Navarro's Promise (3 page)

During the time Cassie had spent at the ranch Mica had become attached to her despite the few years difference in their ages. Cassie had needed a sister, and Mica had seen in the little girl a desperate hunger to be loved despite whatever haunted her.

Hands still shoved in her back pockets, Cassie paced over to Mica’s desk, breaking into her thoughts, sighed and let her gaze move to the reports scrolling over the e-pad.

“There’s the Germany reports,” she murmured.

Mica glanced at the screen. They were indeed there.

“Play file mark seven point six three,” Mica ordered the computer.

“File seven point six three,” the computerized voice authorized a second before the file flashed on the holoscreen on the other side of the room: “File seven point six three, Berlin, Germany. Breeds suspected in rescue of Prime Minister’s daughter kidnapped from her home; Feline Breed pride leader, Callan Lyons, to visit Luxembourg; suspected Genetics Council lab discovered by teens while hiking.” No mention of mating, hormones, phenomena, or blood irregularities. Each article title was read and a report given after each, as Mica and Cassie watched intently the words scrolling across the holographic screen.

Dozens of articles flashed through the automated program set to search specific words, phrases and information listings. Each came back with a negative response.

Mica watched the screen intently, her gaze taking in many of the headings dealing with the Wolf Breed Haven and Feline Breed Sanctuary. The compounds were treated like mysteries. Reporters fought to get permission to visit, camped at the outer gates and had tried to fly as close as possible for pictures before the areas were designated nofly zones.

“It looks as though it’s all clear,” Mica stated as the last file winked out. “Another day, another reprieve.”

“Another reprieve,” Cassie repeated softly. “Isn’t that how it feels sometimes?”

Mica had to admit that was exactly what it often felt like. Each time she was drawn here to help Cassie with the PR office, she was once again reminded how in-depth Breed awareness had to be. They had to keep their eyes on every new article, every reporter and reporter wannabe, as well as those who simply wanted to make up the stories and stir the flames that were often licking at the Breeds’ heels.

It was irritating, aggravating, but Mica knew there were times when Cassie thrived on the work.

Turning her gaze back to the window, Mica was once again greeted by the sight of the Breed she knew in the end was going to completely mess her life up.

Yep, this fascination was much too strong, and no matter what the Wolf Breed scientist Nikki Armani said, Mica knew the potential for mating heat had to be there.

The tests for the mating hormone in the blood had advanced over the years. The Breed scientists were now able to pinpoint the smallest abnormalities that could make a human female a viable candidate for being a Breed male’s mate. And Nikki had assured Mica more than once, after several tests, that there was no chance in hell Navarro was her mate, or had the potential to mate her.

The fact was that Mica’s tests had shown a mating viability, though there was still no way to tell exactly who that mate could be. All they could do at this point was tell who the mate wasn’t, and supposedly, Navarro wasn’t viable as her mate.

It was hard to believe that potential wasn’t there.

Watching him now as he stood in the communal courtyard that sat in the center of the large block of cabins and small houses, talking to another Wolf Breed, Stygian, the Coyote Cavalier and the Coyote second in command, Brim Stone, Mica feared the doctor had to be wrong. She could feel her skin prickling, a sense of arousal and anticipation flaring inside her, and an overwhelming curiosity she couldn’t seem to fight.

Navarro stood confidently, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression thoughtful as he leaned against the heavy trunk of a large oak and nodded back at the other men.

Dressed in silk slacks and a white Egyptian shirt, his perfectly styled black hair in a moderate length brushed back from his face, he was the epitome of a successful, strong male. A human male was his cover. His recessed genetics allowed him to move around the world as the Blaine media empire’s reigning heir rather than the Breed Enforcer created and trained to trick and deceive.

She knew the fierce canines most Breeds displayed proudly at the sides of their mouths were absent in Navarro’s case because of his recessed genetics. She didn’t know if he had body hair, or if like other Breeds his was absent as well, but she would have loved to have found out.

What she did know was that despite the fact he was indeed a Breed, there wasn’t a test on Earth that could prove it. He was what they called “recessed,” his Breed genetics buried so deeply on the cellular level as to be almost impossible to find.

That didn’t make him less of a Breed though. She knew he could snarl just as brutally and fight just as mercilessly as any other Breed.

“He’s hot, isn’t he?” Cassie’s smooth drawl had Mica jerking around, guilt flashing through her at her friend’s knowing look.

