laughed. "I don't have to. I have a gorgeous mate."
Katya opened the door at that moment. "I thought I heard - " Her eyes locked on Lucas.
The DarkRiver alpha was all green eyes and that warm leopard charm as he smiled. "You must be Katya. I'm Lucas."
"Hello." Katya gave a small smile.
Fire rippled up Dev's spine. "Let's go outside to talk." There was no way in hell he wanted the other man in Katya's room.
"Not so long as Sascha's in the house," Lucas said, taking a position against the wall opposite the doorway. "We can talk here."
"What's there to talk about?" Katya asked, gripping the doorjamb.
Lucas's eyes went to her white-knuckled hold. "Ashaya wants you to know you have a way out."
Dev's jaw tightened. "Don't play the alpha here, Luc. I've got no loyalty to you."
"I have to look after my people, Dev, same as you. And Ashaya considers Katya a true friend."
Dev thought of Katya's determination to go north, waited to see what she'd do.
"Thank you," she said, uncurling her fingers only to wrap her arms around herself. His body bucked at the reins, wanting to go to her, crush her close. Then she spoke, and his pride at her turned into a flame inside of him. "I think of her as a friend, too. And because I am her friend, I won't put her family in jeopardy."
"There's your answer," Dev said, making sure Lucas heard the absolute lack of flexibility in his voice. "Anything else?"
"You change your mind, Katya, all you have to do is say so." Lucas's head angled slightly to the right. "I have to go talk to my mate."
Knowing Tag and Tiara would keep an eye on things, Dev stayed behind as Lucas walked away. "You should've taken the chance he gave you."
Katya's eyes went wide at his tone.
Something primitive in him pushed at him to finish his, make his claim in the most final way. "I won't let you leave."
Katya knew she should've been angry, but it wasn't a threat she saw in Dev's eyes. No, what burned in those gold-flecked depths was a possessive demand that she knew would end her loneliness forever . . . but only if she accepted his rules. "I may have been broken when I came in," she said, a deeply feminine part of her sensing that if she gave in now, it would all be over, "but that's not true any longer. The pieces are starting to come together."
"Good." He took her chin in a hold that was blatantly proprietary.
Her stomach filled with butterflies, the steel and heat scent of him in every breath - but she kept her voice. "Even if that means I won't do what you want?"
He rubbed his thumb over her lower lip, his eyes on her mouth. "I never said I wanted a puppet."
"In that case," she said, her lips brushing his thumb, "consider yourself forewarned. Nothing you can do will stop me from doing what I need to do."
Dev's expression changed then, filling not with anger but with challenge. "Bring it on."
The kiss was hard, fast, openly possessive - a warning and a promise in one.
Striding down the corridor to find Sascha leaving Cruz's room - to go directly into her mate's arms - Dev nodded at the couple to follow him outside. "Tag," he said, the taste of Katya a lingering sweetness on his tongue, "one of you two should sit in on this, too." They could easily transmit what they heard to the other.
Tiara rose in a graceful movement. "I'll go. Keep your mind open to me, okay, big guy?"
Tag gave a short nod, but Dev saw the flash of hunger in the man's eyes. It made him wonder what it felt like for the two telepaths to communicate - did Tag feel something different when it was Tiara? Part of him couldn't help but think what it would be like to have Katya's mind open to his.
Then you know I'm not going to back down. I want you to look in my mind.
His every male instinct growled in rejection. Such contact would have nothing to do with intimacy - it would be the worst kind of violation, a mockery of what should be.
"Dev, you okay?" It was Tiara, her voice pitched low.
Realizing he'd let his emotions bleed into his face, he nodded. "Sascha," he said, turning to the empath as she came to stand beside him, Lucas on her other side. "What's your opinion on Cruz?"
"He's damaged, but