Allegiance of Honor (Psy-Changeling #15) - Nalini Singh Page 0,19

abilities, Judd’s cardinal niece had made the choice to go step-by-step through the same training as her peers. As a result, she wasn’t technically a senior member of SnowDancer with the right to be at this meeting, but Hawke had asked her to attend such meetings when and if she could, because at a certain point in the future, their packmates would begin to look to her for answers in her capacity as the mate of their alpha.

It was good for Sienna to start bedding into that role now, even as she continued her normal soldier training. Judd had expected his niece to protest, since she’d made it clear she didn’t want to leapfrog up the hierarchy—not that anyone would’ve disputed her right to do so after what she’d done in defense of SnowDancer—but Sienna had agreed to Hawke’s request and appeared to be focusing hard on learning all aspects of what it meant to be the mate of a powerful alpha.

Love gives far more than it ever takes. And love makes us want to give.

Words spoken by Father Xavier Perez. Judd’s friend and fellow rebel was currently somewhere in South America, searching for the woman he loved. The human male should’ve already reached her, but he’d suffered significant injuries the day he arrived in Peru, after a driver lost control of his vehicle and plowed onto the sidewalk. It was only a month earlier that he’d finally healed enough to continue his search across rugged terrain.

Judd had offered to teleport Xavier to his destination, as had Kaleb, but Xavier was adamant he had to do this himself.

I have to prove I deserve her.

Understanding the depth of Xavier’s need in a way he wouldn’t have before he’d fallen for Brenna, Judd turned his attention back to the matter at hand. Riaz was nodding at Sienna’s point. “BlackSea must have high-risk people who use Canadian lakes as their primary habitat,” the other lieutenant said. “Miane won’t want to compromise them. On the flip side, it means the water changelings have plenty of eyes and ears in the country if they need them.”

“We take BlackSea’s lead,” Hawke said. “Riaz, Kenji, stay in touch with them, offer our assistance.” He shoved up the sleeves of his shirt. “Lucas also asked that we all keep an ear open for anything related to Naya. Looks like certain Psy in the Net are looking in her direction, and the interest isn’t friendly.” The wolf-blue of Hawke’s eyes had turned frigid as he spoke, the power that came off him a near-palpable force.

There was a reason even Psy were very careful when dealing with strong changeling alphas. At times, Judd wondered how his niece dealt with her mate. Sienna was a power, one honed in brutal circumstances, but she was young . . . and she had challenged Hawke from the instant she set foot in the den, never backing down, even when it would’ve been prudent. It was a reminder that his niece had her own wild streak, wild enough to handle the primal wolf who was her mate.

“Is Lucas okay with my passing on the word to my contacts?” Judd asked, not saying Kaleb’s name though everyone present here knew he and the most dangerous telekinetic in the world were friends. It was old habit to protect the other man’s identity, from the time the two of them—and Xavier—had been rebels working in the shadows.

Hawke gave a short nod. “Use your judgment, speak only to people you trust to look after Naya’s interests.”

Kaleb wasn’t “good” in any ordinary sense of the word, but Judd knew the other man would never harm a DarkRiver child for the simple reason that DarkRiver was important to his mate. And whatever was important to Sahara, Kaleb protected. “I’ll do it now.” Breaking away from the group, he made the call.

It was early in Moscow, but he had a feeling the other man would be up.

He was right.

“I’ll release a tracking program into the Net to listen for mentions of the child,” Kaleb replied after Judd explained the situation.

Understanding as he did the complex amounts of data Kaleb could sieve through at any one instant, Judd thanked his friend.

Kaleb’s response was simple. “DarkRiver protected and nurtured Sahara when she needed it.”

Those words said a great deal about the loyalty of which this deadly man was capable, of the lengths he’d go to, to protect the rare few people who’d earned that loyalty. It also hinted at the other aspect of