• CHAPTER 11 •

Cassie watched Dog warily the next day. As she worked on the tablet he’d provided her, using a back door in the Bureau’s files to get into the Articles of Mating Law, she was always aware of him.

Even her animal instincts were wary, rising inside her, aware of every move, every word he said as he, Mutt and Mongrel kept up on the search Rhyzan was conducting for them.

The two Coyotes he so often fought with sensed something within him too. They would look between her and Dog, their expressions sometimes thoughtful, sometimes confused.

She put up with it until evening fell and she finished downloading the files she needed and double-checking to see if there was anything else she had missed.

She’d wanted to sneak into her sister’s file, check on Kenzi’s debriefing and see what information she had, how she felt about the family she hadn’t known existed, but she didn’t dare slip into that particular database. If Jonas caught her in the Breed Law database, he’d recognize the back door she’d used and ignore it. Rhyzan wouldn’t do the same with his personal files.

Finishing up her work, she shut the tablet down, refreshed her coffee and finished the stew she’d made earlier for dinner. Once she washed the dishes, she walked to the wide doorway separating the living area and watched the three Breeds silently for long moments as they went over maps and discussed the progress of the escape Dog’s people had made.

She remained silent, simply watching her mate. His expression was closed, and she could feel the tension emanating from him, growing tighter the longer she stood watching him.

“There’s nothing else we can do, for now,” he announced, rising from the chair and closing his own tablet as Mutt and Mongrel glanced at him.

They rose slowly to their feet, their gazes sliding her way, those same thoughtful, considering looks on their faces.

“We’ll just, uhh, go check things outside.” Mongrel cleared his throat as Mutt gave an energetic nod.

The two hurried to the door leading to the garage and closed it quickly behind them.

“Everyone made it out okay?” she asked, tucking her hands into the pockets of the loose casual pants she wore and propping one sock-covered foot atop the other as she leaned against the door frame.

“We’re a few hours behind in terms of information.” He pushed his fingers through his hair in irritation before he paced past her and went to the coffeepot. “There have been several lags in reports, though, so everything should be fine.”

But he was worried. The disconnect from the real-time reports made him edgier than he was to begin with.

Turning, she watched as he filled his coffee cup, his back to her.

“Are we going to keep ignoring it?” she asked him, crossing her arms over her breasts and holding back the knowledge that Dog was now just as wary of her as everyone else was.

As a child, she hadn’t always been as careful as she should have been in regards to the Breeds who were followed by spirits or by the images of their own inner demons. That had begun the dislike that many of the Wolf Breeds felt for her. Generally, though, Coyote Breeds had always thought it was kinda cool, as one had expressed. It was nice to know he wasn’t alone.

“Now’s not the time to discuss it.” He kept his back to her and sipped at his coffee. “Later.”

“Okay.” She breathed in slowly. “Would you at least tell me who Major is?”

He shook his head. “Fuck if I know, and I’ve been trying to figure it out since I was ten. I guess we’ll know soon enough, won’t we?”

“If we could go over anything you remembered together, maybe we could figure it out—”

“I said not now, goddammit,” he snapped, his voice low, filled with fury. “Just not now, Cassie.”

Her lips parted, anger surging through her, to slap back at him for the sharp tone of voice.

“Well, love, didn’t you go and pick a surly bastard to mate?” The South African accent was tinged with amusement and affection as Dane Vanderale stepped into the room behind them.

Cassie swung around, facing the Breed who most of the world believed was no more than a Breed benefactor and philanthropist. They had no idea about the Breed crouched and ready to spring forward inside him.

Hybrids were so far a mystery to the scientists. Their genetics rarely came forward until their teens, and it seemed the animal and human senses they possessed were far more integrated than those of Breeds created by scientists.

Tossing Dog a small pack he carried as Dog stepped past her, Dane strode to the bar, poured himself a drink, then turned back to them. She caught the faint scent that reached her from the box, which indicated it held the slim cigars he provided certain Breeds.

