She had to trust him.
Reaching a flat bench of land farther up the mountain, Scheme paused and wiped at the perspiration on her forehead before bracing her back against a tree and staring up at the glimmer of the sky beyond.
She didn’t want to go any farther.
She stared back along the valley below and blew out a weary breath. She was tired of fighting it. Tired of fighting the need for him, the feelings for him. She was tired of being alone. So alone she couldn’t trust; she couldn’t laugh or love.
She had to fight to hold on to what Tanner seemed to be offering her. Safety. Security. His love. Maybe his love. A big enough maybe that she was ready to turn around and run back to him. Right now.
Straightening quickly from the tree, she turned and came face-to-face with death.
“Stupid bitch.” Dog, her father’s most merciless blood soldier, had stepped from behind a massive boulder to her side. His cruel face was enhanced by steely gray eyes, his lips pulled back in a snarl, his curved canines flashing in the weak sunlight that penetrated the dawn light.
“Lapdog,” she snapped back. Show no fear. She had learned that a long time ago when it came to Cyrus’s pets.
His lips twitched. They always did that, just seconds from a smug smile, from gloating satisfaction. He was literally the top dog within her father’s organization. He controlled the Coyotes and the assignments going out, as well as the preparation of them.
He was as evil as her father, and twice as dangerous.
“You must like being buried alive.”
His gray eyes were constantly scanning, watching, his nostrils flaring as he drew in the scents around them.
Where the hell was Tanner? She could use a little help.
“Gives me time to think,” she sneered, moving back, nearly stumbling as her knees actually trembled. Of all her father’s Breeds she would have to meet up with this one.
Rather than following her, he crouched, his gaze narrowed on her. Six feet, two inches tall and corded with muscle, he would have been imposing without the cloudy gray eyes and black-streaked gray hair. He was said to be the most merciless Coyote the Council had ever created.
“If I bring you in alive, I get to f**k you before your daddy buries you.” He smiled in mocking pleasure. “I’d have to bathe you first. The smell of cat just offends my senses.”
She’d rather be buried first.
“You can f**k?” She widened her eyes mockingly. “Since when did Cyrus stop castrating his little pets?”
His lips tightened.
It was one of Cyrus’s favorite control measures. “I didn’t come to Tallant from the main labs, little girl,” he snarled. “You’re forgetting that.”
Okay, mistake on her part. Maybe Dog did still have his manly parts. Which only made him more dangerous. And he was right; he hadn’t come to her father from Tallant-controlled labs. He had come from the Council itself. Who or what had trained him, no one knew, at least Cyrus didn’t, but there was no denying he was one of the most proficient killers created.
She moved back a step. Running from him wasn’t going to do her any good.
Oh, this had just been a bad idea. Bad. Bad. Bad.
“Your daddy’s not going to like having the smell of that Breed all over you.” Amazingly, Dog felt into his shirt pocket, pulled a slim cigar free and lit it before straightening.
“My father’s not a Breed. He can’t smell me.” She backed up farther.
Surely Tanner had returned to the caverns by now. He would know she was missing. He would be following. He had to be here somewhere.
She looked around frantically.
“Tsk, tsk, little princess,” Dog murmured. “So, you want to tell me where you’ve been hiding for the past week? I might be able to talk your daddy into just shooting you rather than letting you die in that casket again. This time forever.”
His voice was cold, brutal. God, she hated him. She had seen him calmly walk into a room and snap the neck of one of Cyrus’s soldiers for nothing more than the sloppy care of his weapons.
And he had enjoyed it. She had seen the pleasure in his eyes, in the tight grimace of his expression. She had made certain never to attend another operation meeting from that day on.