She narrowed her eyes at him over her coffee cup. His thick black hair was cut short, short enough that sometimes it would spike on his head. Light blue eyes regarded her coolly. He always watched her coolly, ever since the first time she had seen him. Nothing seemed to touch Brim. He never worried, he never got in a hurry, he never got excited. He just wisecracked and glided through life.
“He has no reason to tear anyone’s ass here,” she finally retorted. “It’s not our fault those bastards found a way to access our comm codes.”
“You think that’s why he’s going to be pissed?” He let his lips quirk as though in amusement. None of that amusement showed in his eyes though. “Coya, you were out there with comm links deactivated, and without apprising Command you were outside the caverns. He’s going to tear the asses of every soldier that saw you slip out and didn’t report it. Then he’s going to strip your bodyguards to the bone. Ashley’s going to cry those pretty alligator tears for him and probably get off easiest. Emma and Sharone are going to take it like the soldiers they were trained to be, and that’s just going to piss him off more because he hates it when they go all stoic soldier on him. Then by the time he works his way to you . . .” Amusement might have touched his eyes at this point. “Well, let’s just say, he’ll probably have his most fun where you’re concerned. He’s been rather upset over that separation order, you know. Maybe you should start planning that official acceptance ceremony. You’ll need it once the two of you come up for air.”
He was laughing at her. As though a wedding ceremony would do anything more than assure the Breeds of all species that Del-Rey had accepted her as his mate and their female alpha. She could refuse him, as Hope had explained, but if he refused her, then she could become fair game when it came to the more savage qualities that were a part of the Breeds’ genetics. Respect came in many forms. An alpha leader earned it. A human female could only marry into it in Breed society.
“The poor baby,” she expressed mockingly. “Really, Brim, why don’t you just go ahead and have a laugh over it? I’m sure we’d all love to join in. Later maybe.”
He chuckled then. “Ashley’s rubbing off on you. Or are you the one that taught her all that girly crap?”
Her nostrils flared as she turned away from him and sipped at the coffee. Neither Ashley, Sharone nor Emma was here to steal this cup from her; she was going to enjoy it.
Where the hell was Del-Rey anyway?
“Do you think everything’s okay?” She turned back to Brim worriedly. “If he was hurt, we would know, wouldn’t we?”
He looked at her in surprise. “He’s not hurt, Coya.”
“How do you know?” She followed him when he turned away from her and picked up the e-pad he’d been filing reports on earlier.
His gaze moved back to her. “If the alpha was hurt, a comm link would have been activated with an emergency distress well away from him. We would have received it, and every soldier on base and in Haven would have streamed over that mountain like killer ants. Satisfied?”
She breathed in roughly and stared up at him in regret. “You don’t like me, do you, Brim?”
Surprise flickered in his eyes then.
“Why would you think that? You’re my coya, same as Del-Rey is my alpha. It’s against the rules to dislike you.”
Was there amusement in his eyes? No, she must have been mistaken, but it was obvious he had no intention of playing fair this morning. He and Del-Rey were too much alike for that.
“Thank you,” she whispered before turning away and pacing back to the lounge, where she sat down on the long couch that sat inside the glass-enclosed room.
The caverns were inordinately quiet for this time of the morning. The Coyotes seemed to walk on tiptoes through the area as they moved about their duties. Teams hadn’t been called out, but that didn’t mean teams weren’t ready to go. Every soldier on base was armed to the teeth and ready to move if needed. They were dressed in their plain military uniforms, the ones with the Wolf Breed insignia on the shoulder.
They needed their own insignia. It would promote a feeling of pride in their own endeavors. They were too often mistaken for Wolves, and she knew they often remarked on it.
There was a deliberate laziness about the men that had originated with Del-Rey, one that had been picked up by the others. After all, as Del-Rey often stated, if they were perfect, they’d be Wolves.
She finished the coffee slowly as she waited. When the cup was empty, she set it on the table and paced the room, her hands shoved into the pockets of the comfortable cotton pants she’d changed into after showering the night before. A long T-shirt fell to her thighs and her bra was irritating the crap out of her.
She paced the room several times before throwing herself into the corner of the couch and glaring into the command room again.
Brim was sitting in her chair. That was her chair when he and Del-Rey were off base. Unfortunately the order of separation gave him command of that chair while Del-Rey was on base, rather than allowing her to retain it. Brim should have been second-in-command to her with Del-Rey gone. Or out there protecting his alpha’s superior, arrogant butt.
She leaned her elbows on her knees before pushing her fingers through her hair in frustration.
Okay, so they weren’t going to be able to slip out and play their games anymore. At least, not without backup. She could handle that. She was so used to Base and communications being secured that she had deemed the threat acceptable. She had nearly made a deadly mistake, and that mistake weighed heavily on her shoulders.
Sharone, Emma and Ashley weren’t just bodyguards. They were her dearest friends. She had been raised with them; she thought sometimes they were the sisters her parents had never given her.
She rolled her shoulders, which ached from exhaustion, then shivered against the chill filling her. She felt chilled all the time, and she had grown colder still after Del-Rey hadn’t returned within an hour of her. How long did it take anyway to catch five bastards looking to kill? One of the Coyote snipers could have taken care of them easily.
Breathing out in irritation, she curled up in the corner of the couch and dragged the little blanket that rested over the back of it over her. She was too cold. And too worried. If he was hurt, it would be her fault. And it wasn’t fair, she thought with an edge of self-pity. If anyone got to hurt him, it should be her. Not strangers that didn’t know him.