Dane himself was a master of control, but along with the scent of the cigars was one of pure, unmatched fury barely contained.

Dressed in gray silk slacks and a white long-sleeved shirt, the sleeves of which were rolled back to his elbows, he looked less like a hybrid Breed and more like the businessman he portrayed himself to be. That is, if one overlooked the shaggy hair the color of desert sand and didn’t detect the animal lurking behind those emerald green eyes. Eyes he usually toned down with colored contacts.

Cassie narrowed her gaze on the hybrid, seeing far more than the mockery, easygoing charm and latent danger that she always picked up. For the first time since she’d known him, Dane was almost close to losing control of that inner animal he harbored.

“The parents, mine that is, are joining Callan and Jonas in Window Rock, by the way.” He lifted his glass in a silent toast to Cassie. “Dash and Callan have both called the Leo, requesting he and Mother assist you in this. It appears your father may have attempted to kill Rhyzan when he filed that petition after your disappearance.” He lifted the drink to his lips. “Don’t bloody well fuckin’ blame him.”

Dane tossed back the drink, then slapped the glass to the bar and refilled it.

“Is Dad okay?” Cassie breathed out wearily, watching the hybrid as he sipped at his drink now. She was surprised, she was under the impression her father would approve of Rhyzan’s actions.

“In excellent condition.” His grin was hard. “I believe they may have had to pull him off Rhyzan, though. I heard he tried to beat him to death. Near succeeded too. Bastard’s nose is slightly out of line, and I hear there may be a canine he’s in danger of losing due to the blows your father got in.”

This was a mess.

“Why did Dad and Callan ask Leo for help?” Cassie shook her head then.

“Mother’s research in Mating Heat,” Dane pointed out. “And it appears Rhyzan is being rather an ass in regard to rescinding the Petition for Reconsideration, despite your father’s insistence. Father, along with Seth Lawrence, who’s arrived with his mate, by the way, is attempting to get to the bottom of Rhyzan’s stubbornness. Mother’s going to run the tests herself. As she stated, in all her decades of work with Mating Heat, she’s never seen a Breed acquire two mates.”

Two mates.

Rhyzan wasn’t her mate and she knew it, but their tests had shown a compatibility …

“Oh God,” she whispered, turning back to Dane in shock. “Kenzi. If he’s Kenzi’s mate, then it would make sense that I showed a compatibility but no true mating.”

Dog’s irritated growl had her wanting to roll her eyes.

Dane inclined his head, unsurprised. “That was Mother’s thought as well. But Rhyzan should be aware of that. He’s been with Kenzi quite a bit, debriefing her. Which begs the question, why is he holding firm in wanting you and your mate separated before the mating mutation completes within you and Dog?”

Rhyzan was playing a game, and Cassie knew it, Jonas knew it, but what that game was she couldn’t guess. It made no sense that even with compatibility he’d attempt something like this. He had pride in surplus. He’d never admit that another Breed, especially a Council Coyote, had taken his potential mate. Or that he’d allowed it.

“It won’t matter once I locate him.” Dog’s smile was a Grim Reaper’s curve as he turned back to Dane. “What’s the status on my people?” The fact that he was furious wasn’t hidden. “I lost the connection with the team hours ago.”

Dane stared at the floor, that rage beginning to burn inside him once again.

“We lost one,” Dane finally said, sighing wearily as Dog snarled furiously. “One of the children. And perhaps one of my Lions as well. The wounds as he tried to protect the boy with his own body are pretty severe. We were forced to go dark just before that when we realized they’d found a way to track us. We found out just before the attack that they’d managed to slip a nano-tracker on one of the vehicles as we passed the gates.”

Cassie sat down slowly in the chair behind her and stared at Dane in shock. What was he talking about? Children?

“There were children?” Dog hadn’t told her there were children. He’d only said his people had to get out of a mission they were involved in before his status as a spy was revealed.

Dane nodded heavily. “Most of them were children. That was the information Dog and his teams have been working on within the Council ranks. The location of several dozen Breed children. Some still babes …”

“They’re still doing it?” Horror filled her voice.

