by Lora Leigh
PROLOGUE
Del-Rey Delgado, the Coyote Ghost, was alpha leader of the team of twenty-eight mercenary soldiers he had gathered around him from various parts of the Council’s ranks. Coyote Breeds that he had rescued, men he had trained himself—hardened, cold-eyed soldiers that the underground world knew only as Team Zero, the mercenary force willing to take on the most suicidal of missions.
They had rescued heiresses, assassinated despots and posed as security for some of the greatest leaders in the world. Men who never knew they were dealing with a shadowy force that had been created rather than born.
There had even been a few times that they had protected Council members themselves. For a while. Long enough to get the information they needed and still keep their reputations intact. Those leaders had always died once payment was collected.
As Del-Rey had told his men, vengeance came after the bills, and supporting the plans they had took an excessive amount of money.
Plans such as rescuing other Coyotes who managed to find a way to contact Del-Rey’s shadowy force. This day, he stared into winsome blue eyes and wondered if perhaps the Genetics Council hadn’t truly created a creature without a soul when they created him. Because as he stared into the young woman-child’s eyes, he knew he would end up betraying her.
Sixteen and as beautiful as a sunrise. Long red gold hair flowed over her shoulder in a silken braid as she stepped into one of the dirtiest, meanest, jacked-up bars in Russia. Damn, it took courage for her to actually come here.
A breath of fresh air, a single fragile flame of innocence among the most corrupt of men. He tapped his fingernails against the bar in a signal to his second-in-command, Brimstone, and looked to the door as the entire room went quiet.
Even a five-year-old would have enough instincts to run in this situation. But this girl didn’t run. Her chin lifted as she stepped into the establishment and moved through the room.
She was a gang rape waiting to happen here. Son of a bitch.
He nodded to his men and watched as they moved from tables, from the corners of the shadowed room, and converged on her, surrounding her as Del-Rey and Brim moved from the bar to the back room that he had selected for this first meeting.
He was waiting when she was pushed through the door, sitting on the corner of the small table, one leg braced on the floor, the other swinging lazily as he watched her. Rounded eyes, parted pink lips, her breathing harsh. And a hint of fear in those eyes.
She should have known fear well before she made it here.
Using his foot, he pushed the single chair toward her.
“Sit,” he growled, deliberately letting the animal he was rumble in his voice.
But did she run? She didn’t run. She moved slowly to the chair, sat down and gave him a fragile smile. “Del-Rey,” she whispered. “It’s Spanish, you know, for ‘of the king.’”
His brows arched. He was of a king all right, one long betrayed and dead. He didn’t mean to follow in that genetic ancestor’s footsteps.
He leaned forward, braced his elbow on his knee and let his gaze run over her slowly. Very slowly. Touching on fragile, youthful and yet womanly features. A fucking child. Hell, that Siberian lab had been truly desperate, or depraved, to have sent a child to him.
“I’m going to kill you before I leave here,” he sighed, watching her smile falter.
“Kill me?” She licked her lips nervously and stared back at him with a hint of wariness. “You promised I’d be safe.”
“And you believed me?” A ghost of a smile played at his lips. “How foolish of you.”
“But, you never break your promises.” She blinked back at him with such innocence he nearly laughed.
He merely arched his brow instead, a warning that perhaps her information hadn’t been entirely accurate.
She looked down at her hands, linked her fingers together then lifted her gaze once again. “There are five females at the lab where my father is security officer.” She bit her lip worriedly before continuing. “They said they sent you a message, and you swore that you wouldn’t harm the contact sent to you.”
His head tilted as his eyes narrowed. “There are no female Coyotes.”
“There are five,” she told him. “Sharone, she contacted you. It was she that you spoke with in the secured emails. There are four others. Twins, Emma and Ashley. Two younger, Marcy and Chanda. They’re the babies of the group.”
He stared back at her curiously now. “Where are the males of their group? Coyotes don’t let females speak for them, little girl.”
