Cross Breed (Breeds 23)

Son of a bitch. His halfling had come for him. Her intent was to taste his blood perhaps, but still, she’d come for him and she wasn’t just demanding her due of him, she was taking it. She was his equal and she was letting him know it. She’d never walk behind him, she’d never fully submit anywhere but in their bed, and as she claimed that last part of him he couldn’t help but grin.

“Goddamn, halfling, you’re so fucking beautiful, you steal my breath. Son of a bitch if you don’t …”

• CHAPTER 20 •

Cassie sat across the room watching the scene playing out before her as she flipped the knife absently, glaring at Dog, Rule, Jonas, Rhyzan and her father as they more or less interrogated the senator.

Cat, Chelsea, Cullen and Graeme had rounded up the security personnel. They were currently locked in the closet behind her as the two women talked quietly, leaning against the wall, discussing dresses of all things.

Graeme stepped back into the room after briefing the enforcers Jonas had flown in with him. Twelve Breeds were now tasked with securing the estate until they left.

She spared a glance for the insane Bengal. The stripes were gone, as were the claws. The whites of his eyes were normal now, the tilt less feline.

Bastard. He’d contacted Jonas somehow and she knew it. As though they needed him. She hadn’t needed him to come riding in with the cavalry. She was handling her mate just fine without any help.

Dirty damned Coyote.

She spared him another look, receiving another of those cocky grins he was famous for as he blew her a kiss. She bared her teeth at him before turning away.

Let him enjoy the escape for the moment; her time would come. A time when he didn’t have help.

A soft male chuckle had her shooting Graeme a hateful look as he plopped into the chair beside the low stool she sat on.

He was crazy.

Really. Teetering on insanity.

The only thing holding this Breed on the right si

de of rational thought was the mate who watched him with pure adoration.

Their bond was secure. They’d given to each other. This hard, savage creature had opened his soul and let his mate inside.

Unlike hers.

She flipped the knife, burying it in the wood floor with a hard whack as fury shot through her once again.

He could say he’d done what he did to protect her until hell froze over. It didn’t change facts. The fact that any Breed alive could sense the soul-deep mark he’d placed on her, but he carried no similar mark.

“You’re an interesting little thing,” Graeme remarked quietly, quite seriously, as she stared at the depth the blade had sunk into the hard wood.

“How’s that?” Resentment rose inside her in a wave.

He shouldn’t have contacted Jonas.

“I really didn’t think a female Primal was possible,” he told her. “I can’t wait to get back to my lab and figure out if the Primal instinct awakening was due to your Cross-Breed genetics or if it was carried by one or the other and simply mutated.”

She glared at him from the corner of her eyes.

“You have a lot to learn,” he sighed. “When the creature isn’t so close to the surface, it will become easier. Your mate will help. He’s actually learned a rather unique way of handling his own without the savagery taking over. I still struggle with that myself at times. Not that the beast is any less effective. Just different.” Pure arrogance filled his expression. “You’ll learn that as your mate guides you …”

“I have no mate,” she gritted out. “I was disavowed, remember?”

He chuckled at that. “A piece of paper.” He waved it away. “Sent to ensure you weren’t endangered by his actions. I rather doubt Rule even notated it in the database.”

“Doesn’t matter.” She lifted her shoulders negligently. “You can’t miss it, Bengal. I carry his mark, but he doesn’t carry mine.”

Grief threatened to swamp her.