Tanner doubted that would change Callan’s mind. David’s bodyguards were men the pride leader trusted above anyone else. He wouldn’t trade them for Jonas’s Alpha Team, period.
Beside him, Scheme remained silent. She hadn’t said a dozen words since they left the caverns, and her eyes were haunted. He could smell her pain, her fear, her need. Despite the time he had spent trying to slake the mating heat before leaving the caverns, it was only growing again. With each mile the scent of her arousal infused the cockpit of the heli-jet, putting every Breed in it on edge and making Tanner’s mood worse.
As the heli-jet settled on the landing pad and the Breed guards rushed to the lowered door as the steps folded out, Tanner placed himself in the doorway, ignoring Cabal’s attempt to stand in his place. His eyes scanned the perimeter of the landing pad, noticing the absence of Breeds milling about as they normally were.
His orders to clear the way to the estate had been carried through.
“Let’s rock and roll,” the commander of the team growled, his dark eyes scanning the area as well, while holding the powerful semiautomatic rifle he carried with relaxed readiness. “The Breed Cabinet is in residence and awaiting your arrival. ”
“Scheme. ” Tanner turned to her, holding his hand out, watching as her gaze touched on it with a second’s hesitation. Then she placed her slender fingers within his hand, breathing in deeply, doing nothing to still the scent of her fear as he led her from the heli-jet.
Behind him, Cabal, Jonas, Jackal and three of Jonas’s main enforcers followed close on their heels, ranging around them as they left the heli-jet and rushed to the Hummer.
“We’ll be right behind you,” Cabal stated as Tanner pushed Scheme into the backseat of the Hummer.
Tanner nodded quickly before jumping in beside Scheme, his arm going around her to pull her close into the shelter of his larger body as Jonas jumped in beside her.
“Don’t touch her,” he growled.
Jonas snorted. “I’m well acquainted with mating heat, Tanner. ”
“Meaning?” Scheme finally spoke.
“Meaning that until the heat lessens, normally within a two-to four-week period, then the touch of any other male is agonizing. The hormones that create the heat sensitize the flesh to the point that only the mate can touch you. No other. Even another woman’s touch is painful,” Jonas explained.
“Great,” she stated mockingly. “And you were of course going to explain all this to me before you decided to mate me, right?”
Tanner shifted in his seat, knowing she wouldn’t like the answer. “I had no intention of explaining it to you, unless the mating heat arose. ”
Anger was overriding the scent of fear now. He could feel her gaze on his profile, searing him with the accusation he knew would be in her eyes.
“In Tanner’s defense, there’s a ban on revealing that information to anyone as yet unmated,” Jonas revealed as Tanner clenched his teeth at the explanation. “Many of the Breeds are aware of it, but no one talks about it. ”
“And you intend to hide this for how long?” Her voice was strained, a product of her anger and the arousal.
“As long as possible,” Tanner informed her. “We’ve managed to keep a lid on it for ten years. We just need a little longer. ”
“A little longer for what?” Incredulity filled her voice. “Do you have any idea the outcry knowledge of this is going to produce? What I’m feeling right now is hell, Tanner. And it would effectively shut down a woman’s life for the time it lasts. Not to mention the fact that it takes away free will. ”
His gaze sliced to her. “Have I taken your free will?”
She was breathing hard, her eyes gleaming back at him fiercely. “I’m aware of how furious you are right now and all I want to do is find the nearest bed. So yes, it has. Because otherwise, I’d stay as far away from you as possible until you calmed down. ”
“You know, Scheme, this idea you have that I’m going to hurt you is starting to piss me off. ”
“This has nothing to do with thinking you’ll hurt me. It has to do with the fact that you have no right to be angry, and I have every right to be offended that you are. ”
Female logic? It had to be. Tanner stared down at her in disbelief as the Hummer came to a stop in the rear of the estate house.
“I’ll figure that comment out later,” he growled as the other vehicles pulled in ahead of them and behind them and the Breed guards surrounded the Hummer.
Pushing the door open, he lifted Scheme from the vehicle, careful to keep her in the center of the Breeds surrounding her.
“Son of a bitch, Tanner,” Jonas growled at the precautions. “Why don’t you just send out a notice that we know for a damned fact we suspect Tallant’s mole of trying to gun for her. It would be a hell of a lot simpler. ”
“Simple never was my way,” Tanner snapped as he moved Scheme quickly to the back door that led into the home of the pride leader. “I don’t know what made you think it was. ”
Scheme was fuming as she was led into a large, well-appointed meeting room. Soft lighting lit the shadowed interior, courtesy of the windows that were heavily curtained and shaded. If she wasn’t mistaken the small black boxes above them were infrared and thermo heat jammers. Beside them was another device with several digital displays, insurance against any listening devices that were slipped into the room, or any outside attempts to listen in.