If there was one thing she knew about Cabal, it was that his superior arrogance worked perfectly. For him. What it did for others was another story.
The path veered to the left, the opposite direction of the valley she had been heading for. This was just her luck, of course. And there wasn’t a chance in hell that Cabal was going to let her in on whatever was going on here.
“This won’t stop me.” She didn’t fight his hold now. She’d learned over the years of watching mated couples what came of pushing a male Breed too hard. Especially when he was agitated. Cabal was definitely agitated.
Poor f**king kitty.
She hated this. She hated being dragged behind him and forced away from the direction she wanted to go in. She hated being forced into anything anyway. He was taking her choice away from her, with no explanation, with no reason.
“Ignoring me won’t work either,” she informed him, hearing the shakiness in her own voice.
He was affecting her, she couldn’t help it. There was something about being this close to him that made her too warm and made her too damned nervous.
“I’m not ignoring you,” he informed her shortly. “Just shut the hell up, Cassa, until I can get over the fact that a f**king Coyote was chasing you through the forest. Do you have any idea what it did to me to see him on your ass like that?”
Anger filled his tone now.
“So why didn’t you just shoot him?” she asked with mocking sweetness. “Or dump him in a volcano? Isn’t that the preferred method of disposing with irritating Breed enemies this year?”
“That was last year. This year it’s a pit of alligators. Didn’t you get the memo?”
“Do I ever get the memo?” she muttered. The Breeds didn’t inform anyone of anything. They made a point of being closemouthed and stubborn.
“I’ll make sure you get the next one.”
She just bet he would. There wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to tell her anything, unless he was forced to. If he kept dragging her around like a child, then he was going to find out just where he could shove his memos.
Tightening her lips to hold back the angry words eager to fall from her tongue, Cassa tromped behind him until they came to an area where their wicked black mountain Raiders were parked. The powerful, high four-wheel-drive vehicles held four easily, and if she wasn’t mistaken, one of them was outfitted with a lethal automatic rifle on the roll bar that encased the top of it.
“Get in.” He jerked open the passenger door to the nearest vehicle.
Cassa eyed the darkened interior suspiciously before eyeing him more so. “Why?”
“Because I said to.” Before she could do more than draw a shocked breath, he had lifted her into the seat and slammed the door closed.
She should jump right back out of the vehicle, she thought furiously, but that little click she’d heard a second after the door slammed was probably a lock. And more than likely it would take her longer to figure out how to unlock it than it would for him to get into the vehicle and stop her.
Instead, she crossed her arms over her br**sts and glared out the windshield as he moved into the driver’s seat and started the ignition.
The soft hum of the motor was barely detectable as he slid the Raider into drive, turned the steering wheel and began maneuvering down the mountain.
He made a path where there were no paths. The mountain-adept vehicle traversed the rolling dips and maneuvered around ages-old trees until they hit the graveled road.
Cassa stayed silent, watched the night beyond the headlights and attempted to get her head on straight where this man, this Breed, was concerned.
They had a past, too much of a past to ever be able to get to the point where other mates were. Those she knew who had mated, loved. They loved each other with a depth and dedication that brought tears to her eyes if she thought too long on it. They adored each other, they trusted each other. And that trust was something she knew she would never have from Cabal.
“Why the hell are you here?” he asked as he turned on the blacktop road that led back to Glen Ferris. “You’re supposed to be back in New York.”
“Obviously I’m not,” she stated quietly. “I’m here.”
“Why?”
“I received a tip.” She shrugged. “Reporters get those, you know, they follow them to get stories. That’s what we do.”
“There’s no story here, so go home.” His voice rumbled dangerously.
Cassa almost smiled at the sound. It would have been intimidating if she didn’t hear it damned near every day of her life from one Breed or another. They were always rumbling, growling or roaring. It was their nature.