Lawe's Justice

*CHAPTER 7*

Diane was late.

As Jonas filled in the alphas of the Prides and Packs, including the two who had traveled from Europe to represent the growing number of Breeds coming out of hiding there, Lawe felt his frown deepen.

It was three quarters after ten. She was late enough that if she wasn’t there within the next quarter hour then he was going hunting for her.

He should have already done so, he thought impatiently as he felt the restless energy beginning to sizzle through his body. His instincts were that heightened, a sense of awareness prodding at him, warning him.

Something wasn’t right.

Diane was never late. What had possessed him to allow Jonas to convince him that she was simply irritated with them all and making them wait for the hell of it.

That wasn’t Diane’s style.

He could feel the tension flooding his body, a warning that it wasn’t right and he should go now, that he should head straight to her rooms and find her.

Her men had flown out hours earlier, each heading for a different area of the United States. Even Thor was gone.

She wouldn’t go out alone—

The hell she wouldn’t.

Why hadn’t he seen the clues?

Straightening from the position he had taken against the wall, Lawe moved to leave the room and check on his too-independent mate.

He hadn’t even taken that first step when a hard, demanding knock sounded on the door and the scent of Jonas’s mate reach his senses.

Lawe’s gaze moved to Jonas as a sudden knowledge flooded his system. Animal genetics surged to the forefront of his senses as he bit back a growl and forced himself to remain in place.

A Breed Enforcer moved to the door and opened it quickly. Rachel Wyatt swept into the room in a cloud of heated anger and resentment as she moved to her mate, the director of the Bureau of Breed Affairs.

Jonas turned to the door as the delicate figure of his mate entered the room.

Jonas’s mated wife was lovely, compassionate and intelligent. With her quiet femininity and iron-strong will, she was the perfect counter for his icy, sharp-edged son. There was little Jonas managed to pull over on her, yet there was also little that she wouldn’t forgive him.

Long, dark brown hair was pulled atop her head in a classic twist, thin-framed glasses perched on her nose as her gaze locked on her husband’s. Her expression was tight, her lips thin and the scent of her anger drifted through the room like the scent of hot, rich sugar.

“Rachel?” The question in Jonas’s tone, gently voiced and curious still had the power to surprise those who had only known the hard lash of his tongue before he found his mate.

As though the animal inside Jonas, always pacing restlessly, furiously, had suddenly found solace and a sudden, overwhelming peace. That peace descended over Jonas as his wife moved to him and took the hand he reached out to her.

“What have the two of you done to my sister?” she asked him, her voice low, her tone accusing and distressed as she stared up at her husband.

“Nothing as of yet,” Jonas assured her as Lawe ignored the look of retaliation in the director’s eyes. “Though I’m certain Lawe has a few things in mind.”

Rachel gave a brief, less-than-feminine snort to the statement. “I rather doubt he’s going to get the chance to do anything. Whatever you said to her last night, she packed and left before dawn this morning. I’ve missed my sister, Jonas, and you allowed him to run her off as though she were some criminal with no rights and no ability to choose her own fate. Since when was the decision made that a suspected mate should become a prisoner?”

She wasn’t pleased. And her displeasure was centered more on him than on her mate, Lawe knew as he felt his own fury beginning to tighten through his system. The pain that pulsed and burned inside her reached out to slice at each man in the room, and to remind him of his basic responsibilities to his mate.

That of her happiness.

Lawe could feel the condemnation in each glance directed his way.

Then, Jonas turned and glared momentarily at Lawe for having the temerity to do anything to displease Diane and, in effect, displease her sister as well.

“The hell she has.” Lawe fought to hold back the growl rumbling in his chest.

He knew he should never have left her alone. The night before, something had warned him not to take his eyes off her. Not to trust her. But he had never imagined she would dare attempt to leave without backup. Without her men. Especially after her capture and near death not so long ago.

Ignoring the looks Jonas and the others cast his way, Lawe quickly began trying to figure out which way she was heading and why.

The girl, Honor Roberts, no doubt, he thought furiously. Diane had no intention of letting it go or of allowing anyone else to take over the completion of that mission. Jonas could feel a growl building in his throat at the low rumble of anger that left Lawe’s throat. As though he refused to believe Diane Broen would dare to leave without his permission. Even Jonas had expected this move, yet Lawe had done nothing to stop it.

The Breed was too certain of himself, too assured of his hold over Diane despite the lack of mating between them. It amazed Jonas. Where had his friend, the man he considered more intuitive than any other, disappeared?

“The hell she definitely has.” Rachel crossed her arms over her breasts and turned to Lawe with narrowed, angry eyes. “I just talked to her a few hours ago, Lawe. Even I was unaware she was leaving until she slipped into my room to tell me. I watched her shimmy down the metal gutter twenty stories down as the sun rose, because it was easier to slip away from the goon squad you put on her. What did you do? Pull the big brave Breed act on her again?” She didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm in her voice. “Didn’t I warn you that you were going to frighten her away?” Unshed tears rasped her voice now and glittered in her eyes. “You can’t chain her. You can’t force her to be some timid little pet. You’re going to get her killed by forcing her to focus more on her fight for freedom than on protecting herself.”

