Authors: Lora Leigh
“There’s some still living?” he asked, surprised. “What the Council hasn’t killed, I’m certain we must have. I told you, find one and I’ll consider it.” It had been a matter of pride for years to destroy those capable of creating more Coyote Breeds. If the Council left any for them to kill.
“If you can hide from the Council all those years, then I bet there are doctors as well as scientists that have managed to do the same,” she informed him. “I’ll find them.”
His brow arched. The tone of her voice was a warning itself.
“And how do you think you’ll do this?” he asked her silkily.
She was scheming. He had known Anya long enough to know when her brain was turning over a problem and working it out in a manner he was certain to disagree with.
“I have my own contacts.” She shrugged as she pulled his shirt from the floor and pushed her arms through the sleeves.
Why it gave him a surge of satisfaction to see her wrapping his clothing around her much smaller frame, he couldn’t say.
“You’ll not be making contacts, Anya,” he told her firmly. “I won’t have you risking your life in that manner. If there are any doctors left, then they aren’t ones we could trust anyway.”
“What about Dr. Armani?” She propped her hands on her hips as she stared at him, the light of battle waging in her eyes. “She’s human and she’s dedicated her life to the Breeds she cares for.
What about the doctors that work under her? They could be in the general public, probably making a hell of a lot more money than they are here. But they’re here, and they’re loyal.”
“What about the two assistants—Breeds, Anya—who betrayed Sanctuary?” he asked her. “They drugged Dr. Morrey, nearly killed her, and were attempting to sell the secret of mating heat to a pharmaceutical and research facility that likely even now has doctors and scientists experimenting on Breeds to create a drug that controls us. Or, God forbid, something that can be used on humans. What about them?”
“What about Coyotes who have a code of honor?” she asked then. “Who have a soul when they were created to have none? What about them, Del-Rey?”
He frowned, knowing she was talking about his packs, but her point eluded him.
“What about them?”
“Others took a chance on you. There are good doctors, good scientists who have escaped the Council, who know the Coyote physiology and would give their eyeteeth to learn as much as they could within normal confines. To treat them, to heal them, and to protect their strengths and weaknesses. You find them, you choose the ones you have the best chance of trusting, and you use them. Keep up the way we’re going here at Base, and eventually, we’re going to lose our people because Dr. Armani can’t treat them properly.”
“Or we’ll lose them because we’re betrayed by the very people we’ve brought in to treat us,” he bit out. “That’s not acceptable to me, Anya. Dr. Armani will figure this out in time.”
“If Nikki lives to be three hundred, she won’t figure out the Wolves, let along the Coyotes,” she argued back. “I have the contacts, Del-Rey. I can find acceptable candidates.”
“No.”
She gaped back at him. His expression had shifted from lazy satisfaction to full, dominant refusal.
“What do you mean ‘no’? This isn’t a no equation. It’s something we have no choice but to consider.”
“I’ve made it a no equation,” he informed her arrogantly. “The risks are unacceptable.”
“We need to discuss this, Del-Rey,” she told him carefully. “You can’t just brush the subject aside with an arrogant little refusal.”
“That’s exactly what I’ve done,” he told her as he turned and headed to the showers. “This isn’t up for debate, and it isn’t arguable. I won’t take that risk with my men or with you. Armani will learn enough.”
“And if we have children?” She threw out a question that had been haunting her. “Will a doctor that knows nothing about your unique genetics be good enough to treat our child if he’s wounded or sick? Will ‘good enough’ be enough for you then?”
He gave her a shuttered look before turning and jerking clean clothes from a dresser and striding into the shower room without an answer.
Anya bit off a curse, staring at the doorway and trying to figure this one out. She had seen over the months the complications that could arise in Haven, just with the Wolves and their unique DNA. Fevers from nowhere that Dr. Armani had to track down and find a way to treat. Wounds that were simple and should have been easily fixed that suddenly the Wolf genetics fought against. It was a crapshoot, Armani had told her, and the additional pressure of treating the Coyotes, a species just different enough to change all the rules, was driving the doctor to long hours and less and less sleep.
