Then, she wouldn’t be of use to anyone.
Especially a mate.
Watching the vehicle pull away as the first rays of dawn began to stretch fragile light across the sky, Rachel breathed in deeply and made a decision she prayed she wouldn’t regret.
She knew Diane, perhaps better than her sister liked. She had seen the pain in her eyes, heard it in her voice when she had sworn she would die if she couldn’t fight. When she had whispered with aching hunger of the partner she needed.
And Rachel knew Lawe. The Breed cared for her sister. Hell, he loved Diane, he just wasn’t ready to admit it. But, what he didn’t realize was that he loved Diane because of exactly who and what she was, not for what he thought he wanted her to be.
If Rachel allowed Diane to go off on her own and, God forbid, she was harmed, then Lawe would never forgive her for not telling him where she was heading.
She would never forgive herself.
First, she had to figure out how to tell him without Diane feeling betrayed.
It took a while, but she had a plan.
Smiling, she showered, called the Feline Lioness who had taken the position of nanny and prepared to invade the meeting for which Jonas had left their bed.
Her sister was stubborn as hell and just as willful.
It would take careful maneuvering, of both Diane as well as Lawe, but Jonas had taught her quite a bit.
Rachel was extremely confident she could pull this off. That she could ensure the mating of her sister and the Breed commander. Rachel was determined to see that her sister had the life she dreamed of and the happiness she deserved.
CHAPTER 7
Diane was late.
As Jonas filled in the alphas of the Prides and Packs, including the two who had traveled from Europe to represent the growing number of Breeds coming out of hiding there, Lawe felt his frown deepen.
It was three quarters after ten. She was late enough that if she wasn’t there within the next quarter hour then he was going hunting for her.
He should have already done so, he thought impatiently as he felt the restless energy beginning to sizzle through his body. His instincts were that heightened, a sense of awareness prodding at him, warning him.
Something wasn’t right.
Diane was never late. What had possessed him to allow Jonas to convince him that she was simply irritated with them all and making them wait for the hell of it.
That wasn’t Diane’s style.
He could feel the tension flooding his body, a warning that it wasn’t right and he should go now, that he should head straight to her rooms and find her.
Her men had flown out hours earlier, each heading for a different area of the United States. Even Thor was gone.
She wouldn’t go out alone—
The hell she wouldn’t.
Why hadn’t he seen the clues?
Straightening from the position he had taken against the wall, Lawe moved to leave the room and check on his too-independent mate.
He hadn’t even taken that first step when a hard, demanding knock sounded on the door and the scent of Jonas’s mate reach his senses.
Lawe’s gaze moved to Jonas as a sudden knowledge flooded his system. Animal genetics surged to the forefront of his senses as he bit back a growl and forced himself to remain in place.
A Breed Enforcer moved to the door and opened it quickly. Rachel Wyatt swept into the room in a cloud of heated anger and resentment as she moved to her mate, the director of the Bureau of Breed Affairs.