The guilt turned quickly to amusement. “Yeah, he is,” she agreed, sneaking another look outside as Navarro straightened from the tree, his gaze wandering from the other men before coming to the window Mica and Cassie were sitting in front of.

Mica nearly winced as Cassie waved enthusiastically. Navarro’s gaze narrowed, and, a slight, wary nod was given in return.

Cassie’s light laugh was affectionate and much too interested. “He’s so reserved. It makes you wonder what he’s like with a lover.”

Mica’s teeth clenched. Hell no, she didn’t wonder what he would be like with a lover. Unless that lover was her.

“Wow, Mica . . .” Cassie’s tone was shocked, amazed, causing Mica to barely bite back her curse.

Damn, she knew to watch her reactions, to make certain she didn’t let herself feel strongly, or react with anything more than mild interest. She knew the dangers of it more than anyone else could possibly know.

And now, she had just fucked up in the worse possible way, around the one person Mica knew better than to mess up around.

“You’re jealous,” Cassie said, releasing a breath, amazement widening her eyes now. “What have you been hiding from me, Mica?”

“Nothing.” A lie, oh God, a lie. She had to steel herself. She knew better than to outright lie to Cassie.

Cassie stepped back slowly, the pure amazement in her face strengthening as she stared at Mica, shock overriding the amazement an instant later.

“Mica, you just lied to me,” she said in wonder, as though she’d just received a gift she had never expected.

“Cassie, stop this,” Mica warned her, feeling a sense of panic welling inside her now. “Let it go.”

Things were going from bad to worse here, and she couldn’t seem to stop the spiraling results from crashing through her. There were some things Cassie just didn’t need to know. If that damned “fairy” that liked to tell everyone’s secrets hadn’t told her, then Mica felt it was best her friend didn’t have to worry about it.

“You’re keeping secrets from me?” Cassie’s voice lowered as an edge of hurt entered her tone.

No. No. “Cassie, don’t do this to me,” she groaned. “Nothing happened. There are no secrets.”

That pesky damned lie thing. She swore there were times she could almost smell a lie herself, Cassie had told her so many times what one smelled like. And she swore she could smell that hint of acrid sulfur now, like hell considering a visit.

Mica wanted to groan in defeat but knew better than to allow Cassie to even suspect such a weakness.

Cassie stepped closer, bent, her nostrils flaring as she breathed in deeply, and Mica could do nothing but stare back at her friend in resignation.

Cassie blinked and jerked back. For a second, for just a second, a curious expression came over her face before her gaze became shuttered, her expression stilling to that calm, serene look that hid every thought and emotion she could be feeling.

Mica hated that expression. There was simply no way to convince the other girl to tell her anything when she adopted that look.

“Well, how interesting,” Cassie stated, her tone just as bland as her expression now.

This, Mica hadn’t expected. Her gaze narrowed. “What’s interesting?” There was that panic thing again. It was making her heart race, making that sense of impending doom rise inside her. “There’s nothing interesting, Cassie. Do you hear me? There’s nothing interesting, nothing period. Tell me there isn’t.”

What was Cassie seeing, or what had she seen as she leaned closer and drew in whatever scent Mica couldn’t smell herself?

That was the worst part about Breeds. Sometimes they could sense more about a person than that person knew about him- or herself.

“Of course there isn’t.” Cassie cleared her throat and blinked back at her.

Mica came slowly to her feet. “Don’t make me strangle you, Cassie,” she warned her, her voice low. “And I can do it. You know I can do it.”

Cassie grimaced, her bow lips pouting as amusement began to sparkle in her gaze. “Dad made a mistake when he had you trained alongside me. He should have foreseen all these threats you would make against me.”

“Don’t try to distract me, Cassie.” Mica breathed out roughly. “What did you see?”

The secretive little smile that twitched at Cassie’s lips was terrifying. It was horrifying. Mica knew she would have nightmares for weeks if Cassie didn’t tell her what was going on, simply because of that smile. Too knowing, yet with a hint of concern, of uncertainty.

“I didn’t
see
anything.” Cassie waved a hand as though it were nothing to be concerned about.

Anytime Cassie had a vision, a visit or whatever the hell it was, it was never, ever, nothing to be concerned about.

“Cassie, don’t you play games with me.”

“It was a scent.” Cassie shrugged. “A feeling.” A frown flitted between her brows as she glanced at the window, then back to Mica. “Mica, I don’t think I know what I smelled.”

Mica doubted that. She came slowly to her feet. “I may not have your nose, but I know you,” she warned her friend. “Don’t lie to me, Cassie.”