She swallowed tightly. “The males are more heavily guarded. The scientists, they like me rather well. I’m one of the few women at the labs. I’ve been raised with them.”
How interesting. She had to be lying; there was no other option. Hell, killing children was one of the few sins he hadn’t committed in his life, but this child knew his face. He couldn’t risk being identified.
“Sharone said you would save them.” She stared back at him, her blue eyes darkening with more than worry now; there might even be a hint of anger in those pretty depths. “Do you know the risks we’ve taken to contact you? To come to this meeting?”
Yes, that was definitely anger. He stared back at her, frankly amazed. Even his men hesitated to speak to him in such a way. Surely no one else had dared since he had reached maturity. Perhaps even before.
“You risked much,” he agreed. “But I warned you in the email I would kill anyone attempting to trick me. Whoever set you on this plot, child, has ended your life for you.”
Did she show fear? No. Instead, slowly, she parted her jacket and from inside withdrew several photos. Her hands were shaking as she handed them to him.
Her face was pale, but her eyes were still filled with anger. He glanced at the pictures, brows lifting at the sight of the five young women. Definitely Coyote females if their forced smiles, which revealed their curved canines, were any indication.
“They could be faked.” He threw them to the table.
She inhaled roughly. “If I don’t return, a message will be sent to the Feline Breed compound Sanctuary that the Coyote Ghost has murdered me. I came to you under the auspices of the newly formed ideals of Breed Law, which you claimed in your email to adhere to. That message will state my name, my age, the labs I am from and a message: ‘Breed Law doesn’t always survive. Masters control the puppets, and the puppets whisper the wages of death.’”
Shocking. Del-Rey stared back at her as she whispered the code and information that he knew would set every living free Feline Breed on his ass. Perhaps this wasn’t a trick after all.
He could smell no deceit. But his senses could be tricked—Coyotes knew well how to trick human and Breed senses alike. A human could be taught, if the human were smart enough.
Anya Kobrin was smart enough. Sixteen years old and already working security and administration with the Siberian Chernov laboratories. He knew the location, knew by now many of the personnel, but rescuing the Breeds there would be much harder.
“These things don’t happen overnight.” He dropped any thought of killing her. “It could take years. I don’t go in blind and I don’t risk children. And I sure as hell don’t trust big blue eyes and a sincere face. Go home. I’ll contact you when I’ve decided.”
She looked at him in alarm. “This can’t wait that long. There are over fifty Coyote Breeds here. They die daily.” Distress filled her face. “You can’t just let them die.”
“And I know Coyotes, little girl,” he growled back at her. “I know their deceit and I know how easily they can trick pretty little girls. We wait, we watch. I’ll contact you. Until then your priority is maintaining the safety of those young women.” He pointed to the pictures. “You have no other job, is
that clear? The males will know the score. Do they know you’re here as well?”
She shook her head quickly. “Only Sharone knows. We haven’t told the others.”
“Keep it that way,” he ordered her, leaning closer, staring into her wide blue eyes, giving her a look that most men saw only seconds before they died. “Betray me, Anya Kobrin, and you die. You die, your father dies, and any friends or family that I ferret out as yours will die as well. Do you believe me?”
She licked her lips and nodded. “I would expect it. But I won’t betray you.”
He nodded abruptly. “My men will escort you out of the city. Return to your home and await contact.”
“Soon?” she asked as she rose slowly from her chair. “Please, soon. So far, the girls aren’t mistreated, mostly because my father ensures it. But, they’re getting older,” she whispered. “The three oldest are already over eighteen. He won’t be able to protect them for much longer.”
“Then you better be persuasive with your father and your friends,” he growled. “Because I don’t jump through rings and risk myself and my men as easily as you seem to think I should. Female Coyotes are worth some risk. The men there willing to do what they must for freedom are worth the risk. But never doubt you have spies there, and I’ll know who they are before I come in. And I’ll know, lovely Anya, if you are friend or foe. Make sure you stay on the friend side of the equation. I don’t care about killing a female if she betrays me.”
