“Why? I can see perfectly well in the dark.” His voice was harsher than he meant it to be as he stared down at her.
The braid in her hair was coming undone, heavy strands falling from it to frame her tense features and emphasize her dark eyes. Fragile and so damned pretty, she made him ache like a teenager. She didn’t look strong enough, durable enough to accomplish what he knew she’d accomplished that night. The physical endurance it would have taken to race through the desert at the speed he knew she’d pushed that Runner to was something men he knew didn’t have.
“If you’re my ride, then take me home.” She rose to her feet, looking around the dark kitchen without expression before meeting his gaze.
He saw something flicker in her eyes then, something feminine and hungry, and just as quickly it was gone.
“Chelsea . . .” he began warningly.
“If you hear anything about Louisa, could you let me know as well?” The concern in her voice assured him that if he didn’t, she’d stick her damned nose into it herself.
He nodded abruptly, frowning down at her. “How did you find her?” he asked, wondering how she’d done what three teams of Breed Enforcers hadn’t been able to do.
“Right place, right time.” She looked like a little waif in his too-big shirt, her hair tangling around her face and those big eyes. “I heard the radio transmission of the abduction but wasn’t in the area searchers had been sent to.” She gave another of those little sighs. “I heard their hunting yips, followed the sounds, and when I saw they were hunting the kid I got in as close as possible in the direction they were pushing her, managed to snag her and race to the compound. End of story.”
End of story his ass.
“Now, I’d really like to go home, Cullen . . .”
“You can stay here tonight,” he informed her briskly. “I want to be certain you weren’t recognized and that Samara doesn’t send any of her men to collect you. She’s even more insane than normal when it comes to her kid. She could come after you, consider you easier prey than those Coyotes.”
She shook her head. “She won’t come after me.”
“You don’t know that,” he bit out, his fingers curling into fists to keep from touching her, from jerking her against him, and aching to still the fires that burned in him for her.
“I won’t have to worry unless Louisa dies.” Somber knowledge filled her expression as she lifted her gaze to him then, her lips trembling just a second before she stilled them. “It’ll take a miracle to keep her alive. It was bad.” She swallowed against the ragged pain in her voice. “I’ll make sure Linc sends you my report when I turn it in.”
Hearing the sound of a vehicle slowing in front of the house, its headlights piercing the front window, Cullen turned back to her slowly, glaring at her furiously.
“That should be my ride,” she said on an inhale, as a scent of relief reached his senses. “I activated the alert when we arrived.” She plucked at the shirt. “Thanks for something to wear. I’ll make sure you get it back.”
She turned and started for the door.
“This isn’t over, Chelsea,” he warned her, watching her pause, feeling her resolve.
“Yeah, it is,” she said softly. “It was over before it ever started.”
The message came three days later from her cousin Linc and sent agony tearing through Chelsea’s chest.
Re: Requested information
The child didn’t survive her injuries. She passed at 8:04.
If you need me, call.
Sitting down slowly on her bed, her arm wrapped around her stomach, Chelsea lost her battle with the grief that exploded inside her.
Louisa Cerves was gone. That sweet, beautiful little baby was gone, and no doubt the Coyotes that inflicted the damage were hunting again.
The unfairness of it shattered her and left her sobbing alone, her pillow catching the tears and the cries, just as it always had.
CHAPTER 2
From Graeme’s Journal
The Recessed Primal Breed
Recessed Primal genetics and Mating Heat is a combination guaranteed to drive any sane Breed to psychological mayhem. For the Primal Breed, Mating Heat is a time bomb ready to detonate with a force that will reshape that Breed’s life forever.