Human Error

by Eileen Wilks

  “Yeah, the blue-eyed one was scowling and said something about damned Coyote hormones and the heat. Only God knows what that means, because it wasn’t hot in there. The other one, though, the darker one, his name was Stygian. He was just amused, and I swear to God I think I heard him give a wolf growl when you took that glass from his friend and finished his drink. I rather doubt he’s a feline,” she said musingly, as though more than a little interested.

  Chelsea and Liza were watching her as though they hadn’t yet figured out what had possessed her.

  She didn’t know herself what had possessed her.

  “I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” she groaned as she rubbed at her ear, wishing she could rub away the warmth that reminded her of his touch. “I still can’t believe I did that.”

  “And as terrified as you are of Holden, I still can’t believe you didn’t see him come into the bar.” Chelsea was shaking head in confusion.

  Her sister was no more confused than Isabelle was herself. That simply wasn’t like her. She didn’t come on to strange men, and she sure as hell never dared a Breed of any species. They were simply too unknown, and their temperaments too uncertain. Virgins should know better, she told herself in exasperation. They were so sexually experienced it should be considered illegal. Hell, it probably was illegal. They were lethal in more ways than one, but they would be hell on a woman’s heart.

  She knew plenty of them, and she was friends with several Breed females, but they weren’t best buds. Just as the male Breeds she knew had never been lovers.

  This Coyote, though, she would have loved to give herself to. Over and over again.

  And she would have loved continuing the game tonight. They had friends in the hotel; she could have found out where his room was. Perhaps slipped something beneath his door. Dared him to find her, then gotten herself another room.

  She would have had so much fun, and if that playful glitter in his eyes was any indication, her Coyote would have played with her. He would have broken all the rules. He would have laughed at her indignation. But she would have had so much fun.

  If it weren’t for Holden and his unpredictable behavior.

  “Look, Holden doesn’t know we’re staying here at the hotel. He’s expecting us to be heading home,” Liza pointed out. “Malachi and his friends certainly are in this hotel. I checked with my friend, Mary, at registration. Malachi Morgan, Rule Breaker and Stygian Black are here as a Breed delegation to meet with your uncle.” She frowned, her gracefully arched dark blond brows lowering in concern. “Do you know what it’s about?”

  Isabelle shook her head rather than lying outright to her friends. As her uncle’s assistant, she knew she had to be careful about divulging too much confidential information. And there were things Isabelle knew that even her sister was unaware of.

  She knew why her father, uncle and grandfather thought they were there, though she wasn’t aware of the details.

  Her uncle, the chief of the Nation; her father, one of the Nation’s legal representatives; and grandfather, the Nation’s medicine man had been discussing a rogue Breed and the search for him that the Bureau of Breed Affairs was conducting.

  Isabelle had heard her grandfather’s fears that the Breeds weren’t telling the whole truth regarding why the delegation from the Bureau of Breed Affairs was there.

  They feared it had something to do with the kid the Breeds suspected the Navajo Nation Council and the Martinez family had been hiding for more than a decade.

  Isabelle didn’t know if her family knew where they were or not. She knew though, that someone in the Council was behind the disappearance of Breed children who needed to cease to exist for their own safety. It only made sense they would do the same for any human child that had been a part of Breed research. All she knew was that there had been a teenage boy and young girl who had been found by her father years ago who had disappeared from the house later. Six Navajo dressed in denim, their faces decorated with war paint, their dark eyes fierce and intent, had taken the three away, and Isabelle had never seen them again. She had never told Chelsea or Liza about them. A short time later, Isabelle had heard her father and uncle talking about another girl. One her father had brought in after the other two, but she hadn’t been able to hear the details, and she hadn’t seen the girl. She wouldn’t have known about any of it if she hadn’t been such a nosy, sneaky kid, as her older brother, Lincoln, liked to accuse her of.