It couldn’t continue.
But it seemed that getting Del-Rey to understand the problems they were facing wasn’t going to be easy either.
CHAPTER 18
“You asked to see me, Coya?” Brim stepped into Anya’s office, formerly her bedroom, three days later, his expression bland, his blue gray gaze quizzical.
Anya stood to the side of her desk and watched the Breed move with lethal grace into the room.
Anyone daring to challenge this man could be in for a world of hurt, and she knew it.
She considered the best way to approach the problem she was facing.
“I’d like to apologize, Coya,” he suddenly said.
Anya blinked back at him in surprise.
“For what?”
“You could have told Del-Rey that I had allowed Sofia into his room while he was healing. We would have fought. Fighting the alpha isn’t always wise.” His lips quirked as though amused by some thought.
She inhaled slowly. “Crying to Del-Rey would have accomplished very little in a meaningful way,” she finally said. “This is something you and I need to discuss.”
Arrogance was a natural part of him, and Anya was smart enough, intuitive enough, to know that, coya or not, she wouldn’t be ordering him to do anything.
“I agree.” Brim nodded. “It’s nothing you have to worry about happening again. I promise you.”
She tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes on him. “Why did it happen to begin with?”
His lips quirked. “Something or someone needed to piss you off enough to take what was yours.
I convinced Del-Rey to give her asylum to achieve that end.”
Surprise, surprise. Another Coyote Breed manipulating her. She was going to get pissed off over this soon.
“Brim, I would hate to ever have to consider you my enemy,” she finally said quietly, staring back at him with somber determination. “But manipulate me again, in any matter, and that’s the path we’ll take. Do we understand each other?”
A hint of surprise filled his eyes. “You’re not going to throw anything at me then?”
She shook her head, a smile trying to tug at her lips. “I reserve that for your alpha alone.”
He nodded slowly. “Understood, Coya. No further manipulations.”
“And when you find yourself in mating heat, watch out for me,” she informed him in all seriousness. “Ashley and I have a plan. We’re going to show you how to manipulate properly.
Doesn’t that suck for you?”
A hint of worry touched his gaze as he grimaced tightly. “I think I’d prefer to fight the alpha.”
“Too bad. I like getting even much better.” She moved behind her desk then. “I’d like your estimation of Sofia. A risk estimate.”
His brows arched as he eased toward the chairs that sat in front of her desk and sat down. “In what way?”
“The attacks began when she arrived. I knew Sofia in the labs; my first thought is that she’s not behind them. But I’d like to know what you think.”
He was thoughtful for long moments. “I’m not ruling anyone out. I’m investigating the attack on you and your bodyguards while in the mountains, as well as the attack in town. It’s clear we have a leak. I’m just not convinced Sofia is that leak.”
“Because she helped you over the years?”
“That,” he agreed, “but there’s more to it. Sofia has always worked hard toward the rescues and used her position in the Council’s lower ranks to the utmost advantage. I can’t see her betraying us now.”
“Even if she’s losing something she may have believed was hers?”
“The alpha?” Brim asked, shaking his head. “She’s always known better. There was nothing serious on either end when it came to them. They’re friends.”
Anya nodded. “Do you have any ideas why Del-Rey has suddenly been targeted?”
“Strength,” Brim stated. “Our team has been investigating those drugs, and someone could have learned of that investigation or what we found. It could also be something as simple as an attempt to weaken Haven. We’ve made a difference in their security. We’ve also been establishing a minor presence in town. Our men go to the bars there, while the Wolves pretty much stay more to their own packs. I’m looking into several areas.”
“Any headway?”
“You would have been one of the first to know if I had anything yet,” he promised her. “We brought in Coley’s daughter last night and should be requestioning him within a day or so.
Hopefully we’ll have more then.”