“She’s going to get herself killed because of her own damned stubbornness,” Lawe all but snarled as Jonas attempted to hide his wince.

That wasn’t the response that should have come out of his mouth.

Rachel’s brows lifted in derisive, angry surprise. “So she should just play the helpless little female for you like your other conquests do and let you go out and play all by yourself then?” A sharp laugh left her lips. “Really, Lawe, I thought you were smarter than that. Just because you gave up active military status for bureaucratic bullshit and the logistical planning you love, doesn’t give you the right to imprison her.”

Lawe glared back at her.

Jonas wondered if he should commiserate with his soon-to-be assistant director or kick his ass. He saw the way Lawe was staring at her, his eyes glittering with fury, and the look had a warning growl vibrating in Jonas’s throat.

“Keep trying to protect her, Lawe,” Rachel said painfully. “All you’ll do is keep her running. And each time she runs she’ll become harder to find and more determined to suffer the heat alone rather than attempt to make it work with you. She’s worked too hard to give up her independence or to allow any man, especially a Breed, to control her. You’ll only make her hate you.”

“So I should allow her to continue to risk herself as though her life doesn’t matter?” Lawe was furious, his icy blue eyes were snapping with anger as his expression tightened to a furious hardness, the impression of feline savagery intensifying.

“That, or learn how to fight beside her,” she suggested with an inner pain so agonizing every Breed in the room felt it. Especially Jonas. He could feel it lashing at him, burning straight to his soul and searing him with his mate’s tormented fears for her sister. “Because if you become the reason why I no longer see my sister, or my daughter grows up without her aunt, then I promise you, I will do everything in my power to make damn sure you pay for it.”

Lawe growled, a low, deep rumble of such intense male confusion that if it weren’t for Rachel’s pain, the other Breeds in the room would have been more than amused at the sound.

“Rule!” Lawe snapped out his brother’s name. “You’re with me.”

“Am I? I don’t know if I want to go with you, Lawe,” Rule stated from across the room. At the look of fury his brother directed his way, he sighed with weariness rather than his normal mockery. “Fine, but I think it would be in my best interests to stay here. This mating stuff is becoming contagious and I’d just as soon remain uninfected if it’s all the same to you. Unlike you, I’m still avoiding the issue and doing my damnedest to remain free.”

Lawe turned, and though Jonas couldn’t see his expression any longer, he watched Rule sigh in resignation as a grimace tightened his face. “Fine. Fine,” he groused. “But if I end up infected, I’m gonna kick your fucking ass and will do everything I can, every time I can, to make sure you’re cock blocked.”

Lawe swung back to Jonas. “I’ll contact you when I’ve found her.”

Pure Breed arrogance and a touch of male superiority filled his gaze and his voice. Jonas could have warned him then and there he was headed for trouble. But hell, he knew the other Breed wouldn’t listen.

Some things, a Breed just had to learn for himself. And the lessons Diane was getting ready to teach Lawe were those he would never forget.

As painful as those lessons might be, as certain Lawe was he had no need of them and would never bow to them, Jonas knew it would be an adventure Lawe would never want to miss.

After all, Diane was his mate. A perfect match, heart and soul, to the man he was. Could he have expected his mate to have been less of a warrior than he?

“Yeah, you do that,” Jonas said with a snort as Lawe and his brother headed for the doors.

Lawe jerked one of the wide panels open, stalked through it and didn’t look back. Rule followed more slowly and as he reached the door turned back to Rachel. “I’m certain you arranged this somehow,” he stated knowingly, his gaze narrowing on her as Jonas caught a hint of some unknown emotion, a scent he didn’t recognize. “I don’t think it was very sporting of you, Rachel. I have problems of my own you know. I didn’t need to borrow his.”

As the door closed behind him, Jonas turned back to his mate and arched his brow at her in question as she leaned against the table and smiled complacently.

The anger was gone. She was still hurting, but Diane was her sister, a sister who constantly placed herself in danger for some reason, in battles that weren’t hers, for men, women, children and creatures that would never offer the first word of thanks.

He was aware of the alphas behind him muttering, whispering and preparing to leave.

“What have you done?” he finally asked his mate, his voice low as he stared down at her in contemplation.

Rachel smiled sweetly, innocently. “Let’s just say I’ve hedged my own bets where my sister is concerned. Let’s just hope Lawe is smart enough to cash in the marker I just gave him, and he learns how to be my sister’s partner rather than her jailer.”

Ah, his little mate was far wilier than he gave her credit for, it seemed. And God knew, he gave her plenty of credit for that wily side of her nature.

“Playing games, sweetheart?” he asked in amusement, amazed as always that this perfect woman was his. That she loved him. That she was the woman God had created just for him, when his creators had told him that such a superior being would never claim him and would definitely never send such a ray of sunshine into his existence.