  It wasn’t the first time the Navajo Nation and the Martinez family had interfered in the Genetics Council’s plans, or any of their counterparts’. The Breeds were a part of the Nation and its people. They were the sons and daughters of many of their missing that were taken by the Council. Too many of them carried their genetics to ever turn any of them away. And Isabelle knew that the three kids they had hid all those years ago had been taken from either the Council or one of their counterparts. They were part of the research, and the Martinez family and the Navajo Nation would kill to protect them.

  “The meeting is tomorrow,” Isabelle told them both while maintaining the secrets the others were unaware of. “It begins at ten. I know Dad wants to refuse their request to search for this rogue Breed because he doesn’t trust their reasons for it, while Gramps and Uncle Ray are hesitant to deny them.”

  “Maybe Ashley knows what’s going on,” Liza mused as she mentioned the Coyote female who was a regular visitor from the combined Wolf and Coyote Breed community of Haven, Colorado. “She’s in town this week. She called last week to see if I wanted to go to the spa with her while she was here.”

  Blond as well, though artificially colored, enhanced and streaked, Liza was known to spend an excessive amount of time at the spa in town pampering her hair, nails and glowing, soft skin.

  To a point, both Isabelle and Chelsea were regular customers at the spa, but Liza and Ashley spent far more time pampering themselves than either of them did.

  “I’m not nearly as worried about this as I am my sister. What are you going to do about this, Isabelle?” Chelsea asked as both she and Liza stared back at her in concern. “If I know Holden, he won’t just leave you alone. He’s going to keep coming at you until he catches you off guard again. And when he does, he’ll make certain he hurts you. We both know he will.”

  For some reason, Holden Mayhew had it in his head that she belonged to him. It had taken only a single date for Isabelle to realize he was a man that wouldn’t take no for an answer. The second date, an attempt to reason with him, had proven her right.

  “I don’t know, Chelsea.” Shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans, she was drawn back to the window.

  “You could tell Uncle Ray,” she suggested.

  It wasn’t the first time her sister, or God forbid, her brother, Linc, had made that suggestion.

  “Or your father,” Liza pointed out with a hint of mockery.

  They all knew if she told her father, then Terran Martinez would likely attempt to kill Holden himself. And that was something she didn’t want to have to face. There was always the chance Holden would harm her father or catch her brother unaware and hurt him. Or the chance that her father or brother would kill Holden and be willing to face prison to do so. Protecting her and Chelsea was all they seemed to think about at times. As though the haunting specter of Morningstar Martinez’s kidnapping and disappearance more than thirty years before somehow threatened Isabelle and Chelsea as well.

  “I wish the two of you didn’t know about it.” Isabel sighed.

  “That would be hard to accomplish,” Chelsea drawled. “If we hadn’t shown up, sis, that night would have had a far different ending for you.”

  She would have been raped.

  It had been Chelsea who had bashed Holden over the head with a lamp and Liza who had pulled the rifle on him that her father had given her when she moved into the apartment with Isabelle and Chelsea.

  Naked, reeling from the attack, Isabelle had jerked the gun from Liza, cocked it and would have
killed him herself if Chelsea hadn’t stepped between the gun and Holden. It had given him a chance to run out before she could put the rest of the female population out of any more misery that he could deliver.

  She would have shot his balls off.

  “A far different ending for him if you had just stayed out from in front of that gun,” she stated though she didn’t turn back to them. “I should have just killed him before you had a chance to step between us.”

  There were nights she wished she hadn’t allowed her sister to stop her. Nights that she had lay frightened, listening to his truck as it rumbled up their street. Her bedroom was at the front of the house, the other two at the back. Her sister and Liza never knew about the nights Holden tormented her, and she didn’t want them to know.

  If he had just let it go. If he had just left her alone. But since that night he refused to give her any peace. He was stalking her, his determination to rape her becoming an obsession she knew she was going to have to deal with soon.

  “You should tell your uncle at least,” Liza told her as Isabelle watched her reflection in the window.