They were still creating Breeds?

“Do you really believe they’ll stop?” Dane asked gently despite the fury pulsing beneath his voice. “They’re always certain the answer to whatever they’re seeking will come with the next one they create. Though what they’re seeking we’re not exactly certain of anymore. But they have come up with an interesting way of destroying the Breeds they’ve created now.”

She turned to Dog, disbelief pouring through her, tightening her throat and chest.

“What is he talking about?” The grief she could sense pouring from Dog had her stomach clenching in dread.

“While the Breed rescues were deemed complete, we knew it wasn’t over.” Dog sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck as he moved to the bar and accepted the drink Dane poured for him. “Our first indication that there was a problem was when a young man showed up at Sanctuary about ten years ago. He said he’d learned a Breed child had been killed to provide the heart that he’d been given as a transplant when he was younger. As he began to mature, and the heart matured, his parents were killed in an effort to get to him and destroy him before anyone learned of the changes he was going through from that transplant.”

“He died of his injuries a few days later.” Dane grimaced. “Fucking brave as hell he was, but the wounds were too severe to save him.”

Children. A Breed child had been killed to provide a human child with a heart?

“What changes?” The horror creeping through her was destructive. The monsters that were still operating as men of science were going beyond the evil they’d originally begun with.

“Breed changes.” Dog finished his drink before pacing to the other side of the room. “He was beginning to show anomalies at the DNA level. It’s taken me years to find the right people in the right place or to get the right people in place and locate the labs holding the Breeds being used for the transplants. Amazing what a person will agree to in an effort to live. That kid’s parents knew a Breed child would die to supply that heart and they allowed it. Paid a small fortune for it.”

Cassie pressed one hand to her stomach, sick inside at the thought of the horrors Breed children had faced. What had happened to science that some of the world’s most intelligent minds were involved in this?

“We located the final lab several months ago, but access and the ability to infiltrate took a while. We finally managed to identify several scientists and techs willing to help us. We were preparing a plan when Kenzi was taken, just after Rhyzan stated his intent to Jonas to push the chance of a mating to you.”

And a child had been lost because Rhyzan had decided to force something that he would have sensed wasn’t a true mating. A compatibility showed up on many tests, but so far, the tests were highly unreliable when it came to an actual Heat rising between the Breeds tested.

“You’ll have your teams back within twenty-four hours,” Dane promised. “The children are being taken to the Leo’s estate; the lab techs who aided in their rescues are with them. Jonas is having the scientists who cooperated with us transferred to Sanctuary. Those who didn’t will be dealt with.”

Jonas was amazingly practical. If he couldn’t use the scientists in one way, he’d do so in another. He rarely executed the scientists if it was possible to apply their abilities to the survival of the Breed community as a whole.

“What do we have in terms of information?” Dog’s voice was a terrible rasp of fury.

And Dane’s smile was savage. “Top-level scientists, Dog. The cream of the Council crop. My teams are moving into place to grab as many as possible who escaped, kill those we can’t acquire. With any luck, we’re getting closer to the bastards funding this. Jonas’s enforcers are joining my teams within the hour to begin downloading information and gathering evidence within the labs. Everything they had. They didn’t have time to destroy anything. Their soldiers followed the escapes, deserted the labs. My teams moved in and secured them, thinking there was no way they could track the others. We were wrong.”

The Genetics Council. The twelve-member Council hadn’t been identified; even pinning down suspects had proven impossible in the eighteen years since the Breeds had announced themselves to the world.

In all the years since the world had learned of the Breeds, every time a new lab had been discovered, records and information storage had been damaged before the Breed enforcers could get to it. They’d never managed to acquire a facility with all records and information storage undamaged.

“Rhyzan’s been apprised of all this?” Dog asked; then at Dane’s nod Cassie watched Dog’s eyes narrow warningly. “And he’s still determined to enforce his petition? Even with the knowledge that I’m no rogue, but a member of the Bureau instead?”

