Harmony's Way

CHAPTER 3

Lance was enraged. The next morning he paced his office, scowling, his body burning as his cock throbbed in his jeans and the bite at his shoulder burned in need.

Son of a bitch. A fucking Breed. He became aware of what she was the moment those sharp little teeth of hers pierced his flesh. He had seen the mark on his cousin Megan’s shoulder nearly a year before. Placed there by her mate, Braden Arness.

“I can’t find anyone that meets your description in the database, Lance.” Braden growled in irritation.

“Now look, dammit, I know she’s a Breed,” Lance snapped. “She has to be in there.”

“Lance, I’ve been searching these damned files for an hour now. She’s not in here. What the hell is this about?”

Lance drew in a hard breath.

“The bitch bit me last night, Braden,” he finally snarled. “I picked her up at the bar and took her home.”

“You had sex with her, and she bit you?” Braden’s voice was carefully bland. “What did you say her name was again?”

“Harmony. She didn’t give me a last name. Russet hair, pale green eyes, about five-seven.”

“Any tattoos or distinguishing marks?” Braden asked.

Lance frowned. He barely remembered a small tattoo.

“Her right shoulder, I can’t be sure, but I think it was a scythe.”

Silence filled the line as the air around him whispered in warning.

“Are you certain of that? A scythe.”

“A red scythe, no more than an inch and a half high. I saw it just before she jerked her shirt on. By the time she turned around with the fucking gun in her hand, I forgot about it.”

She had held a gun on him. A small, snub-nosed though powerful military-issue Beretta. And those babies packed a wallop, despite their size.

“Damn. That’s bad.” Braden’s voice was suddenly deeper; the animalistic growl of his Breed heritage only showed itself in times of anger or stress.

“The Breed part or the scythe part?” Lance asked. “You have to be a bit clearer here, Braden. My mind’s not exactly working at its normal speed.”

And he knew why. He knew and it pissed him off. God help her if he got his hands on her again. The first thing he was going to do was spank that pretty ass for running. The second thing he would do was fuck her until she didn’t have the strength to run again.

“According to my files, the Breed with that mark is one badass you don’t want to mess with. We call her by her lab name, because she never chose another that we knew of. Her name is Death, Lance. She’s wanted not just by the Bureau of Breed Affairs but by several government agencies as well, for questioning in the assassinations of suspected child abusers as well as suspected Council scientists. If Death mated you, cuz, then you’re screwed.”

The woman in his arms had been no killer. “There has to be a mistake.”

“No mistake,” Braden said in denial. “No other Breed would dare wear that mark. Death is a possessive bitch. She’s a class A assassin with the added rating of knifemanship. Death doesn’t feel, Lance. And how the hell you could have mated with her makes no sense.”

Because every instance of mating heat that had occurred in the Breed society had involved emotion. To their knowledge there hadn’t been a mating that hadn’t been a match of not just the physical, but the psychological and emotional as well. Lance knew that from the few explanations Megan had given him in regards to her relationship with Braden.

“Then there’s a mistake,” Lance grated out. “Is there a description on this ‘Death’?”

“Oh yeah,” Braden sighed. “The description of her hair was throwing me off. Her hair is the color of a true lion’s mane rather than just a similarity. Eye color pale green. Height five-seven, age twenty-five. She escaped the labs at fifteen after killing every scientist in the facility. Including her own mother.”

The air began to wail at his ear.

“There’s a notation here that an op went out a few weeks ago to a suspected sighting, but no update.”

“Get me her file. I want the complete dossier on her, and see what else you can find out. I’m taking the day off and going looking for her myself.”

“Whoa, hold up there, man,” Braden protested furiously. “Didn’t you hear what I just said? This woman is one of the most lethal killers in our ranks. She hunts Coyotes for fun, Lance. And she kills them. She’ll take you out if she even thinks you’re going to get close.”

“According to you, the mating heat goes both ways, right?” Lance reminded him.

“As far as I know. According to all the reports the Bureau has listed of mated pairs, it’s always a two-way street.”

“Then she’s likely in no better shape than I am,” Lance pointed out.

Braden sighed. “If the mating went both ways, she’s likely in worse shape,” he growled. “If, Lance. That’s a hell of a supposition though. From what I’m seeing on the database here, this woman has no soul. You could just be swimming in hell by yourself.”

