Allegiance of Honor (19 page)

Sienna had always been the single exception to that rule. From the day she’d entered the den, she’d seemed to make it her mission to drive Hawke insane. He should’ve known then and there that she was destined to be his mate.

“Why are you smiling?”

Still in wolf form, he glanced up at her question.

“It doesn’t matter what form you wear. I know.” An answer to his unspoken question. “I can feel it inside.” She touched a fist to her heart. “Something’s amusing you.”

He bolted into a run without warning, challenging her to keep up with him. Laughing, she pounded toward the den alongside him. They both knew he was throttling his speed for her, but that took none of the pleasure out of it. His wolf loved running with her.

Racing through the dew-laden quiet of the White Zone, they pelted into the den and past startled packmates who jumped out of the way. One yelled out, “Act your age not your shoe size!”

Another growled, “Dignity, Hawke!”

Both of those hecklers were his friends, their words tinged with laughter as well as joy that Hawke had found a mate, found happiness.

Continuing to race through the corridors that were quiet except for the early risers, they tumbled into their quarters together and Sienna locked the door behind them. Hawke shifted in the seconds it took her to do that. Scooping her up in his arms the next instant, he ran into the bedroom to throw her on the bed.

Her hair haloed around her in a ruby-red fan, her face flushed from their run and her breathing rough. “That was
fun
!”

Coming down over her, he took a morning kiss, his wolf rumbling inside his chest. “I was smiling because I was thinking about what a pain in the butt you were as a teenager.”

“You liked me even then.” She poked at his shoulder. “Admit it.”

“Never.” He grinned and pushed off the bed before her wandering hands made it impossible for him to do anything but strip her naked, make her sigh his name. “You need to eat and then you need to sleep.”

A scowl. “You going to sleep with me?”

Hawke was fully capable of going without sleep, but since SnowDancer wasn’t at any kind of emergency alert, he didn’t need to. “Yes, Sienna Lauren Snow,” he said, drawing out her name because he liked the way it sounded. “I’ll be sleeping with you.”

She sat up and reached back to quickly braid her hair. “Good. Let’s go get breakfast.”

Hawke had recovered the jeans Sienna had thrown over the rise, but had left them—and her T-shirt—cached for later retrieval. Grabbing another pair, he hauled them on, then shrugged into an old black tee before taking her hand.

In sync, with no more need for any further discussion, they made their way together to the room where breakfast was laid out for those packmates coming off night shift or going out on an early-morning shift.

“Sin!” Sienna’s best friend, Evie, waved them over to a table where she sat alone, nursing a cup of coffee. “Hi, Hawke.”

“Good morning.” Bending, he pressed a kiss to her temple, her hair cool black silk under his touch and her eyes deepest gray.

It was extraordinary how differently he saw Evie and Sienna, though they were near the same age. Indigo’s submissive sister was so young in the life she’d lived, so innocent. The alpha in him felt only protectiveness when he looked at Evie, could never imagine seeing her as a woman.

Sienna . . . wolf and man, he’d always accepted her as a strong opponent, even when she’d been too young for him to see her as anything else.

“What are you doing up?” Sienna asked her friend as Evie rose to pour Sienna and Hawke coffee from the carafe on the counter.

Hawke accepted the small gift with a smile of thanks. Had he insisted on getting his own coffee, she’d have lost that sunny light in her eyes, started to feel redundant. She wasn’t. No submissive was. Dominants were the fighters of a pack. Submissives took care of creating the home they protected.

It was a perfect balance in a healthy pack.

“I had breakfast with Tai.” Evie’s cheeks flushed with happiness. “He told me he was taking over from you, so I thought I’d wait.”

Hawke had just accepted a hot bacon roll Evie passed over from the tray that must’ve been brought in a bare minute earlier, when his attention was caught by another woman who’d walked into the otherwise empty room. Alice Eldridge. A gifted human researcher who’d been forcibly put into cryonic sleep for over a hundred years and had woken to find everyone she’d ever known was dead.

