Before she had to face Breed life in ways she had never faced it before.
Stroking his hand down the long, silken waves of her hair as it fell around him, stroked his chest and warmed him.
As much as he’d fantasized about having her in his bed, the true hunger that had raged through him had been for this. Holding her, warming her, and having her warm him.
He caressed her arm, the silken feel of it sinking into his palm, caressing it as a low, drowsy little moan slipped past her lips.
“Navarro,” she whispered, clearly asleep and still reaching out to him, even in her sleep. “I love you, Navarro.” Barely coherent, so thickly asleep Navarro had to strain to hear the words. And when he did, he felt his heart clench.
“I love you, Mica.” He whispered the words in her hair, low, barely loud enough to hear himself as he closed his eyes and tightened his arms around her.
God he loved her.
He’d loved her for so many damned years that there were days he couldn’t imagine not loving her. She had been the dream he’d had in those damned labs, and when he’d seen her in Haven she had become his greatest fantasy.
And he’d lived in hell ever since. Lived with a fear he’d refused to recognize as fear. If he lost her, if he failed to protect her, it would destroy him now. It would kill him.
Maybe, just maybe, he could have survived until tonight. Before she had awakened the sleeping animal that came awake with a surge of possessive fury.
And now, awake, prowling, though content at the moment, he could feel that wildness inside him. In the very depths of his heart. In the very depths of his being, that animal watched now, vigilant, determined to protect its mate.
In all the years he had fought, all the ways he’d wondered how to use the animal genetics he possessed, he’d never imagined it would happen like this. He’d believed his genetics were forever recessed, so weak that all they afforded him were the additional stronger senses and the training he’d been given in the labs.
He hadn’t expected it to awaken, surge forward, and demand his mate with such possession.
Yet it had, and he couldn’t regret it.
The sense of warmth that filled him, the sense of clear, vibrant life where before he’d felt shackled, always lacking in some way, was something he’d never imagined he could have with anyone, let alone a mate.
And she was definitely his mate.
His perfect fit.
The only woman he had ever loved.
“We need to hurry, Dad.” Cassie sat, composed and calm, as she waited at the heli-jet landing tower just outside the high, stone walls of the Wolf Breed community, Haven.
Dressed in jeans, boots, sweatshirt and heavy jacket, her body was warm, but everything inside her was cold as she stared at the cement wall across the waiting room as they waited for the heli-jet to land.
“It would be quicker to call Jonas, Cassie,” he reminded her. It hadn’t been the first time.
“You’ve already told Jonas there’s a problem.” She fought to hold back the tears that would have filled her eyes. She had to believe they would get there in time, it was that simple. That when they arrived, everything would be okay. That Mica would be safe and as happy and content as she was at this moment.
At this moment.
Cassie hadn’t expected the contentment to come this soon. She had never ever believed Navarro would give in to what he felt so quickly. He was one of the most stubborn Breeds she had ever met. She had sensed that and he had moved so much faster than she had expected.
His animal had refused to allow that stubbornness. It had refused to allow him to hold back the love or the mating heat.
And now, the danger Cassie had sensed moving closer to Mica was building. She had to get there. She had to be there.
She should have never left her friend to face this alone, but she knew Mica. She knew that her friend would have never given in to what she felt for Navarro unless she was without her family, without the one friend she knew would never truly lie to her.
And Cassie had believed she would have enough warning to get to her in time.
She was wrong.
Oh God, she had been so wrong, and now Mica was going to pay the ultimate price for her lack of foresight.