“And here you thought you were the master manipulator.” She gave a low, light laugh as he lowered his head to rub his cheek against hers. “Darling, you may know your Breeds, but I know my sister,” she whispered at his ear. “She’ll have him bagged and tagged before they ever return to D.C. or Sanctuary. He’ll be mated more firmly than any Breed you’ll ever meet and loving every minute of it.”

With that, she turned her head and pressed her lips to his cheek, bestowing a kiss of such warmth that each Breed in the room was suddenly longing for his own mate.

It wasn’t a longing born of lust but a longing born of the gentleness and the sudden softening they glimpsed in the Breed they had once sworn had been created with a machine for a soul. A true, flesh-based robot.

As she stepped back moments later, her gaze was filled with warmth as she glanced out at the other men. A small grin tilted her lips.

“Where has she gone, sweetheart? Holding that information back isn’t something you can do. And it’s not debatable.”

They had an understanding and he gave her the phrase that indicated it wasn’t a situation where she could deny him the information he needed.

“And you’ll tell him, of course.” She grimaced as she sighed heavily. “She’s going to take him home, Jonas. Diane’s heading to Window Rock. Right in the heart of his family, I believe.”

Yes, it was.

The past, the present and the future were coming together and Jonas knew the pain of it would affect Lawe even more than Rachel could guess.

“Pride Leader Lyons?” Her tone was formally polite, causing Callan’s brows to arch before his gaze narrowed.

Lifting a hand, he rose to his feet and indicated that his second-in-command, Kane Tyler, should follow him, then he moved to Rachel. Not that it would keep the others from hearing them speak, but her tone had warned him that facing the room with what she had to say could be uncomfortable for her.

“Rachel?” He stopped in front of them as Jonas watched his mate warily, suddenly certain she was prepared now to take his advice and to speak with Callan concerning their daughter.

Rachel lifted her chin and stared directly back at him. “I would prefer you speak to your son before I do.” She kept her tone incredibly soft. So soft, that perhaps the others couldn’t hear her after all. “The next time he frightens my child and shows the others his refusal to accept her by growling and snapping at her, I will take the matter up with his mother. At his age, he may prefer that any discussion of the problem come from you first.”

Callan’s brows lowered. “How long has this been going on?” he asked, careful to keep his tone below the anger level.

“As long as my daughter has been in Sanctuary,” she informed him. “His refusal to accept her is affecting the other children, I believe.” She quickly blinked her tears back. “This is the reason I no longer come to the main house when invited and no longer join activities with the other wives. I can’t leave my daughter alone with them, Callan. Especially if David’s in the house.”

Callan was eerily silent. A muscle ticked at the side of his jaw, and for a moment, Jonas considered pulling his mate back from his alpha. Until Callan sliced a look of disapproval at him, as though sensing Jonas’s thoughts.

“Forgive me for not seeing a problem existed, Rachel,” Callan said softly. “And I do appreciate you bringing this to me, though Merinus will be contacting you soon, I’m certain. We’ll discuss the matter with David before the three of us meet with you and your mate, if that’s acceptable?”

Jonas felt Rachel’s hand brush his. Twining his fingers with her delicate ones, he gave her the support she suddenly seemed to need as she realized the alpha of the Prides was perhaps much more understanding than she had believed.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I’m certain we can be available whenever you need us.”

Callan glanced at Jonas once more. “Your mate is too good for you,” he stated with an amused twitch to his lips. “And far more intuitive. You should have come to me sooner, Jonas.”

“Don’t blame him.” Rachel shook her head. “He’s stayed quiet at my request, Callan. I wanted to wait. I didn’t want to cause strain at a time when I know other matters are far more important. But, Diane isn’t near so patient I’m afraid. She made me do it.”

Amusement at the almost childish proclamation drew a chuckle from Callan.

“I’ll thank her personally when next I see her,” he promised. “And thank you again.”

Rather than kissing her cheek, shaking her hand, or any other form of touching that could have caused her discomfort, Callan instead lowered his head to hers and rubbed against it briefly.

The acceptance, respect and affection inherent in the gesture wasn’t missed by Jonas or any other occupant in the room. From that day on, Rachel would always be considered a member of Callan’s personal Pride, and his inner circle of family.

“Gentlemen.” She nodded to the others gracefully as Callan stepped back. “I’ll let you return to your meeting now. And if I were all of you, I would prepare for the fallout when they return.”

She didn’t explain the fallout, but she didn’t need to. If they returned with the former Brandenmore victims, then it would be self-explanatory.

Without another word she walked gracefully from the room, nodding to the Breed guard who opened the doors and then closed them behind her.

Jonas turned back to the alphas who had deliberately found something else to watch.

All but Leo, the man biology named his father. Amber eyes watched him thoughtfully, his lips quirked with a hint of knowing amusement.

He’d watched each moment of the exchange and, Jonas suspected, heard far more than either he, Rachel or Callan wished. But his gaze had softened as his expression reflected a respect Jonas rarely saw in the other Breeds’ gaze.

It was then that Leo nodded back at him before stating, in a tone that reflected surprising fondness, “I think she scares me.”

Jonas sighed in resignation though his chest seemed to weaken with his love for her. “Yeah,” he drawled. “I think that makes two of us.”