Cross Breed (Breeds 23)

And it wasn’t her style. She was such a damned lady he doubted she ever gave in to that need to confront such stupidity. But the need to do it was there; he could sense it. It flowed through her with a hunger she refused to face and likely didn’t even recognize.

He’d watched her over the years, studied her, paid attention to every expression, every scent, no matter how slight. His delicate little mate was a volcano kept tightly restrained.

He’d let that go for now. He’d deal with the two at the door and any others he sensed himself. Just as he’d been prepared to deal with the attack that morning. Mutt and Mongrel were on the trail of the third Wolf Breed who’d attacked her. The one Jonas was unaware of. The third, he’d have in custody soon and Dog would make certain the other two knew what awaited them.

He’d know who it was soon, and the bastard wouldn’t live much longer. No Breed, no matter who he was, deserved to live after such a strike. Had they struck at Dog, he might have left them living, if he was in a good mood, but they’d struck his mate instead.

“It’s been like that since I was a child, Dog.” There was the weariness, the hurt. “I wasn’t always as discreet as I could have been in things I knew. The felines for the most part were never bothered by it. Some were wary at times, but not distrustful. Coyotes take everything in stride.” The irony in her tone couldn’t be missed. “But Wolf Breeds, I think, react instinctively to the mixed scents of the DNA I possess

as well as rumors concerning abilities I really don’t possess. And they know the threat I represent to the lives they’re building if I’m ever captured by the Council.” She looked at him solemnly. “Felines, Father’s Wolf Breeds, and Jonas personally would go to war if that happened. There wouldn’t be a Breed alive who wouldn’t be pulled into it.”

She was making excuses for them? He couldn’t believe what the hell he was hearing. But she was right. There wasn’t a feline Breed he knew of who had met her and didn’t like her; many adored her. Coyotes were wary of her ability to argue Breed Law but, other than that, found her playfulness and charm enchanting.

He’d never heard that the Wolf Breeds felt any differently, but come to think of it, they rarely heard of any Wolf Breeds but her father’s say anything kind about her either. And it had been a Wolf Breed who’d attacked her.

He’d been certain he was losing his mind as he watched her go to her knees, her eyes wide, dazed from the blows to her body. A haze of red had obliterated everything but the knowledge that she’d been attacked, hurt. And here she sat excusing them. Not just her attacker, but every Breed who dared show disrespect for her by allowing the scent of it free.

“Cassie, what right do they have to resent your genetics or your abilities? None of the other Coyote females experience this …”

It was the tiniest flinch of her expression that stopped him.

Evidently, the Coyote females were experiencing it. Ashley was tolerating it? The Coyote female even he would hesitate to meet in a dark alley, and Wolf Breeds were actually showing their disdain for her? They obviously had a suicidal wish.

“It’s not all Wolf Breeds.” Swinging her legs over the bed, she gripped the side of the mattress as she stared up at him. “Until the two at the door, I was never certain where it was coming from. Maybe it was just those two.”

Bullshit.

She frowned up at him when he didn’t say anything. “Don’t glare at me like that. And sit down or something. I’m straining my neck.”

He wondered if he could get away with paddling her ass.

He knew the scent of her wariness combined with her Heat was about to make him crazy. From the moment he laid her on the bed, her arousal had been growing. And he’d been trying to ignore it. She’d been attacked, she had to be hurting, she didn’t need to deal with his lust on top of it.

“Why did you leave the suite this morning?” And that was the uppermost question.

“I had things to do, Dog. I normally don’t lie around in my suite all day. And I won’t play the prisoner and begin doing it now.” Steel will and determination filled her voice.

She began to rise from the bed after making that little declaration, as though the conversation were finished.

“Sit back down.” He kept his tone polite, nice even.

He watched those odd blue eyes lighten just a hint and her expression tighten stubbornly.

“Excuse me?” Her tone, for all its pleasantness, held a note he rarely heard in a female’s voice. That undercurrent that only alphas could actually pull off. Son of a bitch, he’d suspected it, but that moment of strength he sensed was surprising.

No damned wonder so many Wolves were having problems with her and Coyotes weren’t. Coyotes loved the challenge an alpha female presented; Wolf Breeds tended view it more suspiciously unless it was an acquired trait the mate of an alpha had developed.

“You heard me.” He stared down at her, trying to fit together the pieces of the puzzle he knew about his intriguing little halfling. “What things did you have to do at daylight this morning that required leaving the building? Especially alone.”

Her eyes narrowed on him. “Where were you, come to think of it? You were gone when I awoke.”

She was deflecting. Now, this was interesting.

“Things to do,” he murmured, barely controlling a grin. “Places to go. People to see.”

“Council things?” The wave of anger that shot from her might have intimidated a lesser Coyote.

“Things that didn’t cause an attack against you,” he pointed out rather than answering her. “Unlike yours. Now, would you care to answer me?”