He plowed his hands through his hair as the vehicle surged through the snow that had begun falling again, and headed into the town outside Haven.
He could feel the tension tightening inside him, a sense of fear gripping him whenever he thought of her out there alone, arranging meetings with Council scientists without his protection.
Why hadn’t he paid more attention to her insistence, her fear for the people she called her own?
His arrogance and ignorant pride were cutting at him now. He should have never stripped her of her title, her authority. He should have listened to her.
Hell, she had contacted a ghost when she was sixteen, and walked into a bar filled with the worst humanity had to offer. She had done it bravely, with confidence and courage, and faced him even after he informed her he was going to kill her.
He should have known that courage hadn’t been extinguished. He should have seen her determination to ensure a stable life for the Coyotes. For him and their children.
“We’ll find her, Del-Rey,” Brim repeated. “You can fix what’s been wounded.”
“Can I?” he asked his brother then. “Is there any way to repair what I’ve done to her, Brim? I didn’t just strip her of her status, I stripped her of her pride.”
“And still she came to you every night.” Brim shrugged. “Remember this the next time you’re riding high on your own arrogance, and it will bring you back fast. She’ll forgive you.”
It was a good thing forgiveness wasn’t linked directly to whether or not that forgiveness was deserved. Because Del-Rey knew he, least of all, deserved it.
“We’re moving into town,” Del-Rey announced into the link as he thought of something else.
“Team Leader Four, put two men on that city council meeting. That has my hackles rising for some reason.”
He couldn’t figure out why either. He turned to Brim. “Inform Alpha Gunnar of that little meeting. It’s Sunday for God’s sake. Since when did they start meeting before daylight on a Sunday morning?”
“Good time to do it,” Brim stated. “Wouldn’t be too many to notice it. We don’t patrol town, just the area around Haven.”
Maybe that should change. Maybe some of the money the Coyotes had in their coffers should go toward Breed-friendly politicians in this town.
He grimaced, fighting back his impatience, his fears. He’d find Anya, he told himself. He had to.
There was no other answer acceptable; there was nothing else he could live with.
The cold had seeped into her bones. Anya sat in the small basement of the safe house, huddled in a heated blanket, and wiped her tears away as she glanced at the clock once again.
Three hours before they made the journey from the house to the spa. Del-Rey was surely looking for her by now. What price had Jax paid for the confrontation in the kitchen? Was Cavalier well?
Was Del-Rey warm?
She shuddered at the questions that had tormented her through the night.
They had listened to the heli-jets moving overhead for hours that morning. Satin Belle and her Wolf Breed female enforcers reminded her too much of Ashley. They joked, laughed, did their nails and compared clothes. But Ashley hadn’t joined in.
The younger Coyote Breed female was still silent, her gray eyes hard as she cleaned her weapons. Sharone and Emma had followed suit, checking their weapons, going over their plan and watching the Wolf Breed females closely.
Satin, the obvious leader, was brazen. She was sharp-tongued, sharp-witted and, like all Breed females, so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her.
“We have confirmation Alpha and Lupina Gunnar are in place and prepared for the meeting,”
Satin stated as she finished drying her nails, after listening closely to whatever was going through her comm link. “We have Director Wyatt in town, Alpha Lyons and Alpha Delgado.”
Satin’s brows lifted as she turned to Anya. “He sounds pissed and he sent a message.”
Anya stared back at her.
“He says to tell his coya he made a mistake. It will be rectified the moment she returns.”
Anya shook her head. It was too late; she had gone too far to turn back now, and he would never allow this.
“Respond to his message,” she said painfully. “Say, ‘There is nothing to rectify.’”
Satin stared at her soberly for long moments before nodding and sending the message. A second later her eyes widened, she winced, then cut the link.
“Wow, Coyotes know how to howl,” she stated in awe. “That was a good one.”
Anya flinched. Coyotes howled only in rage as far as she knew.
“Let him howl,” Ashley growled. “This is his fault. Let him suffer.”
“Ashley.” Anya hardened her expression. “This is not his fault. He wanted to protect me.”
“Against what?” she sneered. “His own arrogance? What was there at Base to protect you from except his stupidity?”
She shook her head. “Tonight, I’ll ask that question. When this is over, I want the three of you to return here and stay secure until I know the punishment for this. I won’t have you suffering further.”
“Oh yeah, we’re just going to tuck our little tails and hide under our beds while our coya wades into danger headfirst again,” Ashley snorted. “Get real!”
“That’s an order, Ashley,” she said firmly.
Ashley leaned back. “I didn’t get the memo making you coya again. Technically, that order’s not worth shit, Anya. And even if I had gotten such a memo, you can forget it. Where you go, I go.
Period.”
Anya inhaled roughly before turning to Sharone for help.
“I’ll not be taken from your side again, Coya,” Sharone stated. “Neither will Emma. We’ve discussed this and we agree. Whatever your punishment, we’ll share it.”
Would she have done any less? Anya knew she wouldn’t have, but it hurt to know that by nightfall, she could be sharing space with them in a cell.
“Hey, you gotta be tough to be a cowgirl, Coya,” Satin stated. “Get ready to pony up and ride. I want to be in place ahead of time.”
Anya rubbed at her arms. She had received the message earlier from her father that he and her cousins and the two scientists were in place and waiting to head to their meeting.
The spa on a Sunday was the perfect place to meet. It wasn’t overcrowded, but it drew a fair crowd from surrounding counties. The enclosed gardens were secluded and made for privacy and relaxation. Tea parties were held there as well as private luncheons at the time Anya would be there.
They would slip into the gardens and into the spot they had selected for this meeting. Alpha Gunnar would be given the location once they arrived, and he would move in with his enforcers.
She unwrapped the blanket and struggled to pull her shoes on.
“Coya, let me help.” Emma was there, taking the shoes from her and unlacing them before helping Anya slide them over her feet.
Her entire body screamed in protest at each move. The bruises from her fall, the broken wrist and the wound at her thigh were little when compared to the headache that blazed in her skull.
“Pony up,” she whispered achingly. “I’m tired, Emma.”
Emma stared into Anya’s white face and felt fear curdle in her stomach. She was a Breed that had never known fear until these past days, but she knew it now. Her coya was drained, freezing with a chill, running a fever. Emma could feel her pain, and she could smell something more that she couldn’t put her finger on, something that had her instincts screaming out in warning.
“They’re doctors,” she said, swallowing tightly. “They’ll fix you.”
“Can you fix a broken heart?” Anya asked, her uncasted hand reaching out to lay her palm against Emma’s cheek.
Anya had done that long ago, when they were children, when she had found the girls, dirty, sleeping on rags, naked. She had petted Emma’s face and promised her a bed. She had promised Ashley pretty clothes. She had promised Sharone that one day, she would smile. Anya had kept her promises even at the worst cost to herself.