“I would never lie to you, Mica.” Her eyes widened as though she were innocent. And Mica knew better. She knew that expression. It was anything but innocence.

“Cassie,” she bit out between her teeth, irritation beginning to surge through her. “Don’t do this to me.”

Cassie’s brow arched. “Don’t do what, Mica? What am I doing?”

“Hiding the truth from me,” Mica accused her. “Tell me what you saw.”

Cassie’s brow arched. “I didn’t see it, I smelled it,” she repeated. “But it’s not a scent you carry now, Mica. It’s one you could carry later.”

There was the panic again. It was making her sick. Her stomach felt weak, shaky.

“And it will be what?” Clenched teeth, frustration. She hated it when Cassie played with her like this.

“Contentment,” Cassie finally answered. “You know, Mica, as much as you may hate the thought of it, I smelled contentment.”

Cassie watched her friend, fighting to hold her expression, fighting to convince Mica everything was fine, to hold back the worry and the concern. She wasn’t lying to Mica, the “future” scent was one of contentment, but it was a potential contentment. A maybe thing. One of the many paths Mica could take. And beside that path was deceit and rage, to the other side was agony and heartache.

The path would depend on too many things.

It would depend on Mica and on a Breed . . .

And the Breed it would depend on wasn’t Navarro Blaine.

And that was the scary part. Because the other scent she detected was so slight, so subtle, that Cassie doubted it would even show on tests. That other scent was Navarro’s, and a hint of mating heat.

Mica was Navarro’s mate, but her friend’s happiness would lie in another Breed’s hands. A Breed other than her mate.

CHAPTER 1

Thunder crashed, lightning blazed and sheets of rain poured from the sky as though rage itself were given a physical presence. It slashed through the windswept streets and tore through the back alleys as most inhabitants of the city watched from indoors. There were few brave enough to venture into the streets and face the wrath of the storm pounding furiously outside their windows, but they were very few and very far between.

The streets were all but deserted at four in the morning. New York might never sleep, but it definitely rested for a while, especially during the furious, driving rains that descended on the city that night.

Pouring moisture that saturated hair and clothing, washing it into Mica’s eyes, mixing with the tears and washing away the blood that had eased from her scalp after the initial attack that had come earlier. An attack she couldn’t have expected, that she’d had no warning was coming.

She stumbled through the alley, breath shuddering, chills wracking her body as she fought to find a haven, a business, an opened door, a cabdriver.

Anything. Anyone.

And there was nothing. There was no one. She was alone in a city that was sleeping when it wasn’t supposed to, amid a storm she should have been safe from, comfortable and warm in her own bed.

She wanted to be in her bed.

She wanted to pull the blankets over her head and dream those hot, erotic dreams she’d been having lately of a Breed she shouldn’t dream about.

She didn’t want to be here.

A sob tore from her chest, ripping through her ribs in agony as terror had tears mixing with the cold rivulets of rain pouring down her face.

She wanted to be home.

She should have never left her apartment, she should have never trusted that bastard little mouse of a waiter who claimed to be in trouble. After leaving the office, she should have just gone home and ignored the message on her phone that he had important information for her.

She was just an accountant; she wasn’t a reporter. But she often ate at the little café where he worked, and he called her, he said, because he didn’t know who else to call.

Bullshit.

He had drawn her right from the restaurant bar and into the grip of a damned Coyote.

The son of a bitch had tried to knock her out.

She touched the side of the head, biting her lip at the tenderness there.

With her arm wrapped around her ribs, she leaned against the brick wall of a tightly closed restaurant and fought to catch her breath.

She’d been kicked after she was thrown in a van. She remembered the feel of a steel-toed boot ramming into her ribs before she could protect them.

Assholes. She hated Coyotes.

Except Brim Stone. And Del-Rey.

Well, she didn’t hate Ashley, Emma or Sharone.

She hated Council Coyotes. Every damned fucking one of them, and now she was hiding in a dirty alley as she tried to escape them.

She didn’t dare venture out to the street to hopefully flag down one of the few cabs trolling for the few passengers that could be found. Cabs weren’t the only ones out there.

There was more than one black SUV. There were men with communication ear sets, and there was a Breed. Sharp-toothed, eyes black and spitting evil as he’d leaned over, a twisted smile contorting his scarred face just before she’d slammed her heavy hiking boots into the ugly, sneering expression of Marx Whitman, the Coyote that had already betrayed the Breeds once.

The vision was one that nightmares were made of.