Her hair had grown back in the ensuing time, the spiral curls rich brown and gold against brown skin that had regained its glow. Her body, too, was no longer skin and bones. She’d taken up climbing again, regained the lithe muscle tone she’d had before her long sleep. But Alice’s eyes continued to hold a relentless sadness. Unable to see a member of his pack that way, Hawke put down his roll and, leaving Sienna chatting to Evie, walked over to Alice.

She hadn’t yet accepted that she was a SnowDancer, wasn’t sure what her place was in the world, but she was still his responsibility. Not saying
a word, he wrapped his arms gently around her, loosely enough that she could escape should she want. She froze like a startled deer.

One second. Two. Three.

A cautious movement.

Alice placed her head against his chest and slid her arms around him.

He tightened his embrace.

All changelings knew that, sometimes, touch could heal what words never could.

“Thank you,” she whispered afterward. “I . . . why does that make me feel safe? You’re a stranger, really.”

Because even a human recognized the power in an alpha wolf. “You’re one of mine,” Hawke told her. “Part of this family. Don’t forget that.”

A shaky smile before Alice nodded and joined the rest of them for breakfast.

Smiling, Evie got her tea and a roll before whispering, “I heard a rumor that a certain dominant is going to ask you out today.”

Alice groaned, her lingering sadness fading—at least for now—under a wave of aggravation. Exactly as Evie had likely intended, even if it hadn’t been a conscious thought on her part. Submissives were good at that, at giving others what they needed to get back on an even keel.

“What is it with wolves?” Alice said with a feminine snarl of which Hawke’s wolf approved. “I’ve made it crystal clear that I’m not anywhere near ready to date.”

Swallowing a bite of her own roll, Sienna shook her head. “You say that and certain wolves hear ‘oh, she wants me to try harder.’”

Hawke wisely kept his mouth shut and started on a second roll, having already demolished the first. Evie got up to refresh his coffee, but her attention was on the conversation.

“So I should just go on a date and be awful?” Alice asked. “Bore the man to tears by talking about esoteric research papers on bat guano or the health properties of wheatgrass?” Her eyes gleamed. “It holds a certain appeal.”

Shaking her head, Evie said, “No, because then all the others will
think they can do a better job and it’ll become a contest to see who can make you have a good time on a date.”

“Yeah.” Sienna nodded. “Also, if the male in question makes a real effort on the date, he might get his feelings hurt and then you’ll have to figure out how to deal with a moping wolf.”

Alice stared at Hawke’s mate. “While the fact I’m turning the men down flat isn’t hurting anyone’s feelings?”

Both Sienna and Evie shook their heads, with Evie the one who explained. “Wolves love a good chase. I mean, did you hear what Drew did while he was courting my sister?”

The resulting conversation actually had Alice laughing. “No, he didn’t!” she said several times, only to be met by confirmations that yes, Drew did go there, and yes, he did do that.

Content to be around his mate and packmates, Hawke just grinned and listened.

•   •   •

AS
a result of their lingering over breakfast, he was awake when a call came through that Indigo thought he should answer. He’d just been about to strip for bed, had his T-shirt balled up in one hand.

“Psy called Pax Marshall,” his lieutenant said over the comm. “He’s got a proposal and I figured you’d want to take his measure.”

She was right—Pax Marshall wasn’t simply another CEO. He was a ruthless male who’d risen to the top of his family hierarchy at only twenty-four years of age and, according to Judd’s intel, was considered one of the new powers in the Net.

Whether he has any loyalty to anyone but himself is up for question. But if he doesn’t have blood on his hands, I’d be very surprised.

Judd’s words fresh in his mind, Hawke pulled his T-shirt back on and said, “Transfer Marshall through.”

THAT AFTERNOON, SNOWDANCER
Lieutenant Cooper was on his way out of the den he commanded on the northern edge of the San Gabriel mountains when he got a call from his alpha. Hawke told him that Pax Marshall, head of the Marshall Group, had proposed a joint business venture in a location in Arizona that was almost right up against the border for which Cooper was responsible.

“I don’t trust him,” Hawke said flatly. “Word in the PsyNet is that Pax would cut his own mother’s throat to get ahead.” That insight had no doubt come from Judd.

