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It was the kind of desire that ended up breaking a woman's heart and scarring her soul. Rachel had no desire to have her world destroyed by a man as Diana had had her world destroyed once.
"Rachel." The sound of Merinus's voice had her turning and facing the woman who had been her dearest friend for most of her life, despite the gap in their ages.
Merinus Tyler Lyons still looked no more than twenty-four years old. Her skin was unblemished, unlined, her brown eyes still bright and filled with youth.
There was something eternally different about Merinus, though, an aura that she hadn't possessed before, a confidence and sense of power that Rachel had sensed the past year when Merinus had called her to take the job with Jonas.
Merinus had saved her life. Rachel had been in a strange country, alone, newly pregnant and fighting for survival after Devon had deserted her in Switzerland.
She had had to fight to survive those few weeks alone in Switzerland after losing her apartment, her job and her passport. She attempted to convince the ambassador there to provide her a ride back to the States. She was certain she could have eventually convinced him to do so without the night spent in his bed, as he was demanding, but things hadn't been looking good.
She had tried to call Kane, but he had been unavailable. She'd lost touch with Merinus and her brother years before, but she'd been unable to reach her sister and had no idea whom to turn to.
Within hours of the message she'd left on Kane's phone, a Breed heli-jet had landed at the consulate and three Breed Enforcers had informed her they had been sent to escort her back to America.
That was friendship, she thought as Merinus stepped up to the porch, her expression hesitant, slightly guilty.
"How did you know?" Rachel asked, certain that Merinus had to have known that she would be Jonas's mate.
Merinus swallowed tightly. "Remember the blood and saliva tests that were requested before you were allowed to land in Sanctuary on the flight back from Switzerland?"
Rachel lifted a brow. "The ones to ensure that I wasn't carrying the flu or some infection that could affect your precious Breeds?"
Merinus's lips twitched at Rachel's acidic tone. "Yeah, those." She nodded as she came closer before taking a seat in the padded chair that sat against the side of the house. "Actually, that is truly what the blood was for. It's standard procedure to run the mating test against any Breed you may come in contact with, though. Jonas was here at Sanctuary when you called, so the test was run against his." She rubbed at her nose thoughtfully. "I actually thought perhaps Diana would be a better match myself. You surprised me."
Merinus was amused. Why didn't that surprise her?
"Diana would have castrated him," she informed her friend as she leaned back against the railing and faced the Prima of the Feline Breed species.
"She would have." Merinus nodded with a smile before sobering. "What about you, Rachel? Will you kill him, or will you love him?"
"Does it matter?" she asked, knowing that Jonas wasn't a very well-liked person among either Breeds or humans.
Surprisingly, Merinus nodded. "It matters very much. You can be his salvation or his destruction. Jonas is one of the most intelligent of the Breeds, and definitely one of the most dangerous. His very nature is his own worst enemy."
"And you think I can save him?" she asked incredulously. "Merinus, when did you lose your mind?"
A rueful smile curved the other woman's lips. "Let's say I've been warned by someone who cares a great deal for him. If Jonas doesn't learn to temper himself, then he'll self-destruct and we'll lose him forever. Win or l
ose, stay or go, the only thing that's going to temper him is his mate. Tag, my friend, you're it," Merinus finished with the childhood rejoinder.
"It was my turn last time," Rachel argued. "Remember? When I took on your brother's temper and that mess he called an office?"
Merinus bit her lip to hide a smile, but Rachel caught the merriment in her gaze as she responded. "Oh yeah. My bad."
"Your bad indeed." She crossed her arms over her breasts and glared back at her. "He's a pain in the ass."
"I'm sure he can be." Merinus nodded with no attempt to hide her amusement now.
"He makes me crazy, Merinus."
"He'll make you crazier," her friend promised.
"I refuse to accept this mating crap."
Merinus sighed then. "It doesn't matter if you accept it. You're here; that's all he needed. Like I said, win or lose, accept or reject, it doesn't matter. Whatever Jonas has to face with you as his mate is what he needs."
"You sound as though you've been looking into crystal balls or something." Rachel snorted.
