And the only way she could have known any of this was if the ghost of one of his parents had come to her.
It would have been his father, he decided, remembering the somber, taciturn man who had raised him. He hadn’t been one to give hugs; he’d avoided them. But he’d often found ways for Dog to have a reason to laugh. At some point, Dog had realized his childish laughter eased the pain he sensed coming from his father.
Fuck.
It was said the princess consorted with the enemy and his image had reached him . Because of him , his parents were dead. Someone he knew only as Major. And this faceless, unknown threat now knew who and what he was. He was a hybrid, born of a Breed mother, a human father. And now someone knew. And they would know he’d mated another hybrid.
Goddamn.
• CHAPTER 11 •
Cassie watched Dog warily the next day. As she worked on the tablet he’d provided her, using a back door in the Bureau’s files to get into the Articles of Mating Law, she was always aware of him.
Even her animal instincts were wary, rising inside her, aware of every move, every word he said as he, Mutt and Mongrel kept up on the search Rhyzan was conducting for them.
The two Coyotes he so often fought with sensed something within him too. They would look between her and Dog, their expressions sometimes thoughtful, sometimes confused.
She put up with it until evening fell and she finished downloading the files she needed and double-checking to see if there was anything else she had missed.
She’d wanted to sneak into her sister’s file, check on Kenzi’s debriefing and see what information she had, how she felt about the family she hadn’t known existed, but she didn’t dare slip into that particular database. If Jonas caught her in the Breed Law database, he’d recognize the back door she’d used and ignore it. Rhyzan wouldn’t do the same with his personal files.
Finishing up her work, she shut the tablet down, refreshed her coffee and finished the stew she’d made earlier for dinner. Once she washed the dishes, she walked to the wide doorway separating the living area and watched the three Breeds silently for long moments as they went over maps and discussed the progress of the escape Dog’s people had made.
She remained silent, simply watching her mate. His expression was closed, and she could feel the tension emanating from him, growing tighter the longer she stood watching him.
“There’s nothing else we can do, for now,” he announced, rising from the chair and closing his own tablet as Mutt and Mongrel glanced at him.
They rose slowly to their feet, their gazes sliding her way, those same thoughtful, considering looks on their faces.
“We’ll just, uhh, go check things outside.” Mongrel cleared his throat as Mutt gave an energetic nod.
The two hurried to the door leading to the garage and closed it quickly behind them.
“Everyone made it out okay?” she asked, tucking her hands into the pockets of the loose casual pants she wore and propping one sock-covered foot atop the other as she leaned against the door frame.
“We’re a few hours behind in terms of information.” He pushed his fingers through his hair in irritation before he paced past her and went to the coffeepot. “There have been several lags in reports, though, so everything should be fine.”
But he was worried. The disconnect from the real-time reports made him
edgier than he was to begin with.
Turning, she watched as he filled his coffee cup, his back to her.
“Are we going to keep ignoring it?” she asked him, crossing her arms over her breasts and holding back the knowledge that Dog was now just as wary of her as everyone else was.
As a child, she hadn’t always been as careful as she should have been in regards to the Breeds who were followed by spirits or by the images of their own inner demons. That had begun the dislike that many of the Wolf Breeds felt for her. Generally, though, Coyote Breeds had always thought it was kinda cool, as one had expressed. It was nice to know he wasn’t alone.
“Now’s not the time to discuss it.” He kept his back to her and sipped at his coffee. “Later.”
“Okay.” She breathed in slowly. “Would you at least tell me who Major is?”
He shook his head. “Fuck if I know, and I’ve been trying to figure it out since I was ten. I guess we’ll know soon enough, won’t we?”
“If we could go over anything you remembered together, maybe we could figure it out—”
“I said not now, goddammit,” he snapped, his voice low, filled with fury. “Just not now, Cassie.”
Her lips parted, anger surging through her, to slap back at him for the sharp tone of voice.