She stared back at him, then her chin lifted in determination and feminine arrogance. Hell, this one should have been a Breed herself. She was that daring. That courageous.
“If one of those girls dies before you make your decision,” she whispered, voice trembling, “then you are the one that better be careful, Del-Rey whoever the hell you are. I might be a child in your eyes, but I’d make a very bad enemy.”
She was threatening him? He wanted to laugh in surprise at her sheer daring. Instead, he merely chuckled, rapped the wall and waited for Brim to step inside.
“Get her out of here quickly and quietly,” he ordered the other man. “Return her to the train station. She’s going back to her nice, safe little home.”
Brim gave the girl a hard look before nodding and standing back to allow her to leave the room. She moved past him, then turned and stared back at Del-Rey.
“You should smile,” she told him softly, surprising him yet again. “I bet you’re really cute when you smile.”
He held the smile back until she left, then shook his head as a grin shaped his lips. The little imp. He was going to have a bit of trouble on his hands with this one, he could see. And a bit of a challenge.
TWO YEARS LATER
“This is insanity.” Anya jumped from the chair in the back of yet another dirty room and faced the man that entered the room. “You have to move faster than this.”
Del-Rey. Dark blond hair grew to his shoulders, black eyes so deep that at times they reflected the faintest hint of blue.
A darker blond brow arched at her outburst as he watched her coolly. He watched her the same as he had two years before, when she’d met him the first time. The half dozen times she’d seen him since had changed nothing in how he treated her.
But something in her had changed. She dreamed of him too often. Thought of him too often.
“I told you this doesn’t happen quickly,” he warned her. “Those labs are not exactly easily accessible, darlin’. We’re doing our best. And if your Coyote friend is as smart as I suspect she is, then she knew the wait would be a long one.”
“Breeds are being rescued all over the world,” she argued fiercely. “Labs just as secure have been penetrated.”
“And many, many lives have been lost,” he warned her. “For the moment, your labs are safe from the killings that are everyday business with the other Breeds. They don’t kill Coyotes unless they begin to show mercy. So far, those in your group are too young to be in much danger.”
“They are already starting to transfer the older ones.” Her fists clenched at her side at the memory of the group that had gone out over a month ago. “We can’t continue to wait like this.”
“Six were transferred, and once they cleared Russian borders, they were extracted. Three died for warning their guards that they were being rescued as we made the attempt.” He lifted the camcorder from the desk and switched it on before setting it in front of her. “I believe you knew them.”
Shock, betrayal. Anya’s eyes widened as she stared at the recording. Three of the Coyotes that she and Sharone had protected countless times had betrayed the others as the rescue group moved in. They had turned weapons on their fellow Breeds. Their eyes hard, they spouted Council bullshit in cold voices.
“The other three are alive and safe at the moment,” he promised her when the video finished.
“Get the girls out like that.” She jerked her gaze back to his in desperation. “I can arrange their transfers.”
He shook his head. “Aren’t you leaving something out, little Anya?”
He surprised her with the question.
“What do you mean?”
“Your father had those girls assigned to you as protective detail. I believe you’ve received an offer from the Genetics Council itself to head an office that would coordinate the admistrative and security duties involved in keeping their organization more secretive.”
She frowned. She had received such an offer, but how had he known?
“Doctors Chernov and Sobolova have requested that I stay assigned to the current lab until I’m twenty-two.” She let a smile tug at her lips. “They offered proof to the GC that I’m not nearly as proficient in the new programs as they had hoped I would be.”
It was deliberate, of course. Her father had warned her such an offer might arrive, and Anya had made certain she began to appear to be lagging in certain areas.
“Indeed,” he drawled. She suspected there was a wealth of mockery in that single word. But this man was often mocking, and always hard. But, sometimes, she saw amusement, perhaps a hint of softening.