  Her friend rose from her chair and collected her purse from the floor. Dressed in jeans as well and a stylish cami, the other woman drew the straps of her purse over her bare shoulder before saying, “I have to get to bed if I’m going to be up in time to be in the conference room in the morning. Think about it, Isabelle. That, or find a man, or a Breed, that Holden won’t fuck with. Otherwise, you’re going to end in far more trouble than Chelsea and I saved you from that night. It’s pretty clear Holden’s fucked up in the head, and men like that won’t let you rest until one of you is dead.”

  That was Liza. She didn’t hold much back. And though she might appear cool, or unfeeling, Isabelle knew differently. Her friend rarely let herself show emotion. She had lost her family when she was no more than a teenager and she often had nightmares over it.

  “Yeah, I have to head to bed too.” Chelsea sighed as she looked around the room. “But I’m staying right here unless tall, blond and Breedy shows up.”

  Stubborn determination tightened Chelsea’s normally pouty lips as she stared back at her sister, silently daring her to try to make her leave.

  Isabelle turned back to both women. “What would I do without the two of you?” Tears flooded her eyes though she forced them back rather than letting them fall.

  Liza had been their best friend for years. Though Chelsea was younger, Isabelle had never denied her sister the chance to tag along with them, and because of that, she had become part of the bonds of friendship that tied them together. Their friendship was set in stone, and their concern for each other was always there.

  “You would be miserable, lonely and probably living by yourself with a house full of cats instead of two crazy women,” Liza grunted as she headed for the connecting door. “Now, get some sleep. I’ll leave the door open. If you need me, just scream.”

  She moved to the connecting room as Isabelle turned to her sister. “You could just do the same.” She all but laughed at her sister’s mutinous expression. “You’re not tall, blond and Breedy, so I’m not sharing my bed with you.”

  “And you’d share it with him?” Her sister rolled her eyes. “You might have been all hot and bothered with him, but you forget, Isabelle, I’m your sister. You’re not going to give it up to him any more than you’ve given yourself to any other man. But you’re right. I can just leave the door open.” She moved to the connecting door on the opposite side of the room. “Get some sleep, sis. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  In the morning.

  Isabelle turned back to the window and stared out at the desert landscape once again. Lifting her hand, she laid it against the window and pressed her forehead into the glass.

  How many times over the years had she done just this? Stared into the night and wondered why she was so restless, wondered what she was searching for? Whom she was searching for?

  Moving her arms to cross them over her breasts, she rubbed at her upper arms and tried to chase the chill from her flesh.

  She felt hot and cold, nervous and yet so weary she couldn’t seem to hold her eyes open. But closing her eyes just brought to mind the sensual threat Malachi had made. That he would fuck her all night long. All day long. Possibly all week long.

  Her vagina clenched at the memory of his voice, his gaze, the way his body seemed to wrap protectively around her. The thought of having him wrap himself around her like that after fucking her into exhaustion had her body aching for the sensation of it.

  Yes, she wanted him in her bed. She wanted him between her thighs. But strangely, God, she didn’t even know him, but she wanted him in her life. She wanted to share that part of herself that she had never shared before.

  Her heart.

  While she had stood within his embrace, she had felt warm, protected and secure. She had felt as though nothing or no one could touch her, could harm her. And that was a very dangerous feeling for her to have.

  Because she knew better now.

  She knew better, and the monster that haunted those fears refused to let her go.

  “Her name is Isabelle Martinez. She’s my cousin, you mangy, fucking Coyote,” Rule growled as he stared at the information on the e-pad he held. “Twenty-five years old, the daughter of Terran Martinez and Ellen Johnson Martinez. Her mother, Ellen, is deceased. She’s the personal assistant to the chief of the Navajo Nation, Ray Martinez, and she’ll be present at the meeting in the morning.”