“So it would seem. Hence Dash Sinclair’s rage.” Evidently, that made no sense to Dane any more than it made any sense to her or to Dog. “Rhyzan has demanded a full Cabinet meeting at the Window Rock Bureau for tomorrow afternoon. Jonas is having the required Cabinet members flown in tonight.” He turned to Cassie. “Determined chap, isn’t he?”

“So it would seem.” Rising to her feet, Cassie rubbed at her arms, frowning in confusion as she left Dog and Dane to continue discussing the mission that had played out as Dog fought to hold his place in her life. The very fact that Rhyzan was still alive amazed her.

Dog wasn’t known for his patience in the face of anyone attempting to steal so much as a cigar. The fact that he hadn’t killed the assistant federal director himself amazed her.

There had to be a way to neutralize him short of killing him, because hiding didn’t set well with her.

Sitting back in her chair as she tapped the fingers of one hand on the upholstered arm, she narrowed her eyes on the old-fashioned clock hanging on the wall across the room.

There was too much going on right now to stay hidden like this, not just for Dog but for herself as well. And it wasn’t as if Rhyzan’s stand would hold with the knowledge of Dog’s position. Besides, it wasn’t the first time compatibility had shown between siblings to a single mate. It had occurred several years ago—two Bengal brothers, but only one had been the mate …

She stilled, frowning at that thought, information suddenly connecting, forming the answer she hadn’t been able to come up with since learning of the compatibility tests.

She sat up, the answers pouring into her mind as she quickly went through each angle, each objection Rhyzan could make, each counterobjection. And still, there was only a single conclusion to draw.

“Cassie?” Dane’s voice filtered through her thoughts.

“We need to go back—”

“Like hell,” Dog grunted.

“If we stay hidden I won’t be able to argue clarification on the Reconsideration and I won’t be able to argue for another mate if this happens again. They’ll always call into argument the fact that I hid myself rather than following the articles of Breed Mating Law.” That she wouldn’t allow.

“Fuck Breed Law,” Dog growled. “Cassie, that assistant director will die if he attempts to take you out of my sight.”

Oh, she had no doubt Rhyzan would die if he attempted that.

“I have to file a counterpetition.” The answer came so quickly she was amazed she hadn’t thought of it before. She turned quickly back to Dane. “Contact Callan. I need the form for counterpetitions sent to Dog’s tablet as well as the form for a Petition for Restraint. He can access those for me if, as pride leader, he disagrees with actions being taken. I have them, but I need to show a paper trail to keep my back door into the files open.”

“You’re not part of his pride; your father will need to lodge that protest,” Dane pointed out. “And he’s considered prejudiced in your favor.”

She smiled slowly. “Dane, I was made part of Callan’s pride when I was nine years old, before Dad instituted his own pack. That induction was never rescinded because I visited so often.” She turned to Dog. “Are you considered alpha to your teams or do you answer to someone else?”

As if she didn’t know that answer.

“I answer to no one but you, halfling,” he assured her, satisfaction suddenly gleaming in his gaze.

“I’ll need the forms to file pack status as well,” she informed Dane as he pulled his mobile phone from the leather holster at his side. “We’ll go to my apartment rather than the Bureau tonight and arrive in time for the Cabinet to convene tomorrow evening.”

“You have an apartment?” Dog’s brows arched with curious amusement.

“Of course. I’ve had one near the Bureau for months.” Didn’t everyone have their own place?

She’d just never had reason to use it.

“Of course,” he murmured, his lips still quirked with that odd smile. “So, we’re going to that little meeting and facing Rhyzan?”

“We are. I’ll fill out the forms when Callan sends them and shoot them to all the required parties. All I need is Callan’s verification and acceptance of the protest to ensure Rhyzan’s hands are tied until Elizabeth can complete the mating tests with Kenzi, which will be before the meeting.” She shook her head. “I should have thought of that, dammit. I would have if you didn’t keep my brain messed up.”

His brow arched as Dane chuckled at the accusation.