“Not hardly.” Lance raked his fingers through his hair, grimacing at the memory of her face, her eyes, before she left. “It has her too, Braden. I’d bet my life on it.”

“Which is exactly what you are betting.” Braden breathed out roughly. “Give me an hour. Wait there on me and I’ll go out with you. You’ll need backup on this one, Lance, and I don’t want Megan anywhere near her. She still hasn’t recovered from the search we did for her.”

“What search?” Lance clenched his teeth at that information.

“After leaving Sanctuary last year, our first mission was to locate Death. We thought we were getting close, then she just disappeared.”

“Where is Megan?” She would tell him. She wouldn’t hide information she knew he would need.

“Megan flew back to Sanctuary this morning to pick up one of the new girls we’re training here at the ranch. She won’t be back till morning.”

Now, wasn’t that just perfect timing?

Lance stared out into the park, watching as the breeze swayed in the trees, the low psychic moan he heard whispering around him, a warning and plea.

“I’m heading out in an hour,” he finally said and sighed roughly. “Get over here if you’re going with me. I don’t have all day.”

Because if he didn’t get Harmony beneath him again, he was going to explode with the lust ripping through him.

“I’m getting everything together now. I’ll see you in an hour.” The line disconnected as Lance jerked the phone link from his ear and tossed it to his desk.

Just what the fuck he needed, he scowled. H. R. Alonzo, one of the most virulent opponents of the Breeds, was already protesting city hall over the Breeds training at Megan’s ranch, and members of the Blood Purity Society were streaming in. Journalists were camped out at the hotels, and the situation was rapidly escalating from a headache to a problem.

He sure as hell didn’t need this added complication. And the moment he got his hands on Harmony again, he intended to make his displeasure known. In a variety ways. All of them guaranteed to make her come.

Harmony was barely ready when Jonas and the Breed lawyer arrived at her hotel room late that morning. She hadn’t slept, and makeup wasn’t covering the results of that well. And she was in pain. Physical, aching pain from the arousal building within her.

Since when did a lack of screwing actually hurt?

Dressed in the soft black cotton uniform of a Breed Enforcer, she adjusted her utility belt at her hips and made certain her gun was comfortably holstered. Her knife was strapped to her opposite thigh, and tucked into her right ankle boot was a secondary dagger. The clothes were driving her crazy though.

The rasp of the material against her flesh was an irritation she wondered if she would survive. And she was hot. She felt as though she were burning alive from the inside out.

Her womb sizzled with need; her pussy was so wet she had given up attempting to stem the slick juices that kept her prepared for penetration, and just thanked God that it wasn’t seeping through her clothing.

When she opened the door to Jonas, she avoided his eyes and stepped into the hall, slamming the door behind her. At his side, J. R. “Jess” Warden, the Bureau’s attorney, watched her with a glimmer of surprise in her eyes.

“Let’s get it the hell over with,” she snapped as she started down the hall. “Have you informed your sheriff yet of who he’s being saddled with?”

“Did you sleep well last night, Harmony?” His voice was taunting as he finally began walking to her, his nostrils flaring as her eyes narrowed on him.

The bastard. He knew. Whatever was wrong with her he could smell it.

“I slept fine, Jonas,” she purred menacingly as she glanced at Jess, then back to him. “And you?”

His lips quirked, though the smug confidence was held firmly in place.

“I slept quite well.” He moved slowly ahead of her. “You seem agitated this morning. Is something wrong?”

She was tempted to snarl, but restrained the urge. “Just your normal Breed psychosis,” she retorted disdainfully, repeating the psychologist’s profile Jonas had ordered before she left for Broken Butte.

As though her fondness for shedding blood had anything to do with her genetics. The lives she had taken after escape never weighed on her conscience. The monsters she had taken out were a disease. The world was better off with them dead.

No, it was the lives she had taken before her escape that haunted her nightmares. It was those that left her gasping for breath, a plea on her lips as she fought to escape the horrors that visited her. Harmony wasn’t still alive because she loved life. Nor was she still here for vengeance. She lived because she knew hell awaited her after death.

