to deny them. They were predators but they were also human in a way the Psy would never be. "Free passage."
With those two simple words each, they'd turned their alliance into a blood bond. They'd given each other's packs free passage in all of their respective territories, the right to come and go without any of the current stipulations. But that wasn't the important part.
As of now, the wolves would come to the aid of the leopards and the leopards would die for the wolves.
No matter what the fight.
Once inside the house, the lieutenants and sentinels placed themselves in a protective circle, watching each other and their alphas. They might now be blood allies but complete trust would take time.
"Dorian." Lucas gave the other man the signal to fetch Sascha. Everything in him wanted to take care of it himself, wanted to protect her every step of the way. But he couldn't leave his people alone with the wolves, or betray his driving need, need which was this raw only at the final stage of mating.
Hawke couldn't be allowed to guess that the mating dance was incomplete. It wouldn't damage their alliance but it would probably make the other alpha back off from placing any faith in Sascha.
The beast wasn't convinced by the logical argument. It wanted Sascha. Now. It was taking too much of Lucas's will to fight the possessiveness of the panther. He didn't even trust the sentinels at this stage. It was part of the price he paid for being a leopard, an alpha, and a Hunter.
Nobody spoke until Sascha walked back into the room followed by Tamsyn, with Dorian shadowing their backs. Tammy didn't need to be here, to be vulnerable. Protecting one of their women was going to put enough pressure on the sentinels. Nate was clearly furious at his mate, his eyes narrowed in anger. Already, her presence was affecting their ability to defend.
"Tamsyn," Lucas said, walking over to pull Sascha to his side. "You need to leave." He rarely gave Tammy orders, knew he was too easy with her. He even knew why.
It wasn't because his mother had been a healer as many people thought. No, it was because he'd seen the condition she'd been in after trying to save his father's life. She'd almost killed herself, given everything she'd had in that slender seventeen-year-old body. And when they'd found him, Lucas, she'd tried desperately to squeeze impossibly more from her worn - out soul.
However, right now, he couldn't afford to have her fight against him, couldn't afford to show any weakness. If she spoke up, he'd have to get very harsh and he didn't want to do that to Tammy. To his shock, Sascha was the one who spoke. "She needs to be here."
The SnowDancers raised their brows, but there was a kind of shadowed respect in their eyes. The rules were different for the mates of Pack alphas. No one wanted their alpha mated to a weak female.
"Why would that be?" Hawke turned to face them, his back to the mantel.
Lucas moved until Sascha and Tamsyn were both half-hidden by his body. "None of your business, wolf. You came to see Sascha. Here she is."
Sascha pushed at his back until he shifted enough that she could meet the wolf's gaze. It was as far as he was going to go.
"I know you don't trust me," she said. "I even know that you hate the Psy on a level that's so deep, it has no end."
Hawke's mouth tightened, his eyes going glacial.
"But you don't have to trust me in this - you have to trust Lucas."
Hawke snorted. "He's your mate. He's hardly likely to be unbiased."
Lucas waited for Sascha to dispute their mating, unable to do anything to warn her.
Her hand slipped around to lie against his stomach. The panther wanted to purr. "Do you really think he'd mate to someone who'd endanger his pack?"
"Yeah, wolf." Relief at her acceptance ran through Lucas like fire. "Just how much do you trust me?"
"How do you know she hasn't fucked with your mind?" It was a harsh question.
"Because you know as well as I do that the Psy can't hold on to our minds for longer than a few minutes." Lucas tracked Hawke's every movement, leaving Indigo and Riley to the sentinels. He had a feeling Riley was the more dangerous of the pair - like Dorian, he'd lost a sister to this killer. "She would've had to manipulate not only my mind but