He moved almost violently from the chair and paced the rough stone floor of the cavern. He couldn’t think about that. He couldn’t allow it to take hold in his mind or the animal inside would certainly break free.
He had to concentrate on her safety.
He couldn’t take her to Sanctuary, and she couldn’t return to her home. There had to be an answer. He had searched every database he could find and hacked into more files at the Bureau of Breed Affairs than he wanted to count. There wasn’t even a hint that Scheme Tallant was the spy Jonas had recruited within the Tallant organization.
And without proof, Tanner was screwed, because he was running out of time. He barely had a week left on his vacation, and if he didn’t return, Callan would send someone out to find out why.
No excuses would be acceptable. Callan knew his family, and Tanner was part of his family. He would know something was wrong, and there was no way the pride leader would understand this one. Not considering who she was and her connection to the general.
Damn, he had been so certain the mating heat would begin. It didn’t make sense. He had never been so obsessed with a woman in his life. He had teetered between hate and lust for ten years, only to have the lust, the hunger for her, completely overwhelm him and the hatred dissolve in the face of the horror he was suspecting she had experienced at her father’s hands.
She was so small. Delicate. Yet with a strength he hadn’t expected. Her bones were so small he wondered how her father had kept from shattering them when he beat her.
Hell, he didn’t know how to work this now. He had envisioned arriving at Sanctuary with his mate, and now he had no defense to offer her. Breed Law or her father’s assassins. He couldn’t allow her to face either. Unless she was Jonas’s mole. Or Cabal’s mate.
He wiped his hand over his face.
Cabal’s mate.
It couldn’t be true, but he couldn’t ignore the signs that it was possible. Mating heat was a biological, hormonal mating, as well as emotional.
Emotionally, he was so firmly tied to her now that he wondered if he could ever breathe without her scent in his head. But what if the mating heat was more physical than emotional? What if she wasn’t his mate at all? What if she belonged to the only man whose genetics matched his? Perhaps matched enough that he reacted to her as a mate, without the mating hormone. A mating hormone Cabal would release once he came face-to-face with her.
Could he survive it? Could he live with it?
“You’re thinking too hard. ” Her voice had him turning swiftly toward her, his brows drawing into a frown at the weakness in her voice.
The touch of her gaze upon him had him hardening instantly beneath his jeans, his body eagerly anticipating her touch. But as he watched her move and detected the scent of physical pain, he knew that wouldn’t be an option, not until she managed to loosen those still bruised muscles.
“There are some bath salts in the bathroom. ” He moved for the bed, helping her to ease out of it despite the suspicion in her gaze.
She wasn’t used to being cared for, but hell, he wasn’t used to caring for anyone. In her case, he couldn’t seem to help himself.
“I’ll be okay. ”
Why the hell was she always pulling away from him? He was constantly trying to get closer to her while she was constantly moving away from him.
“I’m sure you will be, but I prefer to make certain of it. ” He stared into her dark eyes, seeing the response in her gaze as his hands slid slowly down her arms. “I didn’t mean to be so hard on you when I took you. ”
“I don’t break easily, Tanner,” she assured him, moving away from him again and heading for the bathroom. “I’ll take you up on those bath salts though. ”
He followed her into the bathroom, his lips quirking as she moved naked through the cavern. She wasn’t self-conscious about her nakedness; he liked that about her. She didn’t pretend coyness or shyness. She gave as good as she got and didn’t make excuses.
Moving into the small cave that held the bathroom, he reached beneath the sink and pulled free the bottle of scented salts.
“My pride sisters Dawn and Sherra like to keep their smelly stuff around. ” He uncapped it for her and set it on the sink cabinet. “Take your time. I’ll fix breakfast now that you’re up. ”
“So it’s morning?” she asked casually.
His lips quirked. “About ten. ”
She stiffened as she adjusted the water running into the tub.
She finally sighed as steam poured from the hot water. “When do you intend to let me go?”
Straightening, she turned to face him, her long hair falling over her shoulder, framing her unique features.
“This isn’t a game, Scheme. The minute you walk out of here you’re dead, and you know it. Your father won’t let you escape, and even if he did, Breed Law sure as hell wouldn’t. Without his protection, you’ll be taken by the Breeds. Once in Sanctuary, you’ll be placed under Breed Law. ”