All right, so the plan sucked. 

Ian had never in his life hated Rye; he'd considered him one of his best friends since childhood. Right now, though, he wanted to punch him in his perfect teeth. But Tania was all for it, Ace had agreed, the whole fucking pride thought it was a brilliant idea, and at the end of the day, they would have gone ahead and done it, so he had to go and make sure that nothing happened to his fucking mate. 

"I can't believe you're using her as bait." 

"It's the fastest way to send a message, and you know it." 

He wasn't going to bother arguing. At least Rye had given a call to his dad and asked to use the private plane when Ian had shared his idea.

They waited for the plane to land in Hawthorne. Ian had considered going up to San Francisco, but the plane had been stationed there, so it made sense that help should come to them, instead.

Right on time, the small jet landed and pulled into the private hangar, and a woman, a little taller than Ace, came out. She wore all black, with a dash of pink; a business suit that didn't quite fit her, paired with fluffy earmuffs.

Ian grinned.

"Roxie. Finally coming down to see me. Who knew all it would take was my begging non-stop for half an hour."

Her every movement was ridiculously gracious, as always. She looked like an adorable teen, lithe, small, and cute, right now. 

Roxanne Thorne was twenty-seven, and she could tear a man's throat out before Ian blinked.

"Some of us have demanding jobs and limited vacations," she replied, rolling her eyes behind dark-tinted glasses.

He let her pretend that was the reason why she didn't visit.

When she got to the bottom of the jet’s stairs, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her tight. "How are you doing? Really."

"Great. I love San Fran. I adore my job. Life is good."

She punctuated it with a gorgeous smile. The problem, of course, was that she was the best liar he'd ever met, and that she always smiled. 

"Did you bring it?" 

His cousin rolled her eyes again. "Right. I traveled four hundred miles just to let you know I wasn't bringing what you asked for."

Roxie opened her handbag and pulled out a small plastic bag.

"How much do I owe you?"

She shrugged. "Don't sweat it, I got it for free. Asked my boss if I could get one of the older prototypes we made. It's not the latest stuff, but it'll work just fine. I have one myself. Very handy in a pinch."

Rye was peeking curiously.

Her head snapping to him, Roxie appreciated him from head to toe. "Rygan Wayland. Long time no see."

"Roxanne. Still up to no good?"

"Always."

She handed him the carrier bag, and Rye pulled out the fabric packed inside of it.

"It's incredibly light."

"Don't let it deceive you. It's the very best armor money can buy right now. We mostly sold to the PIA, but some vamps are outfitting their staff with our exosuits, too. Your regular human will be as safe as can be. There're gloves, socks—the works. Just tell her not to get decapitated, and we're good."

"How much do they go for?" Rye asked. "I'd sleep better if the kids had suits like that."

"Half a mil onward. I'd wait until your kittens are done growing before throwing that kinda cash around, if I were you. We aren’t doing children’s sizes, anyway." She tilted her head. "But I wonder if the bosses might be interested in working on a cheaper range for kids. More affordable, more sales. They might like it. We lost a chunk of change since the PIA went boom."

Sounded like a very lucrative idea for paranoid parents of every race.

"You let me know when they're in the works." 

"Will do. Well, gotta get going."

"Now?" Ian asked. "You really can't stay a few hours? Meet the kids, have dinner."

She shook her head. "No can do. Meeting at seven-thirty. I need to get going or I'm gonna be late."

It was Saturday; who had meetings at seven-thirty at night? Ian couldn't tell if she was making an excuse. Roxie had a high position in the research and development department of one of the biggest tech firms in the country; who knew how much she worked.

She hugged him again, winked at Rye, and walked back up the stairs leading to the jet.

"Hey, Puss?" Rye called, using the nickname she'd gone by in her teens.

She turned with one eyebrow raised.

"You're welcome anytime, you hear? You ever feel like you need a pride around you, you come to us."

"Thank you, alpha."

Ian doubted she would ever take him up on his offer. Roxanne was very different from every other shifter they knew. Even stranger than Ace, in her own way. And Ian was pretty certain that her nature meant that she didn't miss being part of a pride, unlike every other loner out there.

"Be glad she won't come. Puss and Ace in the same room? That's how planets explode."