“Indeed.” She rolled her eyes. “Which is totally beside the point, I could arrange for the girls be transferred. It would be simple enough.”
“No.” His voice was hard. Firm. “Here are three pictures. Do you know these men?”
She frowned down at the photos and pointed to one. “This is Aleski Dornovo, he’s a Breed trainer, ex-Russian Elite hit squad. He was sort of black ops for many years.” She tapped the next one. “Graco, he’s one of the older Breeds at the lab. Very quiet. Colder than the others. This is Cavalier. He’s dead on the inside,” she said sadly. “He came from another lab just ahead of the rescues. I heard it was a brutal lab to be in.”
“And yours isn’t?” he asked her.
She shook her head slowly and lifted her eyes to him, feeling the pain that filled her at the thought of what the Breeds suffered. “No. Doctors Chernov and Sobolova believe that loyalty begins with loyalty. They begin training with rewards for proper behavior. They refuse to conduct experiments on the Breeds they created, citing that it would begin a breakdown in that loyalty. They’re very high ranking within their fields. The Council rarely refuses them whatever they ask. They kill as example only.” She felt the tears that edged at her eyes. “But still, they kill.”
“You’re too softhearted,” he scoffed. “Death happens every day. “This man,” he tapped Cavalier’s picture, “watch him closely.”
“Is he an enemy?” She stared up at him, feeling her heart clench. She liked Cavalier. She never talked to him, she wasn’t allowed around the male Coyotes, but there was something haunted and sad in his eyes.
“Enemy or friend, I haven’t decided yet. Have Sharone watch him closely. She interacts with the male Breeds more than you’re allowed. Correct?”
“Correct,” she said heavily. “You’re not coming for them yet, are you?”
“Not yet,” he told her. “We’re going to weed out the chaff be
fore we come in for the harvest. There’s no other way to do this, Anya. Not and maintain your safety as well as the female Breeds you’re trying so hard to protect.”
Sharone had warned her that to do this right, it would take him years. She hadn’t believed it. She did now.
“Graco is certainly a spy,” he warned her then. “We have proof of it. Have him transferred if you can do so without suspicion.”
She nodded. “Father and the scientists make that decision. They normally follow Father’s recommendations though.”
Her father was head of security and training, and he listened to her opinion, he valued it. The fact that she was betraying him haunted her often. The fear that he could pay with his life for her actions was a constant.
“You won’t kill my father?” she asked him again. She asked him each time they met, to be certain. “You won’t hurt him?”
“Your father won’t die,” he promised her. “I promised you I wouldn’t harm your family, Anya.”
She inhaled heavily. “I’ll make certain Graco is transferred. I’ll get word to you when it’s arranged.”
“Be brave, Anya.” He surprised her with the words, with the deepening of his voice. “Nothing worth having comes quickly.”
She nodded bleakly. “Freedom is worth fighting for,” she whispered. “It’s worth dying for.”
Her friends weren’t animals. The Coyotes created in the labs she worked and lived within were created to follow orders, to be cold, to be hard, but Anya had seen so much more in them over the years. She prayed she would soon see them free.
FOUR YEARS LATER
Del-Rey stared at the young woman standing on the other side of the table as he and his lieutenants studied the diagrams she had brought with her. Electrical lines, water pipes, tunnel access beneath the labs, security weaknesses—she had brought everything they would need. But one crucial key was missing, and he dared not tell her that.
An ace.
Every great mission needed an ace. That one card that he knew would trump all opposition—that trump was Anya herself. Her father was head of security and training. Two cousins were team leaders in security. Various relatives worked within the labs. She was the baby of the family, cherished by father and cousins, and by the Coyotes that remained in the labs, she was seen as their greatest treasure.
They would die for her, die with her or die trying to save her. It wouldn’t matter to them. If she said, Walk through hell for me, then those men and five women within that damned lab would head to the bowels of the earth with a smile.
