His to touch, to hold, to take.
He had watched over her for ten years. Had been forced to watch other men take her, control her sexuality. He had watched another man take her, hating himself, hating her, forcing himself to steer clear of her despite the hunger that beat at him.
And because of it she had been tortured. Nearly killed more than once. The man who should have protected her, her father, had fucked with her sanity and her life. It was a wonder she had survived intact.
And Tanner had never known the hell she was going through. He had ignored every demand that he kidnap her, that he take her out of the games being played between the Council and the Breeds. He had let himself believe she was a monster, the same as her father was. And he had known better. Just as he knew better now. And yet still he was walking away.
He had paid his dues, for what? To give her to Cabal? To let go of the only woman he had ever—He stopped, clenched his eyes closed and snarled with primal anger.
He loved her.
Cabal didn’t know her. He hadn’t watched her all those years. He hadn’t seen the loneliness on her face as she lay down to sleep each night, or the dissatisfaction and desperation each time another man had touched her.
Cabal hadn’t watched her cry into her pillow. Not often, only a handful of times, but Tanner had watched her cry, and he had ached with her, for her.
He rose to his feet, determined to stalk from the caverns, to find a bar and get just as damned drunk as he could get before returning.
But he couldn’t move. He willed his feet to walk, but the animal screamed out inside him, outraged.
His woman.
He breathed in roughly. He could still smell the scent of her on his flesh, the taste of her kiss on his tongue. His skin itched with the need to feel her again, to hold her beneath him, to take her, to fucking mark her.
He hadn’t mated her. She wasn’t his mate. She had to be Cabal’s. But he loved her. God, he loved her.
Before he could regain the control the animal inside him had stolen, he turned and moved through the caves once again, fighting the growl emanating from his chest, the rage building inside him.
He had never let the animal free, not since his escape from the labs. He had fought it, caged it, imprisoned it at all costs. Until now.
He could feel it breaking free of the bonds he had placed on it.
My mate, the animal screamed.
She couldn’t be his woman, his mate. His steps increased. It didn’t fucking matter. She belonged to him. Fuck the mating heat, she was his woman, and he would defy any attempt to take her from him. He would kill the man or the Breed that attempted to take her, to harm her.
Reaching the hidden access, Tanner jumped back into the tunnel. He had to reach her before Cabal took her. Because God as his witness, if he took her, Tanner just might have to kill him.
Scheme stared at the entrance to the tunnel Tanner had taken as he stalked from the room, feeling the coils of panic gathering in her gut. Cabal St. Laurents watched her curiously.
Her lips trembled as she inhaled slowly, deeply, her skin suddenly crawling with an impending sense of doom. The same feeling she always had when her father smiled at her.
Cabal was smiling now. A small quirk to his lips, his green eyes probing as she glanced at him.
Tanner hadn’t said a word; he’d just left. She wouldn’t have known he was going if Cabal hadn’t bidden him a rather sarcastic farewell.
“Tanner. ” She raced for the exit. “Tanner, don’t you leave me here with him. ”
She skidded to a halt as Cabal moved in front of her, blocking the exit, his arms held easily at his side, his body prepared.
He was going to stop her. He wouldn’t let her leave.
She backed up slowly, her breathing harsh in the stillness of the cabin as she stared back at Cabal.
“Where is he going?” She continued to back away, only to stop abruptly as her rear met the back of the couch.
His smile deepened as his green eyes gleamed back at her in amusement.
“He decided to give us some time alone. ”