Entering the elevator behind Jonas, Harmony turned to face the doors, ignoring the looks her brother cast her. Jonas Wyatt, they called him. She had called him Alpha One. The leader of the small contingent of Lion Breeds at the French Labs wherein they had been created.

Even though he had been younger than several of the other Breeds there, his strength and natural dominance had assured his steady rise within the ranks. He had been created as a breeder for a few specially created females, a last attempt to see if they could create the soldier they were searching for through other means. Instead, Jonas had grown to excel in areas the head scientist, Madame LaRue, had never expected.

Deceptive, powerful, completely logical and coldhearted, Jonas had taken control of the other males from the time he reached his maturity. He manipulated them, maneuvered them and always managed to get the best out of them.

Harmony stared up at the ceiling patiently.

“Sheriff Jacobs will be your representative,” Jonas informed her as the doors opened and they stepped out into the lobby, the attorney trailing behind them. “You’ll live in his home, under his guidance for the time you’ll be here. He’ll report to the Bureau once a week on your progress. He’s a fairly responsible individual. I’m certain I won’t have to worry about him.”

Harmony kept her pace steady as she moved along with him, tempering her opinion on his orders.

She had no idea what Jonas’s game was, or how he hoped to accomplish his goals by sticking her in this little tourist trap, but she was certain she would figure it out. One thing she did know, she was not about to turn over the one thing she suspected he was after: the information she had hidden on the first Leo, the first Breed created and still living— information she had stolen when she escaped the labs.

“Are you listening to me, Harmony?” he finally asked as they stepped into the sunlit courtyard at the entrance to the hotel and he slid his dark glasses over his eyes.

“I heard you, Jonas.” She smiled back coolly, reminding herself, forcefully, that she couldn’t kill him. Well, she could. It would be a fight, but technically, it could be arranged. But she was fairly certain that doing so wasn’t in her best interests at the moment.

He smiled, flashing his dominant canines threateningly. Drama just seemed to go hand in hand with the Breeds these days. She remembered a time when they kept their opinions to themselves and just killed. Rather like she did. The threatening thing just seemed useless to her.

“I think you’re going to like Sheriff Jacobs.” He finally nodded to the courthouse and Sheriff’s Department on the other side of the small park they were crossing the street to. “Several of the Breed females consider him quite handsome.”

Harmony barely suppressed her shudder, or the whimper that yearned to pass her lips as she kept pace with him. Walking was torturous. Agonizing. The swollen folds of her pussy rasped against her silk panties as the engorged bud of her clitoris demanded relief.

She had attempted masturbation. To her own peril. It had only increased the arousal rather than diminishing it.

As they crossed the park, Harmony fought to tamp down her growing agitation. Jonas kept a steady pace, even as his voice droned on. The do’s and don’ts of how to act and react as a sheriff’s deputy. As though she knew nothing but killing.

“Here we are.” They stepped onto the walkway that led to the entrance of the Sheriff’s Department. The building was one story, with tall, wide windows and an Old West charm she appreciated.

The door swung open as Jonas stepped aside and allowed her to enter ahead of him. She cast him a suspicious look at the move, only to receive a mocking smile in return.

“Straight ahead.” He nodded to the hallway on the other side of the reception area as he lifted his hand to the desk sergeant. “His office is at the end of the hall.”

Harmony drew in a deep breath as she prayed for patience, only to flinch and jerk from Jonas’s reach as his hand moved to her back.

“Okay?” He lifted his brows as his silvery eyes gleamed with amusement.

No, that wasn’t okay, she thought, suddenly feeling the beginnings of fear settling in the pit of her stomach. Something was horribly wrong. The feel of his hand, even with her clothing as a buffer, had nearly made her physically ill. Even now, her flesh turned clammy as a cold burn began to build beneath the skin.

“Let’s get this over with.” A tremor raced down her spine as she moved for the hallway.

Jonas was up to something and she knew it. She could feel the warning tightening in her stomach, the sense of danger settling around her shoulders as they neared the end of the hallway.

Then his scent hit her. Midnight and storms. The earth, fresh and primal, pulling at her, reminding forcibly of the agonizing need building inside her.

Her steps slowed.

“Keep moving, Harmony.” Jonas’s voice was commanding, brooking no refusal as she felt every nerve ending in her body perking up in awareness.

Lance.

“What’s his name?” she whispered, drawing steadily closer to the door, aware that there was no escape.