There were twenty left. When they came out, they would join the forty men he had already amassed over the years. All Coyote males, hardened and cold as death. They had only their honor, which they had been taught had been bred out of them, and the principles that brought them together.
His men outnumbered those inside, but he was betting when he took the ace, the Breeds in those labs would cheer. There wasn’t a one that was comfortable with leaving her behind.
But he knew the cost to the young woman that had become an integral part of his life over the past six years. She had weeded out the chaff, made certain nothing but loyal Breeds remained. She had done her part. He had agreed to her terms, and he was going to break the deal before it even began and she wouldn’t even know it before it was too late.
“Father and my cousins Ivan and Donan will have their teams here.” She pointed out the general areas that the security teams believed were weak. “They aren’t aware of the tunnels that lead from the labs to this cave.” She pointed out the cave. “I asked Father if the scientists didn’t have secure access underground and he said no. There is no other access. But I found the tunnel myself and followed it.”
And she was damned proud of herself. Hell, he was proud of her, even though his guts cramped at the thought of what could have happened if she had been caught.
“We have to do this soon,” she told him. “Enough of your excuses, we have only months and the Council will be moving me to St. Petersburg for admin training there in the offices of the Federation Secret Forces. If that happens, then all these years have been wasted.”
“And when it happens, what then?” he asked her. “What happens to the humans who worked within your labs?”
“Father will take care of me,” she told him confidently. “He’s already attempting to have the decision reversed, along with the scientists there. If the Breeds there escape, then the security forces will be reassigned. They will find the fault that will be programmed into their new security system and believe that my trainer overlooked my obvious incompetence to make himself appear brighter for having a protégée. I’ve seen what they do when this happens. They drop both trainer and protégée, who are then lucky to work in the factories.”
“A factory suits you then?” he asked her curiously.
Her smile, impish and teasing, curled at her lips. “I will talk Father into going to America then. It’s much warmer than Siberia.”
This was true enough, and she would indeed be taken to America. Though her father would not be traveling along with her. Del-Rey would be though. He had plans. Plans he had already set into motion, and Anya figured into many of them. Once this rescue was carried off, they would go to Colorado, petition the Wolf Breeds for an alliance and join the Breed society.
It wouldn’t be easy to convince the Wolves to allow an alliance, but he had proof of their work over the past years. Ten years living in the shadows, being no more than ghosts, free yet chained by the bonds of being forced to hide who and what they were from everyone.
“I’ll contact you soon,” he said.
He was lying to her, and not for the first time. For six long years, he had lied to this beautiful woman-child. He had watched her grow from a gangly teenager filled with fire and a thirst for her friends’ freedom. He had watched her plot, plan and implement his orders from a distance.
She was a fucking genius in administration and personnel. Intuitive, she could take a look at a group and damned near size them up instantly. She’d already done it with his men, and he had to grit his teeth when she informed him several of his men were too damned lazy. Hell, they were Coyotes, they needed a few faults or they’d be fucking Wolves.
There was something about her though, something he could never put his finger on, that drew him. Even when she was too young to be amused by or drawn to him, still, she had drawn him.
“I don’t want to be contacted soon, Del-Rey,” she informed him fiercely. “I’m only months from my birthday. This can’t be put off any longer.”
“I will contact you before you’re transferred,” he told her firmly. “The rescue will take place before then, I promise you this. It’s time for you to trust me, Anya.”
She glared back at him in confusion. “But I do trust you. I’ve always trusted you and you’ve always dragged your heels. I’m starting to worry now.”
“No worrying, little one.” He reached out before he could stop himself and touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers.
It flared then. That connection, that something he had felt growing over the years. And she felt it as well. He watched her lashes lower, watched her lips become fuller, more sensual. A flush filled her cheeks, and the arousal that filled her young body each time they met flared to full, heated life.
He was a Breed. He could smell her dampness, the rush of her sweet juices filling her pussy, her body preparing for him.
