His lips quirked at the thought of that mask. It had been fooling humans and Breeds alike for decades. It was a creation of the first Leo’s, and one whose workings Dane had been unable to figure out to this day.
Removing a cigar from his pocket and bringing it to his lips, he then handed one to the Breed standing against the tree beside him.
Lighting the cigar, Dane then handed the lighter to the Coyote as well, waited as he lit his own, then accepted it back and pocketed it.
“The two of you are going to piss me off.” The warrior moved over to them, glaring at them irately.
Pulling another cigar free of his pocket, Dane handed it to the newcomer before watching him use his own lighter to ignite it.
“How’s she doing?” Dane nodded to the apartment as the warrior exhaled, irritation inherent in the sound.
“That has to be the most stubborn damn woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on,” he bit out, grinding his teeth over the words. “She’s been at this nine years now and has no intention of letting up. I thought you said that bastard who was all over her ass tonight was her mate?”
Dane couldn’t help but smile. “He’s her mate, I assure you.” He did nothing to hide the heavy South African accent he carried.
“Yeah, that’s why she’s up there trying to figure out how to learn who’s betrayed the Unknown when she’s staring at the bastard who did the betraying.”
Dane stared at the warrior, knowing far more about him than he was sure the man would find comfortable.
“All for the greater good, my friend,” Dog drawled with a curious lack of accent. “We can’t have a traitor in the ranks.”
“Using her like this doesn’t sit well with me,” the warrior informed them, not for the first time. “And what the hell kind of mating was that anyway? Why is she up there by herself screaming like her soul is being cut out, if he’s her mate? And ignoring the question’s not going to make it go away, Dane.”
No, this—warrior—was more stubborn than most. He wouldn’t stop looking for an answer if he thought Dane was deliberately not answering him.
“I’m not certain yet why the mating didn’t occur,” he answered, his gaze returning to the apartment thoughtfully. “I am entirely certain, though, that she’s his mate.”
“How?” It was Dog who asked that question, confusion apparent in his voice. “How can you be so sure?”
How could he be so certain? Dane almost grinned, but he was far too aware of the other two watching him. He couldn’t claim to have smelled it, because Dog was a Breed as well; he would instantly question why he hadn’t smelled it.
That left the truth, which was far stranger than fiction.
Lifting his hand to rub at the back of his neck, he stared at both men a bit uncomfortably. This wasn’t going to be an easy explanation and it was one he rarely made.
“I sense it,” he finally muttered.
“Excuse me? You what?” Dog asked with his ever-present mockery, albeit thicker than normal.
“It’s complicated,” he gritted out, not enjoying the sensation of having others watch him as he so often watched them.
“You don’t say,” Dog commented wryly. “Why not explain it to us anyway?”
Shooting him a glare, Dane bit down on the tip of his cigar before clenching it between his thumb and forefinger and lowering it slowly.
“I told you, I just sense it,” he repeated, forcing back his discomfort.
He’d be damned if he’d let that grinning jackass of a Coyote know that he felt a bit at odds trying to explain the little talent he had.
“Do tell,” the warrior suggested, a bit more firmly than Dog had.
“Telling’s the hard part,” he admitted with a twist of his lips. “It’s a knowledge that’s there once I see them together. Rather like a gut feeling.”
“Gut feeling, huh?” Dog was definitely laughing at him; thankfully, it was silent laughter.
Dane couldn’t help but let his lips twitch, because with this Breed, he would definitely have the last laugh.
“And sometimes, all I have to do is hear a certain name on a Breed’s lips to know who his mate is. Want to start naming names, boet?” The South African slang for “friend” slipped before he could stop it. A problem he was having more often of late.
Dog’s eyes instantly narrowed as suspicion lit them, the gray darkening, flickering with a hint of anger.
“Stop letting him rile you, Dog,” the warrior grunted in disgust from Dane’s other side. “He tried that one on me last year. You have to know him well enough not to let him mess with your mind.”
Oh, he could do far more than mess with Dog’s mind. There was a reason he had sought out the Coyote and formed a friendship with him when he had. If this Breed didn’t have friends soon, not just acquaintances or other Breeds who didn’t care to fight with him, then he was going to be in a spot of trouble.
“You’re going to end up in a world of hurt if you make the mistake of messing with what you assume is my mind,” Dog warned him quietly.
“There would first have to be a mind within that thick skull of yours to mess with,” Dane suggested mockingly before turning back to the warrior. “Rescind the virginity clause and give her a choice. I never understood why you put her under such constraints to begin with when you’ve done it with no one else.”
Surprise reflected on the other man’s face before instant denial filled his gaze.
“The hell I will.” The warrior suddenly tensed, his brows jerking together in a frown as the tinted contacts he wore picked up the faint hint of color that Dane was certain he’d want no one to glimpse.
“Virginity clause?” Dog was far too easily distracted tonight, Dane thought with silent sarcasm.
Did Breeds have trouble with ADHD that he was unaware of?
“If I rescind the clause, she’ll become suspicious,” the warrior said, ignoring Dog’s query. “She’s too well trained for that, Dane, and you made certain of it. She’ll instantly know she’s being set up, and don’t think she hasn’t been listening long and hard for proof of Mating Heat whenever she listens to the Breeds talking. If she catches a whiff that it could be true and Rule’s her mate, then she just might turn tail and run for good long before he does.”
“She’ll not hear anything there.” Dog’s assurance had Dane staring back at him now.
“Breeds gossip worse than old women,” he reminded the Coyote.
“Not here, not about Mating Heat.” Dog shook his head firmly. “Jonas put the word out before the first Breed headed out here nine years ago, I hear. He reinforced it when the search for Brandenmore’s research pets led them out here again. And he made it clear, if word of Mating Heat is gossiped about, or the words ‘mates’ or ‘mating’ are mentioned, then he is going to start chopping off heads. Literally.”
Dane shook his head before looking to the stars in search of help where his brother was concerned. That boy was a danger to himself sometimes, not to mention Mating Heat in general. The legend of the Mate Matcher was definitely sealing itself within stone. And Jonas with it if the other Breed wasn’t extremely careful.
“Assuming she really is his mate,” the warrior said then, “what happened tonight? Because he’s damned sure not in bed with her.”
To that, Dane could only shake his head, because he didn’t have a clue. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t figure it out.
“Rule will run if he even suspects that’s his mate,” Dog stated then, causing that “something,” that extra sense to shift inside him.
“His animal instincts won’t let him run, from what I understand,” the warrior argued, with a hint of a question in his voice.