Cooper shrugged. “Judd’s buddy Krychek isn’t exactly cuddly.” Yet, quite aside from his friendship with a SnowDancer lieutenant or the times Krychek had offered assistance to San Francisco, the male rumored to have murdered his way up the ladder had a mate who worked daily with empaths.

“Exactly.” Hawke’s eyes gleamed wolf-blue. “Talk to Marshall, see if we can work with him. If this is a real opportunity, dig into the ethics of the entire deal.”

“Always.” Cooper folded his arms, the deep bronze of his skin soaking in the sunlight that poured through the window of his office, that office hidden high in a natural curve of the mountain that held the den. “Lucas’s cub all right?” His wolf growled, still enraged at the idea of anyone harming a child.

Hawke thrust a hand through his hair. “Yeah, bastards didn’t touch
Naya. Lucas’s people are still turning over rocks, but an ocelot pack named SkyElm has come up in the investigation. Keep an ear to the ground for any intel about them.”

“Consider it done.” Unfortunately, Cooper had nothing new to report to Hawke on the Consortium situation. His alpha had asked him to investigate the shadowy group using his financial contacts, see if he could pick up any kind of a trail. “These particular cockroaches are very good at hiding,” he told Hawke. “Someone thought this through, locked down all the information.”

“Keep working on it. I’ll update you on anything that comes up on this end.”

Meeting ended, Cooper went looking for Judd—the other lieutenant had arrived in Cooper’s den midmorning, together with his mate, who happened to be close friends with a technician based in this den. The visit was so the women could catch up, but it also gave Judd and Cooper an opportunity to spend time together. They knew each other as all the lieutenants knew one another, but it was inevitable that they’d be closer to the lieutenants they worked with on a daily basis.

For Cooper, that was Jem, Kenji, and Tomás.

Still, his wolf liked Judd. So did the human side of Cooper. The other lieutenant had proven his loyalty to the pack—and his strong, intelligent mate looked at him with her heart in her eyes. A man who’d earned a SnowDancer woman’s admiration and respect? He was all right in Cooper’s book.

“Judd,” he said, spotting the other man on his way out of the den.

The former Arrow was dressed in what looked like workout gear. Of course, it was all black. Arrows never got over that, apparently.

“Got a minute?” Cooper asked.

“Several if you need them.” Brown eyes flecked with gold met Cooper’s. “I was just planning to try the new obstacle course your trainers put in. I hear it’s good.”

“Fiendish is a better description.” Cooper scowled. “Diabolical is another.”

“Excellent.”

Walking outside with his fellow lieutenant, Cooper led him in the direction of the course. “Pax Marshall, can you give me the full lowdown? He wants to talk business with us.”

“A previously little-known individual who suddenly rose to prominence in his family group,” Judd said. “Instinct tells me he was the power behind the throne before he took it over, at least for the final twelve months of his predecessor’s reign.”

Judd paused as Cooper caught an errant ball and threw it back to the kids playing nearby. “It’s rumored he engineered his father’s death in a car crash, but no proof. Could be propaganda he himself started—Psy both fear and admire callous expediency when it’s used in a smart fashion.”

Cooper rubbed at his jaw, his thumb brushing over the scar that marked his left cheek. “He’s young. Twenty-four, right?”

“Yes. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating him though.” Judd’s tone was a cool warning. “Aside from being extremely intelligent, he’s a Gradient 9 telepath.”

Cooper whistled, aware that the Psy Gradient went up to ten. Cardinals were all off the scale, but he’d heard it said that some of the most dangerous people in the Net were just below cardinal status. Judd was the perfect example.

“Pax hasn’t been directly linked to any violence,” the other man continued, “but that just means he’s very good at hiding his tracks.” A pause. “One thing I will say—even the squad can’t find any evidence that he’s ever been involved in the death of anyone I’d term an innocent.”

“A ruthless but fair man,” Cooper said. “Or a monster clever enough to conceal crimes that don’t add positively to his image.”

“Exactly.”

He grinned as Judd used his telekinesis to catch a pup in the midst of an uncontrolled fall and floated the wide-eyed youngster to the ground.

