the reason behind Lucas’s idea.
“Trinity is about creating a world without divisions,” his best friend and lieutenant had said. “There has to be a way for former enemies to prove themselves, or Trinity fails before it ever really begins.”
Hawke wasn’t sure he was civilized enough to accept such rational necessities, but since they had Ming on the ropes, he was at least willing to listen to feedback from the rest of his lieutenants. Having Riley’s calm presence anchor the discussion was partially why this SnowDancer meeting was about to take place in DarkRiver territory.
He and the lieutenants who were based in the Sierra Nevada den had arrived a couple of minutes ago with insulated carriers holding dinner, to find both Mercy and Riley strolling outside their cabin, soaking up the red-orange rays of the setting sun. Alone with Mercy when Riley was pulled into a back-slapping hug by Riaz, Hawke leaned down as if to kiss her on the cheek.
She growled low in her throat. “Try it, wolf, and lose your face.”
Grinning, he instead gave her what he’d been holding behind his back. “A little present.”
Another growl as she narrowed her eyes. “Why are you giving me gifts?”
“Your pupcubs are half SnowDancer.”
Mercy’s eyes went to where Riley was laughing with Riaz, Indigo, and Judd, the four lieutenants apparently deeply amused by something. Expression softening, she turned her cheek slightly. “You may kiss me,” she said, like a queen bestowing a favor. “But only because you moved your lieutenant meeting all the way down here mostly so Riley could see everyone.”
Hawke didn’t dispute her interpretation of his actions because she was dead right. The agenda for the meeting offered a good excuse, but this was really about looking after a packmate who’d given so much to SnowDancer. Accepting the invitation to kiss Mercy, an invitation she’d never before extended, he drew in her scent. His wolf considered her part of his pack, especially now, when she carried the twinned scents of leopard and wolf far more strongly than usual. “Open your present.”
Gaze suspicious again, she took a seat in an outdoor chair, then tore away the wrapping paper to pick up the baby-sized item on top. It was a legless one-piece bodysuit in SnowDancer blue, with “SnowDancers Rule” written on the front in white and a wolf silhouette on the back in the same shade.
The next item was a tiny white T-shirt with wolves gamboling all over it.
Mercy looked up, her lips trying not to curve. “You’re doing this to mess with Lucas.”
“I’m astonished you’d say that.” Hawke pressed a hand to his heart. “I’m just proud of my soon-to-be-new packmates.”
Shaking her head, Mercy gave in to her smile as she continued to go through the miniature pieces of clothing, all of them SnowDancer branded . . . except for the last set, every one of which had “Pupcub” written across the front, above a cartoon of an adorable half wolf–half leopard pupcub drawn by Toby.
The thirteen-year-old had shown it to Sienna, who’d shown it to Hawke.
The rest was history.
Mercy’s face lit up. “Riley! Come look!” She held up a little yellow jumpsuit that came complete with a hood that sported two pointed ears.
Cheeks creasing in a deep grin, Riley said, “Perfect.”
The other lieutenants hadn’t seen the gift pack, came over to go through it together with Riley and Mercy, all of them laughing as they debated their favorites. Including Riaz. The dark-haired lieutenant with eyes of beaten gold had been in one hell of a good mood for the past month, stayed that way throughout the working dinner—where Mercy told them what Nathan had said about the terrible error in building Trinity on a foundation of exclusion.
The words hit hard, made them all think.
Hawke was still chewing over the implications when he and the others left Riley and Mercy’s home in the rugged SUV they’d driven down in together. Reaching SnowDancer territory, they decided to park the SUV in a lower area and run the last section home. It was such a clear night, the stars crystalline, that the wolf wanted to throw back its head and howl, but Hawke stayed in human form for now, as did the others.
It was easy enough for him to fall in beside Riaz, while Indigo and Judd ran ahead. “The idea of giving former enemies a way to prove their good intentions is never going to make sense to my wolf.”
“It took a human to stop the Territorial Wars for a reason,” was