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“Take care of that rabid little cat,” Dane bit out furiously in Mercury’s face. “What the hell does she mean—her mating tests match yours? That’s bullshit, I can smell you all over Ria, and her scent on you.”
Mercury snarled back at him, pushing Ria behind him as male Breed genetics met hybrid fury and threatened to explode. Damned men. She turned and stared at Jonas as he leaned against the wall, shook his head and watched the scene with patient mockery.
“Let them get it out of their systems.” He shrugged at her look. “Tell me, Ms. Rodriquez, is Dane your brother or your father?”
She sighed wearily. “I think he’s my nemesis, but we won’t go there.”
“You could stop that woman from cutting her every chance she has,” Dane was shouting in Mercury’s face as Callan leaned back in his chair behind the desk and watched. Kane sat down, evidently more than amused at the confrontation.
Mercury remained silent. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared back at Dane broodingly. It was a look that made Ria intensely nervous.
“Amburg will run the tests on Mercury and Ria as soon we can get blood,” Jonas inserted.
“Amburg!” Dane turned on him, disbelief tightening his features. “Jeffery Amburg? The butcher of the Breed labs? Have you lost your fucking mind, man?”
Jonas’s browed arched. “We can’t trust Ely’s opinion at this point. Do you have a better alternative?”
Silence filled the room, but Ria saw Dane’s expression.
“Don’t do it, Dane,” she whispered nervously. “It’s not worth it.”
Mercury’s head swung around and pinned her with furious eyes.
“Do I have a better alternative?” Dane smiled. She hated it when a Breed smiled like that. All teeth and no amusement. “Oh, Jonas, you have no clue.”
“Dane. I’m telling you. Don’t do it. I mean it.”
His gaze swung back to her, and what she saw had her hands trembling. “Please.”
“I’ll ask you one last time.” Jonas tilted his head and watched them both. “Brother or father? The scent is there; it just took me a while to pick it up. Why didn’t you tell us your perfect little paper pusher was a hybrid Breed?”
“Your Amburg will not touch her,” Dane snarled then. “You’ll await the arrival of her grandmother. Elizabeth can see to her tests, and no one else.” He turned back to Ria then, his gaze heavy. “The information you give them is up to you. But these tests will not be conducted by unsecured sources. I’m sorry, Ria. I won’t allow such a risk to you again.”
With that, he jerked the door open and stormed from the office, leaving her with dead silence, three Breeds and one very curious human, Kane Tyler, watched her intently.
“Well.” She breathed in roughly. “I guess that’s that. Does anyone have a cup of coffee?”
“You know, I can tell they’re related to you, Jonas,” Callan chuckled.
Jonas glared back at him. “They’re more related to you than they are to me, Pride Leader.”
To which Callan grinned before narrowing his eyes on Ria. “Having Jonas for a brother isn’t fun and games. Having him for an uncle could possibly be worse.”
She swore Mercury paled. Evidently, having Jonas for a relative wasn’t a comfortable prospect.
She smiled back at them all. All teeth.
“Gentlemen, if you don’t mind, we have a traitor to catch, and I’d prefer to do it before the Leo and Elizabeth arrive. Shall we get busy?”
There wasn’t a sound to be heard. And there was no coffee in the room. No coffee, no answers, no questions—nothing but the heat rising inside her, and her own animal stretching free.
Fuck it. She was tired of hiding.
CHAPTER 24
Mercury watched his mate, and pride filled him as never before. Pride and challenge. His little mate was someone to be reckoned with, obviously.
As he watched her working with Callan, her third cup of coffee empty beside her, her cheeks flushed, her eyes burning with arousal, he couldn’t help but admire her strength. Her incredible tenacity. Any more than he could help the reaction her defiance and silence produced in him.
