Maybe, just maybe, he could have survived until tonight. Before she had awakened the sleeping animal that came awake with a surge of possessive fury.
And now, awake, prowling, though content at the moment, he could feel that wildness inside him. In the very depths of his heart. In the very depths of his being, that animal watched now, vigilant, determined to protect its mate.
In all the years he had fought, all the ways he’d wondered how to use the animal genetics he possessed, he’d never imagined it would happen like this. He’d believed his genetics were forever recessed, so weak that all they afforded him were the additional stronger senses and the training he’d been given in the labs.
He hadn’t expected it to awaken, surge forward, and demand his mate with such possession.
Yet it had, and he couldn’t regret it.
The sense of warmth that filled him, the sense of clear, vibrant life where before he’d felt shackled, always lacking in some way, was something he’d never imagined he could have with anyone, let alone a mate.
And she was definitely his mate.
His perfect fit.
The only woman he had ever loved.
“We need to hurry, Dad.” Cassie sat, composed and calm, as she waited at the heli-jet landing tower just outside the high, stone walls of the Wolf Breed community, Haven.
Dressed in jeans, boots, sweatshirt and heavy jacket, her body was warm, but everything inside her was cold as she stared at the cement wall across the waiting room as they waited for the heli-jet to land.
“It would be quicker to call Jonas, Cassie,” he reminded her. It hadn’t been the first time.
“You’ve already told Jonas there’s a problem.” She fought to hold back the tears that would have filled her eyes. She had to believe they would get there in time, it was that simple. That when they arrived, everything would be okay. That Mica would be safe and as happy and content as she was at this moment.
At this moment.
Cassie hadn’t expected the contentment to come this soon. She had never ever believed Navarro would give in to what he felt so quickly. He was one of the most stubborn Breeds she had ever met. She had sensed that and he had moved so much faster than she had expected.
His animal had refused to allow that stubbornness. It had refused to allow him to hold back the love or the mating heat.
And now, the danger Cassie had sensed moving closer to Mica was building. She had to get there. She had to be there.
She should have never left her friend to face this alone, but she knew Mica. She knew that her friend would have never given in to what she felt for Navarro unless she was without her family, without the one friend she knew would never truly lie to her.
And Cassie had believed she would have enough warning to get to her in time.
She was wrong.
Oh God, she had been so wrong, and now Mica was going to pay the ultimate price for her lack of foresight.
She was cursed.
Cursed to see what she should never see, and cursed to live with the consequences.
But could she live with the consequences of not reaching her dearest friend on time? It wasn’t possible.
“Mike and Serena are pulling in,” her father said quietly. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Cassie?”
Cassie nodded. “But we need to tell Mike she’s mated Navarro.”
“Uh, Cass, sweetie,” her mother said from beside her, “are you sure of that?”
Cassie breathed in deeply. “I’m certain, Mom. But I think Uncle Mike has suspected all along.”
She knew he had. Like Cassie, Mike had watched Mica and Navarro dance around each other like prizefighters in a ring. They flirted, watched each other when the other wasn’t looking, and if one was sensitive enough, then they could have caught the swirled air around the two like a gathering storm.
It was impossible to miss if one wanted to look for it, and Mike Toler adored his child. Mica was his baby. He watched the men that came around her. All of them. And he was as suspicious as hell.
Oh yes, he already suspected the truth, but it was a truth he needed to know before he was forced to see.
That is, if they reached Sanctuary before it was too late.
Her hands tightened where she held them politely in her lap. She was terrified and she admitted it. She could feel it; the darkness that had been hovering around Mica for so many months was finally coming to a head.
The danger, the men who had watched her, waited, certain they could use her for whatever their schemes were.
Cassie couldn’t allow that to happen.
If she did nothing else in her life, then she had to save Mica. Mica and the beautiful little boy she was carrying, even now.
CHAPTER 17
Mica wasn’t surprised that she didn’t see Navarro when she awoke the next morning. But she did find his note. There were security matters to take care of and he would see her later when she came to the labs for the daily hormonal tests.
She had to smile as she stretched, feeling the pleasurable little aches in her muscles as contentment warmed every corner of her being. Only one small cloud darkened that contentment, the fact that Navarro was no doubt dealing with the dark evil being held in those labs. That had to be the security matter. Unless Jonas was hiding more monsters in the basement. Which wouldn’t surprise her in the least.
In this case though, it was Brandenmore.
Mica shuddered at the memory as she followed one of the female Feline Breeds from her suite to the elevator later that morning to meet with Dr. Morrey. Today though, it wouldn’t be the lack of hormones they discussed. She knew that today the whispers of Navarro beating mating heat would stop.
An anomaly, Ely had called it. That anomaly was well and truly gone, and she didn’t expect it to ever show its ugly head again.
He was her mate, but even more importantly, she was his. Finally, that lost, empty place inside her was gone.
Now she just had to deal with today’s tests, and hopefully, she would get out of the labs without having to deal with the stench of the decay Jonas was housing there.
Phillip Brandenmore. The pharmaceutical research giant that had been suspected of using Breeds for over fifty years in his research for many of his more lucrative drugs. A man who had been aligned with the Genetics Council from birth, taking over his father’s position within it and funding it as well as using the Breeds as guinea pigs.
And now karma was a bitch. He may have what he had searched for most of his life, but he sure as hell wasn’t enjoying it. He was a hell of a lot younger than he was supposed to be, and he was completely insane. His health was perfect, but his mind was slowly turning to mush.
And it was no more than he deserved, though, the thought of anyone suffering as she’d heard he suffered was a horrendous thought to her. Still, she knew he had been the cause of so many Breeds suffering. So many he had murdered in the name of science, destroyed for his own personal gain and used simply because he could use them.
The reports of his death had been no more than a lie Jonas Wyatt had perpetuated to allow him to keep the man in the cells beneath Sanctuary, but after what she had seen, she couldn’t imagine anyone blaming him for it.
Brandenmore was a fruitcake. Even worse, he was a very dangerous fruitcake.
“Ely’s been really busy this afternoon,” said the Lioness that escorted her to the examination room, watching curiously as Mica took her seat on the gurney. “She’s currently arguing with Jonas over security protocols.” An almost shy smile tugged at the gamine-like features of the enforcer as she brushed back a stray strand of auburn hair from the braid it was confined in. “Sometimes even Dr. Ely wins.”