and Sophia were friends, Max was often in Sascha’s orbit. And Lucas’s empathic and intuitive mate had never once caught anything bad about the ex-cop. Neither had Lucas. Most importantly, the cubs adored Max.
He was one of the good guys.
“You do realize your current taste in employers is inexplicable, right?” Lucas commented after picking up the headset Max pointed out to him.
The other man shrugged and put on his own headset. “Sophie and I live in hope that we’ll drag Nikita over to the side of light.” A sudden grin that once again revealed that dimple in his left cheek.
Linked as the sight was to memories of his cub, it had Lucas’s panther prowling to the surface of his skin.
“It might even happen this century, now that Anthony’s in the picture,” Max said.
Snorting, Lucas nodded at the lights of the control panel. “How long you been flying?”
“Don’t worry. This is my first real flight, but my instructor said it’ll be just like in the simulator.”
“Funny, Shannon. You tell Nikita that one, too?”
“I only tell your mother-in-law knock-knock jokes,” Max responded with a straight face before he began to taxi down the private runway marked by small glowing beacons. “For some reason, she never says ‘who’s there,’ so the whole process comes to a premature end at ‘knock, knock.’ I’m constantly dejected.”
Chuckling, Lucas didn’t speak again until they were in the air after a smooth takeoff, San Francisco a glittering sprawl to their left. “You have the brief?”
Max nodded. “Plan was I stay with the plane, while you prowl off into the dark.”
“Plan was?”
“I’m offering to go with you if you need backup.”
Lucas considered it. Max was as well trained as his own sentinels, and taking him along would have no impact on the security in pack territory. However, his original reasoning for going alone still applied—if this was about stealth, a panther alone stood the best chance of skating under the radar.
There was also another consideration.
“No,” he said to the other man. “I need to know the plane is ready to go the instant I hit the runway. Can’t take the risk of someone sabotaging it.” Lucas couldn’t afford to be away from DarkRiver for long, not given how visible he’d been lately, courtesy of his role with Trinity. Someone would notice his absence. “The man I’m going to see, he’s physically far weaker than I am, so the security issue is minimal.”
“Could be an ambush,” Max said with the grim clarity of a security chief for a woman a lot of people wanted to kill. “You prepared for that? And don’t predatory packs have rules about entry into another’s territory?”
“I’m going over land unclaimed by changelings until I hit SkyElm’s borders.” Warning them of his arrival wasn’t on the agenda. “As for a possible ambush, I’ll see them before they ever spot me.” Being jet-black had significant advantages—advantages Lucas intended to teach his daughter as soon as she got a little older.
Of course, it would make it a devil of a thing to find her when she was being cheeky, but Lucas would rather have that than not teach her skills she could use to protect herself should she ever be trapped alone and far from help. She was fierce, his cub, but while she was small, he would teach her to hide and wait. Hide and wait.
A child panther couldn’t win against adult combatants.
Lucas knew that firsthand.
“Panther in the dark.” Max whistled. “Yeah, okay, good plan. What’re you going to do about clothes when you arrive?”
Lips tugging up, Lucas said, “Humans are so hung up on clothing.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit.” The ex-cop pointed a finger at him. “You’re not going to confront some other man while he’s clothed and you’re not.”
In truth, Lucas would have no problem doing that, especially since he knew his dominance far exceeded that of the ocelot alpha. But, in this case, he likely wouldn’t have to. “Someone always forgets their washing outside. I’ll grab what I need.” If not, he’d do the confrontation in his skin—which, unbeknownst to Max, would probably unnerve the other alpha even more.
Civilized manners, including wearing clothing, came from the human part of a changeling’s nature. Comfort with their bodies, whether furred or the human skin, came from the primal core of their animal. An enemy might be able to negotiate with the civilized half, but the animal reacted on pure, undiluted instinct. And an alpha panther driven by violent protective urges was not a predator anyone wanted