Hunting Ground

“You should have seen her kill the witch a couple of weeks ago,” Bran said affably. “Asil had been fleeing from this one for two hundred years, and my son’s little ‘rabbit’ killed her while in human form and armed with nothing more than a knife.”

“Asil?” asked Angus, suitably taken aback. “Asil the Moor?”

“That’s the one,” said Charles.

“Suddenly I don’t feel so bad at being rescued by a rabbit,” Angus said cheerfully.

A

The Marrok spoke into the silence that followed A

“No,” said Charles in instant rejection.

His father sighed. “You did note the ‘if,’ didn’t you?”

There was no good answer to that, so Charles just waited.

Satisfied that his son had been properly brought to order, Bran said, “I do not think it would help at this stage. It certainly wouldn’t make any difference to the negotiations. Chastel did exactly as he intended-and we’ll work around him.”

“I am sorry, sir,” said Charles.

“Not at all. It would not have mattered if I had been there. Until one of the Europeans decides to rid the world of Chastel, we’ll all have to work around him. It would have been… very unexpected had he played ball with us.”

“He’s not an anti-Omega,” said A

Charles explained the reference, and his father laughed easily. Some people might think that would mean he wasn’t angry-they’d be wrong. “I suppose both are correct.”

“Why don’t you take him out?” asked Angus suddenly.

“Not my place,” Bran answered. And then said, proving he’d thought of it, “And then I’d have Europe to take care of, too. I can assure you that my plate is more than full. I do not need anything more to do. Are you looking for a job, Angus?”

“Hell, no.” The Emerald City Pack leader gri

“Charles’s fights are always fast,” said Bran. “Most serious fights are. We aren’t cats to play with our food.”

Charles heard his father draw in a deep breath as he changed the subject. “So. Your job, Charles, as I see it, is to find the vampires who killed our poor Su

“She’s broken her word,” A

“We can’t prove it,” Bran answered.

“What happens when a fae breaks her word?” Charles asked his father. “All I’ve ever heard is that they don’t.”

“I haven’t the faintest idea,” said his father. “I’m not fae-and we have nothing on the fae for keeping secrets. I’ve never known a fae to break his or her word-bend it, twist it into a pretzel, yes. Break it, no. I would have expected lightning to strike her down from on high. Since that hasn’t happened, your guess is the same as mine.” He paused. “Be careful. And you might consider wearing your crucifix and finding something that would work for A

And he rang off.

“You know,” A

“Not everything,” admitted Charles. “He’s just very good at giving that impression.”

“And ad-libbing,” said Angus. “Though I’ve never really caught him at it.” He paused. “You know, I’m thinking that he might be that lightning bolt. Hope I’m there to see it.”

Charles yawned. “So, tomorrow is one more meeting. I’ll pull out some of the more creative things Da kept for last, then… perhaps an early end to the negotiations, which are useless now.”

“Su

Angus nodded. “No one will be fooled-they know what Chastel has done-but it will allow us to save face.”

ANNA burrowed under him and grumbled when Charles laughed as cold toes made it to places cold toes should never hit an adult male. He rolled over on top of her, and she sighed happily, her eyes slitting open and glittering blue in the darkness of the hotel room.

“Well, hello,” he murmured to A

She blinked at him a couple of times. “Warm,” she said, her voice husky.

“Yes,” he answered. “But you could have pulled up the blanket before you got that cold.”

She arched up off the mattress and kissed him hard, gripping his jaw in her hands.

While he kissed her, he rolled over until she was on top. A

He couldn’t communicate with A

She nipped his ear, tugging on the amber earrings she’d gotten for him.

“Gently,” he told her. “I like those earrings.”

He ran his hands up the small of her back, and she arched into him with a happy sound. He let her play as she would for a while before catching her hands.

“Hey, lady wolf,” he said breathlessly. “We need to wake up your other half before we take this any farther.” He didn’t actually know how much A

She stared at him, and he watched the change happen, just in her eyes. Blindingly blue eyes warmed to root-beer brown in a few heartbeats. She didn’t seem surprised to find herself braced on top of him, just smiled and flexed her hands on his shoulders.

“All right?” he asked.

In answer, she wriggled her hips and pushed herself down. He groaned at the unexpectedly aggressive move. A

“I’ll just lie back and think of England,” he huffed to make her laugh.

It backfired on him because she rose up-and then stopped, holding his hips down by tucking her feet over his thighs. “If you are thinking of England,” she said, “I must not be doing this right.”

And she did a few things that turned his brain right off.

Afterward, she lay across him like a sweet-smelling blanket-only blankets didn’t usually drop kisses down the side of his neck.

He said, “Do you remember when I told you that you were my mate-and you responded by telling me you didn’t like sex?”

She giggled at his smug tone. “I thought it only fair to warn you.”

“Rabbits like sex,” he said blandly.

She sat up and nipped his nose. “I’ll rabbit you. I know where your ticklish spots are.”

Someone knocked on the door, a quick, urgent sound. “It’s Angus. Let me in.”

A

As soon as A