Shuddering, shivering, she forced herself from the wall and eased to the shadowed entrance of the alley she’d ducked into. Keeping low, staying close to the dark, sodden walls of the buildings, she rushed down the sidewalk, quickly making her way through the streets and fighting to keep an eye on the vehicles moving slowly behind her.

There was no way to hide from a Breed. There was no way to still suspicion if the men in the SUVs caught sight of a lone figure moving down the sidewalk.

Ducking into the next alley, she moved quickly through the sinister shadows, her stomach heaving with fear as lightning flared overhead and thunder rattled the very air around her.

A scream erupted from her throat as she stumbled against a garbage can, causing it to crash to the ground as a shadow erupted from her side.

Like an emerging, vengeful beast, it came at her. A sound like a demented growl, a whip of cold air, arms outstretched . . . Mica screamed again, falling backward as the shadow followed, whipping against her, knocking her to the ground despite her attempts to stay upright.

“Dammit, Mica!” Harsh, animalistic. She should know that voice, but hysteria was tearing through her, pain a blazing sensation of agony in her ribs as she fought to get free.

The stench of urine, the feel of filth on the alley beneath her palms, and a nightmare of sensations she couldn’t process. Instinct had her rolling, finding her feet, slipping, then finally gaining traction to force herself into a run.

The sound behind her too closely resembled a curse. Demonic, sending a flash of terror racing through her as a sob left her throat and she rounded the corner of the alley into a side street.

“Mica.” Rough, a fierce rumble, and it didn’t sound in the least friendly.

As she caught herself against the corner of the wall, lightning split the skies, illuminating a tall, broad form, eyes like hammered gold, a face savage, too fierce and unknown.

In the next breath Mica turned, running in the opposite direction, only to face another shadow, taller, darker. Throwing herself to the side, low, nearly skidding along the street, she went beneath an outstretched hand, skidding, only to have her back pushed against a brick wall as hard male arms surrounded her.

“Dammit, Mica, stop fighting me before I have to knock your ass out!”

Her gaze flew up, breath suspending in her lungs, relief and weakness shuddering through her all at once.

He was the animal whose voice had sent her running once again. Black eyes glittered with rage as lightning lit up the world around them.

The scene seemed surreal. The lightning, the rain sheeting around them. His exotic, fierce expression framed by heavy, ribbon-straight black silken hair that fell around his face and wet from the rivulets of rain running over it.

Eyes wide, shuddering, she could only stare up at him as his hand lifted, palm cupping her cheek, the intense warmth of his touch rushing through her as his thumb stroked softly over her lips.

“Amaya.” He spoke so softly she barely heard, the dark, Asian flavor of his tone shocking her as he whispered the nickname he had given her years ago. “Are you ready to get out of the rain now?”

“Navarro.” His name was a harsh gasp, relief pouring through her, weakening her as the warmth of his hard body began to seep through the saturated clothing between them.

“Navarro, we have to move.” Harsh, a male Feline growl rumbled in the night.

Mica tried to swing around, her heart dropping to her stomach as fear suddenly tore through her again.

“Can you run?” The harsh question was a grating, furious sound that seemed suddenly to rumble in Navarro’s powerful chest.

For a Breed it was said didn’t growl as others did, that came awful close to a growl.

A quick nod as he caught her hand, turned and began pulling her through the rain-lashed night.

Shadows reached out from the buildings around them, twisting fingers of darkness colliding with the rain-dimmed glow of sparse streetlights interspersed with the shadows through the alleys.

Mica was aware of the figure moving behind them, though she’d only managed to catch a quick glimpse of a dark figure. Features were impossible to see or to recognize through the sheets of moisture.

She could feel the presence at her back, a prickling awareness that kept her nerves on edge.

“We’re almost there,” Navarro assured her, as though he could sense, could somehow feel, the fear that continued to rise inside her.

Damp weather was supposed to affect a Breed’s sense of smell. If he could still smell her fear, then there was the chance the Coyote that had attacked her, or any working with him, could catch her scent as well.

Forcing herself to tamp down the emotion, to bury it in that same dark, hidden corner of her mind where she tried to hide things from Cassie, wasn’t easy. Terror was like an oily, vicious specter shadowing her, one that seemed to refuse to allow her to escape.

She was with Navarro now though. She wasn’t alone. That was the lifeline she held on to, the fragile thread of awareness that kept her centered as she began to push the fear to that enclosed place where it couldn’t be detected.

He was the one Breed she should be wary of personally, but she’d always known, from the first day their eyes had met, that he would never allow anyone to hurt her.

