• CHAPTER 2 •

The sun was high and painting the desert with the coming heat of a rapidly approaching noon, not that the penetrating rays could find its way into the comm center of the Western Bureau of Breed Affairs. From there, digital displays of the desert and surrounding towns were lit up, pinpoints of light indicating the Breed forces working in search patterns as they scoured the land for one tiny, far too delicate Breed female. “Find her! Now!” Jonas Wyatt, director of the Bureau of Breed Affairs, snarled the order in a voice filled with demand. A demand backed by the genetics of one of the most predatory animals in the world. The lion.

The snarl of rage that slipped from him had Bureau agents, both human and Breed, jumping and running from the communications room as techs and satellite ops went to work.

The air of fear that hung over the room was smothering, stifling.

Cassandra Sinclair, the face of the Breeds, the much-loved, deeply revered and most hunted of the Breed species, was missing. Her capture could cause a true war between Breeds and humans to erupt.

The human-Wolf-Coyote blend of her genetics made her unique, a true halfling as some called her, but the fact that those genetics were created outside of the Genetics Council labs, and the child born naturally, her mother’s ovum unaltered, made her truly one of a kind.

The only Breed that contained the genetics of not just one, but two of the predatory animals used to create the Breeds—Wolf Breed sperm altered with Coyote genetics and used to fertilize an unaltered human ovum—was unheard of. And as Cassie matured, it was obvious those genetics were somehow mutating, strengthening in ways Jonas couldn’t quite put his finger on. In ways he’d never figure out if she wasn’t found.

Beauty, innocence, compassion and a kind heart made her a favorite of both Breeds and humans lucky enough to meet her.

There was an air about her, one reporter had stated after an interview with her, that drew one to her, that filled one with warmth.

And now she was gone.

Jonas slammed out of the operations room, the animalistic snarl that erupted from his lips terrifying in its pure rage.

He’d helped raise that child. Looked after her. Protected her. And now someone had dared take her.

It had to be the Council. Those fucking scientists and war dogs that banded together to create then torture the Breeds would never stop, if he didn’t find a way to destroy them. And God help them if they had Cassie. There wasn’t a breed outside those ranks that wouldn’t erupt in pure animalistic rage if they had her.

Fists clenching, he hurried through the halls of the Western Bureau of Breed Affairs, and rather than taking the elevator, he took the stairs up. Two and three at a time he rushed to his offices, intent on calling in every team, every Breed, every mercenary the Bureau employed, to find her.

They had hours. Only hours to find out what had happened. Callan Lyons, the Prime of the Lion Breeds was already preparing the Lion Breed community of Sanctuary for war, just as the Wolf Breed and Coyote strongholds of Haven and Citadel, respectively, were preparing while their alphas joined the search.

And it would be war.

Whoever had taken Cassie would pay, because no doubt, before they could reach her, she’d be dead; that, or so damaged that the very acts that damaged her would send rage cascading through the Breeds.

They were human, but they were animal as well. The world had no idea what was about to be unleashed it, and for once, Jonas wouldn’t try to stop it.

Hell no, he’d help it along.

“Director Wyatt, your mate and child are waiting for you in your quarters. We’re prepped and ready to fly as soon as you’re ready.” The Breed security detail awaiting him as he stepped into the hall closed around him.

Six powerful, savage Breed warriors trained for two decades for nothing but death. Twelve more were with his mate and their child.

“Ten minutes,” he snapped to the commander. “Have Rachel and Amber brought to my office. We’ll leave from there.”

He had to get his pregnant mate and their child to Sanctuary before blood was shed. It was the only safe place. And if war did erupt, they, along with the other mates and children among the three Breed communities, would be flown to Africa and hid deep in Congo with the Breed known as the First Leo. It was the final refuge when the world turned against them.

“Delay that order.” The brooding Scottish burr of that voice had Jonas and his detail turning quickly to face the Breed moving easily up the hall despite the weapons trained on him.

“What the hell are you doing here, Styx?” Jonas growled, watching the redheaded giant as he brushed past the other Breeds. “Get your ass back to your mate.”

“You’ll want to wait a few minutes more,” the Wolf informed him. “At least until you and I chat a minute.”

He was one of the few Breeds Jonas didn’t have to look down at to meet their gazes. They stood eye to eye, nearly toe to toe, and something in the other Breed’s eyes warned him this was no ordinary meeting.

