Tangle of Need

Chapter 56

RIAZ CALLED ADRIA to ask her to come along to the meeting with Bo and the liaison three days later and discovered that she was already in San Francisco with Indigo, Tarah, Evie, and another woman who had a familiar scent but looked nothing like she should—from her height, to the color of her hair and eyes, even the shape of her face, the latter apparently altered using high-tech gel pads Judd had procured from who knows where.

As he pulled away after picking up Adria, the other four women waved at him from the café where they were eating large pieces of cake slathered in frosting. “How in hell did Sienna talk Hawke into letting her out of den territory?”

Adria gave him an arch look. “I have no idea. Didn’t ask.” Scooping up a bite of the apple pie she’d had packed to go, she fed it to him. “However, she may possibly have pointed out that she’s an adult female with the right to make up her own mind.”

He bit back a grin at her tone. “Yes, she may have done that, but Hawke is newly mated and there’s a high probability she’s in Ming’s crosshairs. Hawke might be intelligent, but he’s not that rational, not when it comes to Sienna.”

Eating a bite of pie herself, Adria made a “hmming” sound in her throat. “You know, you’re right. Though, until you picked me up, she was with a lieutenant, a senior soldier, and a woman who thinks of her as another daughter. No one was going to get to her.”

Riaz had to concede that point. Forget about Tarah being submissive—maternal wolves would fight to the death to protect their young.

“Buuuuut,” Adria drawled, “five minutes before I left, I got a call from Simran and Inés. In the area. Shopping. Heard we were nearby, said they’d come join the group.” A narrow-eyed look, but her tone was admiring. “The man is devious.”

Riaz chuckled. “Of course he is.” Brute strength alone did not the alpha of a pack make. “You think Sienna’s figured it out?”

“From the little smile she got on her face when Simran called, yes. She wasn’t mad—I think she realizes exactly how hard this must be for Hawke.”

Riaz’s wolf growled in disagreement. “If she did, she’d have stayed safe in our territory.”

“And if she was the kind of woman to do that,” Adria responded, “she wouldn’t be strong enough to be mate to an alpha.” She fed him another bite of pie. “There’s a difference between taking sensible precautions and tucking your tail between your legs.”

It took conscious effort to think past his protective instincts, to understand that when a man chose a strong woman for his own, he made a commitment to nurture and respect that strength. Adria would never allow him to coddle her—but as Sienna didn’t fight Hawke’s need to ensure her safety, Adria allowed Riaz to hold her, trusted him to take care of her in a hundred small ways that soothed his wolf.

There was no longer any hint of distance between them, that night under the moon having forged a bond that was young, raw, and hauntingly powerful. He couldn’t imagine waking without her, loved to fall asleep with his legs tangled in her own, her husky voice the last thing he heard. He knew that when the urge to roam isolated reaches awoke again within his wolf, he’d coax her to go along. Solitude would be no fun without her.

Picking up her hand, he pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Thank you for being mine.”

A startled look, followed by a smile that lit up her eyes. “Ditto.”

He was still smiling when they walked into the light-filled lobby of the art deco hotel where they were to meet Bo and his liaison. That was when Riaz took an emotional kick to the chest that knocked all the air out of him.

ADRIA’S wolf punched to the surface the instant she sensed the sudden tension that gripped Riaz’s body. On alert for a security risk, she followed his gaze to where Bowen stood with a woman of about five-two, maybe three, her hair a shining gold she’d pinned into a neat roll, her body clothed in a fitted aquamarine shift that set off eyes of gentle gray.

No weapon. No threat. Only a lovely woman … from Europe.

A horrible sick feeling in her stomach, Adria looked from the stranger to Riaz, saw the shock that had turned his eyes wild, and she knew. She knew. But the woman and Bo had seen them, were walking over, and somehow, she managed to make it through the introductions. Yet even through the ringing in her skull, the nausea choking her throat, she noticed that Riaz never touched the woman—Lisette, her name was Lisette—never even looked at her properly.

“Lisette used to be the business manager for another company,” Bo said to Adria, “but she’s taken up a permanent position with us.” Smooth as silk, not even a hint that that other company was a front for the Alliance. “Her specialty is in communications—the perfect choice for a liaison.”

Riaz folded his arms. “Is Emil with you?”

Adria caught what she thought was distress in Lisette’s expression before the other woman smiled and replied in French-accented English. “No, he had some business in Berlin.” Glancing at Adria, she said, “Riaz and my husband worked together on a project while Riaz was in Europe.”

God, Adria thought, how that must’ve killed Riaz. Her pain for him was endless, her own anguish a cavernous darkness inside of her. To know and accept that the man she loved had a mate, and to come face-to-face with that mate were two different things. It ripped away the rose-colored lenses she’d put on since the night under the moon, slapped her in the face with the reality of her status as nothing but a substitute for the woman Riaz really wanted.

She didn’t know how she got through the meeting, but neither she nor Riaz said a word about it until they were in SnowDancer territory. “So … she’s the one.” A statement that was in reality, a question, because she needed to have it confirmed, to hear it from his mouth. Yet, some small part of her was a child, wanting to hear him say, “No,” and tell her she was imagining things, even when the truth was a neon sign in front of her.

Riaz brought the car to a halt. “It changes nothing between us.” His response was harsh, the hand he placed against her cheek rough with warmth. “You’re the one in my heart.”

No, I’m the consolation prize. They both knew he was only with her because he couldn’t be with Lisette. Pride choked up her throat, but she didn’t shove his hand aside, didn’t tell him to get the hell away from her—she’d come into this with her eyes wide open. To punish him for something over which he had no control, to walk away at this moment when she knew he had to be suffering the most vicious pain … no, she couldn’t do that to her black wolf. Love, she realized at that terrible moment of truth, could be incredibly unselfish, even when it hurt until she bled.

Unclipping her safety belt, then his, she crawled over to straddle his lap, wrapping her arms around him. “I’m here.”

SHE broke him, Riaz thought, his arms clenching around the sleek muscle of her body, his heart thundering. Unable to speak, he buried his face in her neck, drawing in the strange delicacy of her scent, so complex and unique. It anchored his shocked and newly wounded wolf, calmed the man.

He’d expected fury, had thought he might find himself out in the cold when he needed her more than ever. The one thing he’d never expected was this generosity of spirit, and he should have, because she’d shown him over and over that she wasn’t only a tough-skinned soldier, but a woman of empathy and heart, a woman any man would be proud to call his own.

Pressing a kiss to the beat of the pulse in her neck, he felt her hand stroke through his hair. His wolf basked in the tenderness. “It was the shock more than anything,” he said, her skin so soft under his lips. “I’ll be fine now.”

Adria rubbed her cheek against his before she drew back. “No pretence, Riaz,” she said, holding his gaze with the unflinching honesty of her own. “You tell me if this isn’t working for you.”

He fisted his hand in her hair, shock obliterated by possessive fury. “It damn well is.” Maybe he’d gone into this relationship needing the comfort of a packmate’s touch, but now? Now he’d staked his claim. “You’re mine.” The wolf growled in agreement. “I am never letting you go.”