by Lora Leigh
It wasn’t just the sneer; it was the feeling that the thought of her former abilities was seen in contempt. He saw her with an edge of contempt.
“Cassie, my formal Petition for Reconsideration will be sent electronically to the Breed Cabinet at first light. I won’t allow that bastard to take my mate.” Ice filled his voice, his gaze.
That was it. He was cold. The Breed had an ice cube for a heart and she didn’t think she’d enjoy frostbite.
“Have you forgotten who you’re fucking with, asshole?” she snarled, ignoring her father as she faced a Breed she was beginning to see as the enemy now. “I’ll twist your petition in so many damned directions so fast, you’ll get whiplash.”
She’d never cared much for Rhyzan, had never liked his lack of compassion or his hard-line approach to Breed Law. He was a Breed who saw everything in black and white. The rule book was all that mattered, not the law broken or the reasons why.
“You’re not the only one who knows Breed Law,” he stated, assurance settling over his expression.
She turned to her father, seeing the speculation in his gaze as he watched her now. Could he sense the chill invading her, she wondered. The fear?
“How dare you do this?” she snarled, seeing her father’s and Rhyzan’s start of surprise at the sound of her voice. “You come to this room, the scent of my mate marking it, as well as me, and dare to suggest you’re strong enough to replace it?” A sneer curled at her lips as she raked Rhyzan with a contemptuous glare. “And then to suggest you can force it? I’d slit your throat if you even tried and I’d get away with it.”
“Cassie,” her father whispered, pain contorting his face. “Dog will get you killed.”
The slamming of the suite’s door had them all swinging around.
Terror raced through her. If he’d been standing outside the door, he could have heard everything said. She hadn’t completely closed the door; she remembered that now. Some warning, some inset kernel of knowledge, had made her stop just shy of securing it.
And that may have been a very big mistake.
She watched in fascination as Dog stepped over to where he’d carelessly tossed his pack earlier. Not taking his eyes off them, he reached into the side, drew a slender cigar free and placed it between his lips, lit it.
The flame from the old-fashioned match cast his features into an eerie glow before he lowered it, shook the flame out and slowly blew out a cloud of fragrant tobacco smoke.
It took precious seconds to realize she was slowly shaking her head as she stared back at him, anger still raging like a storm inside her. This couldn’t happen. She couldn’t let blood be shed here. God help her, nothing could happen to her dad, and if Dog attacked Rhyzan, her father would feel honor bound to stand with the assistant director.
“Mate,” he drawled softly. “Come here.”
She’d taken a step toward him when her father’s hand touched her arm with but a whisper of discomfort, pulling her gaze to him.
“I love you, Cassie,” he said gently. “And I’ll do whatever necessary to protect you. Even from your mate.”
And he would. Whatever he felt he had to do.
Her head lifted as she forced back the sharp words that wanted to escape.
“I chose him,” she assured him firmly. “I contacted him. I asked him to be my lover, knowing he was a Coyote, knowing there was a chance that he was my mate.” She flashed Rhyzan a killing look. “If I had wanted anyone else, I could have chosen them instead.”
No bloodshed. No war. The only way to fight a Reconsideration was to stay firm, confident, and let no one suspect for even a second that he wasn’t the mate she would have chosen if she had known.
Turning, she moved across the room to Dog’s side, expecting him to make some show of ownership or dominance.
Instead, his hand merely settled at her back, warm, strangely comforting.
“Alpha Sinclair, I actually have some measure of respect for you,” he stated, his tone reasonably respectful. “Because of that, I assure you that getting my mate killed or captured is the last thing you need to fear. But make the mistake of attempting to use her love for you, and your disappointment in her choice, then that will change. I don’t think either of us wants to hurt Cassie in such a way.”
Her father’s expression didn’t change, but the animosity pouring from him seemed to thin, as though Dog’s response surprised him.
“As for you.” Dog turned to Rhyzan. “Get the hell out of here. The scent of your self-righteousness is pissing me off.”
Cassie was aware of her father watching, his expression bland, but he was analyzing every word, every undercurrent and emotion in the air, she knew. And he was amazingly perceptive.
“I’d like to see Kenzi soon.” She turned to her father.
“Your security is no longer active and Kenzi’s under Bureau protection,” Rhyzan stated, moving for the door. “As a matter of fact, you have twelve hours before you’ll be asked to leave if you insist on remaining with him.”
He left the room as Cassie fought to control the hard strike of pain she felt lance her chest.
That was her sister, and because she refused to consider an attempt to switch mates, he’d use Kenzi as a weapon?
She didn’t look at her father then. She wouldn’t beg, not Rhyzan and not her father. She wouldn’t put him in the position of having to hurt her because he couldn’t overrule Rhyzan.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he said softly as he drew to her side and lowered his head to kiss the top of hers. “I love you. If you need me, you have only to call. You know that.”
She nodded quickly. “I know. I love you too, Dad.”
Her heart was breaking. She could feel it shredding in her chest and fought to keep the pain buried, to keep the tears from filling her eyes.
He left the room, closing the door gently behind him as he did.
