She sat back in her chair, crossed her arms and stared at him silently. Hell, she was going to get pissed off.
“I run this base when you’re gone. I’ve learned how to do what has to be done at any given time, and I do it with resources so limited they’re laughable,” she said calmly. “You have no right, Del-Rey, to keep a limit on my authority.”
And he’d considered that fact. For days. Unfortunately, he and Anya differed in several areas regarding the base. Areas he knew would change if she were given the authority to change it. He didn’t want to fight her. There had been too much conflict between them already. He liked her soft and sexy in his arms, not angry with him.
“Anya, I don’t want humans in this base, neither do I want staff that we don’t have control over. The Coyote soldiers coming in here from the Bureau rescues are going to feel out of place if they have beds, blankets and pillows without working for them. This isn’t a Council facility. It’s a military-run base. I can’t lift the restrictions on the powers you have until I’m assured that you understand this. Until then, my signature will be required on any changes you request.”
He could smell her anger simmering now. Low, fierce, barely held in check. But he felt her hurt, and it pinched in his chest.
“Is that why you haven’t signed off on the requests I’ve sent you?”
“I don’t believe the changes you’re requesting are for the good of the base.” He kept his tone soft, gentle. “It isn’t so bad here, is it?” he finally asked. “A little rough at times, I admit, but your personal requests are never restricted.”
She rose slowly to her feet, her chin lifted with that surfeit of pride he knew she had.
“Haven and Sanctuary are homes, to their alphas as well as their mates and children. If you prefer a military base rather than a home, then that’s your choice. Excuse me for taking up your time Alpha Delgado. Perhaps if you find the time from all your duties to f**k tonight, I’ll see you then.”
“Anya.” He came out of his chair as she moved from hers and headed for the door. “Dammit, that was uncalled for.”
She paused and turned back to him. “Was it?” she asked, the hurt in her voice thick now. “I had more freedom when the separation order was intact. I’ve become the one thing I swore I would never be, Del-Rey. Your pet, nothing more.”
“That isn’t true,” he growled. “Anya, you know better than that.”
She shook her head slowly, her blue eyes dark and filled with sadness. That sadness struck him like a physical blow.
“You just proved it,” she said softly. “I’ll leave you to run your base now.”
She swept from the room, head held high, shoulders straight, the subtle scent of her pain drifting back to him as he dropped into his chair and wearily wiped his hand over his face.
She knew better, he told himself. She would come to understand the necessity of this. Like a woman, she wanted ribbons and bows on everything. Coyotes didn’t do well with ribbons and bows. If they did, f**k, they’d be Wolves. Coyotes weren’t f**king Wolves.
He glared at the door as a firm knock sounded on it.
“What?” he snapped, knowing who stood on the other side.
Brim stepped into the office. “Well, how did you manage to f**k up?” He closed the door behind him as he smirked back at Del-Rey. “Wouldn’t let her have the quilts over the plain blankets for the soldiers’ barracks?”
“I refused the requests across the board,” he snarled back. “Do you have a problem with it? Since when do Coyotes think they don’t have to work for what they sleep on? How long did it take us to find a bed of our own? We appreciated it more for the fact that it was ours.”
Brim’s expression went blank. “I see,” he finally said. “Very well. I’ll leave you to your duties, Alpha.” He opened the door.
“What the f**k has a stick shoved up your ass?” Del-Rey snarled. “We’re a military base, not a f**king hotel complete with room service.”
Brim turned back slowly. “If this is true, then perhaps you should return the females to Haven. That way they don’t remind our men of everything they don’t yet have, and everything they know their coya would do to make their lives less military and more normal. They’ll remember they’re animals then, rather than the men they want to be. Should I arrange to have the coya and her detail returned?”
Del-Rey rose to his feet with a primal growl.
Brim’s brows arched. “Be a fool with your mate if you want to be, but stop excusing it. You don’t want the changes because those changes threaten you, not the base, Alpha. And despite your determination to claim her heart, simply put, you’re not willing to give her yours, or your trust, in the same measure. Poor coya. Maybe she’ll become the soldier you need rather than the mate she thinks you want. Would you be happy then?”
He didn’t give Del-Rey a chance to respond, but stepped from the office instead and closed the door quietly behind him, leaving Del-Rey alone with the knowledge that his second-in-command might be right. If she didn’t make the base a home, then if he ever lost her again, there would be less to suffer for, less to miss. For all of them.
“I need an escort to Dr. Armani’s office,” Anya told Emma as they stepped into the community room and headed back to the tunnel that led to her and Del-Rey’s rooms. “Ask her to have the hormonal therapy to prevent conception prepared and to please pencil in a few moments to talk to me.”
“Yes, Coya,” Emma said quietly, using the comm link to access the outside line.
“Ashley, when is your nail appointment this week?” Anya asked.
“Alpha hasn’t approved it.” Ashley didn’t pout; her voice was calm, composed. The airhead was nowhere in sight.