Cross Breed (Breeds 23)
Those pale lips trembled again, and he had to still them. Still them or kill that damned Coyote himself.
“Is it what you want?” he yelled, taking two fast steps and lowering his head until they were almost nose to nose, until the scent of her Heat slapped at his senses with the demand that he retreat.
“No!” she yelled right back at him. “That’s why I came to you, you overbearing, conceited Lion. It sure as hell wasn’t for your understanding.”
Straightening, he nodded, stepped back and let his expression soften marginally.
“But I do understand,” he said, his tone gentling. “More than you know. But you knew the moment that hormone hit your system what you had to do. Now, by God, do it.”
She didn’t speak, but she didn’t have to. He’d known her long enough, knew her well enough and sensed things deep enough to know she knew exactly what she had to do.
The question was, could she actually do it?
Her hesitant nod was the only answer he needed.
“Styx?” He spoke to the Breed watching them.
“Aye?” That was definitely a hint of amusement in the Wolf’s tone.
“Take Loki and three others from my team.” He kept his gaze on Cassie as a hint of fear flashed in her eyes, then just as quickly hid once again. “Find Dog.”
• CHAPTER 3 •
He wasn’t one to hesitate when he knew something had to be done. The moment he’d intercepted the transmission that the Council had a sibling to Cassandra Sinclair, he’d known he’d
have to go after her. It was simply a stroke of luck that put him in the right place at the right time.
But having Cassie’s message come when it had had been surprising, and just as in the past, he’d added it to their little game. Then on a last-minute whim he had raised the stakes. Just to see if she would go along.
The fact that she had agreed to meet, to give him her body for a single night, had presented a challenge he couldn’t resist. It was almost a dare, and he’d warned her once not to dare him.
His mate.
He’d known for years she was his mate, just as he’d known she’d fight him. The knowledge of that fight had held him back. He’d concentrated on other matters, on Breed freedom and his deceptions against the Genetics Council. Until last night.
He’d lost his mind, and now there was no saving it.
Son of a bitch.
Pushing his fingers through his hair, he lifted the bottle of whisky to his lips and drank deeply. Not that he could get drunk with the damned rotgut shit he’d bought at the hotel. The burn wasn’t even enough to take his mind from the hell he’d created for himself.
He’d thought for certain if he obeyed her insane little conditions he could still have her without the consequences that came with mating one’s mate. By not sharing the hormone that had filled the glands beneath his tongue, surely she’d escape relatively unscathed and he could still touch her, take her.
Oh, how very wrong he’d been.
He’d avoided this for six years. Since those stolen moments in Seth Lawrence’s atrium when he’d realized what she was to him, he’d tried to avoid this.
Or had he? He hadn’t exactly been thinking clearly for weeks now, ever since he caught the faintest scent of another Breed clinging to her. So faint at first, he hadn’t been certain it was there. He’d had to get closer, brush against her, and his head had nearly exploded with rage.
“Jonas is getting testy.” Mongrel stepped into the room, careful to stay way back as he made the announcement. “Loki said the director’s at that do-or-die stage.”
Dog merely grunted. Jonas stayed at a do-or-die stage. It was part of his genetics.
“He says the Wolf Styx is in the director’s office with her. No one knows what the hell is going on, though,” Mongrel added.
Dog’s lip lifted in a silent snarl as he fought back his fury.
Styx Mackenzie. That fucking Wolf Breed had nearly met a bullet more than once because of his closeness to Cassie. Had he not mated when he did, then he’d probably be dead.