heard far more than either he, Rachel or Callan wished. But his gaze had softened as his expression reflected a respect Jonas rarely saw in the other Breeds’ gaze.
It was then that Leo nodded back at him before stating, in a tone that reflected surprising fondness, “I think she scares me.”
Jonas sighed in resignation though his chest seemed to weaken with his love for her. “Yeah,” he drawled. “I think that makes two of us.”
•CHAPTER 8•
THREE DAYS LATER
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
Gideon watched the window of the hotel room carefully through the scope of the rifle. The gold jewelry that Scott had been kind enough to keep in the safe had purchased the sniper rifle and highly sensitive scope from the black market contact he’d made years before, during one of his brief escapes from Brandenmore’s labs.
It was an old-fashioned weapon, one powered by the ammunition loaded into it, rather than the kind that used a laser box for power before each shot.
The soft sizzle of the box powering up the laser rifles were easily detectable to most Breeds if they were within a certain distance. But even easier for them to discern were the two tiny pin lights at the side of the box. Those pin lights could be seen from miles away by a Breed’s sensitive eyes.
This weapon, though, with its dull steel and the shaded glass of the scope, was all but undetectable to Breeds or humans.
Until it was fired.
This weapon, unlike the laser-powered variety, was loud enough to alert even the densest of the human population that violence was being committed.
It couldn’t be powered back to wound rather than kill or to burn rather than pierce. It couldn’t be deflected by the reflector glass or comparable material. There were few things that could stand between a man and a bullet.
Or a woman and a bullet.
At the moment, the woman in question was sitting comfortably in the chair she had moved to the side of the bed, directly in front of the window. The curtains were open and gave him a clear line of fire as she propped slender, jean-clad legs on the low table in front of her. Scuffed boots looked worn and comfortable, as did the faded jeans and the sleeveless, snug camisole she wore.
And she was staring straight back at him, her gaze meeting his in the scope of the rifle, daring him to fire.
Gideon had to smile.
He was almost becoming fond of this woman after the past three months.
She had a backbone, a daring no other adversary he’d known possessed. She was bold, confrontational, and mysterious. And she was damned intelligent.
Intelligent enough to know she was being followed and cunning enough that she had almost lost him more than once. Gideon had never come so close to losing prey as he had this woman since he’d begun following her.
She was a damned fine adversary, and he had no doubt she would make some worthy man a damned fine lover.
If she survived the little game they were playing at the moment.
He almost envied the man that would share her bed. No doubt it would be the Breed whose scent he’d detected on her clothes when he slipped into her bedroom earlier.
That Breed would have a woman most men could only dream of having. A woman that would be his partner. She was one who would go into battle with him, soothe his soul, mend his wounds, and drive him crazy in bed once the danger was over.
She couldn’t cook worth a damn, he’d heard one of her men say, but she commanded four powerful, territorial, less-than-courteous bastards who lived for war. Three of them followed her willingly, loyally.
The one who wasn’t completely loyal still lived because Gideon had only managed to identify him in the past twenty-four hours. If he were still traveling with her, then Gideon would have already killed him. This woman deserved more than the traitor who had sold her to her uncle’s enemies, she deserved more than the supposedly careless accidents used as attempts to get rid of her. Someone wanted her out of the game. They wanted to keep her from aiding her sister’s mate in protecting her sister and her sister’s child. According to the rumors swirling, now that she was so firmly aligned with the Breeds, someone wanted to ensure that if Colt Broen ever resurfaced there would be no one he could reach out to for assistance.
Someone was very frightened of the combination Diane Broen and her uncle represented. So frightened that once they realized she either didn’t know where he or the Leo’s home base was located, or was strong enough to keep her secrets, decided they were better off with her dead.
Alive, she represented a threat. A threat someone wasn’t willing to take.
Gideon doubted she realized how often three of those men stood between her and laser fire. If any of them were there now, he had no doubt they would be standing between her and his rifle. As her uncle and her ex-lover had tried to stand between her and the enemies that followed. And they had paid for their efforts in blood.
She was alone now. She had left her men behind, just as he had suggested she do in the letter he had left for her in Argentina. At the time, Gideon hadn’t yet uncovered the identity of the traitor on her team.
Now, he knew. He knew who had been the cause of her lover’s death, who had betrayed her uncle, and who had betrayed her.
For what? For a secret her parents had taken to the grave with them. The secret of the location of the Lion’s Den, the home of the first Leo.
She had sent them all home, three of them wounded by Gideon’s bullets. At the time, there had been only one Gideon was certain she could trust. It was only in the past twenty-four hours that the traitor had shown his hand and Gideon had identified him. That one was a danger to her. The bullets Gideon had used to take the three he suspected out of the game had been a warning to each that they had struck, and it was one the bastard had best heed. Neither man nor Breed could serve two masters, and that one was making the possibly fatal mistake of attempting to do so.