She stepped away from Dog, a strange, hollow chill moving through her as she headed for the bedroom. “I guess I better start packing. It appears we’re being evicted.”
•CHAPTER 9•
Cassie managed to talk to Ashley and several of the other agents she’d been working with and updated them as to her new status, or lack thereof. She hadn’t met with Jonas, but each time she considered it, she rejected the idea just as quickly. Some instinct warned her that now wasn’t the time.
Her mother had arrived several hours after her father and Rhyzan left, clearly upset. Cassie had refused to discuss the earlier meeting with her, despite the fact that her mother obviously knew what had happened. Just as she knew Cassie had been given notice to leave.
Finally, that evening, there was nothing left to do but pack. Not that she had a lot to pack. Her clothes and shoes for the most part. She hadn’t brought much else besides a few pieces of jewelry when she’d come to Window Rock.
Dog had left and returned several times, his expression forbidding each time he’d come back to the room. What his plans were when they left, she had no idea. What his plans were while he’d been in the Bureau’s residence with her, she still didn’t know. All she knew was that whatever he was working on, he was determined to keep it to himself.
Council business? she wondered, but something in that thought simply didn’t feel right. That, or she was just trying to fool herself.
Aware of him moving around in the other room, she placed her luggage on the bed and began packing. She had her apartment; they could always go there. Or that was where she intended to go. Someplace reasonably safe while she and her mate battled out a few choices he needed to make quickly.
“How confident are you that you can block the Petition for Reconsideration?” Dog asked her from the bedroom doorway as she pulled clothes from her closet and carried them to the bed.
Placing the hangers of clothing on the bed, she straightened and stared back at him, her st
“I can’t block it. I’d have to be able to access the articles of Mating Law. My security access was rescinded, as well as any ability to file the proper paperwork without going through the Breed Tribunal to gain permission to access it.” She frowned as she considered the options she had. “All I can do is refuse to see him until the BRC agrees to hear my arguments. But they can still force me away from you until that time.”
Could she bear that? Even now, the need for him was a heated ache in her core, distracting at best, but she knew it could be much worse. Mating Heat and the need for one’s mate were an ever-present hunger until the hormonal changes that occurred in both the male and female ran their course or pregnancy occurred. According to Dr. Sobolova, the injection she administered would halt conception, but nothing could halt the Heat itself. It was unknown until recently that the Coyote Breed’s DNA hadn’t been coded with the mutation to block conception. That mutation was one of the reasons Wolf and Feline Breed female mates experienced such extremes in their arousal and needs.
“You have five minutes to change and grab your pack.” He stepped into the bedroom, his glance taking in her clothes. “Brannigan filed his petition and I’d prefer not to give that bastard a chance to die today.”
Cassie could feel the blood draining from her face.
She could feel the knowledge that such a move would turn into a war. If Rhyzan actually managed to separate her and Dog, blood would spill. And that blood would stain the Breeds and Mating Heat forever.
She couldn’t allow this to happen.
If Dog killed Rhyzan for attempting to separate them, it would tear the Breed community apart, no matter the law that allowed it. Mating Law was filled with addendums, statutes and, in some places, vague language to allow for later clarifications on a case-by-case basis. Such as this one. But it firmly established the fact that mates couldn’t be separated by order or decree.
There wasn’t a Breed alive who was aware of Mating Law who would stand for even Dog to be separated from his mate. It was unthinkable. It would divide the Breeds as nothing else ever had.
“We can’t leave without being seen . . .”
“Let me take care of that. Four minutes, Cassie.” His expression hardened further. “The second he has confirmation that he can separate us, he’ll head up here with enough Enforcers to fill this suite. And trust me, I will die to keep my mate, and I’ll make damned sure I take a hell of a lot of them with me.”
It was his tone, the strength in it, the faint growl that rose from his throat, the wave of possession and determination that suddenly filled the room.
If he would die to keep Rhyzan from taking her, then he’d never allow the Council to take her either. The fear of that had been one she hadn’t been able to push aside, until now. That preternatural sense of coming events or possibilities woke inside her long enough that she knew whatever he was, whoever he worked for, he wasn’t loyal enough to them to turn her over.
Grabbing the clothes she needed, she quickly removed her slacks and silk blouse before redressing. Jeans, a dark T-shirt and overshirt and hiking boots.
Damn Rhyzan. What the hell was he trying to do? One thing was for certain: His blood was going to spill if he kept on this course.
As she hurriedly braided her hair, Dog strapped his weapon to his thigh. While she was securing the braid he was lifting the pack and looping one of the straps over his shoulder.
“It won’t take long for him to receive an answer.” She kept her voice low as she took the hand he held out to her.
“Then let’s not waste time. Stay behind me, stay quiet.” He led her through the suite, but rather than going to the exit, he pulled her into the spare room behind the small kitchen.
She watched in amazement as they entered the small walk-in closet there. Pausing at the back of the closet, she watched as the wall slowly slid back, revealing a narrow corridor.
God bless Jonas’s heart, but how in the hell had Dog known about the hidden access?