I’ll protect you, Mica. I swear, as long as I breathe, I’ll keep you from harm.

That promise made, as explosions ripped through Haven’s central courtyard on a night meant to be celebrated, echoed through her mind.

He had sworn to protect her. Covering her body with his own as Breed traitors attempted to kidnap Storme Montague, one of the newly mated women within Haven, and Cassie, he had sheltered her from the danger.

How many times had she replayed that night in her nightmares? Each time though, the terror turned to something else, to something softer, hotter. To something that only frightened her more, on a deep, intensely personal level.

He made her want him. Nightmares turned to erotic fantasy whenever she dreamed of that night. To the sensation of his lips caressing her ear, then her cheek. To the feel of his lips at first only brushing against hers, then taking the curves with a hungry, primal passion she couldn’t seem to deny.

“Fuck!” The furious curse had Mica jerking her head around, desperate to see what had caused the exclamation.

She had only a second to catch a glimpse of lights turning into the alley before Navarro pulled her quickly into a deep, sheltered recess between two buildings, before pressing her into the brick wall.

“Sons of bitches couldn’t have picked a warm night for this bullshit, could they?” he growled at her ear as Mica felt his arms sheltering her, the long leather coat he wore wrapping around her as he tucked her head against his chest.

Beneath the coat, he was heavily armed, an arsenal strapped into the lining of the leather covering and holstered beneath his arm, at his waist and thigh.

She could feel the cold metal of the automatic submachine gun holstered at his side by a leather harness. An automatic handgun was holstered at his lean hips, while he carried one of the lightweight, powerful laser-powered defense weapons holstered at his left side.

A knife was strapped to each thigh, and God only knew what else he was armed with.

“Cougar, do you have visual?” she heard him murmur, no doubt speaking into one of the small, secured ear sets the Breeds used for communication.

“I have him. Just what the hell we needed, Farce’s little brother, Loki, on our asses,” he grunted a second later.

Farce, a Coyote that had been working for the remaining members of the Genetics Council, had ended up dead weeks before, when he had gone against another Wolf Breed. His little brother, Loki, who carried the mythical name with pride and did his best to live up to it, was rumored to have sworn vengeance for his brother’s death.

“Coyote’s night out,” she said, trying for weak humor as a shudder raced through her.

She could often trap the emotions inside, but that didn’t mean they didn’t still affect her.

“You have no clue, baby,” Navarro sighed as she felt his hand stroke up her back.

That motion, such a small, almost insignificant caress, had Mica dropping her head fully against his chest and breathing in roughly as he continued to talk quietly to whatever Cougar was on the other end of the comm link.

Several times lights passed by the entrance to the narrow lane they were hidden in. They stopped long enough to have Navarro lowering his hand from her, shifting her just enough to the side that he could get to the laser-powered sub-shot burst, a laser version of the compact submachine gun, strapped to his side. Finally, after tense moments, the vehicle eased forward once again, moving slowly, obviously searching intently for something.

For them.

“They’ve stopped a few feet from the entrance,” he whispered in her ear as thunder crashed overhead and the rain seemed to fall faster, harder. “Cougar’s watching them from his point outside. He has a vehicle and he’s ready to roll as soon as they’re out of line of sight.”

She nodded against his chest, her fingers curling into the shirt she was pressed against as she breathed in his scent and concentrated on keeping her emotions locked away.

“Cassie said you were good at holding back your scent.” His hand stroked down her hair. A large, warm hand that spread a sensation of warmth along her neck. “I can barely smell you at all, sweetheart. You’ve been around nosy Breeds too long, huh?” There was an edge of amusement in his whispered observation.

“You learn,” she breathed out with an edge. “Especially around Cassie.”

Cassie could make her crazy. Self-defense had created whatever gift Mica had adopted to keep her emotions so carefully contained that even animal senses couldn’t pick them up.

“Cassie could make a saint curse,” he agreed, then his hand stroked to her hip and tightened there. “Get ready. The SUV has pulled out. Cougar will be easing in within seconds.”

“I am so ready to get out of the rain.” She held back the hard shivers that threatened to shake through her as she turned her head and watched the entrance.

There were no lights. She wouldn’t have known a vehicle had pulled up if she hadn’t been watching carefully and seen the dim lights in the alley glittering on the black sheen of paint.

“Move.” He was right there, his arm going around her waist and pulling her against him as he began to race for the vehicle.

The passenger door was thrown open as they neared, a dim flare of light revealing the hard, scarred face of the Breed in the driver’s seat.