Tangle of Need

“Or what?” Unrepentant, he tumbled her over onto her back, but in spite of the wickedness in his expression, his next words were deadly serious. “He’s going to die, Sienna. No one threatens my mate and gets away with it.”


Ming had been her private nightmare for a long time. That was before she’d been claimed by an alpha wolf who had a ruthless will when it came to protecting those who were his own. Sienna understood that part of him—because it lived in her, too. Anyone who dared hurt Hawke would beg for mercy by the time Sienna was done with them.

“We have to have a plan,” she said, speaking to the wintry-eyed predator that watched her out of the man’s face. “One so good, Ming’s abilities won’t save him.” The Psy male was a telepath specializing in mental combat, could slice through minds as if he had blades in his hands. “You and I will have to work as a team and trust certain others to assist—the most critical problem we have to solve is how to dispose of him without impacting the innocent in the Net.”

Hawke’s hand closed around her throat, the possessiveness of his hold echoed by the raw demand of his kiss. “You are so perfect for me”—hot words against her lips—“I’d steal you if you weren’t already mine.”

Surrounded by the strength and heat and wildness of him, she had never felt so ready to take on a nightmare. “I think we should call it ‘Operation Ming Is a Dead Man Walking.’”

A feral grin on his face, Hawke leaned down until the night-glow of his eyes was only a centimeter away. “He won’t be walking for long. We’ll make sure of it.”

RIAZ knew he had Adria’s heart and her commitment as he accompanied her down to the den the next afternoon. She would never again try to leave him. Not that he’d allow it, he thought with an inward growl. But he also knew she hid within her a deep vein of wariness, and he hated that she was unsure of his love on any level. Hated it.

Patience, he counseled his wolf, but when it came to Adria, he wasn’t patient. Like any lone wolf who had made up his mind about his woman, he was pitiless in his determination. “I never canceled our request for couples quarters and it came through two days ago,” he told her, feet set apart and hands on his hips, ready for the fight she was no doubt about to give him. “We’re moving.”

A stiffening of her jaw. “Nice to be asked.”

Hackles paradoxically flattening at the acerbic edge in her voice, he snagged her around the waist and kissed her until she bit at his lip to get some air. Grinning at the sting that told him his empress was back, he said, “I’ll let you pick the sheets.”

She snarled at him, letting him feel her claws, but, to his surprise, cooperated in the move. Since the anchor detail was now at a low pitch, they had time to do it that day.

It was around nine at night that Adria gave a very welcome laugh and said, “You’re a menace.”

A slow grin spread across his face as he saw she’d found the bear he’d carved sleeping belly-up, a big smile on its face and a bottle of beer in one paw. “He had a party with the skunk.”

Adria put the bear next to the drunken skunk on the shelf he’d put up for her to keep her mechanical puzzles. “You have more, don’t you?”

He made a noncommittal sound … and found himself pounced on, as she tried to threaten the answer out of him. Turning the tables, he had her in giggles, and then he had her sighing and arching underneath him, her body molten with welcome. Afterward, she lay with her hand on his heart, his thigh pushed between her own.

Nipping at her ear, he said, “Are you ever going to admit to the fact you’re a maternal dominant?” It happened once or twice in every generation, a maternal female with such aggressive protective tendencies that she chose to train as a soldier. But nothing, Riaz thought, could change the steely core of compassion that made the maternals who they were, that inherent kindness intertwined with strength reflected in Adria’s every action.

Her laugh was husky. “What kind of lieutenant would you be if you couldn’t figure it out, hmm?” She wrote her initials over his heart, as if marking him. “Nell was faster than anyone else to peg me—she wants me in the maternal cabal.”

Grinning at her description of the power at the heart of the pack, he tucked her hair behind her ear so he could see her face. “Interested?”

“I dunno—it’s like the mafia. Once you’re in, you can never get out.” A smile that danced with mischief, but her next words were thoughtful. “I chose to train as a soldier because it suits my wolf—I’m too aggressive to be a full-time maternal.”