Getting past Jonas would be impossible.

She stopped several feet from the door, the smell of the man inside igniting her lust to a flaming height. She could almost feel his touch as the air grew heavy around her. His hands, broad and calloused, his lips, firm and heated.

“Lance.”

His answer had her closing her eyes as sure knowledge rose inside her. She turned slowly, staring up at Jonas as he met her gaze coolly.

“What have you done to me?” she whispered, knowing, certain that somehow Jonas knew what was happening to her and why.

The blood tests, the saliva tests, the psychological profiles—they had been done for a reason. For this. She knew it. She hadn’t survived in the world for the past ten years in her vocation and not learned when to trust her own instincts.

“Let’s just say I’ve hedged my bets,” he remarked as he reached around her and knocked imperiously on the door. “You can thank me later.”

Harmony turned as the door swung open and the scent of pure, hard male lust swamped her. She felt her knees weaken and her womb clenched painfully as she stared up into surprised, then suspicious midnight blue eyes.

Lance’s gaze tore from hers to stare behind her, the scowl deepening at his brow as anger lit his features.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he snapped at Jonas a second before gripping Harmony’s arm and pulling her into the room.

At any other time, the fact that someone attempted to slam the door in Jonas’s face would have been funny. She could have even respected the attempt if she wasn’t about to orgasm from the feel of his hand wrapping around her arm.

As Jonas stepped into the room, she jerked away from Lance, only to turn and face yet another daunting figure.

Braden Arness. Husband to the empath, Megan Arness. They had tracked her to France last year and nearly caught up with her.

She stepped back, her hand going to the gun strapped to her thigh as she moved far enough back to keep all three men in her line of sight.

This wasn’t a good thing.

“You. Stay put and get your hand off that damned gun.” Lance pointed his finger at her furiously, the raw dominance in his voice causing her eyes to widen.

“And you can get the hell out of my office.” He swung around as Jonas closed the door behind him. “You and the shark attorney of yours. I had enough of your games last year, Jonas.”

Jess Warden smiled, the curve of her lips holding rueful amusement, as though his words were more a compliment than an insult. But her eyes stayed on Lance. Soft gray eyes that held a glimmer of interest and lust. Hell, Harmony could smell the other female’s lust and it just pissed her off.

“If I leave, Harmony goes with me.” Jonas shrugged easily as he tucked his hands into his slacks and rocked back on his heels.

Harmony’s hand clenched around the butt of her gun. She knew that voice, just as she knew how dangerous Jonas could be when he used it.

God, he was such a manipulator. Even Harmony realized that the emotions and lust flaring through Lance were a dangerous combination right now. Whatever the hell was going on, it had sent so much testosterone racing through his body that she could smell it—a dark, masculine, high-combustible scent.

“Back off, Jonas,” she growled, the hair at her nape lifting as his gaze swung back to her.

She could hear the furious little growls rising in her throat. She had no idea what was causing them or where they were coming from. All she knew was that despite the threat Jonas represented to her personally, she would not allow him to strike against Lance.

She was aware of Braden’s careful, cautious stance as he watched her, but she kept her eyes on Jonas. The other enforcer might try to stop her, but not before she did some damage. Enough damage perhaps to take his mind from Lance.

“Do you really want to go back to Sanctuary, Harmony?” Jess asked her then, her voice cool as she stared between Jonas and Harmony.

Harmony stared at Jonas with cold aggression, ignoring the other woman’s terse tone.

“He won’t take me back.” She shook her head firmly. “Not now. He hasn’t milked this little exercise for everything it’s worth yet.”

Jonas chuckled, his expression partly approving, partly calculating as he turned back to Lance.

“She learned well, despite her time away from the labs killing petty criminals. Too bad she didn’t stick to the just killing the Council soldiers and Coyotes sent after her. She might have managed to keep me from coming after her.”

Yeah. Right. She really believed that one.

Lance didn’t speak, but Harmony had a feeling he was all the more dangerous for it. She could feel it, like an ominous whisper on the air around her.

Braden spoke up then. “Jonas, you’re pushing boundaries again. I’m going to assume this is Death.” He nodded to Harmony. “Lance was pretty certain about the tattoo she carried on her shoulder and there’s no doubt she’s the little cat that bit him.”