  Malachi heard the edge of concern and anger in Rule Breaker’s voice. Didn’t it just figure. His mate was this bastard’s first cousin. Just his luck. He rubbed at the back of his neck, irritation tightening his muscles as he fought back the need to find her.

  Now.

  Son of a bitch.

  “She’s your cousin, yet, to my knowledge, you and Lawe have never declared your genetic ties with the Navajo Nation,” Malachi pointed out. “If you had, then it would have popped up on the cross-reference I did on my way out here. What makes you think you can claim the tie whenever it suits you to do so, while keeping it a secret at any other time?”

  He watched the commander coolly, wondering at the difficulty the other Breed intended to give him where Isabelle was concerned. Where his mate was concerned.

  His entire body tightened at the thought, his eyes narrowing back at the commander. “She’s mine,” he stated, attempting to keep the confrontation out of his tone. “Don’t get between us, Rule.”

  “I’m not the one you have to worry about and we don’t have time for this anyway.” Rule speared him with a hard look. “My point is that you’re integral to this negotiation, Malachi. I can’t afford to have your attention divided.”

  Malachi arched his brows. “Sorry to inconvenience you, commander. I’ll be sure to delay it just for you.”

  Rule grunted at the sarcasm. “Inconvenience is exactly what it is. Can’t you just stay the hell away from her for a while? Surely it’s not painful yet? Hell, you didn’t even kiss her yet. It can’t be that bad.”

  Malachi stared back at him in disbelief, just as Stygian and Ashley were doing.

  “Wow, that’s raw, Rule,” Ashley murmured as she lounged back in the chair she had plopped into earlier. “Do you think maybe we should schedule mating, like you schedule training sessions and stuff? That way, it wouldn’t disturb your schedule near so much.”

  “I can only wish it were so easy,” Rule grunted as though unaware she had just sliced at his attitude with the sharp edge of her tongue.

  “Her room number,” Malachi stated rather than objecting or challenging the other Breed.

  Rule glared back at him. “If you go to her tonight, you know what’s going to happen. Give me a break here, Coyote. At least wait until we’ve found the bastard slicing Council and research scientists to shreds. Just if you don’t mind.”

  Malachi lifted his brow. “Evidently I do mind. Do I have to call downstairs and give my securit
y clearance to get her room number? I will if you don’t turn it over in the next three seconds.”

  He wasn’t going to argue, growl or challenge. He didn’t need the commander to get what he wanted. It would have simply been easier.

  Rule watched him, his blue eyes icy, no doubt looking for a sign of weakness. Rule might be the commander on this mission, but he had no authority over any Breed when it came to mating heat.

  The commander had changed over the past month too, Malachi thought. A change that had begun even before his twin had begun carrying the mating scent and drawing back from active status. Even though Lawe hadn’t claimed his mate, he had still shown his awareness of her by taking himself out of active mission status.

  Rule Breaker and Lawe Justice had always fought together, even in the labs they had been created and trained in. They had covered each other’s backs, taken bullets for each other and made certain each was protected while ensuring each mission went off in synchronized perfection.

  Had the commander changed because his other biological half was no longer there to cover him? It seemed rather hard to believe, especially considering the fact that at times they had fought separately over the past few years and performed with the same stone cold precision as they did together. Anything was possible, but Malachi didn’t consider this one probable.

  “Five forty-two,” Rule growled. “She’s just across the fucking hall from you. Now, will you at least consider my request that you wait twenty-four hours? Mating heat and negotiations with your mate’s uncle doesn’t go hand in hand, Malachi.”

  “The candle room.” Ashley’s tone echoed with interest now as she sat up in her chair, ignoring the rest of Rule’s statement.

  “Damn,” Stygian growled. “I don’t know what scent she was using when we came up the hall, but it was so damned sexy I think even I was aroused.”

  “The one she used later was just as good. I don’t know where she got those candles, but the coya would seriously love the person who made them. They smelled like heaven last night. I swear, the scent of lavender had me sleeping like a baby,” Ashley sighed.