She could have made it to Jonas and had her freedom by now. If her father hadn’t somehow learned that she had betrayed him.
“She knows how to be quiet, Tanner,” Cabal observed mockingly long minutes after she had sat down. “She surprises me. ”
Tanner murmured something she didn’t catch. Something she wasn’t certain she wanted to hear. All she could feel was her own rioting pain. Suddenly, she felt lost, alone. More alone than she had ever been in her life.
Cabal was pushing and he knew it. He wanted Tanner pissed. He wanted that superhuman control his brother possessed to break. He wanted the animal inside the man to claim his mate. Because it had obviously not happened yet.
It would have been laughable if it weren’t so serious.
And if the cold steel blade of a butcher knife weren’t lying at his throat. Not exactly a comfortable position for the sharp weapon in his estimation.
Tanner was enraged. His eyes were brilliant with it, his expression savage.
“Back off, bro,” Cabal warned him. “We’re not going to fight here. ”
“Leave her the hell alone,” Tanner growled, his voice too low for the girl to hear where she sat across the room, on the couch that was turned away from them, but the dangerous demand was clear to Cabal.
He sighed. The poor bastard. The scent of the woman’s pain was making him crazy. God only knew what it was doing to Tanner. It was their curse. They could smell emotion like other men could smell bacon frying or coffee brewing. Emotions other Breeds missed, the soul-destroying emotions that scarred and crippled the mind, they could pinpoint with amazing accuracy.
Some scents were subtle, he thought, as Tanner slowly removed the knife. Like Scheme’s. A part of her was so dark with pain, with a hunger to be free, that it swamped his senses. He was certain it shredded Tanner’s. Cabal was hoping that by pushing it, he could shred his brother’s control as well and force the animal he could sense lurking beneath the surface free.
It was one of the reasons Cabal had used every means at his disposal to keep Tanner away from her over the years. The first time Cabal had gotten close enough to draw her scent in, he had known several things.
First and foremost, she was Tanner’s mate. And that should have spurred him then and there to contact his brother and tell him. Tanner searched constantly for the woman who would bind his soul, while Cabal prayed to never meet such a creature. His soul was bound enough.
But Tanner. Tanner would have killed to take her. Or died. And at the time, she had been carrying another man’s child. And later. Hell, later it had become more dangerous than ever. The time had to be right. And when it was, luckily, the opportunity had presented itself for Tanner to take her.
“We need to talk,” Cabal nearly whispered as his gaze met Tanner’s again. “Jonas is going nuts searching for her, Tanner. Every team available has been pulled in to help on this. ”
Tanner glanced back at Scheme, his jaw flexing spasmodically.
“Bring her in, man,” Cabal growled. “Call Jonas. He’ll send the helo in. Get her to Sanctuary. ”
“And have her jerked into Breed Law?” Tanner snarled. “Why the fuck do you think I have her here? The only way to save her is if she’s my mate. She’s not. ”
Bitterness filled the air, as did the scent of mating heat.
Cabal shook his head. “I smell the scent of it. ”
“And I thought I did. ” Tanner swallowed tightly. “Our DNA is so close…” He paused, his jaw working spasmodically. “I smell the scent of heat, but maybe not because she’s my mate. ”
Tortured—it was the only way to describe Tanner’s expression and the pain that blended in with the scent of hunger and desire.
“Meaning?” Cabal was almost wary now. Oh hell, Tanner couldn’t mean what he thought he did. Could he?
“Maybe she’s your mate. ” Tanner glanced back, keeping his voice so low that only Cabal could hear. “The heat could rise with my DNA. But perhaps that’s the reason for only the scent of heat. The barb shows itself with full mating. If she’s your mate, then that could explain it. ”
Cabal glanced at the back of Scheme’s head, knowing Tanner’s explanation did not explain why the barb hadn’t shown itself for Tanner. Tanner would know his mate. He would never share his mate. It was something Cabal had known, but Tanner had always doubted.
It was almost amusing. Tanner, always so supremely confident, so sure of himself and his place in the world, now doubted his very nature. His own mate. But fixing this for his brother was going to be a bitch.
Cabal understood now why he had been born first. And it had been proven Cabal was the firstborn. He took that position seriously. It was his job to protect Tanner, no matter the cost to himself. No matter how much it sucked. No matter how much it hurt Scheme Tallant.
“And we should resolve this how?” He buried his amusement, knowing his brother would sense it if he weren’t very careful.
Sometimes, it wasn’t a good idea to let Tanner know that his big brother was better at deception games.
Tanner swallowed tightly. “I’ll walk away, give you some time alone with her. When you mate her, I’ll let her go. ”