“One of the first trials of this drug was on a human in Haven, eight months ago. The drug was slipped into her food and drink during visits to her parents in the neighboring town. It was considered a failure because she didn’t follow her final order.”
They were all sitting forward now, expressions dark, savage.
“Jessica,” Wolfe growled.
The young military communications officer was still in confinement, nearly a year after she had betrayed the pack. She was alive only because the Wolf Breed suspected to be her mate refused to allow her to be turned over to Breed Law.
That left confinement until the full cabinet could make a decision on whether or not her actions warranted death. The matter hadn’t been brought before the cabinet because the Wolf Breed Cabinet had yet to decide if that was the action they would take.
“She was tested for drugs,” Faith protested. “None were found.”
“The drug has a masking agent.” Dash’s voice was savage now. “It’s not easy to detect.”
“I’ll be returning to my pack,” Del-Rey informed them. “There are issues I need to take care of there. I’ll no longer be handling the conclusion of this assignment.”
He turned and moved for the door.
“Del-Rey, you promised your mate a year.” Faith spoke up then. “Its only been eight months.”
He stopped, looked over his shoulder slowly, his eyes narrowed on the woman as his lip curled. “You must have neglected to put that provision in the agreement I signed. There’s no time stated there, and I have duties to my packs, just as the rest of you do. You can inform my coya I’m back. I may have neglected to do that as well.”
He stepped from the meeting room and nodded to his men before making his way from the secured underground rooms. He kept at bay the hard smile that would have curled his lips.
Over the months, he had taken the time to learn about mating heat. He’d made certain he received all Dr. Armani’s reports on his mate and he’d studied them carefully. He hadn’t hesitated to ask questions.
Getting reports on Base or personal details from Sharone wasn’t hard, simply because she was always eager to talk about her coya. Hell, every damned man and woman on base thought the sun rose and set on their coya’s ass.
It was the details he had begun to learn that Sharone was leaving out that made his decision for him. Particularly the month before when Anya, coya of the Coyote packs, had convinced her security detail to take her to a bar, in the small town of Advert, nearly an hour from the Haven base. Once there they had proceded to become involved in a barroom brawl that cost his base nearly a thousand dollars in damages.
A drop in the bucket compared to the price his teams commandeered for their private and government security work, but still, his mate had been there. In a barroom brawl where she had been fighting like a man and taking out her excessive adrenaline surges on the unwary, rather than him.
Damn her. What the hell did she think she was going to get away with next? A lover perhaps? He had nightmares about that one. Full, vivid, blood-splashed nightmares where he ripped off the head of any man that dared to touch her, while she stared on in horror.
It was time to return to his place as alpha. Time to show his wayward little coya her place in his life. And it wasn’t merely taking over his base while he was gone, not that she didn’t do a damned fine job of keeping things together in his absence. It was a job that would be done more effectively if he was working with her. She couldn’t train his soldiers. She couldn’t make military decisions, and she couldn’t aid his pack leaders in choosing the men to be assigned to the Bureau rotation. Every six months teams of Wolf, Feline and Coyote Breeds shifted and moved among the command bases. At present, he had twelve Felines and twelve Wolves on base. Sanctuary had just as many Coyotes and Wolves, and Haven commandeered the same number of Felines and Coyotes.
Two of those Coyotes assigned to Sanctuary were the two younger twin females that had come out of the compound with Anya. They were teenagers now and needed a firmer hand than Del-Rey was comfortable applying. What the hell did he know about female teenagers?
He knew the reports on the older three, and those made him sweat. The price of their clothing, makeup and shoes alone was enough to make a man flinch. Not that Anya spent nearly as much. No, he had to have his gifts sent to Haven and then forced on her by the lupina there, Hope Gunnar.
Stubborn damned woman. She was making him insane.
“Coya is still on base,” Brim reported as they stepped into the all-terrain that would transport them along the steep road that had been curved through the mountain to the base entrance. “Sharone says she requests a few additional days as you didn’t inform her of your impending return and she considers that grossly unfair.” Brim’s lips twitched as he gave Del-Rey the message.
Del-Rey grunted. “Tell her that’s too damned bad. I’ll be there within the hour.” Then he grinned. “Tell her to please apprise my pack leaders that I’ll need them in Command when I arrive.”
Brim grinned and relayed the message before disconnecting the link to Base that he now wore at his ear. The cylindrical earpiece extended just past the ear. The built-in receiver and mic made communication between Base and Haven much more effective. Separate channels had been built into the interface, and reception was as clear as the satellite phones they used.
“You could be playing a dangerous game with your coya, Del-Rey,” Brim informed him. “If she walks, the people she brought out of Russia may walk with her.”
Del-Rey shook his head. “They’re Coyotes; they know a winning side when they see it. I’ll win, Brim.”
“Overconfidence, my friend?” Brim asked him. Only Brim could have gotten away with that question.
“Desperation,” Del-Rey growled. “Just wait, Brim. When you’ve gone nearly a year with a hard-on that threatens your sanity, then you question me about overconfidence.”
Anya turned to Sharone, staring at her silently for long moments after her friend and bodyguard relayed Brim’s message.
“He asked me to do what?” she finally asked quietly.