Anya nodded again. “I appreciate you sharing this information with me.”
“Did you ask Del-Rey?” he asked her then. “I’m sure he would keep you apprised of the investigation if you asked him.”
“He would have,” she admitted. “But I wanted to discuss Sofia with you as well.”
“And you’d prefer not to allow emotion to become involved in the discussion.” He nodded as he rose to his feet. “I understand, Coya. But rest easy, you can place that responsibility on my shoulders.”
She watched as he left the office, closing the door behind him before she turned to the computer monitor and the small light blinking in the lower corner.
She pressed the hidden button that revealed the digital keyboard inset in the desk and tapped another button to bring up the conversation box before sliding it into an encryption program her father had helped her to create.
We’re worried about you
, the message stated.
Your father is well?
Father is well
, she answered.
And he sends his regards.
How did you find us?
The question came quickly.
We’ve stayed well hidden.
We’re friends
, Anya typed.
I used what I knew. Information I knew others wouldn’t have.
Doctors Chernov and Sobolova had hidden themselves well. But Anya knew the forums they inhabited online. It had taken her a few days, but she had finally managed to locate their online identities.
How may we help you?
Anya considered that question carefully. She had to be careful; if she had found this information, then others could as well, and if her encryption was cracked, then she could endanger them all.
I would like to meet
, Anya typed.
Here or there?
Near.
The cursor blinked longingly for several seconds.
Is the welcome sign up or is it open season?
Unfortunately, it could still be open season without the answers I need first. I ask that you use
caution but make the trip with all haste.
For you.
The answer had her closing in momentary relief.
This line is not always safe
, she typed.
Please
contact secondary source, which will direct you from here on out.
We appreciate your discretion in first contact. We hope to see you soon.
The message ended and the screen disconnected as Anya closed the keyboard and breathed out roughly.
She could be making a mistake. She could be risking Del-Rey’s rage, she knew. Hopefully, she wasn’t risking the lives of friends as well.
Dr. Chernov and Dr. Sobolova were dedicated scientists and geneticists. Their work in the labs after they took over had been rumored to be some of the most advanced in understanding the Coyote genetics and many of the Breed’s strengths and weaknesses.
Several of the Coyote Breeds coming in from the Middle East had been secretly trained in the psychology of the Coyotes as well as advanced medicines. The lab facilities there had been considered to be ahead of their time. The training there was rumored to have stirred controversy among the scientists within the Genetics Council.
It would be hard for the Coyote Breeds to accept any Council scientist into Base, but the situation was becoming intolerable. Dr. Armani couldn’t treat both species. It wasn’t going to work. The Breeds coming in didn’t have the knowledge needed to work independently of a scientist proven in the areas of Breed physiology and genetic makeup.
Del-Rey had told her that if she could find someone she trusted her friends with, then she could have them. Then he had turned right around and forbade it.
Her lips thinned. The first promise was the one that counted, she decided, as she signed several more reports on the e-pad and sent them to the respective pack leaders awaiting them.
With that finished, she rose from her desk, tucked her cotton shirt into the band of her jeans and inhaled slowly. The heat had been easier today. Much easier. But then, Del-Rey had spent the past three days making certain that the hormonal releases she needed were given in quantity, as well as quality.
She flushed at that, then grinned. He was an incredible lover whether the heat was present or not.
And as he had promised, he had more than made up for that first time that he had taken her.
As she moved for the door, e-pad in hand, the link at her ear beeped, a distinctive signal that had her smiling as she stepped from the room.
“Yes?” She answered her alpha’s call with a surge of excitement as her bodyguards converged behind her with a snicker and Ashley muttered, “Lovesick.”
“Are you well, Mate?” Del-Rey’s voice was low, his tone like a whisper of rough velvet over her senses.
“I am,” she answered, her voice just as low. “You?”
He chuckled. “How close is Ashley behind you? I’d hate to make her blush.”
Ashley snorted.