Jonas glanced back at her and lifted his brow mockingly.

“I should have known she wouldn’t follow orders and go directly to her hotel room until I could get here.” He shrugged negligently as he turned back to Lance.

Jess stepped forward at that point. “We had the papers faxed through last night. Your superiors in Santa Fe approved your representation of a Breed Enforcer within your department. As you know…”

“She stays with me. I’ll sign the papers later. Now get the hell out of my office.”

Harmony tensed at the low, primal vibration in Lance’s voice.

Jonas’s smile was a dare as Jess stared back at Lance in surprise. “Perhaps I should take her with me.”

“Lance, stop!” Before Lance could move, Harmony jumped between the two men. Ecstatic pleasure surged through her body as her hands gripped the hard muscles of Lance’s upper arms and she pushed back at him, attempting to keep him from tearing into Jonas, as he obviously intended.

“Get out of my way.” The scent of his fury seethed in the air around him, despite the gentleness of his hands as he gripped her arms.

“This is not the way,” she snarled up at him, fighting to stand between him and Jonas as he fought to set her aside. “Let it go. He’s amused and playing with you. He’s trying to antagonize you. Let it go.”

“First I’ll deal with him, then I’ll get to you.” His blue eyes flamed as he stared down at her.

“Lance, you’re going about this the wrong way,” Braden drawled. “Come on, man, you remember how confrontational Megan was last year. Stop and think.”

“And how should he handle it, Braden?” Jonas queried then. “Have you forgotten so quickly you’re an employee of the Bureau?”

“I haven’t forgotten anything, Jonas.” Braden’s amusement was very palpable and very real. “But I also know who your boss is. Let’s not go there, okay?”

Jonas’s eyes narrowed a second before his lips tilted with mocking approval.

“You’re learning.” He nodded abruptly to Braden as Lance placed her back flush against his chest, while his hands gripped her arms firmly.

“Get the hell out of here.” She could barely speak for the need whipping through her.

“Not yet,” Lance said. “You’re forgetting something here.”

“And that is?” Jonas tilted his head curiously.

“The hormonal treatments,” he snapped. “I know what’s going on here, Jonas. Don’t try to screw me around.”

Jonas’s eyes narrowed on Braden. “It’s illegal to give out that information, Braden.”

Braden shrugged. “I didn’t say a word. Maybe the wind told him.”

The wind?

Jonas’s lips thinned in irritation before he brought his gaze back to Lance. “I didn’t completely expect this,” he lied smoothly. Harmony knew he was lying. “I’ll have to contact Sanctuary and get Ely to make time to fly in. It could be a few days.”

“You son of a bitch. You’re going to let her suffer through it.” Sheer, amazed fury colored Lance’s voice as Harmony fought to understand exactly what they were talking about. “You know what will happen.”

“I think she’ll make a lovely mother,” Jonas crooned as he turned the doorknob and opened the door. “Maybe it will tame her down a bit. If she’s lucky. Are you ready, Jess?”

“We need the papers…” Jess protested again.

“He can fax them to my office.” He held the door open for her and the attorney did as she was told, but Harmony had a feeling she wasn’t nearly as submissive as she was letting on.

Before anyone could respond further, the door closed behind them and Harmony turned to Lance slowly. She hadn’t missed Jonas’s parting shot in any way. Though it made no sense. A female Breed could not conceive. It was proven.

Hell, they had tried for years in the labs with no success. But then again, she had never heard of the strange sexual heat attacking her either.

“What’s he talking about?” She felt dazed, off balance. She wanted nothing more than to crawl up his body and beg him to take her, but the sudden fear, that Jonas may have found the perfect revenge against her, held her grounded. “Breed females can’t conceive.”

“Under the right circumstances, they can.” Lance grimaced.

“What circumstances?” She could feel an edge of panic beginning to build within her now. As though the emotions churning wildly inside her weren’t enough. This was one worry she didn’t need.

He turned back to her slowly, crossing his arms over his chest and watching her with heated, barely restrained lust.

“Mating heat. We mated last night, Harmony. We didn’t just fuck. If it continues without the hormonal therapy the Breeds have produced, then you’ll conceive. And most likely rather quickly. Now, what makes me think Jonas knew that?”