Following silently, she was aware of the access door closing behind them as her night vision kicked in, allowing her to see her way through the dark corridor.
It took only minutes to find a stairwell. Dog moved quickly, silently, despite his size, down the sound-absorbing steps until they reached another long corridor. Pausing, listening for long seconds, he then led her to the door at the far end.
The exit led to a cement tunnel that came out several blocks away from the Bureau into a parking garage. There, she watched as two Coyote Breeds separated themselves from the shadows to meet him.
She knew the two Breeds. His partners, Mutt and Mongrel. God, she was going to have to discuss names with them.
“Brannigan just received confirmation of receipt of the petition and was given the go-ahead to have your mate taken to the doctors until the Breed Ruling Cabinet could convene,” Mutt reported as Dog opened the back of the Desert Dragoon and threw his pack inside. “The order was given for retesting alone, but I doubt Rhyzan will pay much attention to it.”
“Why the labs?” Cassie questioned them. “There’s no reason that I’d be kept there.”
“He gave Sobolova and Armani orders to come up with a hormone that would counteract what he called your infection,” Mutt said, sneering. “He wants to give whatever hormone he carries a chance to ensure a mating.”
Disbelief filled her. That wasn’t possible. In all the years of mating, nothing had been found that could counteract Mating Heat.
“He’s insane,” she hissed, her gaze going to Dog as he watched her quietly. “That’s not possible.”
“Not with Wolves or Felines,” Mongrel drawled. “Seems they think it might be possible for a short amount of time with Coyote DNA. Though it seems Sobolova and Armani are currently threatening Rule Breaker and Jonas Wyatt with formal protests for attempting it.”
“Let’s go.” Dog jerked open the passenger door of the four-seat armored desert all-terrain vehicle and all but pushed her inside.
The other two climbed into the back while Dog strode around to the driver’s side and slid inside. Within seconds, the Dragoon was pulling out of the garage and heading away from Window Rock.
“Where are we going?” God, she prayed she wasn’t making a mistake.
She was alone with three of the most notorious Council Breeds she knew of. She was a mate as well as the one Breed the Genetics Council had been attempting to snatch since she was nine years old.
“Where Rhyzan can’t touch you,” Dog said with a grunt, watching the night as the Dragoon’s lights cut a swath through the darkness.
“And where would that be?” she asked, staring at him, trying to hold on to his earlier declaration that he would die before being separated from her.
A chuckle from the back seemed to mock her fear.
“She thinks you’re going to turn her over to the Council, Dog,” Mutt announced, far too amused.
“She knows better,” Dog muttered, but she saw the narrow-eyed look he shot her. “She’d be with Rhyzan if that’s what she thought. Wouldn’t you?”
She tried to swallow past the uncertainty tightening her throat.
“I would,” she answered him firmly, rather than giving voice to that uncertainty. “That doesn’t mean I don’t expect to know what the hell you’re going to do. I’m not a child or a simpleton and I’m fully capable of contributing to whatever you have planned if I know what the plan is.”
Being kept in the dark just made her crazy now. Before, the answers she’d needed had always been available, and if not the answers, at least an assurance of safety or danger. Those ghostly forms no longer came to her, though, and the uncertainty of what was coming was about to break her control.
“Well, it’s not exactly a plan.” He flashed her a grin, leaned back in his seat and extracted a cigar from his shirt pocket and lit it. “You could say we’re flying by our asses here.”
The scent of the tobacco wasn’t harsh or acrid, and if she wasn’t mistaken it was the same type of cigar and tobacco that Dane Vanderale smoked. And Dane exclusively smoked the slender rolled tobacco that one of the Vanderale companies made in Africa.
He was smoking Vanderale cigars. How the hell did he get them? She knew for a fact that particular brand of tobacco was made for Dane exclusively. It wasn’t imported and couldn’t be bought. And Dane didn’t supply just anyone with them, especially Council Breeds.
“It’s not exactly a plan,” she repeated quietly. “Do you exactly know where we’re going?”
“Pretty much,” he drawled, that amusement in his tone becoming irritating.
“Is this a guessing game?” she snapped, reaching out and snagging the cigar long enough to take a draw herself to confirm her suspicions about where it had come from.
It was smooth; the hint of cherry mixed with a flavor that reminded her of cognac flowed over her senses. Holding the cylinder between two fingers, she placed it between his lips once again, ignoring the surprise that had obviously rendered the three men silent.
Lifting his hand, he pulled the cigar free long enough to glance at it, then suddenly grinned again before returning it between his lips and increasing the speed of the Dragoon.
“Did you guess?” He shot her a knowing look.
The two Breeds behind them were completely silent, completely intent on what was going on in front of them.
He shouldn’t have those cigars, just as he shouldn’t have known about Jonas’s escape route.
“Will Jonas be there, or Dane?” she asked, narrowing her gaze on him as he exhaled, the smoky scent wrapping around her senses.
“Jonas is going to be rather busy for a while,” he said, grunting. “I warned him Rhyzan was a sneaky bastard; he didn’t want to listen. Though what makes him think he can take my mate, I have yet to figure out.”
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