“Delay the order.” Jonas glanced to the Coyote, the commander of the team, long enough to receive his nod in reply.

“This better be good,” Jonas informed Styx as he slapped his palm to the security scanner beside the door. “Endangering my family isn’t something I’ll take lightly.”

He stepped into the office, waited for Styx to join him, then slammed the door.

And froze.

The fragile figure that rose from the leather office chair in front of his desk was a shock. Slender, barely five-four until she put on those high-assed heels she preferred. Long, silky curls rioted around her delicate face and fell down her back to her hips. Black, pencil-slim skirt, matching camisole and sleeveless vest paired with black heels.

He nearly lost his breath in sheer, overwhelming relief.

“God. Cassie.” The words were a prayer of thanksgiving as he rushed for her.

Only to stop a mere foot away, the arms he’d lifted to embrace her falling to his sides as the scent that surrounded her hit his senses. As did the trace of tears on her face. He stared at her, confused. He should have scented her presence long before he reach the office, especially considering the sheer strength of the mating scent she carried. Yet, it was as if she’d managed to pull it back, to contain it within a few feet of her. Someone no Breed had the power to do, especially where the strength of his senses was concerned.

“Cassie … ?” He could barely breathe as her chin lifted and those eerie blue eyes of her flashed with pain and fury. “Who?”

She inhaled deeply. “Is my sister safe?”

In his life, he could count on one hand the times he was actually shocked. This one overshadowed all others.

“Kenzi’s safe.” He nodded, more off-balance than he wanted to acknowledge. “She’s with Rhyzan.” His deputy director of Breed Affairs had the other woman in secure quarters until she could be airlifted to Sanctuary with the rest of the females and mates.

Cassie nodded, then stepped away from him, folding her arms across her breasts defensively. As though she could hide or ignore the scent that surrounded her.

A mating scent.

“You’ve been missing for over four hours …”

“I knew exactly where I was.” She sounded as lost as she looked as she put more distance between them. “I was making an exchange, you might say.” Bitterness filled her voice.

He stepped toward her, only to stop as her hand lifted in a gesture that told him to remain where he was.

He stopped, but only because that delicate hand held him still as he stared at it. It was trembling. He’d never seen Cassie’s hands shake. Not from nerves, weakness or any other reason.

“Are my parents here yet?” The trace of tears in her voice enraged him.

“They’re helping coordinate the search for you …”

“Call the search off.” Her head lifted, and for a second, her lips trembled and tears sheened her eyes. “Tell my parents I’m safe …”

“Oh yeah, Cassie, that’s going to work.” Finding his equilibrium once again wasn’t easy. “Your father will take my door down in about thirty minutes after that order goes out. Him, Callan, Wolfe, Del Rey and every other fucking alpha leader out there beating the desert searching for you.”

The Wolf Breed Lupine Leader, Wolfe Gunnar, as well as the Coyote Coy, Del-Rey Delgado, were pouring all their considerable strength into joining forces with the Prime Lion Breed Leader, Callan Lyons, to find her.

Jonas couldn’t touch her, but he wanted nothing more than to jerk her into his arms, assure himself she was there, and try to ease the pain he could feel pouring from her.

“Were you raped, goddammit?” he finally snarled. “Did your fucking mate rape you?”

Her breathing hitched, her fingers jerking to cover her lips as she fought for control and shook her head quickly.

“No.” The word was strangled and torn, but he didn’t sense a lie.

He could smell her pain, her confusion and Mating Heat. But he was damned if he could believe the male scent that infused the mating.

“I didn’t know about Kenzi in time, not until her abduction.” Her voice trembled. “Not until it was too late.” She shook her head and turned her back to him, hunching her shoulders as though to avoid a blow. “There was no time to contact you. But I knew he would be in place; after all, isn’t he always the one the Council calls first?” She was fighting the sobs he could feel building in her. “I contacted him to make certain she was safe if he was in the area.” She turned back to him slowly and another tear fell before she reined them in again. “I agreed to the price. I simply didn’t expect the outcome.”

She’d bargain her body for her sister’s safety. She’d bargained with her mate.

“Where is he?” Because Jonas knew he’d kill him.

God, he couldn’t even kill the bastard son of a bitch. He couldn’t kill him, because no matter the stakes, no matter the rage that would pour through the Breed community if they learned the truth of who had mated her, he was still her mate.