“Overall, Pax Marshall is a calculating operator,” Judd said, as if he’d done the rescue automatically, his mind on other matters. “My take? This is apt to be a legitimate business opportunity. He’s reaching out to
SnowDancer because SnowDancer has a certain level of power in the post-Silence and post-Trinity world.”

“Yeah, figures.” It wasn’t only the pack’s own financial might that Pax Marshall would’ve considered, but also the influence they had on other groups. “You think he’s left Silence behind?”

Judd shook his head in a hard negative. “Aden’s had contact with him and he’s sure Pax is ice-cold beneath the surface. He is linked into the Honeycomb, but that empathic link can be achieved with a very minor shift in thinking—my feeling is that he sees Silence as a weapon in a world where most people are held hostage to their emotions.”

Cooper paused at the start of the obstacle course. “That gives me a good bead on the guy. Thanks.” He gestured toward the course. “Go on, try the beast. I’ll stand over there and laugh at you.”

“Challenge accepted.”

It wasn’t until Judd started that Cooper remembered the other man was a fucking telekinetic. Oh, Judd didn’t cheat. No, like all Tks, he simply moved
better
. It was hard to explain to anyone who hadn’t seen a Tk in motion, but while they weren’t as fluid as changelings, they were damn close. And Judd Lauren was a former Arrow, trained to be a ghost.

He moved like liquid smoke.

He still fell flat on his ass on the same obstacle that had dumped Cooper the first time around. Clapping as Judd got up—with a dark look at the obstacle—Cooper called out, “Don’t feel too bad. The pups fail that one, too.”

“Funny, Coop.” Then the stubborn man went back to the start of the course and began again.

This time, he cleared the obstacle with grace, kept going.

By the end of the day, Judd had started the course seven times and finished it zero times. He had several bumps and bruises as well as a cut on his cheekbone and, after a shower, was sharing a drink with Cooper while they sat at an outdoor table they’d set up. “How many times before you completed it?” he asked Cooper.

“One.”

“Do I look drunk?” He held up his orange juice—Psy abilities didn’t mix well with alcohol, and the Psy Cooper knew tended to stay away from it.

Cooper’s wolf bared its teeth inside him in lupine laughter. “Ten. So you have three more to go before I’ve officially beaten your Arrow ass.”

“I’ve got tomorrow.” Judd put down his drink and got up to examine the grilling machine Cooper had brought out.

Cooper was about to explain the functions when his attention was caught by the sound of female voices.

Three women walked out of the den. One belonged to Judd, one was Brenna’s friend, and one was very much Cooper’s. Grace came straight into his arms, all shiny and fresh from a shower. “Aw,” he murmured for her ears only. “I was hoping to get a chance to clean you up.” She’d told him she’d be crawling through internal ducts today as part of a routine inspection of the artificial sunlight system that illuminated the den.

Turning a little pink under the cream of her skin, his mate rose on tiptoe and nuzzled at his throat. “You could make me dirty first.”

He almost groaned, his cock reacting to her words like she’d stroked him with her pretty hands—or sucked him with her pretty mouth. “When did you get to be so bad, Grace?” He liked it, liked it a hell of a lot.

“When I had to deal with a certain lieutenant.” His sassy mate turned to examine the table. “You guys are all prepared.”

Cooper wrapped an arm around her as other packmates came out to join them, all bringing a plate to share. It was a small gathering under a clear night sky, the air redolent with the smell of food and flavored with conversation. People came and went as shifts changed, the atmosphere low-key and relaxed. Cooper ended up sitting on the ground, as did pretty much everyone but for a couple of older packmates who joined them for an hour. He’d tugged Grace down to sit between his thighs and she stayed warm and snug against him.

At one point, he realized her eyes were closing, and as he watched her slip into sleep, he thought back to a time when his deeply submissive mate had worried about having a relationship with a dominant. Back then,
she’d have looked at him in total astonishment had he told her that one day, she’d fall asleep in his arms without a care in the world, even though he had his hand gently, possessively, curled around her throat.

