Page 28 of Chased

“Occasionally, one of the Renard females kicks over the traces and makes it out into the real world. Mostly it doesn’t last. They may resent being pampered and controlled, but it leaves them unprepared to make it on their own.”

Sanchez said, “From the employer standpoint, it sounds to me like staff turnover waiting to happen. Why did you let them hire her?”

Thanatos replied, “It seems they couldn’t get anyone else. Apparently, Outlaw Ridge is not a hotly desired employment destination.”

He sounded almost pleased about that, as if he’d hoped that Gunn’s and Mikey’s desire to bring Outlaw Ridge into the world would fail.

“Imagine my shock,” Sanchez said. “What’s not to love?”

Thanatos’ hood gazed at him, and he caught a red gleam in its depths. He had the insane urge to lean across the desk and yank the hood back, just to see what was there.

Or maybe just to see someone with a monster face worse than his own—and one that apparently didn’t go away.

“What is your interest in Miss Fontaine?” Thanatos said.

“The boys and I ran into her in town this morning, on her way here. Her car was broken down—I gave her a ride. I can’t shake the feeling there’s something off about her.”

Thanatos leaned forward slightly. He trusted Sanchez’s instincts. “Off how? Did you sense a threat from her?”

Sanchez knew he meant a threat to the Ridge, not a personal threat.

“Not that,” he said. Madison was too helpless to be a spy. And too scared. She wasn’t faking that. “She just… it’s like she’s running from something. And she smelled...” Just in time, he remembered he’d promised to keep her secret. “I don’t know.”

Thanatos leaned back again. “Ah. Well, as I said, Renards don’t approve of their women going off on their own. Perhaps she left without permission. As for the scent, it’s likely she has lapin blood.”

“Lapin?” He’d never heard of anything called a lapin.

“Rabbits,” Thanatos said. “More French. Not capitalized, because the Renards hold them to be inferior. They have a master/servant relationship with the lapins dating back to before they all emigrated from France, but as is usual in such circumstances, there’s been considerable interbreeding. If Miss Fontaine is of mixed ancestry, that could explain any unusual scent.” He fixed his hood-gaze on Sanchez. “Unless you were talking about something else?”

Truth to tell, he didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about. But Madison was like an itch at the back of his skull that he couldn’t scratch. And Thanatos wasn’t helping. You’d think he’d be more concerned about hiring a woman escaping from people who didn’t want her to leave. That was trouble in and of itself.

He said, “Things that don’t add up bother me. She doesn’t add up. Women are a distraction at the best of times, and if this one is bringing problems with her, she’s even more of a distraction.”

“To you?” Thanatos asked.

“To everyone. Look.” Sanchez leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Neither one of us wants this place to turn into a fucking lifeboat—nothing but women and children. Especially women who cause problems. Next thing you know, everyone’s going to be thinking about kindergarten curriculum and fucking little league schedules, and we won’t be able to do our jobs.”

Thanatos said in his dry voice, “Human soldiers do.”

Sanchez didn’t know why he was being a deliberate pain in the ass. “Human soldiers can get divorces when their wives get tired of worrying whether the next mission is the last. Wolves with bonded mates can’t. They just fucking implode. Why am I even telling you this? You know it as well as I do. You’ve been saying it for years.”

“Are you considering bonding with this woman?”

The fuck? Sanchez snorted. “Did Sugar start dealing again and drop some samples in your coffee this morning? Or did you get high all on your own? I just want to make sure she’s not a threat, is all.”

“Not to the Ridge, as far as I can tell,” Thanatos said. “She comes from a family of wealthy Renard businessmen, but they’re fairly average as far as illegal activity. No one we need to be interested in. And if they do arrive and try to force her to go back, that’s easily dealt with.”

He paused, long enough that it made Sanchez uncomfortable, because he still clearly had something to say. Thanatos was not usually hesitant to say whatever the fuck he thought. Finally he said, “Do you believe in Fate, Mr. Sanchez?”

What? That was totally unexpected. And weird.

“As in fated mates?”

“As in things happening for reasons outside our understanding.”

“No.” If he did believe in reasons for the shit that happened, he would have lived his life even more pissed off than he already was. “I believe in myself, my boys, my skills and my team. Nobody’s looking out for us but us.”

“And me, Mr. Sanchez,” Thanatos said. “And me.”