“Message sent,” the hybrid announced. “And confirmation of agreement received. Dog will have the forms within the hour.” He looked between them, a dark blond brow arching inquisitively. “Shall we go, then?”

She slid him a considering look. “May we borrow a few of your Breeds? They’re not required to follow Bureau dictates, correct?”

“Correct.” She could see the laughter gleaming in his green eyes. “They are not.”

“We need a security detail that’s not required to obey Rhyzan’s orders if he somehow manages to throw a wrench in the works. I’ll be ready to leave within the hour.” Turning, she hurried to the bedroom.

She had a lot to do in that hour.

 • • • 

There she was.

It was all Dog could do to force himself not to follow her, to bend her over the bed and assure himself he was still alpha in this mating. He’d be damned if she wouldn’t challenge that position every chance she had.

“That look on your face is almost envious,” Dane drawled, pulling Dog’s attention from the fact that the bedroom door was closed and his little mate was hidden from view.

The undertone of regret in his friend’s voice was a reminder that the woman Dane believed should have been his mate was another’s, something the hybrid had never stopped regretting.

“She makes me complete.” Dog sighed, shaking head. “Hell, I never knew I was incomplete until the mating.”

The problem was, he wasn’t so certain she felt the same way. He knew she was determined to make the mating work. It wasn’t her determination he wanted, though; the hunger for her heart was growing by the day.

He wanted her love.

“Her life hasn’t been easy, has it?” Dane remarked. “She’s too damned intelligent, sees too much, senses too much, for others’ comfort. That woman could rule the world if she set her mind to it.”

The world, or the Coyote Breeds Dog led. Over the years he’d drawn several dozen beneath his command. More than six alphas in their own right and Breeds hungry for a home, for a life that didn’t include living among the monsters they’d worked to destroy.

“I’m going to petition for Coy status when this is over,” he informed Dane, referring to the title given to a Coyote alpha who commanded more than a single pack. “Lobo’s Wolf Breeds are the only Breed force in the area, but it’s small and very secular. I have over sixty Coyotes that follow me with accompanied alphas ready to pledge their loyalty to the Breed Ruling Cabinet. I think there’s enough room among the Nation here for a Coyote community.”

He had far more support for it than even he had imagined until the Bengal who worked with Lobo had informed him of the backing he’d have. It would take that backing too, if he was going to pull off his plans.

Hell, come to think of it, all he needed was Cassie fighting for him. The halfling with the siren’s voice and an ability to argue Breed Law as though she had written it herself.

“Your teams will be a benefit to the community,” Dane agreed. “Once you’ve finalized your plans, contact me and I’ll make certain you have whatever you need for security.”

Dog’s gaze sharpened on his friend. “Callan’s and Wolfe’s Breeds are making a mark with their military and rescue teams. Del Rey’s Coyotes are aligned with the Wolf Breeds in Colorado and their own security forces and are in high demand. I’ve discussed this with the alphas. I think we’re going to look more in the private sector rather than military or strike.”

“Whatever you need to set up, Vanderale will be there for you.” Dane nodded. “As it appears we’re going to party tonight, I’ll notify my men of the change in plans and prepare to move out. Shall we use the heli-jet to transport your mate back to town? I believe we can land behind her apartment building. It would make a statement.”

A statement Rhyzan wouldn’t miss.

“Let’s slip in,” Dog suggested instead. “Keep it quiet, everything under wraps until we arrive at the ball. Let’s not give Rhyzan a chance to consider any options he may have.”

Not until he knew his own backers were in place. Which meant he needed to make a few calls of his own and pull in a favor or two. And the support he had in mind would definitely make a statement.

And then he’d have to face a past he’d tried to ignore for far too many years but had never forgotten.

His father had always warned him that Major was in a position to know who Dog was, know he was a hybrid if Dog was ever in the public eye. As long as he stayed under the radar, then he’d been safe.

Not that safety had been his concern for a lot of years. Now, it was of the highest importance. Because of his mate. Nothing could endanger his mate.