Her sister was stubborn as hell and just as willful.
It would take careful maneuvering, of both Diane as well as Lawe, but Jonas had taught her quite a bit.
Rachel was extremely confident she could pull this off. That she could ensure the mating of her sister and the Breed commander. Rachel was determined to see that her sister had the life she dreamed of and the happiness she deserved.
CHAPTER 7
Diane was late.
As Jonas filled in the alphas of the Prides and Packs, including the two who had traveled from Europe to represent the growing number of Breeds coming out of hiding there, Lawe felt his frown deepen.
It was three quarters after ten. She was late enough that if she wasn’t there within the next quarter hour then he was going hunting for her.
He should have already done so, he thought impatiently as he felt the restless energy beginning to sizzle through his body. His instincts were that heightened, a sense of awareness prodding at him, warning him.
Something wasn’t right.
Diane was never late. What had possessed him to allow Jonas to convince him that she was simply irritated with them all and making them wait for the hell of it.
That wasn’t Diane’s style.
He could feel the tension flooding his body, a warning that it wasn’t right and he should go now, that he should head straight to her rooms and find her.
Her men had flown out hours earlier, each heading for a different area of the United States. Even Thor was gone.
She wouldn’t go out alone—
The hell she wouldn’t.
Why hadn’t he seen the clues?
Straightening from the position he had taken against the wall, Lawe moved to leave the room and check on his too-independent mate.
He hadn’t even taken that first step when a hard, demanding knock sounded on the door and the scent of Jonas’s mate reach his senses.
Lawe’s gaze moved to Jonas as a sudden knowledge flooded his system. Animal genetics surged to the forefront of his senses as he bit back a growl and forced himself to remain in place.
A Breed Enforcer moved to the door and opened it quickly. Rachel Wyatt swept into the room in a cloud of heated anger and resentment as she moved to her mate, the director of the Bureau of Breed Affairs.
Jonas turned to the door as the delicate figure of his mate entered the room.
Jonas’s mated wife was lovely, compassionate and intelligent. With her quiet femininity and iron-strong will, she was the perfect counter for his icy, sharp-edged son. There was little Jonas managed to pull over on her, yet there was also little that she wouldn’t forgive him.
Long, dark brown hair was pulled atop her head in a classic twist, thin-framed glasses perched on her nose as her gaze locked on her husband’s. Her expression was tight, her lips thin and the scent of her anger drifted through the room like the scent of hot, rich sugar.
“Rachel?” The question in Jonas’s tone, gently voiced and curious still had the power to surprise those who had only known the hard lash of his tongue before he found his mate.
As though the animal inside Jonas, always pacing restlessly, furiously, had suddenly found solace and a sudden, overwhelming peace. That peace descended over Jonas as his wife moved to him and took the hand he reached out to her.
“What have the two of you done to my sister?” she asked him, her voice low, her tone accusing and distressed as she stared up at her husband.
“Nothing as of yet,” Jonas assured her as Lawe ignored the look of retaliation in the director’s eyes. “Though I’m certain Lawe has a few things in mind.”
Rachel gave a brief, less-than-feminine snort to the statement. “I rather doubt he’s going to get the chance to do anything. Whatever you said to her last night, she packed and left before dawn this morning. I’ve missed my sister, Jonas, and you allowed him to run her off as though she were some criminal with no rights and no ability to choose her own fate. Since when was the decision made that a suspected mate should become a prisoner?”
She wasn’t pleased. And her displeasure was centered more on him than on her mate, Lawe knew as he felt his own fury beginning to tighten through his system. The pain that pulsed and burned inside her reached out to slice at each man in the room, and to remind him of his basic responsibilities to his mate.
That of her happiness.
Lawe could feel the condemnation in each glance directed his way.
Then, Jonas turned and glared momentarily at Lawe for having the temerity to do anything to displease Diane and, in effect, displease her sister as well.
“The hell she has.” Lawe fought to hold back the growl rumbling in his chest.
He knew he should never have left her alone. The night before, something had warned him not to take his eyes off her. Not to trust her. But he had never imagined she would dare attempt to leave without backup. Without her men. Especially after her capture and near death not so long ago.
Ignoring the looks Jonas and the others cast his way, Lawe quickly began trying to figure out which way she was heading and why.
The girl, Honor Roberts, no doubt, he thought furiously. Diane had no intention of letting it go or of allowing anyone else to take over the completion of that mission. Jonas could feel a growl building in his throat at the low rumble of anger that left Lawe’s throat. As though he refused to believe Diane Broen would dare to leave without his permission. Even Jonas had expected this move, yet Lawe had done nothing to stop it.
The Breed was too certain of himself, too assured of his hold over Diane despite the lack of mating between them. It amazed Jonas. Where had his friend, the man he considered more intuitive than any other, disappeared?