No one could touch him.

“Can you believe it was a Coyote?” Disbelief filled her voice, her expression, as guilt flayed Jonas.

“Cassie …” He believed it. Hated it, but he believed it.

“You knew.” She breathed out the words, the sound ragged, filled with pain and with betrayal.

“I suspected your mate was a Coyote.” He shook his head wearily. “I had no idea who he was, though, Cassie. If I had, I would have found a way …”

Bitter mockery filled her face. “You would have found a way to what? To fix it? To manipulate it?”

“To kill him first,” he snarled. “Mate or not, I wouldn’t have allowed this to happen to you.”

It wasn’t the first time he wanted to kill a mate, and he knew it would likely not be the last. Mating Heat was hell for a woman in some circumstances, more so for some than for others.

She blinked back her tears and he swore he could sense her releasing that incredible store of strength he’d always known she possessed.

That steel spine locked into place, her stubborn little chin lifted, and he watched the woman she’d grown into straighten her shoulders and face him with far more control than he had at the moment.

“Styx flew from Sanctuary yesterday. He can help me for a day or so.” She completely ignored his statement. “You’ll be rather busy with other things, and I need a friend …”

“Ya need yer mate,” Styx growled, but there was no heat in his words.

A bitter smile twisted her pale lips as her gaze moved back to Jonas. “And here he’s known for being agreeable and easy to get along with. I’ll have to check with Storme and see if she cut off his chocolate supply again.”

Styx merely grunted at the comment.

“If you want to avoid the Breed that’s mated you, then send Styx home,” Jonas advised her. “Your mate won’t allow this and you know it. Your name was linked with Styx romantically before he mated Storme. Just because his mate trusts him doesn’t meant yours will.”

Pure fury flashed in her eyes, brightening them, making them more eerie than before.

“Bastard Coyote,” she enunciated with a dagger-sharp tone. “He’ll be lucky if I don’t castrate him myself.”

“Cassie …”

“He knew we were mates,” she suddenly cried, the anger erupting with such fury that Jonas felt the need to step back. “He knew, and he let me make that damn bargain anyway. All these years he’d done nothing but manipulate me when he should have told me.”

Her fury was overpowering, lashing through the room, the scent of it, the sheer power of it like an invisible wave of heat.

What she said simply wasn’t possible. Even Jonas hadn’t known, and he’d run her DNA through every sample they had, looking for a match. He’d even run it through that Coyote DNA database and it had come up negative.

“He knew.” She was so tense, so determined to control that fury, that her body was strung as tight as a bow. “He knew before he touched me. Before he …”

Before he mated her.

“Cassie. Sweetheart … ,” Jonas whispered, aching at the need to hold her as he always had when she’d come to him, when she was hurting.

But the scent of that mating was one of the strongest he’d smelled since he’d learned what the scent meant. That meant any touch, male or female, would be painful, too painful for him to attempt.

She rubbed her bare arms, breathing hard as she licked her lips and glanced toward Styx.

“Call off the search. Tell Mom and Dad to concentrate on Kenzi …”

Jonas laughed at that, amazed she’d even suggest it.

“You know better than that, Cassie. Won’t happen. They’ve only just learned of her existence but you’re still their child.” He propped his hands on his hips, and as much as he hated to, he pushed back his affection for her, his regret for her position, and injected just the right amount of censure in his tone. “Get your head together, goddammit. I trained you better than this and I’ll be damned if I’ll let you turn into one of those simpering little woe-is-me females.”

Not that she didn’t have good reason to let her inner woe-is-me damsel free; he just refused to allow her to sink to that level.

“Unlike others, you’re not my boss—”

“Test me.” Just enough growl, just enough deep-throated warning to shut her up, and it worked. Thank God. “You obviously created this situation from what you just said. He couldn’t have manipulated you if you weren’t associating with him somehow, and before I see a fucking bloodbath on my hands between Wolf and Coyote, I’ll lock your ass up myself. Now, get your goddamned big-girl panties on and try to act like the intelligent, capable young woman I’ve trained you’d be instead of a fucking spoiled-ass brat. And think about this.” He paused just long enough to be sure he had her attention. “If your father even suspects, even has a moment’s suspicion, that this isn’t a voluntary mating, then Breeds will be warring with Breeds instead of humans. Is that what you want?”

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.”