“You’re going to end up in a world of hurt if you make the mistake of messing with what you assume is my mind,” Dog warned him quietly.
“There would first have to be a mind within that thick skull of yours to mess with,” Dane suggested mockingly before turning back to the warrior. “Rescind the virginity clause and give her a choice. I never understood why you put her under such constraints to begin with when you’ve done it with no one else.”
Surprise reflected on the other man’s face before instant denial filled his gaze.
“The hell I will.” The warrior suddenly tensed, his brows jerking together in a frown as the tinted contacts he wore picked up the faint hint of color that Dane was certain he’d want no one to glimpse.
“Virginity clause?” Dog was far too easily distracted tonight, Dane thought with silent sarcasm.
Did Breeds have trouble with ADHD that he was unaware of?
“If I rescind the clause, she’ll become suspicious,” the warrior said, ignoring Dog’s query. “She’s too well trained for that, Dane, and you made certain of it. She’ll instantly know she’s being set up, and don’t think she hasn’t been listening long and hard for proof of Mating Heat whenever she listens to the Breeds talking. If she catches a whiff that it could be true and Rule’s her mate, then she just might turn tail and run for good long before he does.”
“She’ll not hear anything there.” Dog’s assurance had Dane staring back at him now.
“Breeds gossip worse than old women,” he reminded the Coyote.
“Not here, not about Mating Heat.” Dog shook his head firmly. “Jonas put the word out before the first Breed headed out here nine years ago, I hear. He reinforced it when the search for Brandenmore’s research pets led them out here again. And he made it clear, if word of Mating Heat is gossiped about, or the words ‘mates’ or ‘mating’ are mentioned, then he is going to start chopping off heads. Literally.”
Dane shook his head before looking to the stars in search of help where his brother was concerned. That boy was a danger to himself sometimes, not to mention Mating Heat in general. The legend of the Mate Matcher was definitely sealing itself within stone. And Jonas with it if the other Breed wasn’t extremely careful.
“Assuming she really is his mate,” the warrior said then, “what happened tonight? Because he’s damned sure not in bed with her.”
To that, Dane could only shake his head, because he didn’t have a clue. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t figure it out.
“Rule will run if he even suspects that’s his mate,” Dog stated then, causing that “something,” that extra sense to shift inside him.
“His animal instincts won’t let him run, from what I understand,” the warrior argued, with a hint of a question in his voice.
Ahh, there was the key.
“It wouldn’t matter if his instinct was a full-grown in-his-face Lion,” Dog grunted. “That Breed even suspects his mate is in the area, might be in the area, or could be arriving at any time in the near future, and trust me, he’s gone. He’ll run.”
“Why the hell would he do that?” The disbelief in the warrior’s tone ran thick with amazement. “I thought male Breeds worshipped their mates or some shit.”
“Or some shit,” Dog grunted. “But Rule watched not just his mother’s mate be dissected alive, but also his mother, because of the Mating Heat and the scientists’ determination to view the effects of it on the living body. According to those gossiping Breeds you mentioned, he’s that determined to protect his mate from even the chance of that happening to her. His belief is that the best way a Breed can protect his mate is to never mate her to begin with.”
Dane sensed the surprise emanating from the warrior who believed that he knew all the secrets while hiding his own.
Children, he thought, restraining himself from shaking his head. Both of them.
They had no secrets at all where he was concerned, but letting them believe they did was a bit of fun now and then.
Even as amusement gathered inside him, so did a sense of knowledge where Rule Breaker was concerned.
The mating was there. Gypsy Rum McQuade was definitely his mate, but the animal, the animal senses rather, were far smarter than the Breed, evidently.
Dane turned to the warrior. “What do you think she’ll do?”
The warrior crossed his arms over his chest, gazing back at him thoughtfully.
This man knew Gypsy McQuade better than anyone, even her parents, he guessed.
“She’ll seek out her friends first,” he finally answered. “Liza, Isabelle, and Jonas’s mate, Rachel. Perhaps even the Coyote females. She knows them quite well and parties with them often. When there are no answers to be found there, only then will she go to Breaker.”
“He would be the most direct route,” Dane pointed out. “Why not go to him first?”
“Because he spooked her.” The warrior suddenly grinned. “And he’s the first man who’s managed to do that. He has her so spooked, he just might have her running scared. And, boys”—pure anticipation filled the other man’s voice now—“I’ve never seen Gypsy Rum McQuade run scared from any man or Breed. I’m damned sure looking forward to this one.”
What the warrior wasn’t thinking of, what he wasn’t remembering, was that Gypsy had remained a virgin all these years to continue working with the Unknown for a reason.