His wolf stretched out inside him, pleased and proud. His mate had enough courage for a thousand dominants.

•   •   •

EARLY
the next morning, he kissed Grace good-bye, then got into a truck with two other packmates for the drive across the border to meet Pax Marshall. All three of them had rock-solid natural shields, the effectiveness of which had been confirmed by Psy members of the pack. Judd had volunteered to accompany them, but Cooper had shaken his head. “We don’t want Psy like Pax thinking we’re vulnerable targets without you.”

Nodding, Judd had said, “Remember, if it all goes sideways, even a Gradient 9 won’t be able to smash through your shields without doing significant damage—and using a ton of power. Claw out his throat at the first sign of a telepathic blow. Don’t give him a second chance.”

Cooper had considered carrying a weapon, decided against it. Again, it was about projecting a confidence that made it clear no SnowDancer wolf was easy prey. He’d also made a conscious decision to turn up to the meeting in jeans, work boots, and a simple white T-shirt. Pax Marshall was all sharp suits. Cooper had no intention of appearing to cater to him.

As it was, Pax surprised him. The handsome blond male, his features sharply patrician and his eyes blue, turned up in khaki cargo pants and a white T-shirt, his boots very similar to Cooper’s. Their meeting place—at Pax’s request—was an empty piece of land in Arizona that belonged to SnowDancer, but that they’d left undeveloped because it was too small for anything useful.

The area was open, with no way for anyone to set up an ambush.

“So,” Cooper said after they’d introduced themselves. “What’s your proposal?” He’d already increased his estimation of the other man’s political and manipulative skills—Pax had clearly dressed to put Cooper at ease.

“This piece of land is in a prime location to provide an extension to the computronics factory on the horizon.”

Cooper raised an eyebrow. “Except for the fact there’s an abandoned warehouse in between on disputed land.” That was why SnowDancer hadn’t already bought the factory and associated land—the heirs were fighting so bitterly over the disputed parcel that it was too much hassle for too little gain. For any development to be a sound economic investment, the pack needed to own all three parcels.

“It’s no longer disputed,” Pax said, his expression ice-cold.

So, he wasn’t pretending not to be Silent. That, too, Cooper thought, was calculated. Pax had quickly figured out that Cooper had a great bullshit detector, so he’d opted for the straight and narrow. Or was giving the impression of it at least. “Is that so?” Cooper folded his arms across his chest. “Last I heard, they were threatening to murder each other with rusty knives.”

Human families could be frankly scary to a wolf.

“I bought it,” Pax said. “I paid both parties.”

That meant Pax had snuck in under SnowDancer’s nose. But in doing so, he’d been forced to invest heavily upfront—and SnowDancer still held the winning hand. “Why would you pay twice for a useful but not prime piece of land?” Cooper asked, keeping the rest of his thoughts to himself for now.

Pax turned that arctic-blue gaze back onto the distant computronics factory. “As of this morning, I also own the factory and the land on which it sits.”

“You want to make us an offer for our parcel?”

“No.”

“Oh? Why?”

“I don’t think you’re stupid enough not to realize you own the critical piece on the chessboard.”

Cooper grinned. Yes, SnowDancer understood the precise value of its land. This area was known for the kind of quiet needed for the manufacturing of the most delicate computronics. No heavy vehicle traffic, no real
population, the sky clear of all air traffic, thanks to an old law no one had bothered to update,
and
no pollution.

Clean air. Quiet environment. A waterway for transport.

The three holy grails when it came to the creation of high-end computronics.

And SnowDancer had the only access to the waterway in question. “We’ve got you over a barrel, Marshall.”

“I could hire telekinetics,” Pax pointed out, his tone chilling further.

Interesting. Had the man been a wolf, Cooper would’ve said he was pissed off. But since he was a Psy widely thought to be deathly Silent, it was doubtless a clever psychological game.

“However,” the other man continued, “it would be more efficient to bring you in as a partner.”

The resulting discussion was hard-edged and pure business. Cooper made no promises, but he hammered out a deal he could take to Hawke and the other lieutenants, should, of course, Pax pass certain other tests. Ethics and the environment included.